Freshwater and Saltwater Outings
One freshwater and the other saltwater outing for last week. On Monday, I drove down to Garcia to take a look around. The northeast corner was open this time around and I made my way to the north flats only to find dirty water conditions. Our Florida bass don’t like it when the waters are dirty.
Stick Marsh Bass Report
Here is a quick fishing report to help you guys out this week. The S Canal is open and the cut to the east is open. If you are navigating from the cut to the east and heading south, and you hit the north pit, if you see boats in the pits go east and give them some room. You will not hit anything but grass to the east of the north pit.
Good Variety on the Flats
Fished inshore most of the week as the seas were still pretty big from Hurricane Nicole. While the water got dirty from the hurricane and the water temps dropped in the lagoon the fishing was still pretty good.
Inshore Bite Picking Up Tremendously
Our fishing continues to be great inshore as the bite has picked up tremendously. Big speckled trout have moved into our rivers stacked up against docks and pilings. We will continue to see these fish move into our rivers during the colder months. Also, sheepshead have moved into our rivers as well.
Water Clarity Improving in Mosquito Lagoon
The influx of salt water from hurricane Nichole has helped with water clarity and quality in the lagoon. The cooler temperatures this past week have had the fish chewing, eating live shrimp or Z-Man paddle tails very aggressively.
Improved Bite in Fort Pierce
The lackluster fishing in the jungles of Fort Pierce has finally improved. If I had to guess, I’d say the cooler water temperatures are having a positive effect on the local predators feeding activity. I’d also say the slowly declining water levels might be convincing more fish to leave the deep mangrove jungles and take up stations on the outer perimeters, where we can get to them.
“Do Not Go”
One thing I am known for is being brutally honest with my customers. I'd rather not take anyone out knowing it's gonna be rough or knowing we ain't catching anything than to set up for failure. Here is an example of what I told customers.
Bountiful Trips to the Beach
Surf fishing charters following hurricane Nicole were surprisingly bountiful. The beaches were overcome with massive beach erosion not seen in my time here in 30 plus years, but the water clarity rebounded in rapid fashion. With that being said there was plenty of debris awash in the surf including pieces of boardwalks, dune vegetation tree limbs along the coast.
Tampa Bay gag grouper
The gag grouper are biting with cooling water temperature. The bite is kicking off from the channel ledges to the shallow rocks including the public reefs. They can be caught with live baits, shrimp or trolling deep diving artificial baits or pulling planes with big bucktail jigs with 8" mister twister grubs.
Slow Bite at Inlet, but Better Inshore
Hurricane Nicole put a little damper on the fishing this week. Pre-hurricane, the bite was pretty good inshore but the inlet bite was a bit slower.
Kayak Fishing Report: Indian River Lagoon Shorelines – Downtown Melbourne
I try to be mindful and understanding of fish movements throughout the year. For the big 3 (Snook, Trout, Redfish) of inshore fishing on the Space Coast here is my general rule of thumb - Spring and Fall are transition periods between Summer and Winter spots. If you are an expert or upper echelon angler, this is not for you, because you already probably know this.
Reporting from the Gulf Coast
Get the word on fishing out on Florida's Gulf coast out of John's Pass with Hubbard Marina!
