Florida Pompano in the Gulf of America

By: Capt. Joel Brandenburg

I often review my old logbooks or go back to old Facebook pictures and sometimes look up old Coastal Angler Magazine articles to try to predict what kind of fish we were catching or bait we were using on an upcoming date. Just trying to predict certain species at certain spots at certain times of the year. Looking back on these things does help to predict many times, but definitely without certainty. One fishing saying in the Keys is “that was then, this is now” it’s an ever-changing environment and especially ever changing in the Gulf of America.
Recently, I had a charter that wanted to target big mangrove snapper, so, I reviewed some of the pictures and articles that I had posted in the past in days leading up to this charter. I found that for a couple years in a row on that particular date that I had been catching big mangrove snapper on a wreck I know of in 12 feet of water only 5 miles from the 7-mile Bridge in the Gulf of America using large live shrimp on a 1/16-ounce yellow jig. I didn’t have time to pre-fish it, but I told the clients that I was confident we would catch big mangrove snapper at this wreck. Unfortunately, the big snapper did not show up, but fortunately a surprise species I didn’t expect did show up.
We started catching one nice Florida pompano after another. Even though I had fished this wreck many times and many different ways in the past, I’d never caught a Florida pompano there.
That day, we got 12 nice Florida pompano and ended up catching our big mangrove snapper elsewhere. I’ve only caught a few nice Florida pompano in the Keys over the years. I used to catch a lot of Florida pompano in the Gulf of America north in Ruskin, Florida off the Simmons Park Flats, and prior to that I caught some very nice Pompano surf fishing around the beaches of North Florida as a young man. I was very excited that there were nice Florida pompano around this wreck in the Keys.
The following day, I talked about the Pompano that we caught with my charter group and they showed interest in trying for some more Florida pompano, so I went to the same wreck and decided to refine my technique by tipping a shrimp on a pink feathered jig, because in the past pink feather jigs was the go to bait for Florida pompano on the Simmons Park flats in Ruskin, Florida.
I also remembered using small pink banana jigs in the surf in North Florida for Florida pompano. On this next charter, we got twice as many Pompano as we did the day before. I took clients to this wreck to catch pompano for the next three weeks until they migrated out and went to wherever they go. I forgot what a great fish the Florida pompano actually is and you can keep up to six per person per day. Florida pompano fight really hard and taste really good. After that wreck stop producing Florida pompano I went to similar wrecks in the area and emulated what I did at the original wreck and sure enough those wrecks were holding their fair share of Pompano as well.
These Florida pompano were a big surprise this year, as they have moved on from all of the wrecks in the Gulf of America and who knows if they’ll be holding the same pattern at the same wrecks in 2026. I’m sure next year, I’ll be looking at pictures and posts and log books to see what some good targets on my upcoming hit list and I’ll say to myself, oh yeah, I remember that three or four week Florida pompano phenomenon. Florida pompano are some of the highest priced fish per pound in fish markets. They are very hard to find in fish markets, and it’s rare to find them on a restaurant menu. When you taste one for the first time you’ll want more. Since pompano don’t have scales, I prefer to keep the skin on and score the skin and cook the fillets on the grill skin down. Pompano have their own unique taste, and when people ask me what I compare it to, I don’t have an answer. I guess the closest fish I could compare it to is an african pompano or a yellow jack not to be mistaken for a jack crevalle which is a jack that is yellow.
Here are a few tips on catching Florida Pompano in the Gulf of America in the Florida Keys.
Use 12-pound mono floor carbon leader
Tip a 1/16-ounce pink feathered jig with a small live shrimp. The way you tip the shrimp is by sticking the hook underneath the chin of the shrimp, bringing the hook through the top of his head and making the hook part of the shrimp’s horn and make sure and miss his brain because you want him, lively!
Retrieve the tipped shrimp with a jig, jig fall, and a fall jig type pattern. Let it fall a few feet at a time every time you let it fall the pompano normally hit it on the fall rather than the jig.
Use small live shrimp because the Pompano’s mouth is small if your shrimp are too big other fish will eat it before the pompano does or can.
Pompano typically run in schools and several pompano are likely to go after your tipped shrimp at once if you feel a hit and you miss the fish keep on jigging, even though you feel like they took your shrimp. Many times, they’ll come back and hit your shrimpless jig.
Make sure you target pompano on a moving tide. Doesn’t matter whether it’s coming in or out just that it’s moving they would not hit on a slack or slackish tide.

— For a charter with Captain Joel Brandenburg of Ana Banana Fishing Company Marathon Florida Keys call 305– 395–4212 office# or 813–267–4401 Cell #. Or visit us in person at ponchos fuel dock a half block away from Cast Away restaurant at 1280 Oceanview Ave. Marathon Florida Keys.