I hope everyone had a great holiday season and a safe New Year. The last few weeks have been great near shore and offshore. Cobia and triple tail have been hanging pretty close to the beach. Any sargassum or floating debris you see needs to be checked out. For triple tail try a small bucktail tipped with a piece of squid or a live shrimp with just a small shot of weight on it. Cobias have been hanging out in the same areas as the triples, have the 1.5 to 2 ounce bucktail with squid ready. A bucktail tipped with a whole squid has been the best for us.
Pushing a little farther out, Pelican Flats and 8A Reef have had some banner kings on them. I have been using many different baits since live bait is a little hard to find this time of year so have your dead sardines handy. If you can’t find any pogies try sabiki rigs on some of the buoys or wrecks on the way out for blue runners or threadfins. Live bait will definitely be a better offering.
Pushing a little farther offshore the mahi, wahoo and sails have been showing themselves. Although there’s specific tactics and ways to target each, I use smaller Islander lures with small ballyhoo or naked ballyhoo. All three species can be expected this time of year. Wahoo can be targeted with a little more speed in your troll. This is the time of year they are around in greater numbers.
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, near shore fishing Cape Canaveral, Orlando charter fishing.
