Ahoy, fellow anglers! Captain Adam Morley here, reporting live from the vibrant waters of Flagler County. As the president of the Flagler Sportfishing Club and the proud owner of Genung’s Fish Camp, I’ve been keeping a keen eye on the fishing scene, and let me tell you, it’s been nothing short of exhilarating!
Let’s start with the talk of the town—cobia fishing. These majestic fish are making their annual migration along the coast, and anglers have been having great success targeting them. To hook into a cobia, try drifting live bait such as pinfish, mullet, or eels near buoys, wrecks, or other structure. Keep an eye out for cobia cruising near the surface, and be ready to cast when you spot one—it’s an adrenaline-pumping experience you won’t soon forget!
Now, onto the surf, where our surf fishermen have been reporting a strong pompano and whiting bite. To target these delicious species, try using sand fleas, shrimp, or clam strips on a pompano rig or double-drop rig. Cast your line into the troughs and sandbars, and be prepared for some exciting action as these feisty fish put up a fight!
Inshore, the flounder are settling back into the Matanzas after their winter vacation. These tasty flatfish can be found hiding around oyster bars, grass flats, and sandy bottoms. Try using live mud minnows, mullet, or finger mullet on a Carolina rig or jighead to entice them into biting.
As for the redfish, they’ve been plentiful but picky in their diet. The ones I’ve found are back in the creeks again, and they seem to have tunnel vision for mud minnows and mullet. While live shrimp and a wide variety of artificials might tempt them, it’s the natural baits that have been producing the best results lately.
Before I sign off, I want to wish all the anglers fishing the Flagler Sportfishing Club’s Spring Classic Tournament this weekend the best of luck! And to all you readers out there, I hope to see you at the weigh-in at Bing’s Landing on Saturday afternoon from 3-4:30. It’s sure to be an exciting event you won’t want to miss!
Until next time, tight lines and smooth sailing!
Chris from Skinny Water Lures mentioned. The bite has started to fire up. The water temperatures are starting warm up, pushing into the 70’s. What does this mean for the bite? The warmer temperatures will have the fish pushing out onto the flats earlier in the morning. Allowing you to find these fish moving from deeper waters, into the shallow waters earlier. The topwater bite should also pick up due to these warmer temperatures, allowing for awesome early morning and late evening action.
With a full moon approaching early next week, the bite should turn on. Focus several days before and after the full moon and you will notice stronger and higher tides. This tidal change will cause more bait fish to be pushed around, allowing for stronger fish activity and more bites. For redfish focus early morning topwater around oyster bars or parallel to the bank. As the tide comes in, turn your focus to the flooded grass.
These higher tides will push these redfish into the flooded grass where they usually cannot get too. Throw a paddle tail rigged weedless up into and along the grass and you will sure get bit. Good numbers of speckle sea-trout are still being caught. Focus around moving water and deep holes with a hard twitch bait. Allow the twitch bait to pause after several twitches and you will entice more strikes.
Remember the warmer weather is upon us so be prepared with the proper gear and sun protection!!
