The following Bait Shops Carry

Raven Miller at the Daytona Beach Pier said they've experienced a few schools of reds and blues move through and a steady run of drum, whiting and sheepshead.

Luke Zonas at the Sunglow Pier said only a few whiting and some undersized blues have been caught lately. He said they're starting to see sheepshead "schooling in" around the pilings but they're not biting, and flounder have been a rare catch, too. He said the water is nice and clear and green though.

Ponce Inlet area

Mid-Coast Fly Fishers club angler Ken Bay reported that he and Mark Patterson fished the dock lights with a Dock Light Gotcha fly on Tuesday night. Bay said they got a bunch of fish.

"The trout are getting larger over time," Bay said, "but you do not catch as many as we have earlier in the season."

An anonymous field scout said that the area bridges had a phenomenal sheepshead bite during the last cold snap. Oysters crabs were mentioned as the magic bait. Be on the lookout for that as the next front approaches.

1-16-08

Johnny Garrett at Flagler Beach Bait and Tackle says the action from the pier has been slow but whiting are providing the bulk of the action. They are being caught on sand fleas and shrimp.

Ocean piers: It has been so slow on the Jacksonville Beach Pier this week that the anglers can't lose shrimp to catfish or small sharks. The St. Augustine Beach Pier hasn't been much better, with a few whiting and a couple of sheepshead caught.

1-18-08

Surf & Piers

Bob Burns at the Flagler Pier said the whiting bite has improved since last week, and is best in the morning and evening. Four drum and lots of small sharks and rays were caught at the pier this week, too, he said. The water temp at the pier is 60 degrees, he said.

Jay Wilson at the Fishin' Store said bad weather has kept most boats docked, but a few boats went out this past weekend and did real well on the bottom near the Party Grounds and the Steeples. And kings have been active around the Party Grounds, he said.

Andy Leary at Granada Pier Bait & Tackle said trout around lights and at first and last light are steady and a few drum are showing up. He said blues haven't made it up to them in the river.

1-19-08

There will be no more fishing column in the Flagler/Palm Coast News Tribune. It was not my decision to end the column but that of the Daytona News Journal. They say it was due to budget cuts. They not only fired me but 18 other correspondents. I don’t know what’s going to be left to read in the News Tribune.

1-24-08

1-25-08

Ed Countryman at Ocean's Bait & Tackle said fishing has been picking up after as soon as these weather fronts pass.

"Ron Binkley loaded up on bull whiting and black drum the first day of decent weather this week using dead shrimp as bait," Countryman said.

Some of the biggest drum of the season have been caught in recent days at the old Ormond pier, he said. Some pompano, sheepshead and whiting are there, too, and the best bite has been early or late, regardless of tides, Countryman said.

Capt. Luke Pearson reported that the fishing has really picked up this week compared to what it has been. He said the snook have been bigger and more aggressive, trout are good in open water on jigs and big black drum have been very productive at drop-offs for free-lined shrimp.

Joe LaMonica at Big Al's Bait & Tackle said the river bite is slow but steady with drum, reds and a good number of trout.

Capt. Chris Herrera said one day you'll find a good school of slot reds on a flat and the next day it's only rat reds. He said he hasn't seen a lot of trout around. With the wind blowing in some cold days, he's been targeting the sheltered canals and doing some sheepshead fishing with fiddler crabs. Deep water fishing on flats drop-offs and around bridge fenders is the way to go until things warm up, he said.

2-1-08

The Daytona Beach Pier, Sun Glow Pier and Flagler Pier all reported slow action with drum, sheepshead, whiting and surf temps around 57 degrees.

Capt. Wayne Summer said 20-inch snook, lower slot-sized reds, keeper mangos and small grouper are holed up around structure in the river. He said the river temp is around 62.

Mandy Hamel at the Bait Shack said jetty anglers are reporting a slow bite of reds, drum, sheepies, whiting and blues.

2-7-08

St. Johns River mouth and vicinity: Bluefish showed up in the surf this week, and that's good because the whiting sure haven't. Sheepshead are just starting to pile up on the Mayport Jetties. The new moon tonight might be the trigger that fires the spawners to congregate there. The backwaters in this area have been very good for redfish and black drum. Fish the deeper holes on falling water.

2-8-08

Surf & Piers

Bob Burns at the Flagler Pier said fishing has been pretty terrible for this time of the year with a slow whiting bite to boot! Burns said the best catches of the week were Bob Hart's catch of one sheepshead and two black drum to 5 pounds. Burns also reported Dave Pieger got 3 sheepshead with one around 6 pounds and Richie Giddings caught a black drum.

Some fairly good catches on whiting have been coming up the beach approaches in the Ormond Beach area just north of Granada Boulevard.

And word has it pompano anglers are doing pretty darn well in the surf from New Smyrna Beach south.

Capt. Fred Robert reported what had been a fairly productive bite all week completely died off Wednesday. (Perhaps the chaotic mercury column is the cause?) He said a sheepshead here and there, a few random muggings by bluefish and some really beefy snook off of structure had been the routine. He said he was catching snook with live herring. Water temps are still fairly chilly, with readings in the mid-60s, he said.

2-14-08

Ocean piers: It has been hit-and-miss on both the Jacksonville Beach and St. Augustine Beach Piers all week but a lot more miss than hit. With the strong winds recently and the runoff from heavy rains, it isn't likely to get any better for the next three or four days. Until then, you can catch all the skates, rays, tiny bluefish and sharks you care to handle.

2-14-08

I got the big rod out with a Flea and a Gulp imitation and before I could bait up the other one, had a fish on the first. Turned out to be two Catfish. I got those off and re-baited and cast out and got the other rod baited and in the sand spike when I had a hit on both rods. Set on the big one and reeled in two more catfish on the other one.

As soon as I tightened on the big one I knew I had something much bigger than catfish. Well, it turned out to be a small cat and a BIG Pompano. The Pompano took the plastic flea.

That fish went 5.7 lbs. on another fisherman's scale. That's a big Pompano according to my Florida Bible which says 6-7 lbs. is exceptionally large. In the next hour I got three more cats, an undersize pompano a Florida bluefish and a pretty big Jack Crevelle - just under 9 lbs. on that other guy's scale. All in all, a pretty good outing - best I've had in the surf since December.

2-15-08

Surf & Piers

Flagler Beach Pier regular angler Bob Burns reported that lots of anglers are getting 7 to 10 whiting as reward for their troubles. Those fish don't jump in the cooler, though. You gotta put in the time. If you like fish, though its been worth it. On Tuesday, "at least 10 people fishing caught 20 plus whiting and just about everyone went home with fish," he said.

Some redfish were caught, too, plus sheepshead, some keeper blues and weakfish were in the mix, he said.

Dan Maynard at the Fishin' Shack said pompano are coming in from New Smyrna Beach and south, and even an odd pomp is getting hooked at the Sun Glow Pier. But the rule of the day there is hit or miss on black drum, blues and whiting.

Lots of swell has been pulsing past Florida, with some calm days of moderate seas and medium wave period and some chunky chop and howling winds. So watch those marine forecast updates.

Maynard said when the seas open up, boats are still getting good bites on grouper and snapper in 90 to 130 feet of water. He said a few big cobia are getting caught off the bottom, too.

People are starting to report sightings of scattered dolphin schools blowing past them, but no one has reported any hook-ups yet, he said.

Capt. Fred Robert reported that redfish from 25 to 30 inches were common catches this week. He said a lot of nice sized blues, flounder from 15 to 17 inches long, and small snook were biting, too. He noted that he saw some really chunky sheepshead coming in off the jetty rocks, like some near 10--pounders. The bite has been most active on the incoming tide, with live bait or select shrimp, he said.

2-21-08

The Jacksonville Beach Pier picked up some with reports of random runs of whiting and a few sheepshead...St. Augustine Beach Pier has been slow - unless..

2-22-08

The surf temperature is topping 65 degrees, lots of birds have been diving and a few rust colored, five-foot shadows have been seen surfing the waves. . . Shark!

Ed Countryman at Ocean's Bait & Tackle said just about everyone got a load of bull whiting, black drum in the 3- to 5-pound range were thick, and on Sunday, Gene Young's first cast with frozen shrimp nailed a super fat 26-inch red.

"The first of the week the water was crystal clear and blues could be seen rolling with the breakers on the second sandbar," he said.

Up in Flagler, pier regular Bob Burns said there have been a lot of strikes from small blues and Spanish macks in the morning and they've had some good days for whiting, with keeper reds, pompano, sheepshead and drum in the mix.

Ponce Inlet area

Capt. Luke Pearson reported the water temperature has finally warmed up to around 70 inside the inlet. He said the trout bite has been really good and lots of pompano and Spanish mackerel have been scattered around. A lot more flounder are also being caught lately, he said, but they aren't very big.

Capt. Fred Robert said the reds on the inlet channel bottom have been totally bonkers. As soon as the bait hits bottom, it's on.

2-27-08

2-28-08

The sheepshead bite was excellent there last weekend for the El Cheapo tournament. Some pretty good catches of whiting are coming from the beach north of the inlet, from Vilano Beach to South Ponte Vedra.

2-29-08

Surf & Piers

Bob Burns at the Flagler Pier reported mostly slow action with undersized blues and Spanish macks in the early morning representing the majority of bites. He said there were a few keepers but called the pier's "best catch of the week" Jeanne Pizzo's 5-pound 2-ounce black drum.

However, he said for just one day last week, the windiest and coldest day, some oversized reds made a run and nice whiting hauls were had.

Ponce Inlet area

Capt. Lee Noga said she's been catching whiting, weakfish and speckled trout on live shrimp at the water's surface and got a 24-inch black grouper under the South Causeway bridge."The creeks (around New Smyrna Beach) are producing small reds, sheepshead, mangroves, jacks and drum," she said. "Nice size trout are being taken from the banks in the ICW and sandbar drop-offs from New Smyrna Beach to Edgewater."

She said it's been tough finding mullet with all the wind chopped water. Capt. Noga suggested fishing the areas transitioning from deep holes to structure or oyster bars around the bends in the back water creeks.

Matanzas Inlet area

Lucas Smith at the Devil's Elbow Fish Camp said plenty of reds are being caught in the shallows as well as trout under the docks. He said some small flounder are around for the first time in a while. Blues are all over, he said, and if you find a school there should be some reds below them.

Capt. "J." at the Tomoka Outpost said water temps dropped below 65, but drum have been eating along the canal banks by deeper spots on the east side of the peninsula.

With warmer weather expected, he said fish should be breaking their fast soon.

Halifax River

Bill Allen at Howard's Bait & Tackle said despite the weather a few snook have been caught. Roy Cottrill had a 32-incher and "Jay Bo" Tucker had a 29-incher, Allen said. Both were in boats, he said.

3-6-08

Ocean piers: The Jacksonville Beach Pier had its share of whiting and bluefish. The whiting bite gets hot, then tapers off for a couple of days.

3-7-08

The surf temp is now up to around 67 degrees and, "Last Friday through Monday was a fisherman's dream at the (Flagler) pier," said regular Bob Burns.

Some 10-foot-wide manta rays have been seen swimming just outside the second sandbar lately, and low and behold, guess what was caught.

The folks on the Flagler Beach Pier got four cobia up to 44-pounds, with a few lost, too, reported Burns.

Flounder, some weighing as much as 7 pounds, and five legal redfish up to 26-inches were also caught. There were also black drum, sheepshead and whiting.

Then Tuesday the wind switched and the water got cloudy and Burns said fishing slowed down to a few whiting and sharks up to 5-feet long.

Capt. Luke Pearson said his trips have been limiting out on trout early in the morning all week. He said there are a lot of flounder in the river from the inlet to South Daytona, as well as big schools of small jacks, big ladyfish, and bluefish.

Saving the best for last, Capt. Pearson said the creeks around New Smyrna Beach have been yielding top-of-the-slot snook. He guided a party to a half-dozen or so hook-ups with linesiders Thursday morning.

Halifax River

Bill Allen at Howard's Bait & Tackle said a bunch of jacks have started showing up in the river, a sure sign spring is gonna sprung! Shrimp fished deep with slip bobber, depth finder rigs are yielding some big trout off of bridge fenders, he said. He said the water temp in the river is around 65 or 66.

3-8-08

The action at the jetty has been from whiting, especially on the last couple hours of the outgoing tide and the first few hours of the incoming tide. A few black drum have been landed, along with some nice catches of 10- to 20-pound puppy drum. The cool snap predicted for this weekend will most likely cause the redfish at the rocks to slow down, but with warmer water temperatures they will be sure to fire back up again. Crabs and large shrimp have been working for the black drum. There have also been a few reports of sheepshead at the rocks also.

3-15-08

The surf fishing remains fired up with plenty of whiting being caught. Dead shrimp fished on the bottom has still been doing well. We had several reports of the trout biting at the point on Amelia Island State Park this week. Live mud minnows fished from a light tackle set-up did the trick for several anglers. One day the trout are there; the next they aren't. The low tide is at 10:10 a.m., leaving you with an incoming tide. I'd give the surf a try and have fun.

Sun Mar 16, 2008 12:17 am Amelia Island

Now that the Whiting have been biting pretty good for a week or so over here, I've had a chance to do some observations on the beach about what seems to be working.

3-20-08

Ocean piers: The Jacksonville Beach Pier has been hot and cold. When the northeast winds were blowing, whiting, sheepshead and drum fishing was good. At the St. Augustine Pier, there were a couple of days of good whiting fishing, but that stopped Wednesday. There was a good bite of speckled sea trout at night in the middle of the week.

Inshore north of the St. Johns River: The windy weekend will do one thing good make the stripers bite better on the Buckman and Shands Bridges. Otherwise, the speckled trout and redfish are hitting in the Chicopit Bay and Sisters Creek areas. Trout have been caught in Egan's Creek. Find deep, clean areas of the creeks on high water that are naturally protected from the winds and you'll likely find trout.

Inshore south of the St. Johns River: Gobs of bluefish are just about everywhere in the ICW north and south of St. Augustine. There has been a pretty good run of Spanish mackerel in the inlet there. Redfish have been targeted under the Usina Bridge at Vilano Beach. The Vilano Beach boat ramp has been stranding some boaters outside the cut at low tides, so watch out for the extra-low water on either side of the full moon Friday.

St. Johns River mouth and vicinity: The sheepshead bite has been excellent all week when anglers could fish the inlet at Mayport. The big reds have slowed down on the jetties there, but the whiting are thick inside the inlet and on the beaches, though the winds are moving them around a

3-21-08

Big surf controls coastal catch trends this week

Bob Burns, a regular at the Flagler Beach Pier, reported high winds, big waves and strong currents have made surf fishing a tough prospect. Catches have included drum, with Dr. Joseph Albovias Sr. landing one, some whiting, a couple of flounder, including Bob Callaway's 5-plus-pounder, and one pompano brought in by Janice Beard.

Ed Countryman at Oceans Bait & Tackle in Ormond-by-the-Sea said he's seeing "quite a few" manta rays jumping just outside the second sand bar. So the cobia should be here. Bull whiting and drum have been active early, he said. Blues and Spanish macs are just inside the second sandbar and a "Silver Gator" spoon or cut mullet have been productive in that range, he said.

Sand fleas are thick in spots on the beach and a good number of pompano are being caught, he said. Neal White got a big pompano on clams, he said.

Richard Bramerel at the Fishin' Shack said down at the jetty some really big sheepshead have been caught and a lot of folks are using sand fleas as bait. He said drum and reds have been active, but very few of the real large reds have been caught. It's mostly been slots-sized fish and "a sprinkling of blues," he said.

Early in the week, some guides got into a bunch of snook at the jetty, Bramerel said. And mud minnows have produced quite a few flounder "here and there," he said.

Matanzas Inlet area

Capt. Ralph Olivett reported that inshore, "reds are hot," with catches of 25- to 30-plus-inchers sporting nice blue tails being regular occurrences. He said the flounder bite has picked up quite a bit, too. He had a trip with three flounder recently and noted, "I haven't caught three founder in all my combined trips since the October red tide! Fresh stocks are finally migrating back in from their winter residence at our near shore reefs.

"We've had a mild winter," he said, "which would explain the early spring migrations of blues, jacks and flounder which would normally start in mid-April."

Inlet water temperatures are around 65.5 degrees and not much warmer at the near shore reefs, he said.

3-22-08

Strong winds this week made conditions tough for local anglers. Our water temperatures are rising and - providing the winds calm - good fishing is on the way.

The point on Amelia Island State Park also has been producing intermittent catches; one day we get reports of awesome catches and the next zilch. That is why we call it fishing.

3-27-08

Ocean piers: The Jacksonville Pier reports that "you should have been here yesterday." There was a very good bite all weekend with drum, sheepshead, whiting and small pompano. The St. Augustine Beach Pier fired up Tuesday with legal pompano, bull whiting, drum, sheepshead and a few Spanish mackerel. 22-23^rd Macks 25^th