Northeast Hot Spots
Time to tempt blue marlin off the First Coast.
Big tarpon push into the inlets, passes and waterways this month from Matanzas Inlet to Nassau Sound. Fish backwater holes in 12 to 18 feet of water for 80-pound or larger fish. Ponte Vedra guide Capt. Larry Miniard looks for bigger tarpon in nearshore waters.
"Nearshore tarpon hang under the big pogie pods, just off the beach out to almost a mile," Miniard says. "We drop weighted live mullet on 12/0 circle hooks below the pods." Pogie pods also attract other large predators, such as jack crevalle up to 40 pounds, bull reds, cobia, sharks, barracuda and king mackerel.
Farther offshore, blue marlin and dolphin hunt in the waters from St. Augustine to New Smyrna Beach in June. Capt. Robert Johnson of Jodie Lynn Charters in St. Augustine looks for blues in the 150-pound or better class in depths of 180 to 1,200 feet. "Pull medium-large lures in blue and white or black and white," Johnson says. "If that doesn't work, try pulling ballyhoo behind a C&H Flame."
The same waters hold 15- to 45-pound dolphin when the water temperature runs 74 degrees or warmer. Troll naked baits or skirted ballyhoo, or try a green-and-yellow SeaWitch on ballyhoo.
The weeks before and after a full moon usually bring good bottomfish action this month. Typical catches include red, mutton, vermilion and mangrove snapper, plus scamp, cobia, gray triggerfish and red porgy. Use live cigar minnows for mangroves and red snapper, but vermilions prefer cut squid.
To the south, tarpon, bonito and kingfish show up just off the Space Coast in the summer. "Schooling tarpon cruise the bait pods just outside the breaking waves," says Capt. Frank Catino of Satellite Beach. "These fish can weigh 120 pounds." He favors 20-pound-class spinning tackle with a variety of plugs and jigs.
Too much heat and sun limits inshore fishing time in the Space Coast backcountry. "Redfishing is good in the cooler hours but turns spotty after 8 or 9 a.m. around the Mosquito Lagoon flats," Catino says. "Flies are great for tailing reds, but jerkbaits, soft plastics and gold spoons can be equally effective."
Snook anglers ply the docks and structure in the Indian and Banana rivers in the early morning and evening hours. They can also find good fishing after dark. "Prime days for snook are cloudy with a slight breeze," Catino says. "Snook like topwaters, floating lip plugs and walk-the-dog-type baits."
First Coast redfish respond quicker during cool mornings and evenings too. "June's a great month to throw topwaters for reds and trout," says Capt. David Borries of Jacksonville. "Fish the lower tides in Mill Cove, near Spanish Point, and the flooded grasses or oyster bars at high water. For summer flounder, fish deep water near rocky banks, jetties and docks with finger mullet on a 1/4-ounce jig head."
DOCK TALK
"I'm seeing more tarpon, babies and bigger, in North Mosquito Lagoon," says Capt. Frank Catino of Satellite Beach. "About 30 years ago, even 20, we never saw tarpon in the lagoon."
When Catino talks about seeing a changing marine landscape, people listen. His 30-plus years of guiding, fishing and photographing the lagoon systems along the Space Coast make him a well-qualified observer.
"Maybe they've been there all along, but you'd think in 30 years of guiding, I or one of my clients would have caught one," Catino says. "Now we're targeting them."
Global warming? Net ban? Increased mullet stocks and food? Long warm season? Take a guess.
"Probably a little of all of it," Catino says. "Warmer climate equals longer growing seasons and more food. The net ban produces more bait too. Whatever the reason, tarpon are here in the lagoon now."
— David Lambert, Regional Editor
Southeast Hot Spots
Summer days bring sizzling trolling action.
Now is the time to troll for king mackerel, dolphin and wahoo off Sebastian and Fort Pierce, especially if the Gulf Stream current and weed lines come in near Push Button Hill. Look for kingfish near bait pods between Fort Pierce and Stuart. For the best action, slow-troll live threadfin herring, sardines or blue runners in waters 30 to 70 feet deep over hard bottom structure, and keep an eye out for diving birds. If Spanish mackerel gather along the beach like they did last June, try slowly trolling one for monster kingfish, 'cudas or sharks.
Big mangrove snapper also move into Sebastian Inlet and over offshore rock piles and natural ledges this month. Action turns hot after dark, especially during the full moon. Try the northeast grounds in 70 to 95 feet of water or the Inshore Bar located in 55 to 75 feet of water.
Looking for a mixed bag? Fish near the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant boils off Hutchinson Island. This area attracts a wide variety of fish, including permit, tarpon, snook, cobia and redfish. Live shrimp, crabs or threadfin herring work best. If nothing bites at the boils, work the shallows along the beach. Find a milky water edge and cast jigs tipped with shrimp for whiting, mackerel, bluefish and snook.
In the Indian River Lagoon, anglers must get an early start to catch trout, snook or reds by the grass flats and mangrove shorelines. Try the flats off Jaycee Park in Fort Pierce, the flats and potholes outside Big Mud Creek, and the shallows around Bird Island or Boy Scout Island just south of the Stuart Causeway. Later in the day, fish deeper, cooler water near channel edges or Intracoastal Waterway bridge pilings.
The offshore rips between Jupiter and Juno Beach, the edge of the deep reefs off The Breakers and Boynton's Martini Glass, plus The Steeples off Fort Lauderdale hold many kingfish, dolphin and wahoo. Anglers might also find scattered bonito. Drop a bonito to the bottom in 90 to 130 feet of water off Jupiter or near deep wrecks off Pompano to battle huge bull sharks or goliath grouper. Occasionally, this technique entices a warsaw grouper or cubera snapper to bite as well.
Bonito schools attract wahoo along the reef edges. If last year was any indication, the wahoo bite should be excellent this month. Your chances of catching a 'hoo vastly improve if you get on the water right at dawn and cover the water column with a downrigger or wire-line outfit. The bite also improves during full-moon periods.
Slick-calm, clear mornings offer the best conditions to find tarpon along the beaches near Vero Cove, Jupiter Island, just south of Boynton Inlet and just north of Port Everglades. The St. Lucie River, Loxahatchee River in Jupiter, Little Lake Worth in North Palm Beach and Broward County residential canals also hold tarpon up to 30 pounds.
Don't be surprised to find a few cruising permit as well. A live sardine or threadfin herring works for tarpon; cast a live crab to permit. The fish typically move north in June, so position the boat well in front of the school and wait for them. They are quite spooky in shallow water, so approach stealthily.
DOCK TALK
If you hang around any professional captain or mate for very long, expect to hear a ringing cell phone. Indeed, wireless technology has altered how we fish, or at least how we gather information for our next fishing trip.
"It's the most important piece of equipment on the boat," says Robert "Fly" Navarro, who crews on the Reel Tight, captained by Eddie Herbert out of Hillsboro Inlet. "We've developed a quality network of people for exchanging information. The phone rings throughout the day. It's become an essential fish-finding tool."
Fly added that it's just as important to give as to receive. "You can't be a clam when you're on a bite. If something's happening, I'll make a few calls."
Jupiter fly-fishing guide Capt. Scott Hamilton (www.flyfishingextremes.com) agrees: "One day last summer, I put some clients on an awesome kingfish bite thanks to a call I got from Capt. George Labonte. I was off the Juno Pier when George called my cell and said that I ought to run up to the Hobe Sound Loran Tower Reef. The kings were going off, and my clients caught fish up to 40 pounds on fly. It was wild and definitely worth the run. But it probably wouldn't have happened if I hadn't got the call."
So take Scott and Fly's advice: Develop your own network and make sure to charge the cell-phone battery.
— Tom Twyford, Regional Editor
South Hot Spots
Take to the weeds to tangle with bull dolphin.
Whether you fish out of Fort Lauderdale, Miami or Islamorada, you want to run southeast to look for weeds and debris that might hold big bull dolphin. Weed patches, floating pallets and other flotsam attract baitfish, which attract dolphin, cobia and many other species. Anglers could encounter debris and dolphin as close as 5 to 10 miles offshore, but be prepared to run 30 or more miles. Also, look for diving birds that might indicate schools of feeding fish.
Generally, school dolphin in the 5- to 10-pound range come closest to shore. Slammer bulls and cows in the 30- to 40-pound class or bigger wait well offshore. For big dolphin, troll ballyhoo, lures or a combination of both while running and gunning. Even with no weeds visible, trolling could locate dolphin, possibly even wahoo, sailfish or blue marlin.
Those who run boats with towers won't stop until they actually see dolphin. Then, they point out the fish to their companions who cast live baits. Over a school of dolphin, cast chunks of ballyhoo, lures and live baits. When the schoolies are thick, you can catch them on jigs, plugs and flies.
On a good day, anglers can finish fishing by midmorning and return to port with a load of fish before the hottest part of the day. Moreover, early birds might miss the afternoon thunderstorms that typically hit on a normal summer day.
Those who don't want to make a long run can fish in water 120 to 200 feet deep for kings, blackfin tuna, sailfish, bonito or an occasional wahoo in the morning or late afternoon when air and water temperatures are cooler. Top spots include areas north of Hillsboro Inlet or near The Steeple in Fort Lauderdale, Hallandale Beach and Fowey Light. Anglers can drift with dead or live bait. Some people anchor and chum with live bait to attract fish to their boats. In the Keys, anglers chum up blackfin tuna with live bait at the humps and then drift a live pilchard on a hook.
Tarpon action remains excellent in the Keys. Use live crabs, mullet or pinfish around the bridges and in the channels. Anglers equipped with fly tackle flock to the banks in Florida Bay and the Gulf of Mexico to battle silver kings.
After closing May 1 in the Keys and on the Gulf Coast, snook season closes from June 1 to Aug. 31 on the Atlantic Coast. Snook gather at inlets in large numbers at this time as they prepare to spawn. Fishing catch-and-release only, many anglers drift with live pilchards or bounce jigs along the bottom at night during an outgoing tide at Port Everglades Inlet or Government Cut.
DOCK TALK
Steve Deutsch took his son, Matthew, to Islamorada to fish with Capt. Vic Gaspeny early one morning. They left Bud N' Mary's Marina at 4 a.m. to catch an outgoing tide that Gaspeny wanted to fish. Within an hour, they missed two tarpon and had tarpon feeding all around the boat. At 5 a.m. Matthew got a hit. After a 25-minute fight, he landed his first tarpon, an 85-pounder.
"While the trip could have ended right then and there, and all would have been happy, who would have expected that not 20 minutes later Matthew would hook up again with an even bigger and far nastier tarpon," Deutsch says.
Matthew pulled the 95-pound silver king to the boat three times, only to have the fish take off on a long run before finally getting it alongside the boat so Gaspeny could release it.
— Mike Miller, Regional Editor
West Hot Spots
Federal waters open for red snapper action.
"June 1 is the new opening day for red snapper in federal waters," says Capt. Chris Seger of Sarasota. "If you make the 40-plus-mile trip to the 100-foot contour, you will find hard bottom that holds all the red snapper you can catch."
To find snapper, Seger looks for baitfish hanging close to the bottom. "They are very conspicuous on a fish finder," he explains. "Snapper stay nearby because they feed on them."
Catching a snapper is simple — hook a piece of Spanish sardine on a chicken rig and drop it to the bottom. This rig has the weight at the end of the line with the hook attached so that bait suspends just above the bottom. Keep a rod and reel rigged to free-line live bait in a hurry.
This far offshore, anglers can also expect blackfin tuna, wahoo and dolphin. These naturally curious fish might check out the boat, which to them looks like a big piece of floating debris. "When you see them, toss the bait in the water and hold on," Seger advises. "A fish will almost always take the offering, and the chance to battle a 50-pound wahoo is one you don't want to miss."
Based at Little Harbor Resort along the eastern shoreline of Tampa Bay, Capt. Joel Brandenburg doesn't have to go very far to find big, spawning snook. "We catch plenty snook within a mile of the resort," he says. "Look for them in the cuts and passes and along the sandy beaches of the spoil islands in the bay."
Brandenburg prefers to fish with herring during times of good tidal movement. "Schools of this baitfish can be found around the channel markers, and you can easily cast-net all the hand-size baits you need," he advises. "Hook them with a 2/0 hook under the pectoral fins. The smaller hook keeps them lively and allows the bait to slowly sink to the bottom where bigger snook tend to congregate. Avoid fishing near or during a slack tide. The fish won't bite until the water begins to move."
Although anglers can't keep snook, and there's never a reason to keep a tarpon, the action is unbeatable for both species in June, says Capt. Dave Prickett. Fishing out of Everglades City, Prickett runs to the vast Ten Thousand Islands area and fishes some of the country's premier backwaters. "I fish the outer shorelines of the outer islands, especially the points off these islands," he says. "My bait of choice is simple — a chunk of ladyfish or mullet lying on the bottom." Prickett reasons that the warm temperatures make tarpon and snook lethargic, so they want an easy meal.
DOCK TALK
Every angler longs to see a hooked tarpon rocketing out of the water, but the excitement rises dramatically when the hookup comes at night. So, when a fly-fishing client of Capt. Mike Smith of North Fort Myers connected with a 20-pound silver king on a 9-weight fly rod, Smith knew the fun had just begun.
"We could see the fish around a lighted dock, and I had the client cast a Polar Fizz," Smith says. "It's a shinier pattern with a gold-brown top and white bottom with some flash and a set of large eyes. The tarpon grabbed the fly and immediately headed for a dock. At that moment, I knew we were going to lose the fish and the fly. The angler was upset about losing the fish, and I was upset about losing the fly because it's made in South Africa and very hard to come by in the States."
Moments later, the tarpon cleared the water high enough to be seen from the other side of the dock. Right after it jumped, the fish swam back under the dock and jumped again, only this time near the boat. "A few minutes later we had the fish at the side of the boat, the angler had a good story to tell and I had my fly back," Smith relates.
— Kris Thoemke, Regional Editor
Panhandle Hot Spots
Head offshore for a Gulf of Mexico mixed bag.
Drop your lines, grab your rod butts and hang on for some exciting summer offshore fishing in the Panhandle!
Last summer saw a definite decline in cigar minnows and threadfin herring, most likely due to red-tide conditions, but anglers expect a banner year for bait in 2008. Plentiful bait should bring strikes from dolphin, wahoo, billfish and king mackerel, all expected to show up in big numbers.
Capt. Charlie Poor operates A-Fin Charters out of Panama City and a live-bait supply boat most of the year. Every day at sunrise, he heads just outside St. Andrews State Park with a steady supply of live cigar minnows, pinfish, blue runners and herring to save anglers valuable fishing time. "This year should be a banner year for bait and fish," Poor predicts. "I've been on the water 27 years in Panama City. Every time we have a dry year for bait, the following year we have plenty of bait and excellent fishing."
June 1 is also the opening day for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico federal waters, beginning 9 nautical miles from shore. However, the bag limit dropped from four snapper per day to two snapper with a minimum size of 16 inches.
Capt. David Plummer of the charter boat Great Escape out of Capt. Anderson's Marina in Panama City Beach says, "My biggest problem these days is to produce a good day's catch of snapper and grouper with the tighter restrictions. Add the high cost of fuel and it is a real challenge."
He recommends that private anglers learn to find fish on closer inshore man-made reefs such as Bridge Spans, the Fountain Blue Site and the Tug Commander. He says hundreds of sites hold fish. He also advises that anglers using live bait, such as pinfish, cigar minnows and herring, typically catch more fish.
Grouper regulations remain unchanged in state waters. Thus, even with stricter red snapper regs, anglers should find plenty of grouper waiting to gulp a tasty live pinfish. With the tightened red snapper rules, many anglers quickly fill their daily limit of two fish, which gives them more time to target other bottom feeders. Also, be aware that new gear rules come into play with the requirement of circle hooks when fishing for any reef fish (which includes almost all the offshore species). Anglers must also keep a venting tool and a dehooking device aboard.
Anglers can find an ample supply of live bait just outside the Destin Jetty in June. Use sabiki rigs to load up on bait, but use enough lead to get the rigs to the bottom. Capt. Todd Allen runs the Big John out of Destin and concentrates on big grouper and amberjack to keep lines stretched. "Big baits catch big fish," he says, and his favorite big bait is a live blue runner. Try the Lindbergh Circle Reefs and the Williams Reefs in about 100 feet of water for some exciting catches.
Some people use drift lines or what Panhandle anglers call "fly lines" — heavy spinning tackle hooked to a free-swimming live cigar minnow set out behind the boat over an offshore reef. Fly lines offer excellent techniques to entice a "smoker" king mackerel or a wayward bull dolphin. Don't be surprised if a wahoo or sailfish takes the bait. Just be ready with a second rod if you get a hit. One hit might signal a school of fish on the prowl.
DOCK TALK
Pier anglers around Panama City Beach will have to find another place to fish. Both the old Panama City Beach Pier and the Bay County Pier were damaged beyond repair by hurricanes. That's the bad news, but some good will come out of it. After converting the old debris to offshore fishing reefs, the city and county will partner to build two new 1,500-foot concrete piers so people without access to boats can fish.
— Jim Wilson, Regional Editor
The Chevy Florida Fishing Report airs from 7 pm till 8:30 pm every Thursday night, beginning January 31st through October 9th. Check your local listings for changes.
