WHAT WOULD YOU DO if you made a basic inquiry about an item for sale on Facebook marketplace, and the seller, a random stranger on the internet, asked you to go fishing with them? Mike Clifford didn't flinch when presented with this scenario last Friday… He took home dinner AND a new beach fishing cart!

It’s me — the random internet stranger that did the awkward thing. I had just moved to Melbourne Beach a few months back and I’ve been living the dream with such convenient access to the beach, but the private access is very narrow and with a low hanging canopy — it is not at all accommodating for a full-size angler mate fishing cart loaded with surf rods, so I made the difficult decision to list the cart for sale on Facebook Marketplace. I quickly got an inquiry from a guy who said he was going to be fishing in the area and might come by after to take a look.

“Hey, come take a look at it and I’ll go fishing with you,” just naturally printed itself onto the screen for me.

It took all of zero seconds for the fear to set in that I scared off a potential buyer by being such an outwardly forward creep, but before my girlfriend could give me an official point of reference as to where I landed on the scale of weird, my phone dinged.

Holy sh*t, he said yes!

A total Zales moment.

Mike showed up just before 8 in the morning on Friday, just as promised. We learned that we both tried unsuccessfully to acquire clams that from various nearby bait shops. ARE YOU ANYWHERE OUT THERE, CLAM GUY? Any way, Mike liked the cart enough to close the deal, and then we were off to the beach.

The water temp was 71F and we got out there just before peak high tide around 8:30am. It was a beautiful day and the new moon was at perigee, so we had big time volume of water movement, cleanish not too cold water, and a light SW/E wind. I had high expectations for production and was pretty content with the result. The fish were there and biting. I immediately caught a tiny whiting — so small I’d of thrown back 99/100 times — but between the timing and the fact that I was dead set on fish for dinner, he went to the ice. My woman and I ended up bringing home 8 or 9 fish, all croaker and whiting, most of them underwhelming in size. We also threw back several undersized black drum. But it was my new fishy friend Mike’s big day to be had. Once he got settled with lines in the water and stogey under fire, he got to business, which included landing the catch of the day — the elusive Florida pompano. Not a monster but a beautiful specimen at a little over 12″ and a perfect meal for two. He also generously donated us a few whiting, too. We were mostly fishing a combo of blanched and live fleas and Fishbites — but the pompano was hooked on good old tried and true frozen peeled shrimp.

Mike — it was great fishing with you, buddy. Let’s definitely do it again sometime!

As for everybody else, take a stranger fishing sometime and you’re probably going to leave with a friend!

I was able to get out one night this week with snook squarely in my crosshairs.

The evening started a little slow. I picked off a couple of small trout early, and then things went quiet for a while. Just as the tide was nearing the turn, a short feeding window opened that lasted about 20 minutes. During that brief stretch, the bigger snook finally started chewing. I had three eat, landed two solid fish, and lost a third.

As quickly as it started, it ended. Once that window closed, the bite completely shut down, and that was it for the night.

That’s winter fishing in a nutshell. It’s a game of patience. You never know exactly when they’re going to flip the switch, but when they do, you need to be there. Persistence is everything this time of year. The anglers willing to wait out the slow stretches are the ones who get rewarded when those larger fish decide to commit.

We have another mild cold front moving through right now, but I do not expect it to have much impact. We had consistent warmth leading up to it, so water temperatures should remain fairly stable. As long as that holds, I expect fishing to stay productive in the days ahead.

62° water temps at blast off this morning and the bite has been steady. With a cold front pushing in over the next few days, expect the artificial bite to tighten up a bit — but the live bait bite is improving daily as these prespawn fish stage up.

We’re starting to see more females getting heavy… it’s that time. 👀

⸻

Help Secure a 39-Day Atlantic Red Snapper Season in 2026!

Dear Florida Angler,

Florida is fighting for a 39-day Atlantic red snapper season in 2026—and we need you to speak up.

The Atlantic red snapper population is at record levels of abundance. The stock is healthy, not overfished, and not undergoing overfishing. Yet despite that reality, federal management has limited Florida anglers to just one or two days in recent years.

That does not reflect what anglers are seeing on the water.

To fix this, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has submitted an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA Fisheries).

If approved, Florida’s proposal would:

• Test improved, state-led recreational data collection
• Provide more accurate harvest information
• Strengthen long-term management decisions
• Allow for a proposed 39-day Atlantic red snapper recreational season in 2026
• NOAA Fisheries is now accepting public comment through Tuesday, March 10, 2026.

You may copy, paste, and personalize the message below:

I support the approval of Florida’s Exempted Fishing Permit to test improved state-led data collection and management for Atlantic red snapper. The Atlantic red snapper population is healthy and abundant, and recreational access should reflect current stock conditions. Florida’s proposal would improve data accuracy, strengthen accountability, and allow for a 39-day recreational season in 2026.

Please approve Florida’s EFP so anglers can benefit from better management and expanded access.

Note: All official comments must be submitted through the federal e-Rulemaking portal or by mail.

Big booms for everyone! If you haven’t checked my social media pages lately then you haven’t seen all of the giant black drum we’ve been catching lately in the Indian River and near-coastal waters outside of Port Canaveral. It’s been a drum-fest for sure.

Some of these fish (like the one pictured) have been scaling over 50 pounds. Live jumbo shrimp and cut crab are the two best baits I’ve used this week. There are some big reds and snook as well for those of you that like to catch multiple species while you’re out on the water.

This week’s cold front will probably slow the snook again, but the drum just don’t care. The reds will be affected for a day or two, then they should get right back with the program as well. After this next front eases a bit we may have the proper conditions to start finding cobia along the beaches.

We are coming into the spring season, and everything is looking good. If you want to get out on the water and chase some of these great fish give me a call or book your trip right on my website’s reservations page-www.finelinefishingcharters.com. I can’t wait to get you out there to pull on something big and wild! Let’s get hooked up for a day trip so we can go catch your next memory!!

Jeremy with a keeper on the jetty

Hello all you Sebastian Inlet fans and fanatics, I hope you all had a great weekend! Here we go with this week’s SLOW report of the fishing at the inlet. Most, if not all the action was on the north jetty last week, and over the weekend, as the SSE winds we had at the end of the week just ruined the south side and turned it into a huge mud hole! Needless to say, the water was very muddy!

Last week Wednesday through Friday the water had warmed up to 70 degrees which sparked a short-lived bite of the fish. Black drum, redfish, and some slot and oversized snook were being caught in the early morning hours, just after sunup on live shrimp at the jetty tip on the incoming tide. The water over here was cleaner than the south side, so the fish played a little. Other species being caught were some sheepshead between the pilings and over the rock pile at the tip on live sand fleas, shrimp, and fiddler crabs. Beach side of the jetty I saw a few decent whiting caught on cut shrimp. On the outgoing tide it was all about the bluefish and jack crevalle on anything tossed out, they are not picky!! That’s pretty much it for the north side.

Surf and south side were pretty slow due to the dirty water, it was calm until last Thursday when the winds switched and messed it all up rough wise. Catfish, rays and small sharks made up most of the catches on both sides.

This week is going to be windy and rough, and the water has dropped back down to 68, and might go lower with the winds being out of the westerly directions, and the seas have kicked back up again, so I don’t see much going to happen until the water cleans back up and warms up again. So, that’s it in a nutshell.

You all have a great week!

Friday’s weather hit the high 80’s and was so much like spring arrived but this morning changed it up again with 40 degree cold once again.

I fished the Stick Marsh on Friday and enjoyed the warm air. The bite was pretty slow. I managed 5 bass and only 9 bites for the day’s count. Water temperatures started out at 69 and by the time I got back to the ramp I had 72. The parking lot to both Stick Marsh and Headwaters were full but I think that the pressure of all the anglers out on the lake wasn’t the factor for a slow bite but that they had been shocking fish on Thursday and Friday to get counts on the fishery. They told me that there were plenty of fish in the lake so that was good news.

The only lure that saved my day for action was one of my favorites once again, a bubblegum Zoom Trick Worm. I love throwing a jerk bait but when you’re fishing in eel grass with scattered timber, treble hook lures don’t really do that great but the way I rig my worm it will DANCE erratically under the surface which the bass can’t resist. I throw this worm on a 6 1/2’ medium heavy spinning outfit lined with 20-pound Yo Zuri SuperBraid main line. I then attach a barrel swivel to this, on the other end of the swivel I tie about 20-24” of fluorocarbon leader. Then to make it complete I like using an Owner twist lock 3/0 hook. The swivel is the key to the action for this rig. As you jerk your rod tip it pulls at the swivel so the leader and worm float free in almost a Walk the Dog style presentation under the surface anywhere from 1-3 feet of water.

Give it a try and I think you will become a believer in this presentation.

Have Fun!

Here’s a nice trout Ellie caught while on a trip with her brothers and father. She picked up the casting and working artificial baits quick and caught a bunch of fish and several different species.

A decent week of fishing inshore and nearshore off the beaches. Plenty of action inshore from trout, pompano, bluefish mackerel and jacks with a few small gag grouper in the mix when using live baits.

Most of our trips have been using artificial and as I’ve said before that Rapala Crush City Mooch Minnow rigged on a 1/4-ounce jig head has been an excellent inshore bait for all of the inshore species. The slim profile and the material it’s made out of gives it excellent action and the bait holds up really well and you can catch a ton of fish on it.

Another cold front this week will drop the water temps into the low 60s and will slow the bite inshore but there should be a decent bite in the inlet and if you can get off the beach you should be able to find some action along the reefs with various reef species such as snapper, sheepshead, weakfish, margate and possibly some cobia.

After a week of warm weather with very good black drum fishing, we’re getting a little cold front to keep the water cool and the bite hot. With the strong north winds, the water levels in the Mosquito Lagoon should be getting lower, keeping the schools bunched up on the edge of flats near the drop offs.

On calm days, look for schools pushing water and cast a shrimp just in front of them. This will typically reward you with a nice black drum or redfish. Trout have been in the deeper areas; a jig head with a Z-Man shrimp imitation, or a gulp shrimp will usually do the trick. I have Wednesday still available this week and several days available in March.

Don’t forget to book your spring break fishing trip!

Fishing New Smyrna Beach backwaters this past week has been great with several double-digit days coming boat side. The weather this past week had warmed up to the mid-eighties making the fish spread out a bit looking for new food opportunities. With the clear skies, great water clarity and ambitious fish, the shallow waters of Mosquito Lagoon made for some awesome sight fishing.

Although we have had a little cold front move through early this week, I believe these fish are definitely on the move toward their springtime patterns. The main focus has been locating the pods of bait. If you find the bait you will find fish, whether it’s along the oyster beds throughout the Intracoastal in Daytona Beach or south on the grass flats of Mosquito Lagoon.

The trout and snook have started to get active again as the water temperatures are on the rise. The redfish and black drum have not skipped a beat and continue to be on the hunt and chewing aggressively. Look for the weather to continue to rise and the bite to stay strong. I am looking forward to the springtime pattern.

The shark fishing nearshore right now is downright fantastic. These fish are here and ready to eat which makes for a fun day with clients. We are catching them in all sizes too. If you would like to give shark fishing a try, give us a call. It’s a great time to do it!