After a couple chilly mornings to start May the fishing the has been fantastic the last few days. From the looks of the boat ramps this weekend plenty of you were out there enjoying the sunshine. The nearshore fishing is firing up for the summer, offshore it’s Grouper and Mahi time, and inshore the Flounder bite has been hot.
With the Mahi here and Grouper being open it’s a great time to push out deep towards the ledge. The Mahi bite has been scattered from the reports I’ve gotten, some fish in close around 120ft and then some guys are catching them deeper out towards 500-700ft. Still plenty of Blackfin and some Wahoo around as well and reports of quite a few sailfish being seen in that same depth zone the last few weekends. For all the offshore fisherman May 1st is special every year as the start of Grouper season, the weather has been pretty good this week and some big fish have been caught. Capt. Brandon Ingalls did an overnight trip and caught a healthy mixed bag of Grouper, Mutton’s, Mango’s, and Beeliners. I was lucky enough to get an invite deep on Tuesday and we managed to find a nice gag grouper over live bottom in 165ft of water. There have been a couple good fish caught closer in as well, only way to find one is to gear up the heavy tackle and send down some big baits.
Closer to the beach the Kingfish have arrived, plenty of pogies for bait. Bottom fishing the nearshore wrecks for a shot at a close in Grouper is fun and plenty of big snapper will keep you busy waiting on the right bite. We’ve also been on a decent flounder bite and have caught at least one every trip to the wrecks this week bouncing Bucktail jigs along the bottom.
Inshore the Flounder fishing has been picking up the last few weeks and the Redfish have been plenty active in the creeks. If fishing inshore this time of year its time to lose the shrimp and switch over to mud minnows or mullet. Either one on a 1/4oz jig head or small Carolina rig is all you need to catch Flounder and Redfish in the creeks. Fish slow and when you do get a bite be sure to fan cast the entire area. Flounder fishing is meticulous and you have to get the bait out in front of them they aren’t going to move far to get it.
The beach fishing has been great everyday the water is clean. Look for a SE wind and small swell for the best days. Plenty of species to target right now, Pompano is the goal for most surf anglers this time of year but also plenty of Whiting still around, Bluefish, Spanish, Sea Trout, Redfish, and more Sharks are showing up as the water warms.
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.