I had the pleasure of joining a beach tarpon charter with Capt. Glyn Austin and his guest, Tony, this last Friday. From the moment they scooped by at the inlet, the experience was equally as beautiful as it was exhilarating.

I previously declared the “end” of the spring pompano migration — and I was wrong…

The ocean has been beautiful. Calm, clear water thanks to an abundance of light and westerly wind. Down south in Melbourne Beach, the sea turtles have been busy nesting, and they’ve been hanging out in the water for several hours following sunrise and also preceding sunset. How cool!

What an epic week we just had in the surf! The Atlantic was looking beautiful — calm, clear water, with pretty favorable conditions — and the fish did not disappoint! Namely, the pompano showed up big time.

Pretty water, but pretty weedy. Definitely fishable, far from optimal. The weeds were present (and thicker) at high tide, as well, but was hoping to see a more significant reduction at peak low.

There were a handful of absolutely beautiful beach days last week — and the fishing was pretty dang good, too!

Surf fishing got good again quicker than I expected! Great bite over a beautiful weekend on the beach!

Finally, we got a break from the month-long pounding we’ve endured from wind and weeds on the beach. The best part wasn’t even catching fish, it was the reminder of how effortlessly a 3 ounce sinker can be retrieved without the wrath of God tugging on the line.

It was like Christmas morning today with a weed-free showing in Melbourne Beach! I didn’t have time to fish, just stopped by to check out the scene in the surf.

This past week has been pretty tough sledding in the surf up and down Florida’s East Coast. I’ve been out in Melbourne Beach about 4 or 5 times and yesterday (Sunday) was the first “fishable” (but still weedy) day over this period.

This 39.6 pounder hit the scales at Port Canaveral and took home first place Wahoo in the Central Florida Shootout.

This 46 pounder hit the scales at Port Canaveral and took home first place Grouper in the Central Florida Shootout.

A few nice fish caught with Capt. Alex Hughey, weighed at Port Canaveral for the Central Florida Shootout.

Friend of Spacefish, John Durkee, got himself some red snapper on opening weekend of the 2018 season.

Fired Up Charters has a big day offshore out of Port Canaveral!

Kyle McConnie got a few mangrove snappers in the surf at Magellan in Satellite Beach.

Jess caught this pinfish in the Banana River Lagoon — perfect bait for a hungry snook!

Matt admires the spotted seatrout he caught in the Banana River Lagoon.

I went offshore this past Friday with pro bass angler, Lionel Botha, who is also founder and chief product designer of Halo Fishing…

Another big fish caught on Capt. Brent Mead’s fishing trip to the Bahamas!