SURF & PIER – December Fishing Report

December is shaping up to be a very good month for surf and pier fishing. November was fantastic, between the nasty cold fronts with strong winds. So, your key to success will be to go on those days when the high-pressure system sets in with clear skies and light to moderate winds out of the SE to NE. The last and most important part, is for the water temperature to be above 64 degrees.

The best bait for sheepshead, redfish, whiting, and pompano is fresh sand fleas. In December, they are a little harder to catch. You need a warm sunny day to get these little mole crabs, aka sand fleas, to come up to the surface. My next favorite bait is fresh clams that you buy at the seafood markets. The markets call them chowder or Quahog clams. If you cannot acquire either of those, you will never go wrong with fresh shrimp.

As the water cools. I always use a smaller #1 circle hook, with a small thumb nail size piece of bait. In the surf, my go-to is a double drop rig with a white float on the top hook, and an orange bead on the bottom hook.

If the water temperature stays above 64 degrees, you will have a good shot at BIG redfish near, within 500 yards, of all of our inlets. My go-to in the surf is a fish finder rig tied out of 100-pound mono, and a 7/0 circle hook. The bait is a half of a blue crab. Big reds will not shy away from heavy leaders. The reason for 100-pound mono is for the crab loving bonnet head sharks.

Go get them now before the frigid air turns our water temp too cold for comfort. When that happens, the pompano boogie south, and the whiting and redfish head offshore to warmer water. See you on the beach.