What to expect out of Port Canaveral to close out April and kick off the month of May.

Breaking down Space Coast fishing for the weekend ahead with Mark Moses!

Offshore:
Good action continued with kingfish and some dolphin around 8A and Pelican reefs. Also, it’s tuna time! There have been some good yellowfin tuna caught on the other side this week as well. Weekend looks good!

Nearshore:
There are schools of glass minnows showing up with bonita, Spanish mackerel and tarpon on them. Good snook action at Port Canaveral. Live bait like croakers and pilchards have been the best baits.

Surf:
The surf has been super tough this week. East winds have pushed a lot of seaweed onto the beaches.

Lagoons:
The redfish bite has been good. Look for deeper channels and flats that are typically deeper. These areas are where your fish are going to be. They like the shallows to feed but also need deeper water or some type of structure for protection so the bridges and larger broken docks with any kind of depth will be holding fish.

Freshwater:
April through October is peak spawning season for bluegill with May being the best. Fly fishermen love this fishery so it’s a great time to break out those light spinning rods and fly rods.

The weather conditions continue to be high and dry across Central Florida. With the lack of rain Daytona Beach, New Smyrna Beach and Mosquito lagoon are starting to feel the effects. With some west and south west winds blowing and no rain fall the water levels have been lower than usual from Hew Smyrna south through Mosquito Lagoon.

The bite has started to get better but the last week or so them fish have been making us work for it. Not sure if it’s the lack of rain bringing salinity levels up or warm temps transitioning them into a summer time pattern but they have seemed a little lethargic. Whatever it may have been, hopefully they are over it and we can get back to catching some happy fish 😂.

I have figured out that plugs and soft plastics have been working well for trout throughout mosquito Lagoon and mullet, shrimp and cut bait have gathered the attention of both snook and redfish further north into New Smyrna. The forecast is still showing no rain in the future until the later part of next week so this pattern should hold through the weekend.

Spring weather is definitely upon us here on the Space Coast! Windy, cool mornings and warm afternoons… These conditions can be very challenging and require a little more patience to fish.

The redfish bite has been really good, with the wind and cool air and no rain the water levels are some of the lowest I’ve seen. This presents a challenge but can really work to your benefit. Look for deeper channels, flats that are typically deeper, or shallow flats with small cuts that have sloughs that are slightly deeper even if it’s only by a few inches. These areas are where your fish are going to be. They like the shallows to feed but also need deeper water or some type of structure for protection — that’s why even the bridges and larger broken docks with any kind of depth will be holding fish.

With all the unstable weather, it’s a huge key that you slow way, way down. Artificial enthusiasts can still get a good bite using small and scented plastics like the Gulp shrimp, preferably the 3 inch on an 1/8 oz jighead worked very slow. The live bait guys can find a great bite using large shrimp, blue crabs, and on the warmer stretches small finger mullet, all of these baits can be fished on a 1/4oz jighead and can be used in various situations from sightfishing flats to dropping around bridges and deeper canals. It’s important to use the least amount of lead as possible and to keep the bait looking as realistic as it possibly can.

The next few weeks will only get better as a warming trend is approaching, your redfish will still cooperate and the snook fishing will just get better and better! Good luck and tight lines!

This week’s fishing trips focused on evening excursions in both shallow and deeper waters, but Saturday’s trip stood out as particularly productive. As the waters continue to warm, I’ve noticed an increase in tarpon activity in the river, and it’s been a great time to target a variety of species.

The past week has seen plenty of reds, snook, and trout around, and Saturday’s trip was no exception. Focusing on shallow windblown shorelines proved to be a successful strategy, with a mix of species caught. One highlight of the trip was landing a massive tarpon that put my tackle to the test.

Some key takeaways from Saturday’s trip include:
– Shallow windblown shorelines can be highly productive due to the concentration of baitfish and predators
– The water turbulence created by the wind helps to mask sounds, allowing for stealthier approaches
– A grand slam was achieved, with catches including trout, redfish, snook, and tarpon

As the waters continue to warm, it’s shaping up to be an exciting time for fishing in the Indian River Lagoon. I’ll be keeping an eye on the tarpon activity and exploring more shallow water opportunities in the coming weeks.

A happy trio of anglers with their slot limit catches, three of the many snook they caught using live threadfins in the inlet with captain Greg, owner and operator of Snookside Fishing Charters

Good morning all my Sebastian Inlet fishing junkies! I hope you all had a great weekend, and a Happy Easter! It’s time for this weeks report on what’s up at the inlet.

Here we go. Again, for the most part the fishing has been really slow, one day good, the next few days nothing. The main reason is the water quality and conditions. All weekend while I was down at the inlet the winds have been pretty brisk out of the ESE 10-20 mph, the seas have been 3-4 making conditions on the south jetty pretty wet with the waves busting over the small, and low jetty. Also, the wind and the waves have turned the entire inlet into a muddy mess again, AND on top of that last Friday while I was down the sargassum weed has gotten to be pretty thick making fishing tougher as well. It’s everywhere!

The only fish I saw being caught over the weekend were some nice snook being caught in the area back around the t-dock and cleaning station. Back there the water is calmer and for the most part, a little less weedy than out front on the jetty. Sunday afternoon the bite was pretty good with several over slots being caught, and several slots being taken as well! Live majorra was the bait of choice, if you could find some, they have been hard to get. One day they might be there, the next few days they are not. Just like the fish.

The anglers fishing from the boats also have been doing very well with the snook on both sides of the inlet along the shorelines, lot of big fish being caught using live threadfins for bait. The inside of the south jetty on the incoming tide has been producing plenty of under slot snook, and some jack crevalle. Before the winds picked up, they were catching some pretty nice flounder on the beach side of the jetty, but that is all blown out now, along with any surf fishing. You can expect all this week that the winds are going to be pretty tough out of the ESE, and again, the water hasn’t warmed back up, as of this writing it was still showing 73, too cool for the hot action we need.

Anyway folks, that’s it for this week. The weather all week is supposed to be nice, just a bit breezy. So grab your gear, water and go find you a calm spot in the back of the inlet and catch ya one!

Cheers.

It’s been another pretty good week of fishing here for snook at Fineline Fishing Charters. We’re finding them all around the Port Canaveral area. Live baits have been working much better than artificial, but I have seen a few fish striking soft plastic shrimp imitations rigged on a jig head. Croakers, spots and pilchards are working pretty good if you can find them.

We’ve got a few days available between now and May. If you’re interested in booking a charter go to finelinefishingcharters.com or call 321-505-8217 to book your next trip with us so we can go get your next memory!

Kurt and Amy each got a couple snook over 40″ in the lagoon

South winds brought in some warmer water and decent fishing. We had a good time and got some really nice snook in the shallows around Sebastian Inlet. Live bait worked best for the bigger fish. Saw a bunch of bigger trout and caught plenty of slot and under slot trout as well. With the bigger snook, we also caught a few shorts and several slot fish along the way.

Beach fishing was good early in the week with signs of bait and we found plenty of mackerel, sharks and some bonito. Hopefully the winds will lay down in the near future and we can get out and get on the tarpon and kingfish following the bait schools.

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Went surf fishing about 3pm Friday, but only stayed about 45 minutes because the sea weed build up was getting pretty bad on the line. It was ESE wind only about 10 mph, but the weeds just were too much. Stick to inshore for now.

Breaking down Space Coast fishing for the weekend ahead with Mark Moses!