Anglers fishing the ICW are being kept busy by trout and undersize snook. The trout are averaging between 14” and 18” with the occasional fish over 20”. These are nice healthy fish that have been feeding on mullet and glass minnows. Most of the snook that are being caught are under size fish and are feeding on the same baits as the trout. If your using artificial baits downsize to smaller ones to imitate glass minnows. I have received reports of people seeing huge snook sunning themselves in the Palm Coast canals but they will not eat when they are in this mode.
There are reports of tarpon in the 5 to 20 lb range in the Tamoka Basin/River and also in Sanchez Creek that runs off the Tamoka River. These fish are hitting on small Yo-Zuri 3D minnows and flies. If you’re a catch and release fisherman and want some great action from small tarpon give it a try.
Jim Melley and his buddy Tom fished with me last Friday. I put Jim on a 17MR Mirrorlure and he nailed a couple of nice snook in the 20” range and a couple of trout. Tom used live shrimp and had small snook, reds, trout and mangrove snapper.
Sunday Richard and Carol McCleery fished aboard my boat. Although the fishing was a little on the slow side Carol did manage to catch her first snook, she had two, and her first trout of which she had a couple.
After I dropped off Richard and Carol off at the dock I headed back out to do some fly fishing. I fished for about an hour and had no luck with the white feather fly I was using. I went through my bag of flies and found my last Enrico Puglisi fly, a white mullet. After my 3rd cast I landed a 10” snook that swallowed the fly. I got the fly out and didn’t check the 30 lb leader that I use. (Snook have very abrasive lips.) I then hooked an 18” snook that swallowed the fly. Again, I didn’t check the leader. Then I hooked a 25” snook that jumped out of the water with his head thrashing. He jumped a couple of more times and when I finally got him next to the boat Those abrasive lips finally broke my leader and the snook swam off with my fly. Next time I’ll practice what I preach and check my leader after each snook I catch.
Snook season closes Dec 15th and reopens Feb 1st on the Atlantic coast of Fl. It closed Dec. 1st and will reopen March 1st in the Gulf of Mexico, the everglades and the Keys.
A few more cold mornings like we had this past week and it should drop the water temperature enough to shut down the snook bite. But don’t fret because this should trigger another bite, redfish. It’s this time of year, when the water temps drop, that the reds start schooling on the flats. Usually it’s right after Christmas that the water in the 206 flats and Pellicer flats becomes crystal clear and you can sight fish for reds. You can expect to find schools of 50 to 100 or more fish.
Johnny Garrett at Flagler Beach Bait and Tackle reports lots of whiting being caught on the pier. Johnny also reports lots of bluefish, flounder to 21”, black drum and a few pompano.
Jake Jaquish at Jake’s Highbridge Bait and Tackle reports lots of trout although they’re out of season in Volusia County. He also reports that small snook are being caught and black drum are in the deeper holes in the backwater.
Photo: Jim Melley with a 21” snook he caught on a MirrOlure
There are reports of tarpon in the 5 to 20 lb range in the Tamoka Basin/River and also in Sanchez Creek that runs off the Tamoka River. These fish are hitting on small Yo-Zuri 3D minnows and flies. If you’re a catch and release fisherman and want some great action from small tarpon give it a try.
Jim Melley and his buddy Tom fished with me last Friday. I put Jim on a 17MR Mirrorlure and he nailed a couple of nice snook in the 20” range and a couple of trout. Tom used live shrimp and had small snook, reds, trout and mangrove snapper.
Sunday Richard and Carol McCleery fished aboard my boat. Although the fishing was a little on the slow side Carol did manage to catch her first snook, she had two, and her first trout of which she had a couple.
After I dropped off Richard and Carol off at the dock I headed back out to do some fly fishing. I fished for about an hour and had no luck with the white feather fly I was using. I went through my bag of flies and found my last Enrico Puglisi fly, a white mullet. After my 3rd cast I landed a 10” snook that swallowed the fly. I got the fly out and didn’t check the 30 lb leader that I use. (Snook have very abrasive lips.) I then hooked an 18” snook that swallowed the fly. Again, I didn’t check the leader. Then I hooked a 25” snook that jumped out of the water with his head thrashing. He jumped a couple of more times and when I finally got him next to the boat Those abrasive lips finally broke my leader and the snook swam off with my fly. Next time I’ll practice what I preach and check my leader after each snook I catch.
Snook season closes Dec 15th and reopens Feb 1st on the Atlantic coast of Fl. It closed Dec. 1st and will reopen March 1st in the Gulf of Mexico, the everglades and the Keys.
A few more cold mornings like we had this past week and it should drop the water temperature enough to shut down the snook bite. But don’t fret because this should trigger another bite, redfish. It’s this time of year, when the water temps drop, that the reds start schooling on the flats. Usually it’s right after Christmas that the water in the 206 flats and Pellicer flats becomes crystal clear and you can sight fish for reds. You can expect to find schools of 50 to 100 or more fish.
Johnny Garrett at Flagler Beach Bait and Tackle reports lots of whiting being caught on the pier. Johnny also reports lots of bluefish, flounder to 21”, black drum and a few pompano.
Jake Jaquish at Jake’s Highbridge Bait and Tackle reports lots of trout although they’re out of season in Volusia County. He also reports that small snook are being caught and black drum are in the deeper holes in the backwater.
Photo: Jim Melley with a 21” snook he caught on a MirrOlure