WEEKLY FORECAST
9.9.2025 – 9.15.2025
CENTRAL FLORIDA’S BEST FISHING REPORT
We've reached a clear consensus: the fall mullet run is here!
The weather’s still warm, but Fall is here! The mullet run is pretty much at full throttle. We’e seeing bait fish by the droves in the inlets and on the beach. It’s happening, GET IN HERE!
WEATHER & CONDITIONS
BITE OPPORTUNITY INDEX
OFFSHORE
INSHORE
SURF
FRESHWATER
Weather Overview
Except for Tuesday (SSE) and the first half of Wednesday (SSW) the wind will be predominantly out of the NNE this week. The wind will be fairly light until Thursday when it increases and will most likely stay that way throughout the weekend. Rain chances are highest Wednesday (62%) and Thursday (74%) but be prepaid for rain any day this week. With winds out of the NNE, expect our high temperatures to be in the mid to upper 80’s this week. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some cooler weather.
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, Philip Pearce, Orlando
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
The Surf’s Got IT ALL
Man oh man, it was an absolutely epic weekend fishing the surf. Conditions are ripe. The beaches are loaded with bait, and the fish are busting the surface up and down the coast. Tarpon? Check. Snook? Check. Pompano? Check. Boat? NO BOAT NEEDED. You can catch the biggest thrills and the most delicious table fare right now with two feet planted firmly on the sandy beach.
On a single afternoon charter Saturday, we did just that. Keeper pompano, giant mojarrah, whiting, catfish, AND… a 6ft ~140lb tarpon (a tale for later this week)! This group from west Texas had the fishing experience of a lifetime, that’s for sure. Shout out to my boy, trip MVP, Clayton, for hanging tight for the 90 minute battle with this magnificent monster!
ICAST 2026: The New Baits Actually Worth Your Attention
ICAST 2026 Central Florida Special: The New Baits Actually Worth Your Attention
Happy Monday Spacefish!
Last week the Spacefish crew went over to iCast. I went to Orlando with a simple question in mind when looking at all the new products being unveiled. Does any of this actually make fishing better for the average Central Florida angler?
Not…“Is it cool?”
Not… “Is it expensive?”
But rather…
- Will it help someone catch more redfish, snook, seatrout, or bass?
- Is it worth the money?
- Is it solving a real problem?
- Is it something I’d actually recommend to a friend?
ICAST handed out awards across 39 different product categories this year. Rods. Reels. Electronics. Boats. Sunglasses. Apparel. Storage. Accessories. The list goes on. But here’s the reality..Most of us don’t need 39 categories of new fishing products.
We need products that help us catch more fish. That’s why this review isn’t going to cover every award winner. Plenty of outlets will happily tell you about the newest electronics, the latest premium rod, or another must-have accessory that somehow costs more than your first kayak.
That’s not why I was there. As someone who spends most of his time fishing the Indian River Lagoon, the Banana River, Mosquito Lagoon, the St. Johns River, Stickmarsh and the Kissimmee Chain, I wanted to find products that the average weekend angler could realistically buy, tie on, and fish.
To me, that made the Freshwater and Saltwater Soft Bait categories the most interesting place to start. Unlike a $3,000 electronics package or a high-end rod and reel combo, a new lure is accessible. Whether you fish from a kayak, a skiff, a jon boat, or the shoreline, everyone buys baits. Better yet, a genuinely innovative lure can make an immediate difference without requiring a second mortgage or a software update.
That doesn’t mean every new bait deserves the hype. The fishing industry, like many others, has become crowded with copycats, gimmicks, and products that promise far more than they deliver. My goal isn’t to celebrate everything that’s new. It’s to identify the handful of products that actually offer something useful for anglers here in Central Florida.
So instead of reviewing all 39 award categories, I’m narrowing my focus to the products I believe have the best chance of ending up tied to the end of my line. Let’s take a look at the new baits that stood out, and more importantly, whether they’re worth a spot in your tackle box.
New Bait #1: Fishbites Fight Club Mini Mawler
Fight Club Mini Mawler
Category: Saltwater Soft Bait
One of the first products that caught my eye at ICAST wasn’t a new electronic, a high-dollar rod, or another gadget promising to change fishing forever. It was a simple 3.5-inch dart bait, called the Mini Mawler.
At first glance, it looks familiar, and that’s not a bad thing. The Mini Mawler is a slim, twitch-style bait infused with Fishbites’ proven scent technology. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, Fishbites took one of the most versatile bait profiles in fishing and asked a simple question: How can we make it better?
To me, that’s exactly the kind of innovation the fishing industry needs more of. For anglers fishing the Indian River Lagoon, Mosquito Lagoon, Sebastian Inlet, or the mangrove creeks around the Space Coast, I can immediately think of several applications. Rig it on a light jighead and it should be right at home targeting spotted seatrout over grass flats, redfish cruising shorelines, juvenile tarpon rolling through the creeks, or snook around mangrove edges and docks. Its slender but compact profile should also skip exceptionally well beneath docks and mangroves – something I spend a lot of time doing.
The addition of Fishbites’ scent technology is what separates it from the dozens of similar twitch baits already on the market. We’ve all had fish bump a lure, short-strike it, or let go just before the hookset. If scent convinces a fish to hold on for another second, that can be the difference between a missed opportunity and a fish in the net.
What impressed me just as much, however, is where and how it’s made. The Mini Mawler is manufactured right here in Florida and is biodegradable; two features that deserve more attention than they often receive. As anglers who spend countless hours on the Indian River Lagoon and Florida’s other fisheries, we should appreciate companies that are thinking about the waters we fish, not just the products they sell. In a marketplace increasingly filled with overseas manufactured copycat baits, it’s refreshing to see a Florida company continuing to develop products locally while also considering their environmental impact.
Is the Mini Mawler a revolutionary new lure? Nope, and it doesn’t need to be. Sometimes the best innovation isn’t creating another gimmick. It’s taking a lure profile anglers already trust, improving it in meaningful ways, building it here at home, and offering it at a price that everyday fishermen can afford. This is exactly the kind of product I hoped to find at ICAST. It’s practical, affordable, environmentally conscious, and designed for the species Central Florida anglers actually target.
Knox’s Score: 4.8/5
New Bait #2: Z-Man MudStudZ
Z-Man MudStudZ
Category: Saltwater Soft Bait
If the Fishbites Mini Mawler impressed me because of its simplicity, the Z-Man MudStudZ caught my attention because it was built around one of the most overlooked baitfish in our estuaries, the mud minnow.
Spend enough time fishing the Indian River Lagoon, Mosquito Lagoon, or the marshes around Merritt Island, and you quickly realize that not everything keyed in on by gamefish is a finger mullet. Mud minnows, killifish, and other small marsh baitfish are an important part of the food chain, especially for redfish, snook, juvenile tarpon, and even seatrout in shallow water.
That’s exactly what Z-Man set out to imitate. Unlike many paddletails that rely on exaggerated tails and wide body rolls, the MudStudZ has a compact, natural profile with subtle movement that better resembles the way a real mud minnow swims. It isn’t designed to overpower fish with vibration; it’s designed to fool them with realism.
As someone who spends a lot of time sight-fishing shallow water from a kayak, I can immediately picture throwing this around oysters, mangrove shorelines, and muddy bottom creeks in the winter.
Another advantage is that it’s built with Z-Man’s proven ElaZtech material, meaning it should outlast many traditional soft plastics. While the initial price may be slightly higher than some competitors, the durability often means one bait survives for much longer than a traditional plastisol bait. That’s real value, not just marketing.
One of the themes I kept coming back to throughout ICAST was asking whether a product solves a real problem. In this case, I think the answer is yes. Rather than creating another copy of an existing swimbait, Z-Man focused on imitating a forage species that many anglers overlook but predators see every day.
The MudStudZ isn’t flashy, but it fills a niche that many lure companies ignore while offering the durability Z-Man has become known for. For Central Florida anglers who enjoy inshore fishing fishing in shallow water, and who would enjoy a swimbait option designed for bottom contact that does not get hung up on structure as much as a traditional paddle tail with a jig, this is one of the more intriguing new soft baits I saw at ICAST.
Knox’s Verdict: 4.5/5
New Bait #3: Snag Proof Zoo Wag
Snag Proof Zoo Wag
Category: Freshwater Soft Lure
Some of the best ideas at ICAST weren’t entirely new, they were familiar ideas adapted to solve an old problem. That’s exactly what I thought when I saw the Snag Proof Zoo Wag.
Anyone who’s spent time bass fishing has probably heard of, or thrown, the legendary Arbogast Jitterbug. Its signature “plop-plop-plop” across the surface has been calling up bass for generations. The downside, of course, is that traditional treble-hooked topwaters and heavy Florida vegetation don’t always get along.
The Zoo Wag changes that. Instead of exposed trebles, the Zoo Wag is a hollow-body, weedless topwater built around the same concept of creating surface commotion while allowing anglers to throw it into places a Jitterbug simply couldn’t go. Lily pads, hydrilla, Kissimmee grass, reeds, and matted vegetation suddenly become fair game.
For Florida anglers, that’s a big deal. Our biggest bass often live in the nastiest cover on the lake. Traditional walking baits and buzzbaits excel in more open water, while frogs dominate heavy vegetation. The Zoo Wag seems to carve out an interesting middle ground by combining the surface disturbance of a classic Jitterbug with the snag-resistant design of a hollow-body frog.
I can picture throwing this across pad fields, along reed lines, over submerged hydrilla or topped out grass in shallow water when bass have moved up to feed before or after spawning. That unique wobbling action could be especially effective on warm summer mornings and evenings when bass are looking up.
Will it replace my favorite hollow-body frog? Probably not. Will it replace a traditional Jitterbug? Probably not, either. But I don’t think it’s trying to. Instead, it offers anglers another topwater presentation they simply haven’t had before; a weedless bait that produces a different sound and action than the countless frogs already on the market. That’s meaningful innovation because it expands our options instead of duplicating what’s already available.
The Zoo Wag was one of the more creative freshwater products I found at ICAST. It respects one of fishing’s most iconic topwater lures while updating it for the vegetation-choked lakes that define bass fishing in Florida. If it delivers that classic Jitterbug-style surface commotion without constantly hanging in the grass, I think it has the potential to become a favorite among Florida bass anglers.
Knox’s Verdict: 4.5/5
New Bait #4: MirrOlure C23MR High Pitch Dine
MirrOlure C23MR High Pitch Dine
Category: Saltwater Hard Lure
If there was one bait at ICAST that immediately made me stop and pay attention, it was the new MirrOlure C23MR High Pitch Dine. Part of that is because I’m already a believer in the MirrOdine hard baits.
Over the years, the MirrOdine has earned a permanent place in my tackle box. I’ve relied on it for post-front seatrout, suspended redfish, and snook when a slow, subtle presentation is the difference between getting skunked and putting together a memorable day. Simply put, it catches fish. So when MirrOlure announced a new version with an updated sound, I wanted to know whether it was a genuine improvement or simply another variation on a proven lure.
The biggest difference is in the name: High Pitch Dine. MirrOlure redesigned the internal chamber to produce a higher-frequency rattle than the traditional MirrOdine. While that might sound like a small tweak, sound is one of the most overlooked variables in lure design. Fish don’t just see our lures; they hear and feel them through their lateral line.
In our inshore waters, that subtle change could be meaningful. There are just days when one sound profile simply gets more attention than another. Just as anglers change lure colors to match conditions, having another acoustic option gives us one more tool to experiment with when fish are being selective.
What I appreciate most is that MirrOlure didn’t try to reinvent one of the most successful inshore lures ever made. They refined it. Too often “innovation” in the fishing industry means making products bigger, flashier, or more complicated. The High Pitch Dine takes a different approach. It keeps the same suspending profile, same proven action, and same versatility that anglers already trust while offering another variable to help dial in the bite.
Will it outfish the original every day? Probably not. But there will almost certainly be days when fish show a preference for one sound over another, just as they do with color, size, or retrieve cadence. Having both versions in your tackle box gives anglers another opportunity to unlock a pattern instead of simply tying on the same lure every trip.
The High Pitch Dine isn’t a replacement for the classic MirrOdine, it’s a complement to it. For anglers who already appreciate what the MirrOdine does, this feels like a thoughtful evolution rather than a gimmick. That’s exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to find at ICAST.
Knox’s Verdict: 4.3/5
New Bait #5: Scum Frog Scum Runner
Scum Frog Scum Runner
Category: Freshwater Soft Lure
If you’ve spent any time bass fishing Florida, you know that some of the best fish live in places designed to steal your lures. Hydrilla. Kissimmee grass. Pepper grass. Pads. Reeds. The list can go on and on!
That’s exactly where the Scum Frog Scum Runner caught my attention. At first glance, it looks like another bluegill swimbait, and admittedly, the market isn’t hurting for bluegill imitators. But the more I looked at it, the more I realized this bait is trying to solve a problem instead of simply looking pretty on a tackle shop peg.
The Scum Runner combines a lifelike baitfish profile with a soft, double-curly tail and a weedless design that allows anglers to fish it where bass live and ambush prey. Florida bass don’t spend much time in open water, they live in the thick stuff.
The Scum Runner is designed to go into those places without constantly hanging up, giving anglers the ability to present a topwater profile where big bass are looking to ambush prey in a vulnerable position.
I can picture this bait being fished over spawning beds in the spring, buzzing it over hydrilla, through eelgrass lanes, beside cattails, or pitching it into holes in lily pads. That twin-tail design creates a bubble trail and has an enticing noise when being buzzed across the water.
Another thing I appreciate is that this lure doesn’t rely on technology or gimmicks to sell itself. It simply recognizes a biological truth: big Florida bass eat bluegill and shad, a lot of them. Building a lure that can realistically imitate that forage while remaining weedless feels like a thoughtful approach to a very real challenge.
I can absolutely see it becoming a specialty topwater bait for targeting bigger bass in heavy vegetation, especially on lakes in the Kissimmee Chain, where fishing the cover is important. The Scum Runner doesn’t reinvent bass fishing, but it does address one of the biggest challenges Florida anglers face: presenting a topwater over heavy cover. That’s the kind of practical innovation I was hoping to see at ICAST.
Knox’s Verdict: 4.0/5
Conclusion
After two days of walking the floor at ICAST, one thing became clear to me. Innovation isn’t dead. It’s just not always where the biggest crowds are. The products that impressed me most weren’t necessarily the most expensive, the flashiest, or the ones with the largest booths. They were the ones that solved real problems. A biodegradable lure made in Florida. A swimbait that imitates an overlooked forage fish. A classic suspending bait refined with a new sound profile. A weedless buzzing bait for heavy cover. A topwater that reimagines one of fishing’s all-time classics.
None of these products promise to replace time on the water. None claim to make experience obsolete. And most importantly, none require you to finance your next fishing trip. Instead, they embrace what I believe fishing should always be about: understanding fish, matching the forage, reading the conditions, and choosing the right tool for the job.
That’s the kind of innovation I’ll continue looking for. Because at the end of the day, the best fishing product isn’t the one with the loudest marketing campaign or the highest price tag. It’s the one that earns a permanent place in your tackle box.
Beach Upwelling
This past week is continued to have really good tarpon bite, and a really good trout bite for those looking for red fish. You can find them tailing in the grass flats where you find clear water.
We do have a slide upwelling along the beach this week with the predominantly southeast winds it’s pushed some 70° water up the coast which will affect the tarpon bite along the beach, but could really turn it on in the River sections.
I have days available this month if you wanna give me a call at 386-295-5991 or you can go right to my website.
Snook on Fire!
It’s summertime and the weather isn’t the only thing that’s hot this week. Snook at the Sebastian Inlet and at Port Canaveral have been on fire.
My anglers have landed a dozen fish over 38-inches in the past few trips either a 41-inch giant leading the catches.
Live baits have been best in the daytime with Menhaden, Pilchard, and Croaker being the top three that the snook have been eating.
We’ve landed a few fish around some of the shore wrecks as well when dropping live baits down on them.
Tarpon and King mackerel have been the other two species that we’ve been catching while slow trolling Menhaden in the 15 to 40-foot depth outside of Canaveral. Most of the kings have been small this week -less than 20 pounds.
The tarpon have been a lot bigger this week than they have in the previous weeks with most of the fish in the 115 to 140-pound range
We’ve also had mullet running up the beach, which usually signals the main portion of the tarpon run is here. As these Bait fish move north, the tarpon will feed on them in the surf zones and once we get our first Tropical depression swell these mullet will normally turn and head back south, which is the beginning of the late summer early fall mullet run
This is one of the most exciting times of the year and one of the busiest for my charter business.
If you’re interested in getting involved in the Mullet run, you can go to my website www.finelinefishingcharters.com and book your trip on my secure reservation page.
The best action usually starts during the last week of August through the second week of October. This is when you will want to book at least one and possibly multiple excursions to hit the main part of the run.
Let’s go catch your next memory!
All Fishing Stuff Overload!
I really don’t have much of a fishing report for this week. Last week was full of Lab work and Dr. visits for me at the beginning of the week. Thursday I was gifted the opportunity to visit the World Famous ICAST. To me the trade show was very overwhelming with All Fishing Stuff Overload to say the least. A big shout out to all the vendors for the hard work that they put forth to bring there companies items to be presented for the retailers to see and hopefully stock their retails stores with for the consumer to buy. By the weeks end I did wet a line out on the Lagoon with friends. It was a very slow bite but eventually we stopped at one of the many islands our Lagoon has and found a good trout bite to save our day. This week should be a good week for my freshwater bite I hope coming up on next weeks full moon.
Fish Biting on Both Sides @ INLET
It’s THE SNOOKMAN!
Hey there all you Sebastian Inlet fans and anglers! I hope you all enjoyed the great weekend we had. Good news, the fish are starting to show up, and bite! Both sides of the inlet! Plenty of baitfish around, greenies, majorra, and schools of mullet in the late afternoons. The water WAS clean, but over the weekend it got a bit dirty, but still cleaner than it has been, and it should stay pretty decent as looks like this week is going to be pretty nice, SSE winds in the 5-10 range, and seas in the 0-2 ft range, according to my surf reports I monitor, and water temps holding in the 81-84 degree range, which is good for this time of year. The only down side of it all is that most of the fish I saw, and I caught last week were on the incoming high tide phase, which is getting later and later as the week progresses. With all that being said, here are your “action” spots.
North Jetty…
Over here like I mentioned, most of the fish have been caught on the incoming tide. Lots of really nice catch and release snook were being caught on live shrimp, croakers, majorra, and as always, the artificial shrimp jigs, but the majority of the snook have been on live shrimp. They DO get fussy once in a while and only want one bait in particular. That’s what makes them such a challenge. I fished last Wednesday and hooked 10, and landed 7 of those with one monster weighing about 30 pounds. Most of the fish caught that day were bruisers in the 18–22-pound range, 38-40 inches, with a couple pushing the 22-30 pound range. Big girls, and they were pretty tough to land. Also on the incoming tide over the weekend, I saw a few really nice mangrove snappers caught on small shrimp and live and dead greenies around the rocks at the tip, and in the piling’s inlet side of the jetty. Also around the tip, one of my friends was catching some nice lookdowns on tiny shrimp and small greenies. Incoming tide. The outgoing tide the fishing was a bit slower due mostly to the stained ICW water coming out and shutting the bite down. Lot fresh water from all the rain runoff coming out of Sebastian River into the inlet. Some snook and reds were caught on croakers and majorra, and a few of the big jack crevalle that were chasing the schools of mullet. Friday when I was down, and again on Sunday I did see a few nice 16-18 inch spanish mackerel caught on live greenies, incoming tide, beach side, live greenies and spoons. Also on that side of the jetty over the past week I have seen a few big barracuda swimming around looking for a quick snack. One of my friends was fishing for spanish on last Wednesday with a silver spoon and enticed a 47 inch Cuda to hit it! That was fun to watch. Moving on, back around the bait shop area to the cleaning table, on the late afternoon tide there have been schools mullet coming in and the monster jack crevalle have been busting them up! Freelined mullet and top water poppers and 5-6 inch swim baits were getting bit by them. Most of these fish were in the 15-25 pound range! Quite the good fight. For those fishing live shrimp, majorra and greenies, there have been some decent mangrove snappers caught as well. 12-14 inch range on them. Remember, they have to be a minimum of 10 inches overall to be harvested, with a daily bag limit of 5 per person, per day.
South Jetty
For those who are willing to walk the 7 tenths of a mile from the south day use area, up to the jetty, I did get and update from one of my guys who does fish there, on what’s biting. Most of it is the regular species, black margate, small sheepshead, some whiting, spot tail pins, and a few really nice mangrove snapper, all on cut dead shrimp, outgoing and incoming tide. Also being caught on the outgoing at the tip are the jack crevalle, any kind of bait will get them to bite. Incoming along the shoreline the boaters have been catching some catch and release snook on any live bait, croakers being the best.
T-Dock Area
The section of the dock that is open, and the surrounding area has been producing some small sheepshead, mangrove snapper, lane snapper, and a few nice whiting, all on dead cut shrimp around the pilings and the rocks. Either tide has been good. There have been a few snook caught back here, but most of the action has been out front in the inlet.
Surf Area, both sides…
Again, as last week, nobody has been fishing the areas because on the north side, dur to the huge sandbar, there isn’t any water in the surf to fish properly, south side, there is no access due to the parking lot being off limits, and the guys walking up the beach have been fishing the jetty, and not the surf.
Well everyone, that’s all for this week, better than what it has been, and should continue to get better as the mangrove snapper and spanish mackerel move in, those two species are our summertime go to catches. I hope you all have a great week! Stay safe, and stay well!! Snookman.
Hit or Miss Past Week
Spent a couple days at icast seeing new products and meeting business partners. Rapala has come out with some new saltwater soft plastics that I’m looking forward to put to the test. Only bad thing is that most of the new products aren’t available till December or January.
The rest of the week of fishing was hit or miss. The beach was a little slow as the bait has spread out and the fish are on the move as well. The water has been extremely clean and clear with top to bottom visibility. There’s been schools to big jacks as well as some schools of tarpon on the beach. The jacks are spawning and can be tough to get to eat a live bait or artificial. The tarpon and kingfish have been tough as well as the winds picked up late week and made the beach a little rough. This week, the tides will be good and should offer some good fishing off the beach as the winds are slowing down and the beach bite should be good again.
🎣 Headwaters Lake Fishing Report
Water temperatures started around 84° this morning. The topwater bite has been excellent early, with the first two hours producing some quality fish. Don’t sleep on a Baby Torpedo!!!
As the morning progresses, anglers are finding success with subsurface presentations, including chatterbaits, swimbaits, and speed worms.
⸻
🏆 Top Producers
⭐ Gambler Big EZ�🎨 Red Ear | Copperfield | Gold Shiner�• Best on clear-water flats with scattered hydrilla
⭐ Z-Man EVO ChatterBait (1/2 oz)�🎨 Bluegill | Clearwater Shad�• Best in 5 feet of water or less with scattered grass�• Runs clean through hydrilla�• Pair with Forktail or Zako-style trailers
⭐ Bass Assassin RSB Worm�🎨 Junebug Blue Tail | Gooseberry | Black Blue Flake�• Fish weightless or with a 1/16 oz weight�• 5/0 VMC Redline EWG hook
⭐ Mike Bucca 5” & 6” Trick Shad�🎨 Gizzard | Bone�• Target grass lines near drops and canal edges�• Excellent choice for targeting larger bass
⸻
🎣 Book a Headwaters Trip
☀️ Summer Special – $350 for 2 anglers�⏰ 3-hour fishing trip
📞 772-494-7400 | 304-610-6066�📧 captainbhass@gmail.com�📩 Facebook Messenger
🔗 Featured Products
• Bullshad Baits: Bullshad.com
�• Ande Black (Graphite) Braid: andemonofilament.com/products/braid
�• Bass Assassin: BassAssassin.com
📸 Photos from this past week below
🔥 Summer dates are filling fast! Message me today to reserve your Headwaters trip before the best dates are gone.
The Word is Hot!
The word for the week here in the New Smyrna Beach area has been hot, not only has the weather been hot but the bite has been as well. We have getting our standard afternoon summer thunderstorms this past week which looks as though it will continue into next week as well. These storms are not a bad thing as they are cooling the water temperature’s throughout the shallow water of Mosquito Lagoon and backwaters of New Smyrna Beach. The deep water bite throughout the intracoastal of Daytona Beach has been steady with a mix bag of species chewing. Moving southward into New Smyrna Beach and Mosquito Lagoon the bait has been plentiful in the backwaters and on the shallow flats. Look for the pods of bait early as the fish have been fairly shallow until the sun gets higher. As the sun gets higher moving to the deeper edges have been working well for all species like trout, redfish, black drum and others. Live bait and artificials have been working well throughout the day. Plugs and spoons early then moving to soft plastics later in the morning. Live bait like finger mullet, pinfish and shrimp have all been a go to bait for bites.
Tarpon in Full Swing
Space coast tarpon season is in full swing! Calm winds and afternoon showers with insane humidity and warm temps is tarpon weather at its finest, every year from the end of may thru August or early September the space coast tarpon fishing really heats up and this year has proven to be one of the best. Tarpon are a hard fighting, acrobatic, and all around great game fish, they migrate thousands of miles and can be caught all up and down the coast.
‘
Tarpon fishing can be challenging but down right fun, anglers can find juveniles in the river system ranging from 5-15lbs infesting back water creeks, residential canals, and even some shallow water grass flats with docks and deeper channels nearby, as well as larger fish from the 25-150+ pound range, the Indian River lagoon system is one of the few estuaries that can hold fish of all sizes and it’s truly a remarkable experience! Smaller fish tend to like smaller baits, finger mullet, free lined shrimp, mud minnows or small plastic baits like the d.o.a terroreyez and paddle tail are great choices, larger fish around the channels and deeper holes like a bigger presentation larger mullet’s ,pogies, and big swim baits and larger topwater plugs for the artificial enthusiasts.
Also, fishing the beach presents some great opportunities when the weather allows, look for fish up shallow just outside the break early in pods or busting bait pods, sometimes all it takes is a glass minnow pod to keep these fish contained. When you have located these fish try and match the hatch, mullet, pogies, thread fins are all great choices with as light of line and almost always a free lined or no weight setup does the trick! Artificial lures like flies, big swim baits like the no live bait needed paddle tail are great options, it’s best to use a larger bait and something with a stout hook as most fish are between the 50-100lb+ range, always try to use appropriate tackle like a 7ft rod with 40-50lb braid, and 50-60lb leader and try to get the fish in quick and send it on its way, the summer temperatures really can be damaging to these fish and a short fight ensures a safe release. The tarpon fishing should remain good up until the fall when cooler temperatures push them on their way so get out and enjoy one of the space coast coolest migrations!
This Week on the Lagoon
Fishing hasn’t changed much over the past couple of weeks. Water temperatures continue to climb, and while the fish are still feeding, a slower presentation and retrieve continue to produce the best results.
I’ve been relying less on paddle tails lately and have been throwing mostly topwaters, MirrOlure Lil Johns, and 1/4 ounce gold spoons. The early morning topwater bite has been hit or miss, but it’s still worth starting the day with before switching to subsurface lures.
Snook have been the highlight lately, with some quality trout and redfish mixed in, along with plenty of jack crevalle and ladyfish. tarpon are also continuing to roll along the deeper channels, so keep an eye out if you’re looking for a shot at a big fish.
Fun, Bizarre Beach Week
Despite the heat, it was a fun and productive, but pretty bizarre week of surf fishing in Melbourne Beach — from a mysteriously dead nesting turtle to seasonal oddities and the “fever” of spotted eagle rays cruising the coast. The barrage of giant-sized sand fleas that hit our beaches in abundance over weeks prior has sharply declined. Fleas have still been findable, but their numbers and sizes have certainly diminished.
Meanwhile, conditions have generally been pretty good — other than most of the day being scorching hot. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the water clarity has left something to be desired with incoming tide, which, for me, did seem to dampen productivity during morning sessions throughout the week. The best periods of fishing I’ve experienced under these conditions have been the two hours or so preceding sunset.
Despite some inconsistencies, it was a pretty good week of surf fishing in Melbourne Beach. We brought home just one keeper pompano but a good number of whiting. Most of the whiting were pretty average, but we closed out the weekend with a fish just over 16” in length. Speaking of the weekend, the black drum were just absolutely dominant in our stretch of beach over that time frame. Or maybe it was just one REALLY dumb and hungry fish — because we caught at least a dozen black drum that were close to identical in size, just over 13″ — a bit shy of the 14” keeper threshold. Another thing that stuck out was the totally random mid-summer bluefish caught on a pompano rig baited with sand flea.
The coolest moment this week came last Tuesday when I was scouting the surf with my drone. Buzzing around, I stumbled into a large group of absolutely stunning spotted eagle rays that hugged the shoreline as they cruised up and down the beach. There were more smaller groups of them spattered out all around the beach. Check out some of the footage I posted on the Spacefish FB page. It’s hard to tell exactly but I believe the wingspan on some of these larger rays spanned +6ft. Pretty cool!
In another unusual but unfortunate experience, the body of a recently deceased momma sea turtle was stranded in the dunes. It appeared to have died while in the process of nesting and laying eggs. Wildlife officials could not determine a cause of death from the scene. Sad, but one wonders what could have actually caused the death? There’s been many bobcat sightings here in South Brevard beaches, but you would think such an attack would be easily determined upon expert analysis.
CATCH A BIG SMILE WITH JASIN YOUMANS DMD!
CAUGHT ON CAMERA
LOCAL EVENTS
SEE YOU NEXT TUESDAY!
Don’t forget, if you’ve been fishing, we’d love to hear from you!
