Bunker have been easier to find this week. Try in the back basins and as far as the steeple. We did find some north of the tip as well. Take the bunker out to Pelican on the 750 line and put them on a king stinger rigs, add a duster if needed. You can still use minnows if you need to as well. Kings and cobia have been surfacing regularly.

The bottom is shut down due to the thermocline, but try the wrecks because the red snapper are on the surface.

Mahi are loaded from 900 to 1200 feet. We are seeing a lot of big ones too. Use small ballyhoo and small skirts.

We fished Sunday out of Sebastian Inlet, plenty of bait just north of the inlet using sabiki rigs on bait schools. Slow trolling in 50′ we caught five kings from 12-20 lb.

I then headed south a few miles to 55′ and found bull sharks with accompanying cobia. We caught six cobia, with two being keeper-size to 25 lb. We released four of them, unharmed, using a net instead of a gaff as not to injure them. Live pilchards and pearl white swim baits were the baits of choice for the cobia. Tarpon are also here in good numbers along the beaches north of Sebastian inlet to Patrick AFB with pogeys being the preferred bait, but pilchards are also working well.

In deeper waters, we caught numerous mutton, mangrove and red snapper. The mutton’s were coming from a little shallower depth of 60,’ while the other fish were found in 70′ – 90′ depths on various wrecks. We also caught a 22 lb dolphin in 78′ that free swam up to the boat. Again, all on live pilchard.

Good luck and tight lines!

With the cold water upwelling, the water temperatures are down. Consequently, we are seeing permit and cobia coming in closer to shore this week. Johnny, a first made on the Ocean Obsession, sight casted this African Pompano and had a little help reeling it in. The little angler did great bringing the fish all the way home!

On the beach, the snook bite is still kicking hard and remaining strong.

At Playalinda Beach this week we have lots of whiting being caught using shrimp and fish bites. Also, lots of sharks — so if you are looking for a great game of tug of war, use cut bonito for best results. At night, Haulover Canal is producing big redfish. Use cut mullet or ladyfish to get these big girls’ attention. The Black drum bite is still red hot in the river, too. Live shrimp or cut blue crabs have been the best go to bait for targeting these fish.

The nearshore reefs have been loaded with red snapper, mangrove snapper and a few lane snapper have been mixed in along with some flounder. Be ready with your pitch rod because it’s very common to have a cobia swim right up to the boat. In the lagoon, the bite has been fairly slow this week, though we are still getting some trout, redfish and there have been a few tarpon mixed in.

We are seeing tarpon, reds and trout in the canals around Satellite Beach. Mather’s Bridge is still holding a good number of mangrove snapper as well. Live shrimp have been to go to bait for these little rascals. The beach has produced solid catches of whiting, margate, and black drum. Nearshore we are experiencing a solid run of cobia right now so get out there and get one!

It’s all about the mullet! The summer pattern is in full swing so get on the water early for your best chance at a good day of fishing. This is the time of year when it’s possible to get the inshore slam: redfish, seatrout, snook and/or tarpon. All of these species are going to be hanging around the big black mullet pods. Find the large black mullet in the 1.5′ to 2′ depths and the fish will be hot on their tail!

For the artificial guys, the Rapala Skitter Walk topwater plugs and sub surface plugs like the Mirrolure Mirrodine and Catch 2000 have been the best bet the first thing in the morning. As the sun starts to rise, I like to switch to either a weedless Gulp Jerk Shad in pearl white or camo, or a Gulp Shrimp pearl white on an 1/8 oz. Mission Fishn jig head. Work these baits slow around the mullet and you never know what you’ll come up with. If casting a lot isn’t really your style, then a handpick shrimp or cut baits such as mullet, ladyfish and pinfish will do the trick as well.

With the rising number of fisherman and water quality issues, I highly recommend catch and release. Let’s all do our part to help out the future generation! Yeah!

Craig Redwine of Titusville hit the bag limits over opening week of Scallop Season in Steinhatchee.

We are in the miserable hot part of the summer, but we have so many things to enjoy, even when the shrimping is slow. For instance, scalloping is going off in Steinhatchee and Crystal River. Limits were reported opening week. Folks were bringing as many people along for the trip to increase the boat limits (10 gallons per boat, or 2 gallons per person).

Popular areas for scalloping are South of Steinhatchee even though I personally love going North. The Pepperfish and Horseshoe areas are a great place to start your hunt. Always buy a hot spot map for scalloping; the marina’s will make it easy for you to find the action by marking the spots on the map. The outgoing low tide is best.

If you want to chase big blue crabs while in Homosassa scalloping, steam up Hall’s river and use a landing net to dip them out of mud.

The rain has caused flooding in the upper St. John’s river putting the skunk on cast net shrimping. In Central Florida, we’re seeing a lot of skunk situations. Shrimping has fallen off at Ormand’s High Bridge, in South Daytona, and Palatka. The North side of the Titusville pier, near Cracker Jacks, has been producing decent numbers. People are reportedly bringing in 25 – 50 shrimp during ideal conditions. In South Brevard, we’re used to seeing jumbo shrimp this time of year, but right now, there only seems to be the small ones running. It seems South Brevard flip-flopped with Oak Hill, where shrimpers typically expect small shrimp, but surprisingly saw a lot of Jumbos for half the season.

The outlook generally doesn’t look good for Central Florida’s summer shrimping season. But, if you head up north a bit, the Jacksonville area should turn on later this summer. Even if it means towing two hours up there, it might just be worth the trip.

Nice Yellowfin for Capt. Glyn!

We spent the week fishing the beaches for Snook as the bite is still good. We have also spent a lot of time on the nearshore reefs for Sharks, Snapper, Cobia, Flounder and Kingfish. Bite has been wide open. We didn’t do much inshore this week but we did have some fun with small jacks and some bluefish are still around.

I did get in on an offshore trip and got into some Yellowfin tuna as well as some blackfin and skipjacks on lures before we were chased in by the storms early. Looking to go out there again soon.

Jimmy and his dad Jack with a smaill Jack Crevalle Jimmy had a lot of fun catching!

Family fishing with the kids can be a blast and yes the girls love it too!

It’s full blown summer and the heat is on! Clients actually asked to go in early this week as they were unable to deal with sun on these very calm mornings. Now that we are in this summer weather pattern we can no longer expect a comforting breeze until late morning or early afternoon.

GO EARLY and keep the trips short. Three hour and four hour trips make the most sense to me in the summer. Leaving the dock before the sun actually rises is a sure way to enjoy fishing in comfort; if only for an hour or two. Safe light for me to see well and pilot the boat safely varies a bit. Typical factors like cloud cover and morning-glow effect will allow a thirty or forty minute before actual published sunrise starting time.

If you’re not an early bird type and can’t seem to wake early or if “work” gets in the way of your fishing, you might consider late afternoon excursions. While I seldom recommend clients’ book a summer afternoon trip it is not because the fishing is poor then. Late afternoon/early evening flats fishing trips can be wonderful, at least as long as the weather allows us the luxury of fishing this time frame. Obviously, thunderstorms are the main concern in the afternoon and I do my best to launch as close to where I intend to fish in the event we must hurry back to shore and safety!

With the kids on summer break it’s time to get them on the water for a mixed bag of trout, weakfish, ladyfish, mangrove snapper, jacks, sharks, redfish, drum and more. There is no telling what will attack our shrimp and popping float combos while casting near hard structure. Docks, bridges, seawalls, islands and rock piles are holding plenty of greedy and tasty critters right now. Grab the youngsters and give them a treat!

Ah, sweet summertime. When I think back on some of my fondest memories as a kid, I can’t help but think about those hot summer days with no school in sight. What should we do today? Many of my days consisted of meeting up with a group of friends, fishing poles in hand, and walking from pond to pond in our subdivision stalking largemouth bass — and it was always a competition. Who would win the day? Would it come down to quantity or quality? That was always the question.

Of course it was hard to make the quantity argument if someone else landed a monster. I’d catch five bass in a day, but sure enough, Jimmy got a 7 pounder — dang it!

I always like to start the day with a quick tackle check to size up my competition, who was using what bait? My typical go-to was a pocket full of rubber worms and a couple small bullet weights. I would always have my handy dandy topwater lure in case we started really early or fished to dusk. You couldn’t leave the house without a spinner bait in your back pocket too. Let’s just say we gave armed and dangerous a new meaning! What made me reminisce about these golden summers was a phone call my youngest son received yesterday.

It went something like this… “Dad, Johnny wants to know if we can go fishing at Mather’s Bridge.”

After going through some of the typical “Dad” security clearance questions, I made the determination. “Heck yeah, you can go!”

But that round of questions was only the beginning before my son would ask, “Dad, what should we fish for?”

“Funny you should ask young grasshopper, I have heard they are catching mangrove snapper around the bridge.”

And so it began, the two day competition of Mangrove Madness! I have to say, as a father, it warmed my heart to see my son and one of his best buds fishing their hearts out. Sweaty, stinky, dirty, but not giving up. Fishing out every last piece of bait. Competing against each other but also helping each other out and having a blast doing it! After two long hot days of fishing, only they know the score. I am sure a winner was crowned and a plot is in play to regain the throne!

I digress, it just takes me back and I can’t help but believe some of the best friendships you will ever know sometimes begin standing shoulder to shoulder with a fishing pole in hand. How could you not love summertime?

We’ve also been fishing the reefs in 60′ and have had some cobia, Kingfish, Sharks, Red Snapper, Lane and Mutton Snapper as well. Live shrimp have been great baits for the smaller snapper but the bigger fish are interested in the greenies we have been getting along the beaches near Sebastian Inlet.

The Bite in the lagoon has been pretty good as well with Snook, Trout and Redfish along the mangrove Shorelines. Storm 360 GT jerk baits as well as the paddle tails have been working well and greenies that we are netting in the lagoon are good baits to use. Water in the lagoon warms up quick so get out early and you should be able to get plenty of fish.