Scott and his son Bennett had a great time fishing for snook and reds with some windy and chilly conditions.
Through early February, our weather on the space coast has been very windy and warm but the fishing has been pretty good. The water temps are increasing and the fishing has been pretty good in the lagoon and in the inlet. Pompano bite has been good as long as the water is clean but the Spanish mackerel and bluefish haven’t been around in big numbers as they should due to the warmer water and air temps.
Inshore fishing should be good as well as our spring bait run heats up. When the schools of pilchards, glass minnows and mullet fill inside the lagoon and the Creeks from Sebastian to Palm Bay and Melbourne, snook, redfish, jacks and trout will be hot on their heels as will the sharks and some tarpon. I like to fish a Rapala Skitterwalk topwater baits and Rapala twitching minnow suspending baits early in the morning around the bait pods and go deeper with the Storm coastal jerk bait or Paddletail bait and the A Band of Anglers Dart Spin as the sun comes up. Live bait will also work well fishing the bait pods as the predatory fish are normally below the bait pods.
Warmer weather will also bring the greenies inside along the beaches and in the inlet and the Cobia, Sharks, Tarpon and big Jack Crevalle will be right with them. There will also be plenty of Sharks, and we are starting to see Bluefish and Mackerel on the beaches and if the weather allows you to get out and fish the ocean, you can have an action packed day. Fish big topwater plugs for the Jacks and sharks and scale down the plugs for the Bluefish. For the Tarpon as well as big Jacks, fish the Rapala Long Cast 14, Hogy Pro Tail Eels or the ABOA Dart Spin or Spooltek for good success.
The Snook and Redfish bite in the inlet had been good on artificials at night and live bait during the daytime and will improve as the weather warms up. Live bait is the key in the daytime with shrimp and threadfins being the bait of choice. At night artificials will work well. Bucktail jigs and Rapala XRap 14 and the Long Cast 14 are great plugs to fish from the jettys as well as from the rocks along the west side of the bridge and Hogy pro tail 2 and 3 ounce baits along with bucktails are excellent artificial baits for night time fishing.
Capt. Glyn Austin
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