Inshore Fishing Report
You can expect to catch a variety of species fishing inshore this time of year with many of our winter species beginning to migrate our way. Catch lists have consisted of Snook, Pompano, Triple Tail, Black Drum, Sheepshead, Croakers, Spanish Mackerel, big Jacks and more! If you are looking to target Snook this time of year, look to find them in deeper holes, on docks with deeper water and around the bridges especially when the water temperatures cool down as they will hold up in those areas to stay warm. Fishing baits with a slower presentation tend to produce more results this time of year such as artificial shrimp, slow rolling paddle tails, jigs and live shrimp. Anglers fishing artificials have been favoring Thumper Shrimp and NLBNs as their soft plastic choices here lately. All Thumper Shrimp will be buy 2 get 1 free at out tent sale on the 16th and all NLBN baits will be buy 3 get 1 free for those who are looking to stock up! Snook will still have a hard time passing up on pilchards and pinfish when the sun gets a little bit higher too. A lot of slot sized fish have been caught lately and Snook season remains open until December 15th if you are looking to harvest a keeper.
The Pompano have begun to show up inshore over the past week. Anglers have been finding them on the Jensen Causeway east side relief bridge and on the Sailfish Flats on Pompano jigs. If you want to target them from the causeway, the bite has been around the high tide mark and there are some days where the fish don’t bite for long, but when they do, the action is on! The action on Sailfish Flats has been on the incoming tides. The inshore Pompano bite should continue to heat up throughout the month and into January as more fish begin to push our way. Stock up on Pompano jigs at the tent sale on the 16th, all GulfStream Pompano Jigs will be buy 2 get 1 free!
Those fishing the channel markers and crab trap buoys north of the Jensen Causeway have been greeted with Triple Tail, Sheepshead, Croakers and a few Black Drum on shrimp and a jig head. This style of fishing can be fun for the whole family cruising from marker to marker catching a variety of different species. Along with the species mentioned, you can also run into Flounder, Snook, Grouper and more fishing this method.
The Black Drum bite has been pretty good around the bridges, it seems that all of our local causeways have been producing a few fish. You can find them around the bridge fenders on shrimp on a jighead, chunks of crab and even fiddler crabs. Sheepshead fishing is starting to heat up for us, we typically see our best bite on them starting in January going into February, but there have been a good amount caught over the past week. Look to find them around any structure with barnacle growth as they will typically be around them crunching on those barnacles. Live shrimp or fiddler crabs will be your best bait choices. The fiddler crabs can give you an advantage at times because all the bycatch like little snappers typically won’t pick away at them like they will the shrimp.
The Spanish Mackerel have been caught inshore around the Jensen Causeway on both the east side relief bridge as well as off the wooden dock on the west side. Fishing with spoons, live shrimp or small pilchards will get the job done for them. You can also get them on Pompano jigs as well as occasionally they will become a nuisance for those targeting Pompano. We are beginning to see a few Mackerel showing up at Pecks Lake. As of now, the big schools haven’t shown up yet but we can expect them to be arriving very soon. When they do arrive, Gulf Stream Flash Minnows, spoons and Gotcha Plugs will be some of your best choices to throw at them. Just like GulfStream’s Pompano Jigs, the GulfStream Flash Minnows will be buy 2 get 1 free as well! You will want to work your lure pretty fast to get their attention. It also doesn’t hurt to bring a box of glass minnows with you when they are available as sometimes you need to throw a few of them in the water to get the Mackerel fired up.
Offshore Fishing Report
The surface bite has been pretty good for anglers clearing our inlet over the past couple of weeks. Mahi, Sailfish, Kingfish, Blackfin Tuna and a few Wahoo have all been making their way back to the dock. Trolling ballyhoo has produced the majority of the action while anglers putting the kites up have been finding some success as well. The Mahis and Sails have been caught mainly in 90’-130’ over the past week, those finding the Wahoos have been getting them on their planer rods. Be sure to look for a good condition to increase your chances of hooking up before putting your lines in such as edges, debris, temperature changes, color changes, weedlines or signs of life. There have been some Blackfin Tunas caught out at Pushbutton Hill and some larger ones up to 20lbs have been caught there in the past week along with some smaller fish. Trolling feathers, squid chains or flashy mylar baits such as Tormenter Steelheads should get the job done on the Blackfins. Kings have been caught mainly in 70’-90’.
On the bottom, you can expect to find a lot of nice sized Lane Snappers this time of year on reefs in the 60’-90’ range. You can get them on chicken rigs baited with either squid or sardines. Some nice Muttons have remained in the mix in the same range as well so it doesn’t hurt to have a long leader rod out with a grunt plug or live bait in the case a few of them may be around. Out at Pushbutton, anglers have still been picking away at some nice Vermillion Snappers as well.
Surf Fishing Report
Some Pompano have been picked off our local beaches here recently. We haven’t had a major flush of them yet, but with each cold front those fish will continue to work their way to us. We have heard about a good amount of Pompano caught in the Vero Beach area so they are definitely getting a little closer. The majority of the Pompano caught in our area have been in the 100 yards off the beach range so you will definitely want to use the longer 12’ rods to get you in the zone. FishBites has remained the bait of choice, the popular flavors have been Electric Chicken Crab, EZ Flea and Powerlime Crab. For those who prefer natural bait, sandfleas have been working as well. There has also been some good Whiting action for those fishing the troughs closer to shore. Shrimp flavored FishBites and pieces of shrimp will get the job done on the Whiting. Don’t forget to stock up on FishBites for the season at our tent sale on the 16th as they will be buy 2 get 1 free! Along with that promotion for our surf anglers, sputnik sinkers will be buy three get 1 free. For weekly surf fishing reports and updates, follow Paul Sperco on Facebook as he always has the beat on the Pompano action.
Lake Okeechobee Fishing Report – Capt. Angie Douthit
Lake O fishing for both bass and crappie at the start of December but its picking up with steady,
cooler water temps. If you haven’t experienced fishing on Okeechobee now is the time to book
your fun-filled, productive day on the water catching big bass and crappie during the spawn
time. I charter all ages, accommodate group trips, offer deep hotel discounts as well as Veteran
and one-person trips, inquire at the time of booking. Fishing for bass has been productive using
artificial lures and live-bait, depends on what my customers prefer and what’s biting best at the
time of the trip. I encourage customers to ask questions about various fishing techniques,
tackle used and etc., gaining knowledge is key so it can be applied to fishing your home body of
water. If you are bass fishing areas to try are Cochran’s pass against the hard wall and inside
the pass against both hard lines. I’ve used both live bait and artificial lures and had very
productive days. Other areas along the Shoal can be Whidden’s pass and a few other spots as
you work your way towards Cochran’s (south); a few areas in the Monkey box and Dupree bar
for both bass and specks, Dyess ditch and a few areas as you head north towards worm cove
and on up to Indian Praire have been good fishing as well. Due to high water levels over this
past summer has left a lot of these areas with very little vegetation just reeds and small islands,
so don’t be surprised that when you turn the corner as you’re heading to your fav spot and see
nothing but open water where there once was tons of vegetation. So Sad !!! Other areas to
try are: tin house, Buckhead ridge going west down to about 3 rd point has some activity as well
as some parts of Kings Bar and Grassy. On the east side a few areas around J & S lock (both
sides) and Hendry creek are other areas to expound on. The crappie bite is turning on both
open water minnow fishing as well as jig fishing in the shallows. Areas to try for crappie are
close to the bass areas mentioned above and fishing the Kissimmee River and Government cut
has been pretty good as well. When booking a crappie trip with me you’ll learn to vertical jig in
vegetation which is a lot of fun. Lures for bass are: worms; chatter and swim baits; flipping
creature-style baits; some top water action and spinner baits. If you’re fishing around the west-
side stop by Big Water Bait and Tackle for all your tackle and boating needs. To book a trip for
bass or crappie call 863-228-7263, I do call back in a very timely fashion and do have the time to
answer all your questions and concerns ! My website is up-to-date so check it out
www.southfloridabassfishing.com I provide top of the line equipment and run a new 2021
Caymas boat. My sponsors are: Toho Marine, St. Cloud, Florida; Mercury Marine; BnM Poles;
Mid-South Tackle; Real Magic; Gill Marine Wear; Bullet Weights; Rapala; Gene Larew; Pradco
Brands; Lews; G-Loomis; Navionics and Tru-Turn hooks.
