The beach fishing should heat up along with the weather in June as we have had more cold fronts coming through in May which brought cooler temperatures with inconsistent winds. Warmer June temps will bring more bait along the beaches and the false albacore, tarpon, snook, redfish and jacks should be abundant from Melbourne Beach south to the Inlet. Fish the bait pods using D.O.A. Baitbusters, Hogy eels if you prefer soft plastic baits, and Strategic Angler Custom Lure Naia in the 5” model or Rapala X-Rap 14s. Fish the soft plastics deep, and the hard baits for the fish staying close to the surface.
Snook will be in the trough close to the beaches hanging on the bait pods as well. Best bet for the snook is live bait. Greenies, pinfish and pigfish rigged on a 6/0 VMC circle hook will all produce snook. Keep your eye out for afternoon storms as they will come out of nowhere and can bring high winds and kick up the seas in a hurry.
The creeks from Melbourne to Sebastian will be a good place for anglers looking to target snook, tarpon, jacks and sharks this month. The Sebastian River, Turkey Creek, Crane Creek and the Eau Gallie River will be good early in the mornings using artificial baits. Rapala Skitter Walks in the mullet pattern are great baits for the early morning and evenings, and D.O.A. TerrorEyz are great deep water baits. Suspending baits are good early morning and evening baits as well, along with Rapala’s Twitchin’ Mullet and Twitchin’ Minnow. Bait fishermen targeting snook and tarpon can find success using live finger mullet on a 5/0 to 7/0 VMC circle hook rigged with 30-50lb. leader depending on the size of the fish.
The bite in the early morning and late evenings along the mangrove shorelines and the flats should be good for big trout, reds and snook. Topwater action should be solid and as the sun comes up, switch to suspending baits or live baits. Live pinfish, pilchards and pigfish are the baits of choice to entice the fish early. The tarpon will also move into the Indian River Lagoon from Sebastian to Melbourne and can be found around bait pods in the ICW as well as deeper areas that hold bait. Early morning and late evening are the best times to target the tarpon.
Capt. Glyn Austin
Going Coastal Charters
www.goingcoastalcharters.com
321-863-8085