By Capt. Jamie Thrappas, Yellow Dawg Fishing
Summertime to me equals early July mornings and right before dark success. With July being one of our hottest months getting on it early means beating the heat and beating the afternoon thunderstorms.
Flounder are one of my favorite fish to target in July. I catch a lot of fish in the river along any creek mouth that has a sandy or muddy bottom, especially off the points of oyster bars where it turns to soft bottom. I like to bounce small paddle tails off the bottom with a pretty slow retrieve, & Berkley Gulp 3″ chartreuse minnows being my highest performer. I also get a lot of fish in the inlet along the rocks in sand patches. I use mud minnows as my go to, but shrimp and small finger mullet also produce a ton of fish.
I like 20# fluorocarbon and a #2 offset circle hook, Mutsu style is my favorite. The trick is not to try and set the hook if you think you have one on but to let some tension out of the line to entice the flatty to suck the minnow in past the hook, then slowly start reeling! I also net all my flounder as I’ve lost a lot of door mats trying to flip them in the boat!
July is usually calm enough for you to explore the close artificial reefs off Flagler Ave in NSB and the Sunglow reef just off Sunglow Pier. These spots hold a lot of flounder, and they also have a good variety of other species like flounder, red, black drum, mangrove snapper, and more that will keep you busy! Don’t forget to fish the tide swings in July for the reds and snook around the bridges and the inlet at first light and before dark, these spots will have a bunch of big reds and snook hungry to eat before the sun gets cooking! Summer is in full swing so get out on the water and if you see us out there say hello!
