Last month was terrible to say the least. We had bad winds on and off that caused rough seas and dirty water. Needless to say offshore was a dump as we call it… And even when it was calm it was still a dump. One thing we did have was the start to an awesome mullet run. Mullet were in the millions from the docks of Bluepoints Marina and up the beaches. We should continue to see large schools of mullet throughout this month. Many of these schools have larger fish such as tarpon, sharks, big reds and snook mixed in chewing on them. My rig of choice is an 8/0 circle hook with about 6 feet of 60# fluorocarbon. Hook the mullet through the bottom and top lip or in the tail. Work the outside of the bait pods. You can rig one mullet with a small slider weight to keep it on the bottom and another just flat lined. It’s a great time if you have kids, you can stay very close and keep them occupied.
In the Bight, just north of the Cape, and working your way north to the false Cape has been huge schools of jacks, Spanish, bluefish and ladyfish. They are eating acres of glass minnows. Small diamond jigs and tiny bucktails have been the key. Just cast out into the frenzy and reel it fast. Make sure you use about 6 inches of wire leader. This has been a fun time especially if fishing is slow offshore or if the winds are bad out there.
Offshore should start to see the kingfish coming in. Historically, it’s usually the Thanksgiving week. It was very slow last month so hopefully this month is the ticket. Fish the normal reefs and wrecks with live pogies if you can find them or go with the spinning minnows. This is also the time for mahi. We didn’t see many last month so this should be it. Fish the weed lines and temp breaks. If you start the day off live baiting the reefs try live baiting for the mahi as they will eat a slow trolled live pogie on a light rod. We don’t always need a tld 25 with 40# line to reel in a 6lb fish! Sailfish and wahoo are seen in greater numbers this month as well. There are different tactics that specifically target each of these species and a book can be written on each. To keep it simple all these fish will eat live bait to a trolled ballyhoo rig.
Good luck!
This report has been brought to you by Captain Chris Cameron of Fired Up Fishing Charters, your premier fishing guide charter of shark fishing Cocoa Beach, offshore fishing Port Canaveral, nearshore fishing Cape Orlando charter fishing.
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