Capt’n Paul Rigs and Charters
It is official, Pompano Mania has started!! I have always categorized our late fall, winter, and spring surf fishing season as Pompano Mania. It is amazing what a silver fish that averages a pound and a half does to all of us surf anglers.
Our Florida pompano is without a doubt the most sought after saltwater fish that the surf fishing contingency targets from October to May. Setting up in the dark pre-dawn hours, trying to get the latest intel on previous day catches, finding out what rigs, color and scents of
Fishbites that worked the previous week, and general locations that have been hot, are all factors that pompano seekers put on their list.
I always include this quote when I start a seminar, “Pompano are not hard to catch, they are hard to find’. During the fall and winter seasons the two major reasons I tell surf anglers who are not having success are – 1. You are not reaching them. 2-You are fishing in off colored water that they traditionally do not like. That is not to say you will not get any bites in that 30 to 50 yard range or you will not catch them in some streaky or sediment riddled water, but your chances will increase dramatically by following rules 1 and 2.
You do not see any of us that guide or fish commercially using 7-to-10-foot rods and fishing in water that looks like the color of the Mississippi River if we can avoid it. I always laugh when I think about all of us using 12-to-15-foot rods and targeting a species that average 12 to 14 inches!!
The great news that I am putting in the magazine this month is the actual results that we are getting so far. The amount and the size of the pompano for the past month have been as good as I can remember in recent years.
I normally start breaking out the long rods around Labor Day and usually catch some. During a normal year the throwback to keeper ratio can be as high as 5 to 8 throwbacks for every keeper.
This year the keeper ratio is much higher. There have been a few days when I have caught as many as 20 throwbacks and only kept 6 or so but I have had numerous days when it has been the exact opposite. The size of some of these early fish have been impressive also.
As I write this article it is still October and I had a day recently where the first three fish I caught were all in that 3-pound range.
Another factor to consider is remembering these pompano are migrating into our area from the north. I like to target beach accesses in the Sebastian-Vero area and kind of intercept them as they head down the beach. This year that has proven to be successful.
As October moves into November the bite will spread to South Hutchinson Island, Hobe Sound, and the Jupiter area in a more consistent pattern, and I am already seeing that on some of the South Hutchinson Island beaches.
Staggering your bait placement is another tip I like to share which has been effective this year also. I fish 4 rods and place my initial casts at 100, 80, 60, and 40 yards from the edge of the surf. There are days when you just cannot figure out why that last rod in the spread is getting 90 percent of the bites but it is either location or bait choice.
Yesterday my 40-yard rod caught 3 in a row and after moving the other baits into that area the cooler started to fill up. The distance will obviously change with the stage if the tide and also the contour of the troughs on the beach.
Learning to read a beach will improve your chances but that is a subject for another column. This season my hot bait has been the Fishbites EZ Flea Electric Chicken bait. This color and scent was introduced last year and I have had more days when all of my rigs have a piece of this bait on, whether they have a frozen sand flea or not. I say frozen sand fleas because the live fleas have been tough to find. I fish 2 rods with plain Fishbites and 2 with a sand flea tipped with a Fishbite.
I could keep writing this column and probably fill up half the issue with the Surf Fishing section, but I do not think Grant would appreciate that!!
Next month I will get into some tackle, rod, reels, and general equipment items and of course update everyone on the bite here on the Treasure Coast.
The season has kicked off with some great fishing so get out and bend a few rods. Good luck this month and catch em up.
I will be doing a pompano seminar at the Stuart Rod and Reel Fishing Club meeting on November 12. You can check the location and start time on their website.
I will also be doing a seminar at Bass Pro Shops on Gatlin Blvd in Port St Lucie in November. We are finalizing the date shortly and you can check my Facebook page or Bass Pro Shop Facebook page next week for the exact information.
Capt. Paul Sperco
Capt’n Paul Rigs and Charters
(609) 903-8243
facebook.com/captnpaul
