On a gorgeous day in Melbourne Beach (Monday, Sept. 28), the Crush Station charter group went surf fishing and smashed into some serious pompano action.

It was tough to do much fishing over the back half of last week on account of the ocean absorbing most of the beach. That’s how it was down on the south end of brevard county, anyway…

On account of weather, and then being pretty busy at times, I didn’t get to do much fishing this week, unfortunately. I did get out to scout the beach a little and was able to confirm that there’s still loads of bait and mullet run-related activity has bounced back after a lull due to the rough weather we encountered last week. It is STILL happening out there.

If I needed a fishing guide that’s among the best there is at putting customers on the fish and showing them a great time, Capt. Glyn Austin’s name would be at the top of the list. If I needed a straight answer on whether or not the mullet run has started, I would not even be dialing Glyn Austin’s number.

I’ve been calling the mullet run for several weeks now. I’ve told Glyn, I’ve shown him — I’ve been relentlessly working the beaches, day in and day out, putting in the time, but he just won’t hear it. To be fair, it’s hard to see if the bait are running when you’re Donald Ducking around the Carribean on a Disney Cruise.

Why is BCSO pushing operations into game and wildlife in unincorporated Melbourne Beach? Curious — why here, why now? Just seems like a big middle finger to the few full-time locals.

This week in the Melbourne Beach surf, sand fleas remained hard to come by. At least for me — until Sunday when they made themselves abundant in number and in good size. Maybe they were triggered by the full moon…

Let’s be real — the Fall mullet run is not some endless conveyor belt of bait moving down the coast. Maybe it used to be, in its hay day, but that’s not the reality now, not any more.

First and foremost, let’s address the elephant in the room. The esteemed Captain Glyn Austin is really sticking to his guns on the mullet run not having arrived yet. I called it last week and I’ll do it again now — that stubborn sonuvagun is dead WRONG! This is not just a few random early bait pods. I’m seeing clouds of bait every dang day, no matter where I go. Beach? Bait. Causeway? Bait! Sebastian Inlet North Jetty? BAIT!!! And literally tons of it. Sorry, my dear friend, but put down the calendar, look at the water, and the answer could not be more clear!

The surf got a bit roughed up this week, but despite the water being cold and dirty, our lines were still connecting with plenty of pompano (plenty of catfish, too!). Yesterday (Sunday) we got one just over 11” to fork. High tide did push significant weeds into the surf, but it wasn’t enough to be a problem — they were pretty tight to shore and in not a particularly strong current; I don’t expect the weeds to be a lingering issue.