Fishing Report: Shrimp and mullet runs, plus cooler weather, keeping anglers busy
The big news this week is a huge shrimp run in the Halifax River, which has the jon boat flotilla out in force.
SURF, PIERS: “It’s been a good week for fishing,” said Gene Lytwyn at The Fishin’ Hole. “There has been a strong showing in the surf. Good catches of whiting, which are getting larger. And there is an increasing number of pompano, which are also getting larger in size, too. Pier fishermen are pulling up a lot of bluefish and redfish.” Capt. Mike Vickers Jr. (hammockbaitandtackle.com) offered this Flagler County report. “The Flagler Beach Pier is reporting reds, drum, whiting, pompano, flounder and sheepshead,” he said. “The surf in Flagler is again fishable and the fish of note is the reds just off the beach along with the number and size of the pompano. Anglers are also pulling up whiting, jacks, tarpon, drum and sharks from the surf.”
OFFSHORE: Capt. Michael Mulholland (seaspiritfishing.com) said his party boat, which docks at Ponce Inlet, has been busy. “The Sea Spirit has been doing well on both half-day and full-day trips this week,” he said. “We caught a pair of 35-pound African pompano on Saturday. We’ve been hitting on mutton and vermilion snapper, plus jacks and several king mackerel.” Capt. Lee Carver at the Super Critter (critterfleet.com) said his customers have been catching a variety of snapper. Lytwyn said his offshore customers are enjoying some good bottom fishing right now. “The near-shore artificial reefs are holding lots of opportunities right now,” he added.
TOMOKA BASIN, RIVER: Capt. Jeff Patterson (smallboatbigfish.com) said he has been working the waters from Ormond Beach up to Tomoka and having a lot of success. He reports a catch of trout, redfish and tarpon in the basin “especially areas with moving water.” Patterson said the mullet are in the area and fishing is most active in the morning hours.
MOSQ. LAGOON, INDIAN RIVER: Capt. Fred Robert (fishing-guy.com) continues to catch slot-sized snook in the river. Capt. Brad Kayholm (whambamcharters.com) said the recent cool down will help increase catch numbers. “We are pumped,” he said. “The redfish spawn is in full swing. We landed multiple redfish over 40-inches on each trip. With cooler weather we will see more black drum and sheepshead coming in.”
MATANZAS INLET, RIVER: Vickers filed this report from his bait and tackle store in Palm Coast. “The river in the Flagler Beach area is coming back to life with reds, drum, mangrove snapper, jacks, trout and snook,” he said. “The fishing in this area is still best in the creeks and lagoons.” Vickers said from Palm Coast, including the canals, north to Bings Landing anglers are enjoying catches of jacks, redfish, snook and trout. “They are crashing baits along seawalls and around docks,” he said. From Bings to the inlet fishermen are reeling up mangrove snapper, reds, black drum, trout, snook, flounder and whiting. “The inlet proper is seeing jacks, bull reds, drum, flounder, snook, trout, big tarpon, mangrove snapper and blues,” he said. “The bridge is all about redfish. They are catching everything from bulls to slot-sized fish,” he said. Vickers said fishing will improve in cooler weather. “This is what we’ve been waiting for, the first strong cold front of the year, and it could not have come at a better time,” he said. “With the water and bait being pushed into the river system and the pre-cooling of the water after last week’s storm only enhanced the cool-down from Wednesday’s cold front.”
ST. JOHNS RIVER: Capt. Bryn Adams at Highland Park Fish Camp in DeLand said the speckled perch bite is still on and lunker bass season is right around the corner.
SEND PHOTOS: We want to see your most recent catch. Email your fish photos to godwin.kelly@news-jrnl.com. Be sure to include type of fish, size of fish (weight and/or length), where the fish was caught, first and last names and hometown of angler who caught the fish, and first and last name of person who took the photo. If a child is in the photo, please include their age. The News-Journal will use one or two photos in print each week and the other photos submitted will go into the online gallery called “Volusia-Flagler Readers Fish Photos.”