WEEKLY FORECAST
5.16.2023 – 5.22.2023
CENTRAL FLORIDA’S BEST FISHING REPORT
The big event up next is the CFOA Offshore Tournament THIS weekend!
We’ve got a busy event weekend ahead! Starting with the CFOA Annual Offshore tournament‘s Captain’s Party at Fish Lips Bar & Grill on Friday at 6:30. The fishing is on Saturday with over $20k in cash and prizes up for grabs. And don’t forget, the best of the Central Florida Shootout is yet to come with its Awards Ceremony this Sunday at Captain Hirams, where the lucky winners of a brand new NauticStar boat and SeaDoo will be drawn!
Plus, we’ve got a new giveaway this week — free entry into the upcoming 54th Annual FSFA Offshore Slam!
WEATHER & CONDITIONS
BITE OPPORTUNITY INDEX
OFFSHORE
INSHORE
SURF
FRESHWATER
WEATHER OVERVIEW: The week ahead looks like it’s going to cooperate and with the offshore bite really heating up you may want to cash in on some of those sick days and get out and bend a rod! Tuesday (ESE), Wednesday (SW) & Thursday (W) all look good with lower wind. Wednesday & Thursday the wind will take a westerly turn and the chance for PM thunderstorms increase to about 50%. Friday (N), Saturday (NE) & Sunday (NE) the wind will shift out of the N/NE. Friday is currently showing scattered thunderstorm chances around 40%. Saturday & Sunday rain chances are low but the wind could pick up some compared to the beginning of the week. Overall the weather should offer many opportunities to target multiple species so get out there and make it happen captain!
Resources
GIVEAWAYS
WEEKLY STRIKE-ZONE GIVEAWAY
Each week, we’ll randomly draw a name from our email subscriber list to award a $20 Strike-Zone Fishing Gift Card. To enter, all you need to do is subscribe to our weekly forecast email (once subscribed, you’re eligible to win EVERY week).
Congrats to this week's winner, Kenneth Hannam
NOTICE: If you are announced as a winner, you must EMAIL US within 5 days to claim your prize (please include your phone number and mailing address), or your prize will be forfeited and added back into the giveaway pool for future winners.
LATEST Reports
It’s Been All About Flounder Fishing @ The Inlet
Augustine Chan and a beefy bluefish he caught while fishing at the tip of the south jetty Friday morning.
Good morning all my Sebastian Inlet fishing junkies! I hope everyone had a good weekend! Here we go with another installment of “what’s happening at the inlet”! Fishing for the most part has been a little slow, but steady no less.
For this time of the year and what’s biting with the cooler water temperatures there are fish to be caught, you just need to go and put in some time at your favorite spot. North side has been hit or miss since there isn’t a lot of area to cover except for west of the tide pool along the rocks and mangrove shorelines. Incoming tide is the best time to fish this area, unless you wade out back in the water along the shoreline, then you can fish the outgoing tide as there will be more area to cover.
The talk at the inlet has been all about the flounder fishing. Seems like this year they want to play a lot better than they did last year! The boaters drifting and anchoring along the shoreline back here are catching some nice fish up to 3-4 pounds on live finger mullet. Also being caught back here with the folks fishing sandfleas and goofy jigs are catching some nice pompano that are running the shoreline coming into the river, along with some black drum.
South side the jetty, when you can fish it and it’s not too wet is producing some black drum, sheepshead and a few pompano on shrimp, live or dead, and sandfleas, and some of the pompano are being caught on the goofy jigs when the water is cleaner and not so rough. Outgoing tide is the better option. Incoming tide along the shoreline is producing some black drum and sheepshead for those using live and dead shrimp, or sandfleas. The entire shoreline all the way back to the campground is also producing fish as well, with the main focus being on the flounder! I have heard, and seen pictures of the fish being caught back here on live finger mullet and mud minnows, most of the fish are in the 3-4 pound range, with a few pushing the 5-6 pound range!! A far cry better than what we saw last year, where most of the fish were small barely keepers, and maybe some 2 pounders. So I’m hoping that the bite continues to stay good!
On the t-dock there has been a few spanish mackerel being caught on small jigs, and some nice pompano too on the goofy jigs fished out towards the channel. Incoming tide has been the better tide for those bites. Flounder are possible here as well on live finger mullet fished close to the rocks and dock pilings. Remember folks, you do not have to throw your mullet out very far to catch flounder, most of them will be right at your feet! So fish tight to the shoreline.
Well folks, that’s it for this week. The weather is supposed to calm down a bit for the week, but the seas are going to pick back up again by the weekend. Also want to wish you ALL a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy Holiday Season!! Get out there and catch some fish!! Snookman
Expensive December!
I finally made it out to fish this week. It’s been an expensive December for me and it wasn’t the gifts that were bought but a new motor for my 2019 truck. Modern technology isn’t that great when the things they put into these expensive vehicles just don’t work as well as it should. Ok my rant is over now to the fishing.
The road to Headwaters and Stick Marsh is finally completed so the dust issue is in our past. To my surprise after the cold days we have had in the mornings the water temperatures were in the mid 70’s. Although I feel the first area we fished we had dirty water. We fished in a heavy fog bank for nearly 3 hours and not one bite so off to find better water we went. Once we did the bite was very slow and the bass weren’t eating anything we threw at them. They just didn’t want anything to do with a moving kind of lure. My friend John who I tag along with on our weekly outing finally broke the spell. Downsizing to a 4” stick bait lightly weighted was the winning ticket for bites. Once I made the switch we both started catching fish. I was also surprised that the parking lot wasn’t full either in the morning but once the holidays are in the past that will change and more northern friends will show up. I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a safe New Year. Looking forward to 2025!
Cold Front Kayak Fishing – Sam’s Creek
Roseate Spoonbills - Sam's Creek
Happy Monday Spacefish!
My last day of work before Christmas break began was Friday, so naturally a cold front pushed in with strong north winds. I was a little bummed to say the least, especially considering how fishy the weather was earlier in the week when I couldn’t get out, but hey it be that way sometimes. A few weeks ago I broke down a couple of my top winter kayak fishing spots, so I wanted to try a somewhat familiar place that I have reported on twice before, but wanted to test a hypothesis that it would be a place to go to grind it out during a cold front. The results were mixed, the highlight of my trip was some awesome bird watching, hence the cover picture.
That being said, I wasn’t shut out, I caught more fish than expected, but they were all small Trout, and 2 Ladyfish.
Sam’s Creek
So the place I fished was Sam’s Creek in Northern Merritt Island. The location for the kayak/canoe launch at Pine Island is listed as 1655 Pine Island Rd, Merritt Island, FL 32953. When you get there you will see signs for the kayak launch area and where to drive. This time of year the launch is pretty easy with the water levels being relatively low.
So this is a place that in my previous two trips was on fire, this time it was not as exciting, but to be fair it was in the onset of a cold snap with strong north winds. So I focused on the bottom stretch that runs east to west to find protection from the north wind.
Cold Weather Spot - Sam's Creek
A quick run down of this trip…I started fishing a Vudu Shrimp Black & Gold. I caught several small Trout stacked up on that elbow where the creek turns west. After 7 or 8 Trout the Shrimp got pretty chewed up so I started peppering the mangroves with a Fish, or Die Minutemen Swimbait on a screw lock hook. Hoping I could get a Snook or two out of it. I ended up catching 2 more Trout. So I backed up and started working the Vudu Shrimp again, this time in Cajun Pepper/Chartreuse. More small Trout. After 3 ish hours I went back to the Minutemen and worked the south side of the channel mangroves, which was getting a little bit of wind blown water. Again I hoped for a Snook or two, and again I caught 2 more Small Trout. At this point I started to realize I could stay out all day and catch more small Trout, or I could call it a day and come home and take a warm shower. The warm shower sounded good so I called it a day.
I Promise This Spot is Worth It
Ok so I know catching 15-20 dinky Trout is probably not the ideal pitch for Sam’s Creek, the fishing here on my last two trips was red hot, but these trips were in early spring, and early fall respectively. Which are times of year when the fishing seems to be a lot more productive for Snook and Tarpon. Both of these species can definitely be found here, and on previous trips I have found much bigger Trout than I did on this outing, though to be fair, I caught a bunch of dinky Trout on those trips too.
Tarpon fishing here is probably ideal from May-October; and the Snook are probably always there to some degree, but tend to be much more active in the warmer temps. In addition to Snook, Tarpon, and boatloads of Trout, I have also caught Red & Black Drum in Sam’s Creek as well as Ladyfish and of course a few Catfish as well.
Sam's Creek - Tarpon
Sam's Creek - Snook
Merry Christmas to All!
So without too much fishing to report on this week, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I am looking forward to fishing over the holiday break once our family that is visiting leaves town, I hope all of you get time to get out & fish as well. May Saint Nicholas bring us all good fishing weather, and low barometric pressure for Christmas!
Stay safe, enjoy time with loved ones, and have a great and blessed season of Christmas. Until next time!
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Like the song says, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year”! Christmas is here and all those Christmas presents are about to be unwrapped by anglers eager to get out on the water to try out their new rods, reels and lures.
Fortunately the Space Coast area waters are full of fish that are waiting for a chance to play tug of war with all of these new presents. Captain Justin and I have been targeting the speckled trout, small redfish and slot size black drum that are available throughout our Indian and Banana rivers over the last 20 days. You can expect a slow day, a couple of good days, and a great day of fishing as our cold fronts pass by about every four or five days apart during the wintertime. Live shrimp do the majority of the work when the fish are hiding under the mangroves branches and roots. Once they move out of this cover and start searching for small fingerling mullet along the flats a 4-inch Saltwater Assassin Sea Shad in the pilchard, mama’s 14k, silver mullet or opening night colors can be super effective. When you get a good trout bite going you may have 20 to 50-fish or more strike for you on the better days. The redfish will start to school up into small “war parties” and patrol the flats on sunny days as the warming trend kicks in. Overall it’s a really great time of year to get out and enjoy the cooler weather and catch a few fish with that brand new Christmas Present you received.
You can contact us for some available charter dates or buy that someone special a gift certificate for a Christmas, birthday or anniversary present on our website at Fineline Fishing Charters.com We are ready to get you out to catch your next memory!!
Low Waters in Mosquito Lagoon
The water has been very low. The fish have been eating smaller 3 inch paddle tales or a shrimp tipped jig working the edge to the flats. This last cold front has dropped the water to 63° but will probably warm a little bit over the holidays with highs in the 70s. Working the edges where there is mullet, speckled sea trout have been readily available using a paddle tail or a top water plug early in the morning. As we get into the new year, look for large schools of redfish and black drum to move into the flats and eat a naked shrimp or a shrimp on a jig head.
I have days available in January. You can reach me by phone or you can go right to my website Fat Fish Guide Service. Have a Merry Christmas.
East Lake Toho 12-20
Got my boat back last week and went out to East Lake from Lakefront Park and the wind was blowing more than expected so I went across the lake and fished to the left of Boggy Creek ramp along the reeds where it was a little bit calmer. Caught 3 total all weighing about a pound and a half, biggest was 1.68lbs. First one was on a Gamakatsu Willowvibe, 3/8 ounce with a white DOA paddle tail. Others were caught on a Yum Swim n Dinger in watermelon pearl 5 inch and a Zoom Craw stick in watermelon red. Fished about 2 hours then got off the lake before it got too windy, few white caps on way in rough ride.
Surf Fishing Report – Canaveral Nat’l Seashore
Good morning East Side family, not much to report this week besides continued swell and onshore winds that will be switching directions to offshore for about a day then going right back out of the north. We ventured up to Canaveral National Seashore this week to target Pompano and Whiting, the conditions were far from good but we were able to harvest some nice fish for dinner. Here are a few tips that helped us stay active on the bite.
1. Regularly check your bait. When the current is rough and the swell is high it’s hard for the fish to find your bait, so make sure the bait is on the hook and fresh (we like to tip our hooks with a piece of FishGum incase our bait gets taken or is lost on the cast).
2. Utilize Sputnik sinkers for rough surf, we had to fish 5oz Sputnik sinkers to hold bottom. You can purchase them here at pompanorich.net
3. Don’t be afraid to move or cast into a new zone, sometimes the fish can be 10-20 yards down the beach from you, but you won’t know unless you cast a line there.
All in all it was a good time hitting the beach and fishing away from our typical haunts. The fishing should improve as our conditions improve so keep an eye out for a weather window and go fishing!
Pressure Didn’t Faze Bite
There has been a little low pressure rising up from the Caribbean this past week bring us some wet and windy weather but it did seem to faze the bite. We are continuing to boat several species like trout, redfish, snook and black drum making for a great time on the water. The bite has been good on both artificials and live bait like shrimp and finger mullet. The weather looks to be good into the week of Christmas which will just secure the bite even more.
Headwaters area
Cool water temperature at 60 to 65. Fish staging to pull up on flats and the spawn will be good in January.
Shiner dunking all day artificial more fun in afternoon warmup. Jerk bait spinner baits chatter are fair. Worm fluke and plastic bite good. Dates available — let’s go get a big one!
Finding Fish & Wind Protection on the Eau Gallie River
Finding Fish & Wind Protection
Happy Monday Spacefish!
I hope everyone is having a great Holiday season so far. What an interesting weekend we just had, the weather warmed up, we had some humidity and cloud cover, but some very strong ENE winds rolled through. This made conditions in the IRL pretty choppy. I ended up getting out both days this weekend, for the first time in a while, which felt really nice. I fished two spots that served as great places to hunker down in the wind, and both spots were productive for me. I am going to break down my Saturday trip in this report, and will go into detail on Sunday’s trip for another time.
Launch Spot
My original intention was to fish Goat Creek in Grant-Valkaria. I have been getting some nice reports by members of our school anglers club about Goat Creek, however with the strong east winds on Saturday I made a late audible and went to one of my favorite haunts, the Eau Gallie River. My game plan was to launch out of Ballard Park and head south along the eastern shoreline of Elbow Creek to catch some wind protection. I was going to go down to the bridge and back, but I ended up catching so many fish in a handful of spots, I did not make it all the way down. I spent my last hour or so playing hide & seek with some Juvie Tarpon, which I could not have been more thrilled about. I have never caught Tarpon in December, and to come across some was awesome.
Trout Stacked Up
One of my favorite times to fish the Eau Gallie River is in the winter because if you have strong North winds you can head west and have wind protection, if you have East or ENE winds you can head South along Elbow Creek. But in addition to wind protection, you also have a lot more Trout in the river-spring time which can make a day of fishing a lot more enjoyable. Trout in the area can easily add 10-15 more catches per outing, especially when the Juvie’s school and stack up. Catching a bunch of little Trout is not going to land one on any brag board, but in the bleak mid-winter I really enjoy just being able to catch a higher number of fish, it just makes every outing feel worthwhile. I found two areas where the Trout were stacked up, one area was just behind Ballard, and the other area was between docks about halfway down Elbpw Creek between Ballard and the US1 bridge. The key is to find a good depth contour and be on the lookout for feeding fish. With it being more windy, and overcast and a little drizzly at times, I took the rod/reel set up I have been using to fish the Vudu Shrimp and switched it out for a hard bait, which is something I don’t fish a lot. Because I am not a hard bait guy per se, I don’t spend much on them, I have 2 Bomber Bait Bonanza that I got from Walmart for like 3 bucks. I have a Holographic/Chartreuse one, and a RedHead/Holographic White body one. I exchanged the weak terminal tackles on these cheap baits with VMC 1/0 Single Inline hooks, and Owner brand stainless steel split rings. I was able to catch roughly 15 small trout fishing this bait around the docks and depth contours, I also caught a Jack Crevalle and a Ladyfish while trolling this bait as well.
Trout - Bomber Bait Bonanza
Baby Snooklets in the Mangroves
So I ended up catching 2 babies and one “fun sized” 20ish inch Snook. I got absolutely smoked in my 1st 20 minutes or so by a large mangrove mama right behind Ballard. I was using pretty beefed up tackle for winter, I had 15 pound braid, and 30 pound fluorocarbon with a 40 pound bite tippet tied on the end. With the lower water levels in the winter, sometimes these Snook will be way back in the mangroves and it’s accessible to reach them with good skip casting, but harder to get them out and even with the heavier than usual tackle I couldn’t get her out, I got wrapped up and broken off.
But down closer to the Buddha dock I caught 2 smaller ones, and under the next dock south I caught one around 20-22 inches. I included a picture of one of the babies below because it had some really cool markings, something had tried to get it, either a Bull Shark or a Dolphin and it had lived to tell its tale.
*Buddha Dock = Long Dock with a Buddha Statue, across from the Boathouse.
Baby Snook - Bite Marks
All of the Snook bites came on a Saltwater Assassin SW Shad in Magic Grass. This is a cool colorway, with deep purple and green and a chartreuse tail. I just rigged it on a 3/0 EWG Worm hook. I just picked up a pack of 50 H2O Express brand hooks from Academy Sports last weekend for like 8 bucks. Great value and these hooks are pretty strong too. This bait rigged weightless and weedless may be one of the best skipping presentations I have ever assembled, and it has great action. I love going weightless in the winter time because these baits have a slow and enticing fall rate.
Saltwater Assassin - Magic Grass
Tarpon is December?!? Merry Christmas!
The pleasant surprise of the trip was finding some Juvenile Tarpon that wanted to play. The first one I caught was a complete surprise. I saw something blow up on the corner of the mangroves just north of the Buddha dock. I skipped the Magic Grass Jerkbait under those mangrove, felt an immediate thump and set the hook. After losing that previous Snook I had the drag tightened up to the max, and was ready for battle. I immediately started back-pedaling towards open water, and with a medium heavy rod, 15 braid to 40 fluorocarbon with a tight drag set on a 4000 Penn Reel I whooped this poor little baby Tarpon in seconds. I actually felt kind of bummed I didn’t even get a jump out of him.
Juvenile Tarpon on the Salwater Assassin Magic Grass
So after that, I went with my Light action rod and threw around a Tsunami 2 inch SaltX Swim Shad with 8 pound braid tied to 15 Fluorocarbon. Within minutes I hooked up with another Juvie between the Buddha dock and the mangroves who displayed some spectacular aerial jumps and moves before spitting the bait, and then in that stretch of mangroves north of the dock with all of the jetskis that sprays you with water if you get too close I hooked up with another baby Tarpon and after a few exciting jumps I got him into the net. I thought this was a really cool picture of the little Tarpon set against the backdrop of fall foliage in the trees.
So one thing I do want to say about these Tarpon is that I never saw any rolling like I would see in the summertime. I hooked them all blind casting. The best advice I can give is be on the lookout for things blasting smaller fry baitfish, as well as be mindful when you are retrieving lures for “Tarpon taps” if you feel like your bait is being tapped then slow down, but also be ready to switch to smaller profile baits.
EGR December Baby Tarpon
Conclusion
While this trip lacked brag worthy quality fish, it made up for with quantity and variety. Winter fishing can be slow and tedious especially for those that like to power fish artificial lures. So I will gladly take a trip like this where I caught lots of fish, and caught 5 different species. I think the recent warming trend, cloudy skies and rise of humidity was a welcome change that really fired up the bite. Fingers crossed we get good conditions as we approach Christmas!
Thank you for taking the time to read this report, and make sure to stop in at Kayaks By Bo in Cocoa to do any last minute Christmas shopping. They have good deals running on everything in store. Go check them out!
Stay safe, be happy, may you and your family enjoy a very Merry Christmas. Take care and God bless. Until next time!
EFP Snapper Program
We got to fish for red snapper last week as part of the EFP Snapper program. Needless to say everywhere we went we caught a red snapper of large size. These were the first red snapper over the rails. We managed 1 gag in the mix and 1 set of red grouper lips lol. The rest was taken by very large bull sharks.
Headwaters Bass Fishing
The water temp is 63 degrees when we started this morning. The canal is blocked just below the cut into the north lake.
Top baits this week for me were the Bass Assassin RSB worms, Jackhammers, Lure Concept Spinnerbaits and the Mike Bucca 6″ Trick Shad in Gizzard Shad color.
I’m fishing the Bass Assassin RSB worms with an 3/8oz weight due to the high winds lately. The fish are in the hydrilla near spawning flats. I’m using a 5/0 VMC Redline EWG hook. I like letting these sink to the bottom and pull it along the bottom fairly slow.
I’m fishing the Green Pumpkin Jackhammers along hydrilla edges in water 5’ or less. I only use a 1/2oz with a Zako trailer to match or a Bass Assassin Whoopa Craw to match. I’m concentrating on the wind blown sides of the grass lines.
The 6″ Mike Bucca Trick Shad in Gizzard Shad color is my go to swimbait this week. I’m fishing these along thick grass edges near deep sharp drops or cuts near main canals. It is a fish catcher and it will work all over Headwaters. Swim these just under the surface for best results. Get on the Bullshad email mailing list so you can get the bait drop info.
I’m fishing a white Lure Concept 1/2oz spinnerbait with no trailer along the same structure I’m fishing my chatterbaits. The wind blown side of the grass seems to be the deal.
If you want to catch a bunch of fish pick up some shiners and free line them in deep water areas.
Call or text me at 304-610-6066 to book a trip of a lifetime. I have some outstanding guides that work for me that have availability as well.
Tight lines!
CAUGHT ON CAMERA
CATCH A BIG SMILE WITH JASIN YOUMANS DMD!
LOCAL EVENTS
The FSFA North Chapter Meeting is at Veterans Memorial Center 400 S. Sykes Creek Parkway, Merritt Island (behind Merritt Square Mall). Capt. Alex Hughey will be talking about fishing the Indian River. Social time starts at 6:30. Meeting starts at 7:00. Food and drink available for a donation.
SEE YOU NEXT TUESDAY!
Don’t forget, if you’ve been fishing, we’d love to hear from you!
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