This past Monday I walked out to the end of the Flagler Beach pier to see how the fishing was going for tarpon and king mackerel. Not much going on that afternoon. I did talk to pier regular, Bob Burns, who told me the tarpon and pogys had disappeared but the king mackerel fishing was still productive. Since there have been no pogys to use for bait for the kings anglers have been using small live bluefish.
This is how the angling technique works to catch the kings and tarpon from the pier. Most of the people are using conventional rod and reel outfits. First you need a good stout conventional rod about 9 to 10 ft long along with a conventional reel that will hold 30 to 40 lb test line. At the end of the line is tied a large bobber with a claw style sinker attached to the bottom of it. This rig is then cast out from the end of the pier as far as they can cast it. They then have a 5 to six ft leader with a snap swivel on one end and a stinger rig hooked to the other end of the leader. A stinger rig is a couple of treble hooks connected to a wire leader. The live bait is then attached to the stinger rig. The snap swivel is then placed on the line that has been cast out and the bait slides down the line into the water. Once the bait is in the water it swims around near the surface like a wounded fish and hopefully attracts a predator. The best way to learn about this type of fishing is to go to the pier and observe how the angling is done.
According to Bob, 22 kings had been brought to the planks so far this year and 4 tarpon have been beached and released. Bob also runs a web site, www.flaglerbeachpier.net, where you can get reports and see photos of the fish that have been caught.
On the ICW side the fishing was a little slow this past weekend due to the full moon.
During the full moon I was only able to raise one small snook on a topwater fly and another small snook and a small trout on a mirrolure About five days before the full moon I was out throwing a 7m mirrolure and caught eight trout and had about another ten that came up and hit the plug but didn’t take it. I expect the fishing to be better this weekend now that the moon is on the down side.
National Marina Day will be held at the Palm Coast Marina, 200 Clubhouse Drive, on Saturday August 11th. Some of the events will include the 2nd annual cardboard boat race, free electric boat rides, kayak lessons and tours and many other vendor displays. For more information call the Marina at (386) 446-6370.
Roy Mattson at Roy’s Bait House reports that Steve Martin and crew did an overnight trip offshore for a 28.14 lb king mackerel, 14.14 lb cobia, red snapper, black sea bass, mangrove snapper and triggerfish. Inshore Mike Martin – 25” redfish. Jennell Flesher – 2 trot and 2 flounder. Tom Panetti – 21” redfish. Gina Rodgerson – 4 lb trout.
Jake Jaquish of Flagler Beach Bait and Tackle reports king mackerel being caught on the pier along with pompano, bluefish and whiting. Jake also reports trout and snook around the Highbridge area.
This is how the angling technique works to catch the kings and tarpon from the pier. Most of the people are using conventional rod and reel outfits. First you need a good stout conventional rod about 9 to 10 ft long along with a conventional reel that will hold 30 to 40 lb test line. At the end of the line is tied a large bobber with a claw style sinker attached to the bottom of it. This rig is then cast out from the end of the pier as far as they can cast it. They then have a 5 to six ft leader with a snap swivel on one end and a stinger rig hooked to the other end of the leader. A stinger rig is a couple of treble hooks connected to a wire leader. The live bait is then attached to the stinger rig. The snap swivel is then placed on the line that has been cast out and the bait slides down the line into the water. Once the bait is in the water it swims around near the surface like a wounded fish and hopefully attracts a predator. The best way to learn about this type of fishing is to go to the pier and observe how the angling is done.
According to Bob, 22 kings had been brought to the planks so far this year and 4 tarpon have been beached and released. Bob also runs a web site, www.flaglerbeachpier.net, where you can get reports and see photos of the fish that have been caught.
On the ICW side the fishing was a little slow this past weekend due to the full moon.
During the full moon I was only able to raise one small snook on a topwater fly and another small snook and a small trout on a mirrolure About five days before the full moon I was out throwing a 7m mirrolure and caught eight trout and had about another ten that came up and hit the plug but didn’t take it. I expect the fishing to be better this weekend now that the moon is on the down side.
National Marina Day will be held at the Palm Coast Marina, 200 Clubhouse Drive, on Saturday August 11th. Some of the events will include the 2nd annual cardboard boat race, free electric boat rides, kayak lessons and tours and many other vendor displays. For more information call the Marina at (386) 446-6370.
Roy Mattson at Roy’s Bait House reports that Steve Martin and crew did an overnight trip offshore for a 28.14 lb king mackerel, 14.14 lb cobia, red snapper, black sea bass, mangrove snapper and triggerfish. Inshore Mike Martin – 25” redfish. Jennell Flesher – 2 trot and 2 flounder. Tom Panetti – 21” redfish. Gina Rodgerson – 4 lb trout.
Jake Jaquish of Flagler Beach Bait and Tackle reports king mackerel being caught on the pier along with pompano, bluefish and whiting. Jake also reports trout and snook around the Highbridge area.