The redfish bite has really turned on! This week, the Mosquito Lagoon still seems to be producing great numbers of redfish and even some tarpon here and there. The best thing to do is get out early or late in evening to take advantage of the most active bite and avoid any nasty thunderstorms.

Most fish are being caught around any grass flat with 2 feet of water and scattered sand holes. Smaller baits like gulp shrimp and DOA paddle tail swim baits have been working well early. As the sun comes up, live and dead bait have seen more action, anything from small finger mullet live on a 3/0 hook to larger chunks of ladyfish, pinfish or mullet all will produce good numbers.

Salty Sarge caught a bonnethead in the surf with the help of his little ladies.

The summer was off to an epic start for surf fishing, and it seemed like the blazing hot bite would go on forever. Well, as they say, all good things must come to an end. This past couple of weeks, the bite on the beach has been pretty slow…

In theory, the cold-water upwelling should have brought a lot of fish closer in to shore, but that’s not what we’ve seen — at least not within casting distance from the beach. Similarly, even when conditions have appeared to be ideal, the bite has remained pretty dull. For instance, 10 days ago we anticipated a peak of heightened fish activity with the new moon, and that’s pretty much exactly when the bite got quiet, and how it has since remained.

Some of the Spacefish crew hit Satellite Beach on Saturday. The water was glass, sand fleas were abundant, and it looked to be a great day of fishing ahead. But, yet again, the production left much to be desired. Among the fish caught were a few croakers, a bonnethead shark, and a couple catfish.

So what’s up with the sudden cold bite? I have a few theories, but looking at all potential fish-impacting factors over these past several weeks, one singular event comes to mind: the shaving of a local legend’s epic, bite-inducing beard. Yep, everyone’s favorite regular of Mathers Bridge and its nearby beaches has really done it. Why the Salty Sarge made the choice to shave may forever remain a mystery, but what we do know is, ever since he made that ill-conceived decision, the bombing bite on the beach has been reduced to a whimper.

Is it possible that the recent surf fishing slump is directly tied to the shaving of the Salty Sarge’s beard? Some local anglers say the answer is “yes.”

If you’re frustrated with the slow surf bite and are looking for a scapegoat to point your finger at, you’ve now got it. THANKS, SARGE!

The guy doing the fish war dance on the beach now more closely resembles Peewee Herman than a Maori Warrior, but fortunately, there is still hope that the bite will soon turn up again. We’ve got a full moon on Friday, with fish activity expected to peak on Saturday. If you’re longing for the action to get hot on the beach, Friday and Saturday present the best odds of a turn around.

Dylan’s first trout ate a Pop Shadz on a recent trip with Captain Mark Wright!

I had “one of those weeks” last week. If you fish often enough and long enough you’ll have days and weeks like this, too. No matter how advanced our experience level may be, we’re all subject to making a string of poor choices. In a nutshell I kept zigging when I should have been zagging… LOL!

One trait of a good angler is making good decisions. My decisions of where to fish and which bait, lure or technique to employ are based on years of experience fishing these waters under many kinds of conditions. Wind velocity and direction are factors which typically help me decide where to start.

Fish activity tells me whether to stay or not. Sometimes the presence of fish is no guarantee I’ll continue in an area. It’s always a “coin toss” deciding when to wait for fish in sight to turn on or will it be wise to look for fish willing to feed now.

After leaving an area holding a few fish unwilling to eat for us, I learned later I left too soon. Leaving too soon happened to me twice this past week; once in the Indian River and once in the Mosquito Lagoon. Clearly, my patience level was on the short side for these trips. Patience is something I typically have in abundance — and it often pays off.

Of the few fish we did catch, the Z-Man Pop Shadz in the Smoky Shad color accounted for several decent trout. In fact it excelled in the choppy water conditions of late morning. We even had a couple of redfish eat the plug, though they managed to pull off.

Capt. Jim and Capt. Justin Ross of Fineline Fishing Charters have been throwing Rapala Skitterwalk and popping plugs in the morning for trout throughout the Indian River Lagoon. As the day goes on, we switch to saltwater Assassin 4-Inch avocado red flake sea shad as well as the new pimp daddy color for ladyfish, trout and jacks. Occasionally, we’ve been finding tailing redfish in the 40″ range while searching for trout.

Offshore, when you can find live bits such as pilchards and menhaden, the snapper and kingfish bite has been good on the 70′-90′ reefs and wrecks. Frozen sardines are a good alternative if live bait is scarce. Occasionally, we’ve run across manta rays holding cobia. We have been casting Williamson surface pro topwater plugs or live baits rigged on VMC 7385 CB (Coastal Black) circle hooks in 6/0 or 8/0 sizes.

Happy Monday everybody, we hope everybody had a great weekend fishing like the young angler pictured above with his nice Snook. Congratulations, Greg! Nice catch and release.

Over the weekend there were a lot of fish caught in the river and canals the mangrove bite is still off the hook around bridges and pilings. Snook, black drum and redfish are being caught in the canals, and the river is holding some nice pompano along the edges of the sandbars south of 192 Bridge. A lot of small sharks are in the mix, too. Have a great week everybody, from all of us at Man Overboard bait and tackle!

John’s West Coast Slam with Capt. Glyn Austin.

What a week it was. Tarpon, Sharks, Snook, Redfish and Bonito were on the menu this week and the action was red hot. If you haven’t had a Blacktip Shark eat a Popper, you should give it a try as it is some of the most explosive hits I’ve ever seen! I had Nikolaj and his son Matttias from Denmark as well as their friends, Merv and Sarah, from North Carolina, fishing with me for most of the week and had a great week. The days they weren’t with me, John got a West Coast slam of tarpon, Redfish and Snook!

The bait is on the beach and the fish are mixed in well! The glass minnows are holding snook, Bonito and Tarpon. Trouble is that the bite is tough to match the hatch with glass minnows unless you are throwing a fly rod. Small baits are the key so slim down your baits and the bite is there. The inlet has plenty of snook and redfish but you better be able to get the right baits to get them to eat. Pigfish are the key but we have been getting a few fish on Greenies as well.

Playalinda Beach has good numbers of whiting being caught, the best baits seem to be frozen shrimp and clams. I like to mix it up and use Fishbites, too. It’s a hardy bait that stays on your hook much longer and really works well.

Haulover Canal has been good at night. Cut mullet is working best for big reds and blue crabs are the go to bait for black drum.

In Mosquito Lagoon, the trout bite has been great first light in morning, use a topwater lure like Skitterwalk in mullet pattern. Tie a loop knot to give the lure the best action so you can use a “walk the dog” retrieve.

Keep an eye out for tailing reds as well. Use cut mullet and live pin fish for the best results.

In the north Indian River Lagoon we are seeing small tarpon from 10 to 30 lbs. Watch for them breaching the water and throw smaller baits like tiny Terror Eyz from DOA. It seems like the smaller the bait, the better for these fish.

Catalyst Water-man Camp experienced another successful outing. These kids had fun catching a number of different species such as whiting, stingray, palmetto and the trophy of the day –this snook!

The shrimp boats have been on the beach out of Ponce Inlet. They are holding lots of bonita, sharks and there are some tarpon are mixed in. I expect the tarpon numbers to grow over the next week or two.