Get the latest word on the bite with Damon from Spacefish on the Mark Moses Show. We talk local fishing every Friday on the air at 4pm.

To kick off the new year we have had some really crappie weather! Perfect weather for crappie fishing, that is!

Also known as speckled perch, these panfish are slightly larger than the typical bluegill and are down right delicious, not to mention a lot of fun to catch! With dry, cold and windy conditions, this is very ideal for targeting these tasty critters! Crappie can be found almost anywhere in the state from ponds, lakes, and rivers, and there are several ways to target them. My favorite way is pitching jigs along vegetation using light 4/6lb mono and 1/16 oz jigs in green and pink, look for areas that have flowing water and small eddy’s or current breaks and your almost sure to find some crappies close by!

Another great method that can yield some larger fish is slow trolling. Look for areas on the edges of lakes or mouth of rivers and channels that have drop offs or small depth changes even, troll in zig zag patterns at slow speeds such as 1mph, give or take a little. Once you get a bite, continue to do circles within that area and it should continue. Crappie like to school up and the majority of the time you’ll find larger numbers all together. Jigs are a better way to cover ground faster and work great; the key is small and light. You can also use live Minnows in each of these scenarios under a small float with a light split shot. They can be slow trolled or fished along grassy banks, and most bait shops this time of year will have them in stock!

With more and more cold on the way, the crappie bite should get better and is definitely a great “go to” when conditions are less than ideal for saltwater fishing!

Hey there East Side Family! We had a couple of days last week to chase pompano and we were all over it despite the cold and winds. For those brave enough to fight the frost (LOL!) most were rewarded. We started seeing Bluefish move into the area, Angler Kyle Brainard scored with a nice Bluefish in South Brevard. Anglers report also catching smaller Blues as well but we know what we are all mainly here for… the Pompano. They are traveling through the area as quickly as they can right now fattening up. I was fishing next to a local Celebrity “Joey Antonelli” when I caught this Giant 3.4# 15.5″ Pompano. There are smaller fish mixed into the school but even the smaller 12″ fish are Fat and Round(we thought a 12″ to the fork was short because he was THAT stout!).

Looking ahead for this week we have this big front coming in, we’re not exactly sure how this will affect the fish but my “forecast” will be this. The fish are going to move quickly and feed on certain times and tides so plan your fishing trips accordingly. They love their first light and last light feeding windows so if you can match that with a tidal event you should be in the running so long you find clean water in the 67-72 temperature range.

Tight lines and be well Anglers!

The bite has changed a little bit over the last couple of days. We have some pretty cool water temperatures here in the New Smyrna Beach waters especially in the shallow water of Mosquito Lagoon. These cooler temperatures do affect some species and not so much to others like redfish and black drum. The trout and snook definitely do not like the cooler temperatures and seem to be hanging in much deeper water waiting on the water to warm just a bit before becoming active again. The great thing about our waters here in Central FL is that they are extremely shallow for the most part so with a couple of bright sunny warmer days the trout and snook will be right back to chewing like the redfish and black drum are now.

It looks as though we are going to have a few days of cooler temperatures and will be back on the rise after this front passes. The water clarity has been great making for some great sight fishing to larger pods of redfish and black drum in shallow water.

Get ready for another action packed week of fishing on Florida’s Space Coast. January marks a period of high catch rates of pompano, whiting, black drum and bluefish. Although the number one targeted species will continue to be the Florida pompano, don’t sleep on the other species available. For example, We see giant schools of black drum cruising local area beaches between Cape Canaveral and Sebastian Inlet. Of these schools of black drum it isn’t uncommon to see fish in excess of 80 pounds in weight. Roughly translated this equates to trophy fishing from the beach!

Diversity will continue to be the best approach to surf fishing in the winter months. For instance, target pompano, whiting and black drum with standard pompano rigs on a double dropper rig. Using a variety of multi-colored floats will ensure you’re attracting nearby fish. Furthermore, the top choices for bait remain to be Fishbites, sand fleas, shrimp and clams.

In order to compliment the standard setup noted above, I encourage surf fishing enthusiast to cast lures as well. This includes casting lures like spoons, gotcha plugs and small jigs. Expect to catch bluefish, Spanish mackerel and pompano implementing this method. Recommended equipment is a 7-9 foot medium light spinning rod with 20 pound braided line.

Now if it’s a trophy you’re after then let’s review what’s involved in landing a huge black drum. For one thing, massive black drum frequent the area in the winter months because of the water temperature and availability of food. Black drum primarily feed on crustaceans including crabs, shrimp, sand fleas and clams. Keeping this in mind, it’s important to match the hatch and use similar baits for the best success. Be sure to land large fish safely and have an extremely quick release to ensure there survival.

The best gear to use for catching giant drum from the beach includes beefed up surf fishing gear from the line down to the rigs. By this I mean to make sure your dropper loop rigs are a minimum of 40 pound braided line. Secondly, your hook sizes need to appropriately match the strength of these fish without bending out. In addition, your rod and reel combo should be a 12ft rod and 6000-8000 series reels. Braided line isn’t mandatory, however, it’s suggested. You can catch massive fish with lighter tackle, but this also increases the probability of break offs. The black drum pictured in this article weighed over 60 pounds and was caught on 12 pound test and a standard pompano rig.

Lastly, shark fishing from the surf will highlight these acrobatic species in a showcasing way. Expect black tip sharks, lemon sharks and sandbar sharks when fishing the beaches in February. The top tactics include fresh cut bait, steel leader and a non offset, non stainless circle hook. Cast shark fishing rigs in the first and second troughs for the best success. Make sure to have 80 pound branded line and a reel size ranging from 8000-12,000 series. This will ensure you have the pulling power to safely catch and release these iconic species.

Book your surf fishing excursion to learn the expert tactics and techniques. We make it easy teaching you the best proven methods in an easy to understand format. Additionally, we can assist you in purchasing the proper surf fishing equipment for the highest level of success.

Call 321-205-4672 to book a trip or visit our website: cocoabeachsurffishingcharters.com.

Good morning all you Sebastian Inlet fishing fanatics, I hope everyone had a great and safe new year’s holiday, and a great weekend! Now we’re off into a new year, and hopefully a great one for everyone! First off, I would like to start off and quell a rumor that I had heard out there about the jetty reconstruction project going on, that there is a possibility it will be open by February, well THAT just isn’t going to happen!! They are still on target for the July 2025 completion of the project. Sure, there are a lot of people that can dream about it getting done sooner, but that is just a dream. With the extent of the project from demolition to reconstruction, it won’t be a quick process. So, if you do hear anything out there, don’t believe it unless you read it on the SITD website, their own FB page, or you actually call them at their office. Here is a link to all the CORRECT and up to date info on the project.

Now, for the fishing update.

Over the weekend, the fishing at the inlet was slow, with that I saw or heard about. Friday morning, there was a decent pompano bite on the south jetty, early morning on fleas and shrimp. On Saturday they bit again, but not as well as the day before. Black drum and sheepshead were caught, but not in any numbers to brag about, shrimp and sand fleas as well. Also, a few whiting were caught beachside, but not in the numbers like last weekend.

The monster bluefish that were biting so well a week ago have gone; there are a few showing up from time to time for those who wait them out. Most were caught on the incoming tide around the tip, all the way to the bridge. Jigs and big silver spoons are the best. Last year the blues came in and stayed around because there were big mullet in the inlet. This year, not so much.

The strong flounder bite has tapered off between the jetty and the T-dock. Some are being caught still, but most are either undersized, or just over the minimum 14-inch limit to keep. The south jetty, beach side, is where most are being caught. Live mud minnows and small finger mullet, or live shrimp are the baits of choice, but you can also catch them on small artificial jigs, either plastic or hair jigs.

Not much else to talk about, like I said in the beginning, it is pretty slow. One of the main reasons, I believe, is the water temperature is too cold at 64 degrees, but it is pretty clean, just not as clean as a week ago thanks to the rough surf.

That’s it for this week. I hope everyone has a great, prosperous and happy new year! Oh, and stay warm, more winter is coming

We only ran a couple of Shark trips this week. We just fished along the beach and our clients caught quite a variety of small sharks and one big tiger shark too, which was awesome! We also caught a bunch of big redfish, as well.

Old man Winter will be coming to visit this week so bundle up everyone for the coldest temperatures so far this winter. Last week’s artificial bite was slow for me. Once again downsizing my lure at least gave me a few fish. This week I think I’ll sit it out and keep my little space heater working to keep it comfortable. This front should put the lockjaw on the bass, but when the warm up begins, they should be ready to eat. Stay warm my friends.

Mark and Matt with a few Snook and big jacks!

Had a great week fishing the lagoon for trout, snook, jacks and pompano. Plenty of action most days all on artificial but a few of the snook ate live baits, as well. Most of the time we fished paddle tails and jerk baits but tried a new bait from Rapala, Crush City bass line and the Mooch Minnow jerk bait and Mayor Paddle tail baits all worked well. A couple days we found schools of big jacks busting on the threadfins in the lagoon and had a great time chasing them.

We were able to get out on the beach a day or two over the holidays and the blacktips and spinner sharks were out in full force feeding on bait pods offshore. Rapala Xtreme Poppers made for some good action on those fish and we got a few on live baits, as well.

The strong north winds and cooler temperatures dominated the weather pattern over the past week, keeping me off the water for the most part. However, Sunday brought a welcome respite with pleasant conditions, and I seized the opportunity to get out and fish.

Sunday Night Fishing Excursion

I opted to wait until nighttime to fish, allowing the water to warm up as much as possible. This strategy paid off, as the snook and trout were highly active.

The night began with a series of smaller snook and trout catches, but the highlight came when I hooked into a massive snook. Fishing from my kayak, I was fortunate to land this impressive fish.

Key to Success

The effective lure for the night was a small 3.5″ paddletail on a 1/8oz jig. This setup proved irresistible to the snook and trout.

Outlook for the Upcoming Week

Unfortunately, the weather forecast for the upcoming week isn’t looking promising. Strong winds and unfavorable conditions are expected to return, which may limit fishing opportunities. I’ll be keeping a close eye on the forecast, waiting for the next window of good weather to get back out on the water.

It is with the heaviest of hearts that we reflect on Steve Goff — local business stalwart, former FSFA Club President, beloved friend and family man, and fishing fanatic — who passed away unexpectedly on December 23, 2024.

For starters, I cannot believe I am writing this. We were just sitting in your office laughing, talking about fishing, family, the holidays and our plans both personally and professionally for 2025. I have tried to write this multiple times now but every time I do my eyes fill up with tears and I have to walk away. I am really not sure how to write this, should I share what an incredible person and leader you were or just tell you what you mean to me? Maybe I can do both.

I met Steve through a mutual friend of ours Randy Aloise. Randy had joined the Florida Sport Fishing Association (FSFA) and had been pushing me to join. In hind sight, I am so glad I did. He also convinced me to run for a board position which I thought was kind of silly since I had just joined but as fate would have it, I was voted in as a director to serve on the new board. This is where I first met Steve Goff. Steve was the incoming president which means he would run the meetings and also make sure everyone serving on the board was following through with their obligations for the club. Right away, I noticed what an outstanding leader he was. He just commanded respect, he truly led by example and for those of us that were watching like myself, there were some real lessons to be learned. You would think that a board meeting for a fishing club would be all fun and games, yet there were a lot of serious conversations and differing opinions regarding how to accomplish the goals of the club. Sometimes leading to some tense conversations and that’s where Steve shinned brightest. He had a way of respecting everyone’s opinion and also drilling down to decisions that would best benefit the club. He was a true leader indeed and we struck up a fast friendship that would last a lifetime.

We also shared a lot of similar experiences. He coached his sons little league teams when they were growing up and he loved to hear me tell stories about what I was going through coaching my boys teams. Steve was 20 years older than me so he had been there and done that and always had great advice to share. Great coaches see things in people they cannot see in themselves. I really believe that was one of his superpowers. Starting a business from scratch is very hard. Steve knew this all too well. He started a pest control company with his father many years before and built it into a successful business. I leaned on him for a lot of advice, especially when starting Spacefish. He was the first person I approached and asked to be a part of it. He was our first advertiser and he championed our vision. He never took a wait and see approach, he just jumped into the deep end of the pool with us which gave me the confidence I needed to keep pushing. I see that so clearly now. I guess he could see something in me I didn’t see in myself at the time.

Boy did Steve love to fish too! Being out on the ocean with him was always a fun adventure whether we were catching fish or not. We would laugh so hard telling silly stories we literally couldn’t breathe! Steve wasn’t just a fisherman, he was an ambassador for everything fishing. He wanted to see people out fishing and making awesome memories. When I took over as the tournament director for the FSFA Offshore Tournament, Steve was on our tournament committee. It was his idea to add the $5,000 Big Fish Grand Prize to the tournament. He didn’t just suggest it, his business sponsored it. Talk about walking the walk, that’s what he did. He had so many fiends too. I am just one of so many people that Steve made feel like family. I loved any time we would go to lunch, he always picked a place where he knew the owners. He supported his friend’s local businesses fiercely. He was an incredible husband, father and grandfather as well. We had countless conversations about his beautiful wife Marie and his sons, daughters and grandkids. He loved them all so much. He was the true patriarch of his family, always leading by example with love and compassion.

I could write a short story about what this man means to me but what I really want to say is Steve, I love you man, there will definitely be a void in my life without you. I going to miss every time we met that big baritone voice yelling out Big D and your strong handshake and infectious smile. Rest in peace my friend. Wherever you are, I hope you are blessed with as much quiche as one man can handle.

A Celebration of Life will be held for Steve on Saturday, January 18, at 1pm at Kiwanis Island Park.