Inshore Fishing Report
Sheepshead are one of the inshore species that seem to thrive in nastier weather. Due to this, even through the weekend when winds are kicking and the water is getting stirred up heavily they should still be biting well. Plus, you don’t need to get out on a boat to target them. Sheepshead cruise seawalls, docks, piers, bridges and jetties and vritaully any structures around the area. You could tuck under a bridge in the nastiest of weather and have some fun sheepshead hunting around the pilings with light tackle and small pieces of shrimp, fiddler crabs, or barnacles.
Trout action has been stellar around the area, and behind this weather they should pick right back up too. They don’t falter much in weather and when waters cool they actually enjoy the ‘winter’ weather we have here in florida and don’t mind cooling inshore waters. Just remember, if your throwing artificials to slow down and to use colors that ‘match’ the water clarity. Thus, darker colors will be better like your watermelons, new penny, rootbeer, or even white which seems to always work.
Redfish like the trout are less cold adverse and they will get back to biting decently behind the weather too. Should concentrate the action around the residential dock lines more and perhaps up into the mangroves on higher tides. They will be seeking and remaining around the structures with the weather.
Snook action will be entirely up the creeks, rivers, and bayous. IF you can find a back country spot protected from the weather the snook like to bite when barometer is plummeting. Should be great fishing if you can find the fish in the deeper holes. Bit cut bait or slow moving bigger live baits in these areas will produce some surprisingly large fish.
Behind the weather, we should see a lot of debris floating and more grass too. This will give the triple tail plenty of hiding areas and with big outbounds flushing the influx of freshwater from the rain it should push out a lot of the triple tail that have been biting well in the upper bay area down towards the outer areas of the bay. Keep an eye peeled behind the weather at any floating weed lines.
Nearshore Fishing Report
Behind the weather, as we discussed earlier in the report the near shore bite will fire up once things calm down and the water starts to clear. Right behind the weather when the winds and seas die down but water is still murky near shore is when you get the weird near shore catches like big trout, flounder, sheepshead and even catfish well off the beach near shore. Even as deep as 40-60ft you will see these inshore species biting near shore behind big storms when a lot of water is flushing and the water is really murky. However, as the water clears, the fishing should be more like catching as a multitude of species will be super hungry and ready to eat.
The hog fishing was stellar for us up till we started to get this bad weather and I have a feeling we will pick right up where we left off behind the weather as things clear up. They love that lighter tackle and live shrimp knocker rig, banana jig, or jig head. Typically, we are seeing them most on the near shore private charters and 10hr all day trips but you have a shot for them on the 5 hour half day too.
Lane snapper have been super prolific around the near shore waters fishing for them around 60ft or more will be more consistent and larger sizes but were regularly seeing them even shallower. They are great eating fish that will eat squid, shrimp or even threadfins.
Red grouper will re open for us the first of the year and we will once again be able to start deeper and target these on our ten hours before popping inshore more for some hogfish areas before the end of the trips. However, offshore will really be the focus around these red groupers once again after they re open for harvest.
Offshore Fishing Report
We are pumped up for the red grouper re opening at the first of the year! They are going to be ready to eat on the 12 hour extreme and we will be getting after them heavily on the 39 hour after the dry dock is done on the florida mid February. We also have the private charter options to really get dialed into them too if you want your own private boat, crew and captain to cater your experience as you’d prefer.
Currently, we are targeting and catching plenty of nice mangrove snapper and that will continue into the new year without much fluctuation. They are loving the dead threadfin chunks on the double snell rig, but the big girls are coming on the live pinfish and a single hook rig still with the lighter leaders.
The yellowtail snapper bite has continued to be steady and impressive for our area, and a handful of mutton still surprise us each and every week too. Plus, we are getting big porgies, almaco jacks, vermillion, African popano, pelagics and more too.
There’s tons of fish to catch and keep right now and super light loads on our longer range adventures too. It’s a great time to time your trips around the weather and capitalize on the added room and more time with the captain, crew and team catching plenty of good eating fish.
