Best Bet

Ahoy there Anglers,

The fishing has been getting better and better here recently with the exception of a few low fronts coming in and slowing the bite now and then. As these low fronts head this way the barometer starts dropping and the fish will bite on the first part of the drop but if it keeps dropping a few hours then they slow dramatically. Keep at them and you can get a few during these times but when the front passes and the barometer starts on it's way up that's the time to be out there.

JETTIES: Black drum, redfish, whiting and yellowmouth trout whiting are the main players that are biting out at the rocks these days. Black drum from 3 to 14 pounds are biting fresh dead shrimp and /or quartered up blue crab and it's been real crazy as to why they are biting the two separate baits. Cut blue crab seems to work better throughout the areas beside the South Jetty and dead shrimp is what makes them eat on the North Jetty. I think it has to do with what's plentiful naturally in those areas. I can't believe it'd be anything else that would make the difference. Along with the black drum are a few redfish. Mostly oversized reds but there has been a few slot-sized ones also. Nice sized whiting are in the sandier areas around the rocks now. A few big female sheepshead in the deep water, 7 to 12 pounders are a good fight and plenty of meat on the larger ones. Look for ‘‘hard bottom' spots along the inside of the rocks, out in the sand off the tip of the rocks and you can find them there. They'll be gone very soon with the water temperatures rising so quickly this year. We'll start looking for the flounder to show up along the outside of the South rocks more and more in the next couple of weeks. If they show up like they usually do then it'll be better than the last two years. The last two years have been really slow on the spring run as they're coming in from the offshore reefs. Just off the jetties are some real nice cobia. I believe this year's spring run will be shorter because of how fast the water temperatures are rising so when the wind lets you get out there see if you can catch one for dinner. Live, frisky pogies seem to work the best but they will hit Gulp! eels in the black or brown colors.

RIVERS: The main thing happening in the rivers are speckled trout, yellow mouth trout, whiting, black drum, big female sheepshead and bull redfish. Speckled trout/spotted sea trout are feeding a little higher in the water columns now that the water temperatures have risen slightly. They've started hitting lures better and soon will crash a top water faster than they're doing now. We're catching a few on top waters now but more so in the creeks than in the rivers. Whiting are biting dead shrimp in the sandier areas of the St. Johns River from Mill Cove entrance to the Mayport rocks. Whiting are biting pretty good now in Nassau River and most of them are in the little deep trough area between the two Bird Islands. A few black drum are in the rivers too. This is the time to learn how to vent a fish if you don't know how to yet because we'll have the bull redfish come back into the rivers again and you'll need to vent some of these guys also at times. If you're going to fish in the river or the jetties please be responsible enough to put a vent tool on board your boat so you don't kill these huge fish.

CREEKS: A few more flounder have been showing up and this is good. No big ones but a couple here and there is a nice surprise. Redfish in the creeks are feeding a little better now. The water temperature is really rising good and it's early for that. It's been early for us to be in the 90's for a bunch of days already this year but it sure has been nice. We're catching some nice redfish and a few oversized ones in the shallows. We're seeing more and more redfish backs out of the water in the shallows and that shows they're looking for something to eat. Spotted trout are hitting lures better and better but there are still quite a few small ones around. I love the Bomber Long A's, MirrOlure's MR19, quarter oz. jig heads with the white Cocohoe Minnows with the red paddle tail, same jig head with the pink Sea Shad in the glow and same jig head with Gulp's chartreuse curly tail minnows. My favorite top waters such as Heddon's Super Spook Jr. in the Redfish color, (my old faithful), MirrOlure's Top Pup in the Mullet color and Rapala's Skitterwalk in the Redfish color all work very well. Redfish and trout love these lures.

MILL COVE: The flounder are finally showing up a little better now in the Cove. Some whiting in the entrance to the Cove, redfish and spotted trout along the grass edges on the higher ends of the tides using a live shrimp, 2/0 Eagle Claw Kayle hook, 14 to 16" leader under a Cajun Thumder float. The Bombers work great along the grass edges during the higher ends of the tides also. Great trout lures. Redfish in the shallows during the lower ends of the tides and a few black drum at the end of the huge public dock at the West end of the Cove still.

SURF: The surf fishing reports have been really good from Ponte Vedra South to St. Augustine Beach for nice sized whiting. The whiting are still biting at the Jacksonville Beach Pier. A few pompano still around. Small bluefish by the hundreds and some Spanish mackerel are biting out there. I just heard there was a cobia caught off the pier also. Things are really looking up.

Well, that's it for another month my friends. Please remember to take a trash bag on the boat with you to put your paper, bottles, cans in so they won't blow out of the boat when traveling from spot to spot. There are trash cans at all the ramps so please bring it back with you.

Tight lines and screaming drags to ya.