Cool water temperature at 60 t0 65
Fish staging to pull up on flats and 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

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.

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!

We’ve had good action in the lagoon. Plenty of trout and a decent snook bite even though they are smaller fish. There are some redfish and black drum being caught in the inlet, shrimp and croakers have been the best baits. The flounder bite has been decent, as well.

Fishing for sheepshead and snapper in the lagoon has been pretty good as well and the pompano have been on the flats too. Nearshore, some pompano and mackerel as well as blues and jacks when we can get out with some blacktips and spinner sharks following the macs and blues and jacks. Looking for some warmer weather this week and strong winds according to the forecast.

The fishing should be pretty decent if you can get out of the wind.

Kim shows-off the first of several trout we caught near a mangrove shoreline!

Guides often get charter requests where the client doesn’t care what we target. I find it refreshing and always enjoy these trips. It’s not unusual for me to start with a simple jig or spoon and see “what happens” and it gives me a few minutes to assess the clients casting abilities. If the jacks, ladyfish and trout are active, we might stay with this routine. If the constant casting is bothersome for the clients we’ll change up and grab the live shrimp rods and go “old school”, in essence, feeding the fish.

Dave kept a handful of sheepshead, then left them biting as we switched gear to try for tripletail!

Recently, I received a request to target sheepshead. Not my first request for these tasty striped critters, but the first in a long time. I replied to Dave that his request was perfectly timed and ensured him we’d be able to catch a few and maybe more than a few. Though the bite started slowly as we waited on the tide to get moving, it only took a very short time to catch enough fish for a couple of great meals. I was surprised at Dave’s request to stop catching convict fish and try for tripletail instead.

Off we went, leaving the sheepshead biting hard, to inspect every crab trap buoy and channel marker in our immediate area. We failed a boating any trips, but Dave did get bit a couple of times and he even saw the flash of one of the TTs that bit his live shrimp.

So, in one half day charter, my client learned a whole bunch about targeting two completely different species of excellent table-fare fish. I hope I didn’t teach him too much, I’m really looking forward to fishing with Dave again!

Kim and I scouted the backwater jungles of North Fort Pierce recently. The snook we were hoping for were hiding way back in the mangroves as is typical during high water periods. We did manage several spotted seatrout that were stacked up along one particular mangrove shoreline. They eagerly ate our
Zman four inch Diezel Minnowz in a variety of colors!

A lone angler and his feathered companion stake out the breakwater at the Sebastian Inlet tidepool.

Good morning, Sebastian Inlet fishing fans. I hope everyone had a good weekend, despite the winds! This is another short report because the high winds and huge surf at the inlet for the last few days have made it difficult to fish some areas — especially the south jetty where it has been wet and wild! This week isn’t going to be much better, until the weekend possibly.

The fishing on both side of the inlet west of the bridge has been hit-or-miss, but there have been fish caught in small numbers. Over the weekend, the water quality and clarity looked great, but was still pretty chilly at 66 degrees. Along the shorelines west of the bridge, north side, there were reports of whiting and sheepshead being caught back in the area of the steel on live and dead shrimp. West of that area, back by the mangroves, anglers were catching small undersized snook on live shrimp and thumper jigs. Everything was too small, but still fun.

On the south side, west of the bridge, there were a couple anglers catching sheepshead on dead shrimp and sand fleas; either tide was good — you just had to find the fish. I did talk to a couple guys who saw some flounder caught back there on live finger mullet. The three fish they saw caught were in the three to four-pound range, with one they heard about in the 10-pound range! I’m hoping that this year will be a better flounder bite, because last year was horrible.

Near the cleaning station on either tide, black drum and sheepshead are possible on live and dead shrimp. At the T-dock, with the cleaner water, Spanish mackerel have shown up on small white jigs. Around the north side in the back of the inlet in the intercoastal, there have been reports of a good pompano bite on shrimp and goofy jigs, along with spotted sea trout on swim baits and live baits, but you can’t keep them until January 1. Good fishing for kayakers and boaters.

That’s all I have for now. We need the weather to calm back down, and it will get better. Reminder: Snook season is now CLOSED until February 1. Have a great week, everyone!

The fishing has been absolutely on fire lately! The sheepshead bite has been particularly hot, with several catches exceeding 20 inches. As we progress deeper into the season, I expect the action to only intensify.

For those targeting sheepshead, be sure to focus on structure like docks, pilings, and rocky areas. Effective baits include mangrove crabs, sand fleas, and shrimp.

In addition to the exceptional sheepshead fishing, I’ve also been enjoying some fantastic snook action in the area. By working small lures slowly just off the mangroves, we’ve been catching some impressive snook, as well as a few bonus trout.

As we head into the coming week, I’m excited to see the fishing continue to improve. With the sheepshead and snook bites already going strong, it’s shaping up to be an incredible season.

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.

As the weather consistently keeps changing from hot to cold the fish have settled into their winter time pattern. Look for the redfish, trout and black drum to holding in and around the sand holes and mud bottoms. Smaller baits and slower action has worked well with the crystal clear low water conditions we currently have. Small artificial’s like soft plastics and spoons have been working well along with cut bait and shrimp . It looks as though we have another cold front moving into the New Smyrna Beach and Mosquito Lagoon area by the the end of the week which will secure them in their winter time pattern.

Last week’s cool front changed landscape. High winds and low temps have made mats move and hydrilla shrink back. These are new areas to target.
Shiner dunking has still been producing and artificial bite has been better in heating up period of day… The high pressure dictates close to cover. Full moon will continue to push fish up from deep onto flats. It’s a temperature and moon thing. Gotta go to get em still have dates in December

Our guide Matt with a beautiful Black Drum

What’s up East Side family! We have a little bit of a rough week setting up high winds and surf this coming Wednesday 12/11 until at least Monday 12/16. Best bets to catch a fish will be finding clean water, and manageable surf.

We will have to switch from fishing light pyramid sinkers into fishing Sputnik sinkers to hold bottom. We start with 3oz and move up to 5oz or 6oz if needed. Don’t be afraid of rough surf and high winds, these conditions typically trigger a feeding pattern if you can locate the fish. Another tip to get past the wind is to drop down from a standard Double dropper rig to a single drop. These rigs are more aerodynamic and cast further than your standard pompano rig due to less drag from additional lines, bait and hardware.

Here’s one of our clients from last week Friday with a nice Melbourne Permit

We hope to see some quality fishing during this stir up but we’ll take what we can get with this seasons weather patterns. Tight lines and good fishing!