It's one of the best times for fishing

The weather has been good and the boat ramps have been slammed. I don’t think I can recall a Tuesday morning where the overflow parking was full by 8 a.m. Long story short, the late spring bite is in full swing and it’s one of the best times for any type of fishing in N.E. Florida.
Offshore, the mahi are trickling in and the reports have been pretty good the last few days. Lots of blackfin are still around, so keep that cedar plug on the shotgun. Been quite a few blackfin caught closer in the last week as well; Captain Richard Bloom of N.E. Florida Fishing Charters got on a good bite of them well short of the usual ledge trip on Tuesday.
Bottom fishing-wise, the flounder bite has been picking up. Captain Kevin Faver out of Vilano has been having good luck with them using live pogies on Carolina rigs and fishing the nearshore numbers. Still some cobia around nearshore as well – our water temps were up to 74 Tuesday afternoon, so don’t expect to see the rays for much longer; for now, at least, we still have a few around. The usual spots from Matanzas inlet north to red tops, white tops and the Guana desert have been holding rays from 20 to 35 feet mostly.
Inshore, the redfish bite has been wide open according to Captain Andrew Mizell from Black Fly Outfitters. The fish have been waking and pushing on the shallow flats on the incoming tides. The flounder bite inshore has been heating up with the weather. I’ve got some good reports from the ICW and downtown in the river. Live mud minnows or finger mullet are the go-to for flounder fishing, although personally I usually fish artificial for flounder. Slow rolling a swim bait or spinnerbait right along the bottom is deadly on the flatfish and lets you cover more water faster.
If targeting the bigger trophy-size flounder, then work deeper water and use a six- to eight-inch live mullet. The best advice I can give to catch numbers of flounder is to fish slow and meticulous so you thoroughly cover water. Fan cast flats and drop offs, work every piling on the docks – these fish aren’t going to be chasing a bait from five to six feet away, you’ve gotta bring it right by them to get a strike.
The surf fishing has been spectacular since the beaches reopened. The pompano are here in force and still some whiting around. Lots of bluefish and sharks will be in close as well. Ideally for surf fishing, you want to find clean water and a nice slew between the sandbars.  The fish have been a little picky and may want one bait and not eat anything else, so be sure to bring a variety to increase your odds when pompano fishing. Sand fleas, fresh shrimp, clams and fishbite strips can all work; just depends on what they want wherever you are fishing.
For any questions, to book a charter trip or to send in a report and pictures of your catch to be featured in a future report, send an email to Chris@fishjax.org.