Port Canaveral Offshore – May 2025

Is it just me or is anyone else wondering where all the cobia went? Who knows? We had a few good days of beautiful weather…with an empty ocean. We even saw a few hundred rays with nothing on them. Odd. But the good news is that this is also the timeframe we start seeing them free swimming out on the reefs. While you’re out there slow trolling for kings, keep an eye out the back of the boat for that cobia trailing you. If you’re bottom fishing, keep an eye on what follows your fish up to the boat. The sandbar sharks seem to be holding…

Good numbers of mahi have been caught the last few weeks and should only increase this month. Start in the 90- to 120-foot range as many seem to think you have to go to 300 feet right off the get go. Unless someone is out there telling you to “C’mon,” start shallow. Start looking for color changes and temp breaks. Also look for weed lines and currents, as that is a good place to start. I like to use smaller islander lures with small ballyhoo or strip baits. On bright sunny days go with the yellows, pinks and bright blues; on darker days go with black, red, and purple colors.

Kingfish will continue to do well this month, too. Best bait is going to be the bunker. Now that the water is warming up, live bait is much more consistent. Some days you may have to ride far south to get it and some days its right there in the Port, but at least it’s around.

Beach fishing is really starting to heat up as well. We’ve already seen some nice buoy line kings and tarpon. If the bait’s around, chances are there will be larger fish feeding. I like to start with 60# mono ’til I start getting cut off, then I switch to #4 wire.

Shark fishing has been on fire! I know many say they don’t want to deal with sharks or you can’t eat them, but they are completely wrong. On light tackle they are so much fun, and blacktips are great to eat. Ever wonder why Grills always runs out of the shark kabobs? And I assure you, there’s no shark shortage. Just take what you will eat! No waste. We need there to be plenty of sharks and every other species for our future kids.