September Flood Tide Report

September has brought us high waters that flooded the Spartina grass which produced epic tailing Redfish opportunities for the fly or spin fisherman.

Redfish were giving themselves away by flagging you down as they rooted out shrimp, crabs and snails that were buried in the ground. Slurping sounds and their backs coming out of the water were also dead give always of redfish in the area

This type of fishing is accessible by wading or very shallow drafting skiffs that can be poled quietly. Lures, flies or live bait can be used but presentation is key. Weedless rigs is a must so I recommend a Slayer 4/0 Penetrator hook with any type of crab or shrimp lure like Exudes Fantail shrimp or crab.

Fly fisherman can use any crab or shrimp pattern that has a rattle in it and make sure to tie on a weed guard.

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August Fishing Report

Pogy pods are on the beach and rolling and crashing tarpon can be seen shadowing pods. Free lining a pogy on a Daiichi 13/0 circle hook on the outside of the bait pods should produce silver kings. Other catches on the beach will include Sharks, Blue fish and big Jacks. For back country tarpon an early start is a must and free lining a live shrimp or small pogy tossed in front of a rolling tarpon should get their attention. Make sure to sharpen the hooks for best bet hook ups.

Redfish will be cruising creeks and the flats at low tide looking for shrimp, pogies and mullet, look for the wakes and redfish pushing onto the banks. High tide reds can be caught hanging over oyster beds and along grass edges. Big breeder Redfish will be lurking the deep waters of the area Inlets, cut pogies or crabs on a Daiichi 7/0 circle hook with enough weight to hold bottom will put a big bend in the rod.

Flounder are fired up and caught all day along grass edges where baitfish are found. Low tide creeks, residential canals and docks are holding flounder that are easily fooled by jigs and mud minnows slowly dragged along mud banks.

Snook will be worth a shot along Bridges, residential canals, docks and rock piles at night and first light, live pinfish, croakers or select shrimp will fool linesiders into the boat. Spoons have worked well as well soft plastics like a Fish Bites Jerk Bait and Slayer hook combo.

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July Fishing Report

Pogy pods have continued to show up in good numbers along North East Florida beaches attracting Tarpon to monster Jacks. Tarpon can be seen doing cartwheels and slashing through the pogy pods in a feeding frenzy. Free lining a pogy on a Daiichi 13/0 Circle hook has been my rig of choice, just toss the pogy outside of the bait schools and hold on. Look for huge schools of bruiser Jacks pushing wakes and devouring anything that gets in their way. A live pogy tossed in front of the school will hardly get refused but for more of a challenge test the drag on your fly reel and toss a 4 inch bait fish pattern and hold on!

Inshore Tarpon up to 40lbs. are now settled on their favorite flats and can be seen during dawn patrol rolling and crashing bait. A live select shrimp on a Daiichi D85Z 3/0 circle hook tossed in front of a rolling tarpon is a sure bet.

First light topwater action is a great way to get the day started with Redfish. Have a second rod handy after missed blow ups and pitch an Exude Dart in the area for second chance hook ups. Mud minnows soaked around oyster beds rigged on a popping cork have fooled many Reds this month.

The Flounder bite has been hit or miss but when they show up numbers can be caught on a mud minnow and jig head combo.

There are plenty of small Jacks, ladyfish and mangrove snappers available for steady action to keep the kids interested. A live shrimp on a Daiichi 1/0 circle hook and a popping cork is a great rig to go catching instead of fishing. A deeper cut in the flats around oyster beds or deeper structure like rip rap or sea walls is a great place to soak shrimp with the kids.

If all fails you can always hit the beach and fish behind the shrimp boats for Black Tip Sharks. Just wait for the by catch to be dumpd and within minutes you will be surrounded by plenty of sharks to catch.

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Endless Summer Opportunities

Now that summer is here options on where to fish are endless. If targeting redfish is your thing first light on the flats has yielded some nice slot fish using live bait (mud minnows) or artificial lures like BiteABait topwaters or Exude Darts.

Maybe Tarpon is more your thing and they too can be found on the flats, rolling during first light when winds are calmest. A live select shrimp is a prime choice for juvenile Tarpon or whip out the long rod and place a black and purple toad fly in their path.

When the sun is up and things start to slow down in the skinny head for the inlets where Bull Redish will be roaming the rocks sniffing out a piece of cut something (crabs, mullet or pogies). Don’t feel like battling jetty groupers, continue past the rocks and head for open water where big silver kings (Tarpon) can be seen crushing pogie pods. A live pogie tossed around the schools should entice ole’ bucket mouth into feeding.

Can’t find any Tarpon? No problem start slow trolling the pogies or mullet and see if you can’t find the other King, King Mackerel! Don’t forget to wire up for these toothy critters.

Hey look at that shark, wait it’s a Cobia! That’s right, look for Cobia as they tend to be a bit curious and will show up when not expected so have a rod ready with a large artificial paddle tail. Look for Cobia piggy backing on Manta Rays heading back south as long as the water temps allow (71.5 is the magic number). I

f all fails you can still find huge schools of bruiser Jacks that will test your strength and tackle! Almost forgot, plenty of Spanish Mackerel around as well, trolling spoons or casting plugs will get your live well filled in no time.

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June Fishing Forecast

With warming water and air temperatures its best to fish at sunrise or sunset with topwater plugs to lure in lunker trout and redfish. Make sure to have a jerkbait rigged and ready to go after missed blow ups for second chance hook ups.

Look for high tide redfish along spartina grass edges, on top of oyster beds and flooded grass areas along ICW. Low tide will push redfish to deeper areas in the flats or along ICW shore lines that hold mullet. Best bait for slow days is a chunk of mullet or mullet head on a 3/0 Daiichi D85Z circle hook tossed around oyster beds. Look for over slot redfish around Matanzas inlet when tide goes slack, use a quartered crab, mullet head or live mullet with enough weight to hold bottom.

Flounder will continue to make up for slow days on the flats and creeks while fishing for redfish. Mudd minnows pinned on a Slayer jig head tossed around deeper creek bends will account for most flounder catches. Shallow water flounder will eat gold spoons and spinner baits retrieved slowly just above the bottom.

Trout fishing will be stellar during low light conditions along creek mouths that dump into the ICW. Subsurface lipped hard plugs like the Bite A Bait and soft plastic FishBites Extreme 3 inch mullet jigged in 4-8 ft. of water will entice trout to chew. Night time dock light fishing will be in full swing as long as the water is moving. RipTide realistic shrimp rigged with a Daiichi Butt dragger in a 3/0 pitched up current and let drift through dock lights will fool just about any trout.

Residential canals will be hot spots during for first light tarpon up to 60lbs. A back hooked mullet or live select shrimp pitched in front of rolling tarpon works best or a Exude Jerk bait rigged on a weight less Daiichi5/0 Fat Gap worm hook tossed in the path of a rolling Tarpon and retrieved at a very slow non twitch retrieve.

Schools of jacks are blowing up on bait fish at first light and make a great way to warm up the drag on your reel. A modified topwater plug with no treble hooks and a single jay hook make for an easy catch and release.

Capt. Chris Herrera
386-437-2545
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May Fishing Forecast

Fishing at first light or last light still proves to be successful with topwater plugs. High Rollers 4.25 stick bait in a mullet pattern proved to be the gator trout lure of choice along with High Rollers Rip Roller prop bait for those who cannot “walk the dog”. When the topwater bite tapers off go for subsurface suspending baits like a MirrOdine or lipped diving plugs worked with a stop and go retrieve.

Redfish continue to shadow mullet seeking refuge on top of oyster beds and will be fooled by FishBites Extreme Jerkbaits rigged on a Slayer XXX Penetrator hook . Gold spoons and other bait fish imitators will get the Redfish fired up to bite. If opting for live bait a chunk of lady fish or mullet head resting near oyster beds is hard for a Redfish to resist.

Look for Snook to show up heavy this month, local bridges, docks and seawalls fished at night will produce linesiders. Live select shrimp, pinfish and lipped diving plugs are local favorites when chasing snook but remember to use a minimum of 30lb. leaders to avoid cut offs. Day time Snook fisherman will opt for top water at sunrise and pitching jerkbaits or live shrimp under docks in the afternoon.

Inlets and nearby creeks with hard bottom and a good drop off will hold flatties and doormats waiting to eat a live mullet on a fish finder rig (1oz. egg sinker and Daiichi D18Z 2/0 hook) or mud minnow pinned on a Slayer 1/4oz. jig head. For shallow water flounder try a Slayer inline spinner matched with a FishBites Extreme Paddle tail.

Spanish Mackerel are still hanging around our near coastal waters just outside of Matanzas Inlet. Proven techniques for Spanish is to slow troll spoons or look for acres size schools chasing bait on the surface. Blues, Jacks and Lady fish will be in the mix so make sure to bring plenty of tackle or live bait and most importantly wire leaders.

Capt. Chris Herrera

Spring Break Redfishing

The hot bite that started in February that spilled into March has shown no signs of slowing down into April. Clients this week have been lucky enough to experience large schools of Redfish that are willing to eat artificial or live bait that is PROPERLY PRESENTED. Leading the schools and approaching with stealth was the key to pulling out Redfish from the larger schools.

Catching Reds from smaller schools was a whole different ball game this week. Boat position was the key in order to keep the small school of Reds pinned between the skiff and an oyster bar. A little noise was actually the key to success by using a little technique called “bumping” the fish and “bouncing” the school back and forth catching them in transition.

Elle struggling to hold up her 9lb. Redfish that ate a live shrimp on a Slayer Inc. 1/4 jig.

The following day Culter and his older brother Carlton had a fantastic day catching big brutes like this all day

Since we are at the beginning of the spring mullet run I had Rich and Dean tossing cut mullet with mullet heads on a Daiichi 3/0 D82Z circle hook and small bb split shot being my favorite to another small school of Reds. In an hours time 13 reds were landed and 2 of the smaller ones were invited back to JT’s Seafood Shack for lunch.

Later that afternoon Joe and his son Ben got the worst weather of the day with gusty winds and some showers but that didn’t stop the duo from hooking some nice Reds and loosing one monster Red that new how to work the oysters to get away.

April Fishing Forecast

Tie on your favorite topwater plug and get to casting, gator trout will be lurking around the bait pods along the ICW. First light, outgoing tides and schools of mullet is the formula for a successful morning outing for trout. Working topwater and sinking plugs parallel to dropoffs and around creek mouths will guarantee success! Don’t over look deeper creek holes as “Gator Trout” can be taking residence.

Redfish will also be patrolling the shell banks of the ICW working the bait pods during low tides. Deeper flats that are holding mullet will have redfish shadowing mullet pods looking to eat the shrimp and crabs the mullet kick up. A FishBites Extreme watermelon color jerkbait on a Slayer 4/0 Penetrator 3/16oz. hook is a great search bait for flats fishing. Oyster bed hopping and casting to spartina grass edges will also produce strikes as long as the mullet are around.

Flounder should be chewing steady on all stages of the tides in the flats but outgoing being my favorite. Live finger mullet with a few small split shots or using a FishBite Paddle tail slowly bounced across the bottom will produce flatties. Jig fisherman will target deeper dropoffs with mudminnows or finger mullet. Doormats around the inlets will fall for 5-7 inch mullet on a fish finder rig.

Big Blue fish should continue to chew around Matanzas Inlet, they will bite just about any lure that resembles a mullet, first light is best for numbers. Jacks will start to show up as well and being caught at first light with surface poppers or live bait in deeper water later in the day. Ladyfish will be stacking up outgoing tides busting baitfish in the bigger creeks that will keep the kids occupied. Light jigs and paddle tails or live shrimp will get slammed by lady fish on every cast once you find them.

Well it seems as my favorite way to fish (sight fishing) is now a thing of the past its time to adapt with the change that Spring will bring as its only 2 days away. On recent trips I have noticed less schools of Redfish and more schools of mullet invading our inshore waters as the temps continue to climb.

The following day was still a great day on the water but no where near the sore lippin like the day before

Frank Smith was able to land his first Redfish on fly

We found smaller schools where Gary and Frank were able to double up

Knowing that I was on borrowed time with the Redfish schools I was able to get a few more charters on them before they broke up.

Bob took advantage and landed several nice Reds like this one.

The following day I had Russ and Joe who never experienced fishing Redfish schools and were not disappointed with the numbers they seen and caught.

Now fast forward to today where finding any large or small school was tough with the wind and high water so I switched to fishing creeks and targeting single Redfish on oyster beds with tiger minnows and Slayer 1/4oz. jigs. Nine fish fell for this combo today with Bob “Almighty” taking top honors with the 2 biggest fish of the day.

I even had a chance to fish this week where I saw this redfish working some mullet, I threw a paddle tail that was immediately pounced on by this 26″ redfish that weighed just over the 8lb. mark. I don’t think the photo does this fish any justice but by far the fattest fish I seen swimming these waters in a long time.

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March Fishing Forecast

Springtime is around the corner and should bring the mullet out of their winter hiding holes. Redfish will start to scatter on the flats and will be hanging around the pods of mullet eating whatever gets kicked up. Look along Spartina grass edges, oyster patches during high tides and ICW for low tides. Slayer Penetrator 3/16oz hooks with a Fish Bites Extreme Paddle tail, High Roller topwater plugs and jerkbaits are proven lures that work for reds in March. Trout will be devouring topwater plugs at first light along ICW, creek mouths and docks. Once sun gets high, whip out that jig and soft plastic for subsurface trout. Bluefish will be around Matanzas Inlet mixed in with the trout. Flounder can be found on the flats during all stages of the tide also in creek holes and inlets. Finger size mullet on a fish finder rig with a 2/0 Daiichi Octopus hook or a mud minnow on a jighead should do the trick. Snook will show up from winter holding spots if water temps warm rapidly or else look for them in April.

February Fishing Forecast

February Fishing Forecast

Hitting the flats once the sun is high and with incoming water will give you sight fishing opportunities for Sheep Head. Best bet is to look around oyster bars till you see the striped bandits nibbling away. A stealthy approach is a must by either poling or quietly using your troll motor. . A rig I like to use is a 1/0 Daiichi octopus J hook with a bb split shot a few inches above the hook, I then rig a shrimp weed less by cutting off it’s tail for sent and inserting hook through the tail and back into it’s body for a weedless rig. Bigger Sheep heads will be hanging around deeper water structure like docks, bridges, channel markers and area Inlets. A fishfinder rig with a live fiddler crab is top choice for vertical jigging deep structure.

Trout fishing will be catch and release only as the season is closed from Flagler County north (Flagler County boundary is north of High Bridge). Schooled up trout will be hanging around ICW creek mouths, deep holes in creek bends and Matanzas Inlet. Small soft plastics like RipTide 3 inch mullet or curly tails on a jig head will attract schooled up trout. Gator trout will be sunning on mud flats during the heat of the day and a live mullet swimming on the surface will tempt even the wariest trout.

Redfish schools will be on sun baked flats during higher tides and roaming the ICW during low tides. Multiple fish can be caught as long as you’re quiet and do not get to close. Black drum are relatives to red fish and noted as good table fair when caught less than 5 pounds and can hold their own once hooked. Recent outings have produced good numbers of “puppy drum” which range from 2 to 6 pounds. Simple rigs are used to catch Black drum, one of my favorites is a Slayer inc. ¼ oz. jig head and a live or fresh dead shrimp hooked through the head. Since Black drum are bottom dwellers and feed almost exclusively on the bottom other good baits that produce “stink” are quartered blue crabs, clams and oysters.

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Capt. Chris Herrera

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