Good news for surf and pier anglers, the mullet run has started along the beach. The mullet will bring in spanish mackerel, king mackerel, redfish, flounder and tarpon. When the Spanish mackerel show up a large silver spoon tossed from the beach will work, just make sure you use a metal leader or you’ll lose your spoon. Spoons will also catch king mackerel that might come in close to the beach and don’t rule out connecting with a tarpon. When fishing from the pier a “gotcha” plug will do the trick on the Spanish. A whole frozen mullet, live mullet or a fresh chunk of mullet is your best bet for reds and flounder.
Johnny Garrett at Flagler Beach Bait and Tackle on the pier tells of king mackerel to 33 lbs being brought to the planks. There was also a 28 lb barracuda caught. Black drum and whiting are also being caught. Look for the fishing to get even better as the mullet run heats up.
Inshore there are lots of snook of all sizes to be found. They’re hitting flies, topwater plugs, diving plugs, jigs and live shrimp or mullet. Tarpon can also be found in the canals off the ICW. There have been tarpon up to 80 lbs rolling in the Sea Ray canal. The best bet for a possible hook up with a tarpon is to live line a mullet or a pogy.
Look for reds cruising the banks of the ICW at the end of the out going tide and the beginning of the incoming tide. Lots of times you’ll be able to sight fish them as their backs will be out of the water while they search for food.
Flounder fishing remains steady. I caught a 3 lb flounder this past week on a mirrolure plug. Flounder are very aggressive fish and will come off the bottom to chase bait. Jake Jaquishat Jake’s Highbridge Bait and Tackle told me of a 33” flounder that was caught this past week. Jake also reports that snook to 37” have been taken from the bridge and reds along the banks of the ICW.
Lou DeFazio and I were talking at the rte. 100 boat ramp the other day and he told me that he landed and released 25 snook to 33” during the month of August. Lou fishes at night from the bank using only a jig. He looks for the remainder of the season to be a good one for snook.
Here are the results from Roy’s redfish tournament, most spots, 1st – Terry Schweers – 10, 2nd – Ted Wilk – 7, 3rd – Rosa Pana – 6
Heaviest fish, 1st – Robert Mock II – 5.85 lbs, 2nd – Paul Wann – 5.1 lbs, 3rd – Dallas Moore –5.05 lbs.
Roy also reported that Linda Vickers caught a 1 ½ lb permit in the ICW.
The Flagler County Sportfishing Club is holding their Annual Inshore Tournament September 22 at Bings Landing. The captains meeting will be at JT’s Seafood Shack on A1A in the Hammock. Entry fee is $45 per angler. Payouts will be for blackdrum, redfish, trout and flounder. For more information you can goto www.fcsportfishing.com or contact John Raybon at 386-447-3828 or 386-503-3545.