Capt’n Paul Rigs and Charters
As I write this column our schools are reopening, there are a couple of weak disturbances that are forming as they come off the African coast (that do not appear to be an influencer for our coast), and I got the first phone call from a good friend just north of Melbourne that had a couple of mullet schools show up the other day. I always call these early mullet school sightings as ” scout” schools, but hopefully that is an encouraging sign.
August is definitely a transition month for all of us that fish the beach with whiting, croaker, and catch and release snook our main targets. I am certainly ready to move out of August and into September as the best piece of equipment that that you could have taken to the beach for the last few weeks was a weed wacker! This year is one of the worst on record for the build up of sargassum from offshore, and it has filled the near shore trough along most local beaches. That’s the bad news. The good news is the weed usually starts to lessen as we leave August and enter September.
Our fall mullet run has been less than spectacular the last few years due to weather and surf conditions; we are due for a good one. If you are a long time surf angler the ” National Geographic” days of schools of huge numbers of mullet getting hammered by tarpon, snook, big jacks, bluefish, and sharks are memories you do not forget. The question has always been not if the schools are here but where are they on any given day.
In addition to the mullet, glass minnows and pilchards usually join the migration and I have always caught the biggest croakers of the year by pitching my whiting and croaker rigs tipped with Fishbites and small pieces of shrimp into the middle of the glass minnow schools and catching them two at a time . Our area hosts two types of whiting which are formally named the Gulf Kingfish and the Southern Kingfish. The Southern Kingfish were starting to show just before this last blast of sargassum; they have a tendency to be a bit larger than our silver Gulf Kingfish, with a black spot on the tail. September and October are prime months for catching both types of whiting as well as big croakers. This is what I call “catching the groceries” because they are delicious. Light tackle, like a Quantum 2500 spinning reel on a Quantum 7-foot light action rod is all you need to have some fun and catch some great tablefare. Do not overcast these guys because they will be 10 to 15 yards from the edge of the surf around the high tide mark.
On the flip side the snook, tarpon, jacks, bluefish, and sharks will make you break out the 8-to-9-foot medium heavy rods with 5000 and 6000 sized spinning reels as this will be the time to hook the big fellows. A cast net should be added to your beach cart along with a bait bucket and a bubbler. A live mullet cast to the edge of the bait schools will bend your rod, especially early in the morning and late in the day. Other live baits to consider are pilchards, sand perch, and large shrimp if you can get them. There will be days when these trophy fish will attack a different bait presentation from the hundreds of mullet they have been following and chasing. As far as artificials, Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows work well, and NLBN and Jyg Pro make a multitude of baits that will mimic the mullet and get you hooked up. I always like to cast a bait that has a black back during the fall and fish the edges, not the middle, of the pods of bait. Another lure that has produced is one that folks do not think about during our mullet run and that is a spoon. A 1 to 2 ounce silver spoon is deadly on certain days.
One last tip that I would like to share: before you unload all of your gear from your truck or car, take a walk up to the dune line and look for the bait showing at your favorite access. Pelicans, terns, and diving seagulls are what you need to see, along with pods getting blasted. A quick 5 minute ride in your vehicle from a dead area that you are looking at to a feeding frenzy 3 beach accesses north or south can make your day.
Down in my area of the Treasure Coast, the Snook Nook on Indian River Dr in Jensen Beach has everything I have mentioned in stock including live bait and a full array of Fishbites.
I hope next month’s column is about what a great start we are seeing for the fall surf season. One species I did not mention but will start showing up in September usually with some smaller ones, is the Pompano, as I always call the month of October the start of “Pompano Mania!”
Good Luck in Setpember and catch’em up.
Capt. Paul Sperco
Capt’n Paul Rigs and Charters
(609) 903-8243
facebook.com/captnpaul
