It’s been a wet and windy week with not much opportunity for getting out on the water since last Sunday. The bite was good last weekend and luckily for local anglers this round of storms is forecasted to be past us today with Friday looking really nice, some scattered storms returning Saturday and then Sunday looks fishable again. Offshore I would plan on fishing Friday or Sunday, inshore you can work around the weather windows and likely sneak out Saturday before it gets nasty or once the lightening subsides.
Inshore the fishing has been about as good as it gets. The North Florida slam of Redfish, Trout, and Flounder are all on the menu for local anglers looking to bend a rod and if you get lucky you might catch all 3 in the same spot. There’s been another push of Flounder moving into the river this week with a good bite from the inlet through Blunt island. I’ve got some good reports from farther upriver towards downtown as well, likely the initial push of fish that came in with all the mullet a few weeks ago.
The Trout fishing has been great along the ICW. I got a hot midweek report from Mr. Flounder Pounder himself my neighbor Chip Davis who dodged the storms and stuck a nice bag of trout throwing artificial lures in the ICW closer to Mayport. Capt. Matt Chipperfield reports the bites been great father south towards Vilano as well. The Mirrolure L30, MR-17, Bomber Long A, and Heddon Spook Jr are some of my go to baits for searching out a strike from big early summer Trout.
The Redfish bite is fun this time of year with really active fish putting on a show in the skinny water and the bigger fish in the river keying in on all the bait and feeding hard along the rocks and docks. You can target Redfish in so many different ways right now from stalking them on the fly at low tides, throwing top waters in the mornings along the main banks, fishing corks over oysters and along grass lines, soaking live baits on the Jetties, it seems like the Redfish are everywhere!
Offshore mid May is the meat of Mahi season on the First Coast. We’ve seen waves of fish pushing North following the Gulf Stream since mid April and that should continue for the next few weeks. Mixed in with the Mahi have been some Blackfin Tuna and chasing both of them around are the ultimate gamefish Blue Marlin. There have been a good number of boats hooking billfish these last couple weeks and it’s always a thrill to see that big shadow come up in the wash and a bill slashing at the teaser. Make the most of the opportunity by running at least one bigger bait in your Mahi spread and having a good pitch set up ready to toss back if a fish comes in on the teasers.
Nearshore the Kingfish bite is heating up with the weather and we’re seeing fish showing up on the beach as well as the party ground wrecks. There have been some Cobia on the wrecks as well and I even saw a straggler Manta Ray jump while we were coming in from offshore Sunday. While most of the beach migration has passed us it’s still a good idea to have a jig ready if you stumble upon one while Kingfishing.
On the beach Pogies have been abundant and pretty consistent between the poles and the sea turtle. There’s been plenty of Jacks around and lots of sharks under the deeper pods. I haven’t seen any Tarpon feeding on the beach yet but it will happen any day. There’s been some on the jetties and we put a couple in the air this week using live baits. So far it has mostly been 40-60 pound fish on the rocks, I’ve tickled more than my fair share of Tarpon and in this anglers opinion these are the most fun size to catch. All the jumps and acrobatics but without the grit and punishment of the 100 plus pound dinosaurs that will be stalking the beach all summer.
As always wishing y’all tight lines, fair winds, and following seas going into the weekend! If you’re looking to book a charter, submit a photo, or have a report to share reach out to me directly at chris@fishjax.org or visit www.fishjaxcharters.com.
Mike came out to the ledge with me last Sunday and sight fished this Bull Mahi with a live pogy on a spinning rod. Having some live baits and pitch rods ready to go can really help make the most of opportunities like this one. We came up on some debris that had fish under it and ended up with a pair of Mahi on ice before we made it to our first spot.
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