The beach is still holding lots of fish. The sheepshead and the whiting are particularly abundant with the choice of bait being live shrimp, clams and sand fleas. There are still a few pompano hanging around and plenty of sharks along with some black drum. The seaweed got pretty bad but the anglers who put up with it caught PLENTY of fish. The croakers are starting to show up so everybody knows what that means — the snook will be right behind them, so get ready to stretch your lines!

In the river it seems that the sail catfish have taken over but there’s still a few reds, trout and sheepshead being caught around the bridges. But best of all — look what finally showed up! congratulations go out to the Anglers for their shrimp catch last night! Reports are coming in that shrimp are running and they are catching them at Haulover Canal, Pineda Causeway (State Road 404 ), at the 192 Bridge (pictured), and a few here and there at Mathers Bridge.

Billy the Kid and the Salty Sarge were fishing at Mathers Bridge on March 10 when they caught a monster redfish with the distinct spot pattern resembling a smiley face. Three weeks later on March 31, the duo were back at the bridge and brought in another monster red. When they noticed the resemblance in the unique spot pattern to their last catch, the fish was nick named “Smiley” before being released back into the water.

Is this the same fish? What do you think?

Went out 4/4/18 nice boat ride from Sebastian to 735 feet. Lots of scattered weed deep, fair amount of bait, no fish. Trolled back in at 265 feet no weed, no bait, no reason to fish there, caught two small fins.

We set out early yesterday to catch some monsters (and other fish, too) from the surf on Satellite’s Magellan Beach. We weren’t stoked about starting the day without live shrimp — apparently, Brevard’s shrimp delivery dude got a late start because Man Overboard and Riggs Outpost were both fresh out awaiting delivery. But, no shrimp, no problem.

It was high tide when we got to the beach around 7:30am. Right off the bat the bite was hot and we brought in a small nurse shark and a bonnet head, plus a couple jacks. These were all caught on Pompano Riggs by couture hand tied by Spacefish contritubor, Caleb Couture. Baits included a combination of frozen sand fleas and shrimp.

Meanwhile, we had 3 larger baits that we paddled out, hoping to hit on a big black tip or another big daddy shark. Unfortunately, the surf was a little more rough than what was forecasted, so we faced some trials and tribulations getting out there by kayak, but we managed to get it done with a little perseverance. With these larger baits, the day started off pretty slow. We tried a combination of a lot things — cut mullet, jack, and whiting, and even a big and feisty blue crab (thanks Anthony @ Riggs Outpost — it was worth a shot!). The results were a little discouraging at first, but things picked up mid-afternoon.

The Palometa were all over the place and biting so much to the extent that it got annoying. But in between catching a ton of those little buggers, we also managed a beauty of a seatrout and a nice sized bull whiting. Back to sharks, though — the jewel prize of the day was caught by none other than the Salty Sarge — a 5 or 6 foot lemon shark. All in all, it was another good time and productive outing of surf fishing on Satellite Beach.

As with every year, spring has sprung and the gator trout are happy.

Spring is a lot of things to the waterways of this area. Bringer of warmth, calmer of winds and catalyst for spawns. Every fish has their own special time, place and way that they “do the deed.” It’s not random or unknown! People have studied how and why certain species enjoy certain procreation protocols. For trout, that protocol is a full or new moon in spring on its desired estuary. This, in turn, means your best opportunity for the largest trout to be most aggressive is in or around those special times.

Many folks know how and where to catch a mess of little trout, but fall short on getting those real BIG FISH in their hands. One of the most common mistakes is that they fail to realize seatrout over the low 20″ range become a completely different animal than their younger cousins. The smaller versions are content in large schools around lights, bridges, drop-offs and spoil islands, but not the biggest of the bunch. The big trout become solitary and prefer to stalk the shallows alone or in small groups. This means an angler looking to max out their personal best on trout should be stalking the same shallows.

When trout spawn they do so in a broadcast method. Where groups of larger 18-24″ males will follow a large female off the flats into deeper holes and they all disperse their eggs/milt into the water. This mix will fertilize the eggs and more trout will start their new life.

With trout, a few rules of biology are in store. One of the most important things to remember this time of year is that all trout over 24″ are female. Yes, you might find a slightly bigger than 24″ male, but they will be rare and as their length increases the number of males dramatically decrease. The reason this matters to anglers is twofold:

1) Conservation of the fishery. Since all true “gator” trout above 25″ in size are female, it’s important to exercise care when targeting these large ladies, as to avoid undue burden on the species’ ability to propagate. With the current state of our waterway in terms of water quality and loss of seagrass coverage (which is imperative to our trout reproduction), it is our duty to be responsible. Catch and release of large trout should be a priority, and the very best practices should be used to unsure they will swim away healthy. Swap out treble hooks on your topwater plugs to inline singles. This will make the most effective big trout lure for low light fishing and make it less harmful. Use wet hands instead of a net to hold or grab your fish and get that hero shot quick.

2) Locating the Big Bertha. If you’re targeting a monster in hopes of obtaining entry into the +30″ club, this is your chance. Big females will find a happy place with the correct conditions for a successful spawn. It will include several loose groups of smaller and extremely aggressive males. When I find an area where I am catching multiple trout in the 18″-22″ range this time of year, I will set up shop because one thing is almost guaranteed: one or more large females will be stationed in that area. Did the big females bring the group of smaller males or did the group of males bring her? Regardless, they will both be there.

As stated above, topwater bite in low light conditions almost never fails to get attention from just about every trout in your vicinity. When the sun climbs high, send your baits a little lower. Soft plastic paddletail lures like the Slayer Inc SSTxl are a perfect fit for this.

Slot sized redfish and trout are striking Assassin lure company’s Lil’ boss. This is a 3.5 inch paddle tail (or swim bait if you prefer). The best colors for us this week has been the Chico’s Red Ear, and the Black Shad models. These colors closely mimic the fingerling mullet roaming the lagoon flats at this time.

We are sight casting to fish the are tailing on the flats or cruising the edges of the sand and grassy areas which is super exciting to be able to watch the fish chase down and eat your lure. On some flats the water is more turbid due to the 10-15 knot winds recently. On these flats we are “blind” casting to sandy potholes or other features that we can make out. One key to finding these fish is to find the mullet. When you get into an area that has fingerling and full sized mullet mixed together you will usually find these two specific predators close by.

An unexpected monster showed up at exactly the right time for Bill on a recent trip with Capt. Mark Wright. The 45 inch redfish ate a Z-Man Diezel Minnowz in the Houdini color and battled for nearly 30 minutes!

The backwater bite in the Mosquito Lagoon remains good. Keep in mind the moon phase and weather conditions may stem the early morning bite prematurely. Rest assured if the bite drags a bit once the sun brightens it will likely resume about mid-day!

With water temperatures in the upper sixties the redfish and trout become aggressive feeders once they decide to eat. Between active feeding cycles an extremely slow retrieve of our soft plastic swim baits are still drawing a few bites. The bites are frequently soft and not always apparent to those anglers who are not adept at anticipating the strike. It helps to watch your line as the lightest bite usually affects the line’s tautness. A “twitch” or tiny “jump” in the line not caused by the angler is certainly caused by a fish!

This week has followed the same patterns of the past month; top-water activity early in the morning and sub-surface activity throughout the day. Z-Man Minnowz and Diezel Minnowz have produced redfish ranging from under slot to forty-five inches and trout from itty-bitty to over-slot.

BTW, the pinfish and other bait steeling critters are becoming apparent and will become a nuisance soon. I think live shrimp will quickly become an inconvenient option in the near future, though a soft plastic one will often get the job done.

Harlan got the right bite on the last bait of the day!

The high winds and rough seas have made fishing the beach tough this last week but pushed a lot of clean water into the lagoon which needed it very bad. But at the end of the week and weekend the weather was nice enough to get outside and find some fish. The inlet bite slowed down quite a bit for Snook and Redfish but if you put in the time the fish were cooperative.

With the higher water levels and clean water, the inshore bite was pretty good with some trout, jacks and ladyfish on the menu around the deeper mangrove shorelines and they were hitting the Storm 360GT Coastal Paddle tail baits and jerk baits. Pompano, jacks, mackerel and bluefish pushed inshore around the inlet. Goofy jigs work best for the Pompano but the Mackerel, Blues and Jacks were eating the Paddle tail baits worked deep.

Hello Spacefish Readers,

I’m excited to have been asked to contribute to the weekly report here on SpaceFishReport.com. As owner of Mount This Fish Company I have a direct insight to what is being caught in Brevard and through the world by Brevard residents traveling to different locations, thus the theme to my weekly report will be “Beyond Brevard and Back.” Almost everyday someone from Brevard calls, emails or shoots me a text message asking what a replica will cost of a trophy fish they just landed. After speaking with Damon and John from SpaceFish, we thought some of the readers might enjoying hearing what’s being caught by our locals fishing outside the county.

I’m privileged to have my first report coming from one of my best buddies and legendary tuna fishing captain, Captain Ed Dwyer. In the late 80’s Ed began the quest to find and catch Yellowfin Tuna’s on the “Otherside,” which he began calling the area of the Atlantic Ocean East of the Gulfstream. Captaining Mr. Ed Duda’s boat “The Ticket” he pioneered “Radar Fishing” on the Otherside and is known as one of the greatest Yellowfin Tuna captains of all time on the East Coast of Florida. Each year Ed and Candy Dwyer host their annual Ed Dwyer’s Invitational Tournament where the best teams in the area get invited to compete on the Otherside. This year the tournament is from 4/20 to 4/22. For more information please visit OthersideFishing.com.

On Saturday, Captain Ed, his boss John, John’s son, John, and legendary Clemson quarterback Rodney Williams fished off Great Guana Key in the Abaco Islands, Bahamas in John’s 42′ Yellowfin searching for bird packs and looking to land a few marlin so they could shoot some photographs for John Stout Jr’s hydration beverage company Recover 180. The crew fished 7 bird packs through the morning and went 2 for 2 on White Marlins. There have been scattered reports of nice Mahi coming through the area as well and Ed reports some guys finding Yellowfin in the 70# class. Looks like the marlin fishing is heating up with the upcoming White Marlin Round Up taking place in a couple of weeks. In the afternoon they hit a few deep drop numbers catching a fair amount of bottom fish. The picture below showing a nice Mystic Grouper who paid the price.

Regarding the Bahamas, I also received a report from a crew out of Sebastian, fishing bird packs who came across a 2.5 degree temp break where the bite went off, and after it was all said and done they had 40+ head in the boat. It’s that time of year and I predict that next week’s report will have some nice Mahi reports from Canaveral and Sebastian crews from this side of the stream.

Until next week,

April is here, and this is the time of year to brush off the dolphin/Mahi Mahi fishing tackle. Hopefully we see a little better run than we did in 2017, because, let’s face it, last year was a joke. Anglers will need to venture out past the normal 70′-90′ reefs to find their action as the shallower reefs will slow to a crawl. No worries though because the deeper waters will be holding the fish! The usual amberjack haunts will have its share of action. Use live bait on a 3-way swivel with the appropriate weight. Heavier tide will require heavier lead. Croakers, spots, and grunts work best for these arm shredding beasts. Bunkers do work but tend to spin in heavy current and either cause a tangle or the jacks just won’t want to touch it because they’re smarter than we think. Don’t be surprised if you catch a few grouper as well as it’s their spawning season and we all know that you catch the most grouper between January 1st and April 30th… the closed season. Use proper care when releasing them back (circle hooks).

Dorado fishing. It can be the time of your life or you could question yourself on why you bought a $100k boat or just filled your friends boat with $800 of fuel. Last year we just never got the full run. Those more adventurous went to the other side came back in with huge hauls which means they just never crossed over to the western wall. Look for the usual. Temperature breaks, weedlines, color changes, and mass quantities of flying fish. Bobo trolling works in a pinch but you’re just spinning your wheels. I can’t stress enough to follow the food chain! As far as what baits and skirts to use, I personally think it doesn’t matter. I like all natural so I run all naked baits. Every now and then I’ll send a chugger back to make some noise but my success rate is much higher on naked ballyhoo. Use teasers, dredges, bowling pins, anything to create a bait school effect. Let’s cross our fingers for a good April dolphin run!

Congratulations to Noah and Hayden for their great catches! Hayden holding a beautiful Palometa and a nice trout and Noah with his black drum and jack crevalle — way to go!

Despite the wind and surf conditions, the fishing reports are coming in and the fish are still snapping, with a little patience you’re bound to hook into some nice fish. Pompano are still being caught on the beach along with whiting, margate, black tip sharks, and there are still some big blues hanging around.

The bite in the lagoon is slowing down but there are still some red fish, trout, mangrove snapper and sheepshead are being caught around Bridges and piers.