May is one of my favorite months of the year for fishing the near-coastal waters of Florida’s Space Coast. The focal point being the fantastic opportunities around Port Canaveral.
These waters often showcase an insane snook bite. The snook are typically trying to fatten up for their upcoming spawning ritual in June and July and they love big live baits like mullet or pogies that give them plenty of nutrition to prepare for the task at hand. Snook are prone to strike live baits much more readily than artificial lures during the daylight hours, however anglers targeting them at night can often fool them with a size 12 or 14 Rapala X-Rap lipped diving lure, or many of the soft plastic shrimp imitations that are so lifelike. On nights when the wave action is slightly rough, a Flair Hawk jig, or other bucktail-style lures can be effective near the jetty rocks or interior docks within the Port itself. Most of these fish are slightly over the slot limit, but if you like catching big snook, now is the time to go.
If you are ready for a battle that will test your back and arms, get ready because tarpon schools begin to show up along the beaches following menhaden pods. These 70- to 150-pound silver kings will be accompanied by pods of large jack crevalle (we call them hour jacks) in the 20- to 35-pound range, and multiple species of large shark that can weigh over 200 pounds. All of these species begin migrating into the Port Canaveral shipping channel and surrounding beaches in May. None of these fish are pushovers, so make sure you bring plenty of M-A-N to rub on yourself, because these fish are ready to crush your will and punish your body if you’re not up to the task.
Tripletail are a great tasting fish that also stick around most of this month.
If you like taking fish home for dinner, you can often do this on one of my near-coastal fishing trips and battle one or more of the giants mentioned above. May is definitely one of the best months of the year, so look me up and let’s get out there to catch your next memory!
Capt. Jim Ross
Fineline Fishing Charters
www.FinelineFishingCharters.com
(321) 636-3728
