Fishing in the ICW is still on the slow side during the day but I have gotten some good reports of trout being taken around dock lights at night. One fisherman I spoke with told me his most productive hours have been from midnight to around 3AM, not the hours most of us tend to keep. Fish such as trout have eyes that are sensitive to sunlight so it would stand to reason that they do a great deal of feeding at night. If you head out at night look for docks where their lights are close to the water. These docks will attract the most bait and in turn will bring in the fish that prey upon them. Live shrimp and artificial baits that resemble shrimp or mullet all work.
To increase your chances of catching fish under the lights try a couple of different techniques with your baits. Don’t always throw directly at the light. Most of the fish will be holding in the shadows at the edge of the light. When you do throw into the light reposition your boat after several casts. This will allow you to cover different spots on the perimeter of the light. Try throwing your bait across the light into the shadows, swimming it through the lights and back into the shadows. Another technique is to throw the bait up current into the shadows and let it roll along on the bottom through the light and back into the shadows. If you know how to flip or skip cast a bait, place into the darkness under the dock.
Casting at night throws off your depth perception. You’ll find yourself putting your baits on the docks and sometimes hitting boats that are in their slings. Try to avoid these situations. People can get awfully angry if they see you climbing around their dock trying to remove your bait that is stuck on it. Also try to keep the noise down and your lighting low or off. I’ve had dock lights shut off on me by dock owners on more than one occasion.
Roy’s Bait House reports that Jeff Mullaney fished the surf for 12 whiting and 4 pompano. Matt Snyder had 2 black drum, 4 pompano and 1 keeper redfish. Ray Johnson fished the ICW for 2 mango snapper, 2 lane snapper,5 trout to 19” and a 25” snook (released). Bill Woodfin – 5keeper trout to 18”. Mike Pusateri had a 26 ½”- 6.03 lb trout that he caught on a live pigfish. Troy Berthon- 21”trout, 18” redfish. Offshore Ronald Gorney had dolphin a couple of dolphin – 11.08 Lbs and 10.05 lbs.


Photo: Bryce Simons proudly shows off his first redfish. The fish was caught on a live shrimp.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has approved changes to snook bag and size limits and harvest seasons.
New rules reduce the snook daily recreational bag limit from 2 fish per person to a one-fish daily limit on Florida’s Atlantic Coast. This makes it a one fish limit statewide.
Rules also change the 27-34 inch slot limit to 28-32 inches in Atlantic waters and 28-33 inches in Florida’s Gulf, Everglades National Park and Monroe County waters.
In addition, the rules add the first half of December and the month of February to the Dec. 15 – Jan. 31 and May – August closed harvest seasons for snook in the Gulf, Everglades and Monroe County. The Dec- Jan. 13 and June – August closed harvest seasons on the Atlantic waters will remain unchanged.
The rules also allow anglers to carry more than one cast net aboard a vessel while fishing for snook.
The new snook rules take effect in July and will be implemented when the snook harvest season reopens on Sept. 1st.
Fishing the ICW has been inconsistent so far this year. One day you go out and you’ll find fish than the next day nothing. This seems to be especially true when it comes to trout. It’s not like it has been in past years when you could depend on finding trout almost everywhere. I’ve also heard the same thing is true up in St. Augustine. I don’t know what has changed but I do have a couple of theories.
One is a possible natural cycle that the fish go through and maybe this is their year. Another idea I have is the warm winters we’ve had the last couple of years. Maybe the warmer winter water has put them out of balance from their normal habits. The last idea is the lack of rain over the last couple of years causing much higher salinity levels in water that is normally brackish. This could affect their breeding habits and where the young fry grow up. Who really knows, but I think they sound good.
There has been though, some good catches of flounder coming from the ICW. A party I had out this past week had 3 nice flatties in the 15” range. Other people have been getting them in the same range. Capt. Mike Vickers had one last week that tipped the scales at almost 6 lbs. There is also some flounder being caught in the surf and on the pier. Shrimp, mullet or mud minnows are all good baits for flounder.
Roy Mattson at Roy’s bait House reports that Joe Rickey went offshore for a 28” grouper, 3 – 21” red snapper and a 22” yellowtail snapper. Blake Allman fished the rocks around Matanzas inlet and had 4 pompano between 3 – 4 lbs, 11 good size whiting and 2 slot size reds.



Photo: Capt. Rob Ottlein caught and released this 24” snook. The fish was caught fly fishing with a topwater bubblehead fly.

The winds finally laid down this past weekend and made for some calm seas allowing the offshore crowd to get out and wet their lines. The fish gods rewarded them after weeks of being kept landlocked. Good catches of dolphin, king mackerel, cobia and red snapper were reported. Dennis Bayer and his buddies went out of Ponce Inlet and headed to the Steeples to troll up dolphin. They boated 30 of them that weighed between 8 and 17 lbs. Steve Mills weighed in a red snapper that tipped the scales at 21 lbs 14 ounces and Rob Thomas who fished with Steve had a 10 lb red snapper. Tom Moleski weighed in the largest red snapper – 25 lbs.
If you saw an unusual amount of boats along the Flagler beaches this past Friday and Saturday it was due the King Buster 400 Tournament held out of St Augustine. James Rachael of Clearwater took top honors with a 46.85 lb king mackerel. Charles Meekins of Flagler beach took the top spot in the 23 ft and under boat division. For the overall weigh in go to http://www.kingbuster400.comand/ scroll to real time standings.
Jake Jaquish at Flagler Beach Bait and Tackle reports that lots of king mackerel are being caught from the pier. The largest weighed in this past week was 49 lbs. Jake also reports tarpon rolling in Sanchez Creek along with snook and redfish in the Tamoka Basin. For those of you who don’t know Sanchez Creek runs off the Tamoka River.
I set out one day last week to do some fly fishing in the ICW and was rewarded with a 25” snook that hit a topwater bubblehead fly. This fly has quickly become my favorite. I also jumped a small tarpon while using it last week. The only place I’ve been able to locate this fly is on Bass Pro Shops website.
Roy at Roy’s Bait House also reports lots of king mackerel being caught offshore. Ray Gillet and crew had 2 dolphin and 2 king mackerel. Jim Ingham had a 14.04 lb dolphin. Joe walkup weighed in a 13.12 lb red snapper, 2 lb triggerfish and a 35.10 lb king mackerel. From the surf Roy reports Tom Dawson with 3 pompano, 1 bluefish and 1 flounder. Paul Norton had 6 pompano and 4 flounder while fishing with clam strips.

Earlier this week the winds switched to the west and laid down the rough surf. This allowed anglers on the pier to get back to the business of catching fish, and that’s just what they did. Some big king mackerel were caught Tuesday and Wednesday. Kyle Maners brought one to the planks that measured 55” and weighed 39.06 lbs. James Hampton had a 34.11 lb king and Bob Burns caught one that weighed in at 17 lbs. The action off the pier should remain good as long as the winds hold off. Also look for a lot of boat activity around the pier Friday and Saturday due to the King Buster 400 Tournament being held out of St. Augustine. Anyone wishing to attend the weigh ins can go to the St. Augustine Municipal Marina located at 100 Avenida Menedez. As the month wears on look for tarpon to show up as they feed on the schools of pogys that begin to appear along the beaches.
The inshore fishing remains sporadic. One day you go out and you can find some good size fish and next you have to search hard to get a couple of decent fish. Last week I had Bill Ser, John Hamburger and E.Y. Walter out fishing. The trio had ladyfish, jacks, flounder, bluefish, redfish and trout with the two biggest weighing 3.08 lbs and 4.08 lbs. The following day Sumner Bryant and Dennis Voith worked hard to catch fish but Dennis had his first redfish in the flats, 22”. They also had some small black drum, jacks and mangrove snapper. Hopefully conditions will change now that the full moon is past and the winds have slowed some.
Here’s some news for anglers who like to fish the Everglades like I do. There is a proposal by Everglades National Park Management Plan that would limit combustion engines to water over 3 ft in the park. Water that is less than 3 ft will be able to be accessed by trolling motor, push pole, kayak or canoe. Because the majority of water in the everglades is less than 3 ft it would cut off a lot of fishing areas to boaters. There will be public workshops in south Florida discussing this proposal. For more information you can contact Fred Herling (Everglades National Park Planner) at 305-242-7704 or fred_herling@nps.gov.
Doug Towell at Jakes Highbridge Bait and Tackle reports reds being caught in the backwaters around Highbridge. Flounder some trout and a few snook are being caught in the ICW. Snook up to 37” are being caught at night around the bridges on the Tamoka River.
Roy Mattson at Roy’s Bait House reports that Donna Smith had a 26 ½” red from the surf and Steve Graulirts had 3 nice pompano on clams. On the ICW side Mike and Buddy Hanson had a 23” and 25 ½” redfish. On the freshwater side, 10 yr old Logan Johnson caught a 6 lb bass in the Royal Palm Canal in Palm Coast. Kenny Smith of Bunnell had 46 specks on live minnows at Dead Lake.


Photo: Bill Ser holds a 4½ lb trout he caught live lining a shrimp. The fish was released.