I'm waiting for the mullet run to start which should be sometime soon. Also waitng for the water temperature to drop a couple of degrees.Once these two things coincide with one another the fish will turn from so-so to great. Right now the snook fishing is hit and miss. If your in the right spot at the right time you can catch a number of them in a short period of time then the bite will turn off as fast as it turned on. The best place to fish for them is on an out going tide at creek mouths that empty into the ICW.Try a Rapala Twitchin Rap or the 17MR Mirrolure.A live lined shrimp thrown up current and allowed to drift down is another good option. Trout fishing has been spotty at best. I find the best time to hook up is on the last part of the out going tide using a live lined shrimp.If you can find them and want to throw plugs the 17MR Mirrolure works great. The flounder fishing has dropped off with all the rain we've had recently. I expect it to pick up once we get some of this freshwater out of here. You can get redfish at Matanzas Inlet at the change of tide when it canges from out going to incomming. A live mullet fished on the bottom is your best bet. Alive mud minnow will also work.Look for the bull reds to move in once the mullet run begins. Tarpon are still in the ICW and the canals off the ICW. these fish will range from 14" to 40lbs. Look for the bigger ones to show once the mullet run gets into full swing. Live mullet or Pin fish is your best chance to hook up with a "poon".

Tropical storm Fay is behind us now and hopefully with no more storms the fishing should really begin to pick up with the mullet run starting. Look for the trout and snook bite to really turn on and redfish get more active in the flats. A few guys who fished off of Highbridge (real name, Walter Knox Bridge) during Fay did really well on snook. There were reports of snook to 20 lbs being caught during the middle of the day. All they had to do was drop bait in the water and the snook were all over it. Artificial baits that resembled a mullet, hard or soft plastic, were doing the trick.
When fishing off the bridge you’ll want a plug that can dive to around 15 feet. Throw it up current and retrieve it back to you. One of the more popular soft plastics is the Storm Wild Eye in either the 6” or 9” size. These plastics come with the weight built in so there is no guessing as to what size jig head to use. They also have a very limp paddle tail that gives off a lot of action when retrieved.
In the past year I have turned into a fly fishing junkie. I love catching snook on fly. A couple of my favorite flies are the Mighty Minnow that can be purchased on line at www.littleriverflyshop.com I like this fly in the #6 or #4 size. Another of my favorites is todds wiggle minnow in the 2/0 size. This is one of the more successful flies I have fished. It is loaded with action and can be fished effectively on a floating or sinking line. It too can be found on line if you google todds wiggle minnow. And lastly I find the Puglisi rattling flies in the mullet or bunker patterns to be extremely effective with chartreuse being one of the better colors.
When it comes to live bait a snook can’t pass up a live shrimp. Small live pinfish is another excellent choice and don’t leave out a live mullet.
I talked about snook this time because the season is now open. Remember the laws and that is, 1 snook per person per day and they must measure between 28 and 32 inches with the tail pinched.

The ocean water temperature is finally getting back to normal. At last report from Flagler Beach Bait and Tackle at the pier the water temp is back up into the low 80’s and the king mackerel are back and biting. No tarpon yet or any signs of menhaden. There is still a slight chance that the tarpon may appear before the fall run starts at the end of August.
However, tarpon are all over the areas inshore waters. Tarpon are rolling in the Tamoka basin and river, the Flagler Beach canals, Sea Ray canal, Palm Coast canals and the flats north of the 206 Bridge in St. Johns County. How long will they stay around? Who knows, but take advantage of this fishery while it’s here. Last year I caught tarpon up until Dec. 8th.
What are these tarpon hitting on, a number of things. Live bait is always a good bet. Live shrimp, mullet, pinfish or small menhaden. Artificials such as topwaters, soft plastic jerk baits and diving plugs will work. If your tossing flies, try a tarpon bunny or something in a purple/black that imitates a mullet. You also might want to try using an intermediate fly line.
I haven’t been able to do much in the way of trout but the snook are all over the area. I’ve been getting reports of snook stacked under the docks in the Palm Coast canals and the lighted docks at night along the Intracoastal Waterway. I can tell you this much, a snook can’t pass up a freelined live shrimp. On a recent trip I had clients that hooked up with 5 snook and landed two. One was so big it broke 10 lb test braided line. They wound up landing 2, a 6 ½ lb and a 20” and the other 2 they lost were larger than 6 ½ lbs.
What type of bait to use for snook? Like I said a live shrimp is probably the best bet. Topwater plugs are good early in the morning and again in the evening. As the day wears on try using plugs that swim lower in the water column like a catch 2000 or a mirrolure 17 MR.

The waters ocean water temperatures in the Volusia/Flagler area plummeted form 85 degrees to 70 degrees in the past few weeks. This is caused by a phenomenon known as an upwelling. The upwelling is caused by steady and lengthly west winds. It draws up colder bottom water dropping the overall water temp. The colder water will just about shut down the offshore, surf and the inland waters around Matanzas inlet. It also has a big effect on ocean migrating fish such as tarpon, king mackerel, cobia and some of the reef dwellers. The inshore waters farther from the inlet are not really affected by the colder water. The west wind pushes the water out to the ocean significantly lowering the water levels. this makes it very difficult to access the backwaters and concentrates the fish to the deeper waters of the ICW.

Before the blow the fishing was good. The last charter I had out before the winds had trout up to 4 lbs and snook to 30". They also lost a 20 lb tarpon and a red that was over 30". Last week I fly fished for 2 days and could only muster a 10" snook. I ahd numerous other hits but the fish just wouldn't take the fly. I also had tarpon up to 40 lbs rolling around my boat but I find them very difficult to land on a fly when they are in deep water. The best bet would be to use live bait when these fish are encountered. I have also seen some big redfish tailing along the banks of the ICW but for one reason or another I just haven't been able to connect with these fish either. Hopefully the next report will be better now the the winds have begun to subside

Well we finally got some much need rain here in Flagler County which seems to have improved the fishing conditions. The rain cools the down the water temperature and adds oxygen to the water in turn making the fish more active. The fishing had been slow up until the rain but on a recent trip after the rain the fish were turned on. On a recent trip this theory that I have about the rain seemed to be true. Latissa Richardson and her husband Woody had fished with me a couple of days after the rain and they lost and landed some big fish.
Fifteen minutes into the trip Woody hooked into a 20 lb tarpon but as luck would have it the hook pulled. Later Latisssa hooked and landed a 30” – 9 lb snook. She also landed a 4 lb trout. Later in the trip she also lost a big fish which looked to be a red over 30”. All fish were hooked live lining shrimp.
One thing I forgot to mention in last months report about live lining shrimp was the use of a split shot. I place a BB size split shot on the fluorocarbon just below the knot that connects it to the Braided line. The split shot keeps the bait down in the water column where the fish tend to hang out. If I’m fishing in an area where the current is really ripping I’ll adjust the size of my split shot accordingly to keep the bait down.

If you like to pier fish this is a good time to get out there and do some King mackerel fishing. They’ve already started catching kings and they will be around all summer. The largest so far this year is a 35.9 lb King. If you wish to learn how to fish off the pier go into the tackle shop and ask Johnny what you need to do. Another way to learn how to fish for them is to go out and observe the guys fishing at the end of the pier.
Inshore, look for trout at night around the dock lights. You’ll also find some snook mixed in with them. Use live shrimp or soft plastic imitations.
Tarpon up to about 40 lbs are also hitting live shrimp. A live pinfish or a mullet under a cork will also do the trick.

There will be no more fishing column in the Flagler/Palm Coast News Tribune. It was not my decision to end the column but that of the Daytona News Journal. They say it was due to budget cuts. They not only fired me but 18 other correspondents. I don’t know what’s going to be left to read in the News Tribune.
I know the column was read by many fishermen and also by people who didn’t fish. If you will miss reading the column I can suggest you do two things: 1-call the news paper and voice your opinion, 2-cancel your subscription to the News Tribune, I know I’m going to. They wouldn’t even let us put in some sort of thank you to the readers in our last column. I guess they were afraid of us voicing our opinions. I will try and keep a weekly report on this web site.
If you have any opinions on what they did I would like to hear them or if you have any fishing questions, you can e-mail me at captrco@cfl.rr.com. I look forward to hearing from all concerned.
I will be a monthly contributor to Florida Outdoors Magazine that can be found in most of the local convenience stores. If I get with any other publication I will post it on this site.
Thanks to everyone who read the column.

Slow moving tides coupled with westerly winds have made for some difficult fishing this past week. As I’ve stated before, fish prefer faster moving water. It makes the bait more active and thus the fish feed more. The westerly winds have pushed a lot of water out of the flats and the ICW making for low high tides and low low tides. When this happens the fish seem to migrate to the deeper water of the ICW and any deeper holes in the backwater. Try fishing the deeper waters to find fish.
The cold front that past through this week didn’t help things either. An approaching cold front will usually trigger the fish to feed heavily, but that didn’t seem to happen this time. Lou De Fazio and I headed out on Sunday to fiash the front but had difficulty finding a steady bite. We started by fly fishing for some trout. Lou used a heavier weighted fly and was able to get his fly down deeper to where the fish seemed to be holding Lou had a couple of trout, a jack and a snook. I on the other hand used a lighter fly that stayed nearer to the surface and had no luck but I did have a few fish come up and look at the fly.
We then worked our way into the backwater through some deeper cuts to try and find some reds. The water was real low and we tried throwing some jigs around oyster bars but couldn’t raise a fish. Having no luck in the backwaters we moved out and headed to Silver Lake thinking there might be some reds there. We cruised the whole lake and couldn’t connect with a redfish. We did however spook some reds holding up in the middle of the lake. To the north the skies looked nasty and we could hear thunder so we decided to call it a day.
I don’t see the fishing starting to improve until we have a change of wind direction to the east or northeast to push some water back inshore. As the moon approaches full it should also help to raise the water levels due to its gravitational pull.
One thing the colder weather will do is cool the water temperature down a few degrees. Hopefully this will bring the redfish up to school on the flats. As the day progresses and the shallow water warms they’ll come into the fats to warm themselves and look for food. This is when redfishing can get really good.
Johnny Garrett at Flagler Beach Bait and Tackle says the action from the pier has been slow but whiting are providing the bulk of the action. They are being caught on sand fleas and shrimp.
After this week anyone looking for a local fishing report can go to my website, www.flaglerfishingcharters.com, and click on articles for up to date information on the areas fishing.

Extra, Extra read all about it: Fisherman Looking For lost Teeth. Here’s one of the best fishing stories I’ve ever heard. To protect the identity of the fisherman this happened to we’ll just call him Walt Matuszak. As the story goes Walt was fly fishing at Matanzas inlet and was hooking up with bluefish. All but one of Walts flies had succumbed to the toothy bluefish. Down to his last fly he hooked and landed a small blue. Walt went to remove the hook from the fish’s mouth with his right hand while holding it under its belly with his left hand. As he reached for the hook the fish opened its mouth and clamped down on his finger. (If you know anything about bluefish you know they have a mouth full of sharp teeth.) That had to hurt!
Not being able to reach for his pliers for the fear that the blue would have torn his finger apart if he let go of it, Walt decided to bite the fish in its back. He bit down hard enough that the fish opened its mouth and released its grip on the finger. When this happened Walt released his bite on the fish and the fish flopped out of his left hand and into the water. The fish sat there for a second, stunned, then began to swim off. As it swam off Walt noticed something sticking out of its back, it was four of his teeth that became dislodged from a plate in his mouth. This turned out to be one expensive fishing trip for Walt. P.S. If anyone catches a fish with teeth in its back you should return them to Walt. I’m sure he’d find a place for them on his trophy shelf.
I didn’t even bother fishing during the cold front we had last week. Instead I opted to wait until a few days after the front passed. When it did I went out to see if I could find some trout, and I did. All I brought with me that day was my fly rod. When I got to my spot it was dead low tide. It wasn’t until the tide started coming in that I began to catch fish. I caught and released 5 trout to 16”. I caught them on an EP chartreuse and white rattle fly. I also had 6 other trout come up and smack the fly but couldn’t connect. About an hour and a half into the rising tide the bite turned off.
I got a call the other day from Capt. Chris Herrera Telling me he was in Stomach Lake looking for redfish and saw a couple of small singles but no schools of reds. He did however pole up on a couple of 30” trout but they wouldn’t eat what he threw at them.
Johnny Garrett at Flagler Beach Bait and Tackle reports lots of whiting being caught. Black drum, sheepshead in the 5 to 7 lb range, bluefish and an occasional red and pompano are all being caught.
Jake Jaquish at Highbridge Bait and Tackle reports lots of redfish coming from the area backwaters. Also, lots of reds are along the banks of the ICW at low tide.



Photo: Steve Gombar, Tony Napoleon and Mike Marrale fished Dec. 30th for these 22” reds and 18” flounder. The fish were caught on live shrimp.

I’d like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and may you all have great fishing in “2008”. One thing I do not wish to see in 08 is a repeat of any red tide. The red tide had a direct effect on the fall flounder run and other fishing in the northern waters of Flagler and southern St. Johns counties. I would also like to see some cold snaps during January and February along with some spring rain, these two conditions should improve the trout fishing in the year to come. Cold snaps will also drop the water temperatures causing redfish to school on the flats. For me, the only downside to a cold snap is that it will shut down the snook bite and cold snap that lasts too long, dropping the water temps into the 50’s, can kill off a large number of snook. I’ve seen this happen in the past. Let’s hope for the best conditions possible in the coming year.
As usual I found the fishing to be difficult around Christmas due to the full moon. I had fished the day before the full moon and could only manage a couple of small trout. Steve Gombar and a friend of his fished all day with me on Christmas Eve, full moon, and we only had three fish, a ladyfish, trout and a 25” red. A week later, with the moon on the downside, Steve came back with two of his buddies, Mike Marrale and Tony Napoleon. The trio had a much better day landing a couple of 23” reds, some rat reds, an 18” flounder, 10 snook to 18”, a couple of trout, mangrove snappers, ladyfish and an 18” barracuda, that’s right a barracuda in December. That was the 2nd barracuda I had in my boat during the month of December while fishing the Flagler Beach area.
On the 29th Dr. Claude Hearn and his wife Missy fished aboard my boat and they also had a pretty good day. The duo had a 25” red, a 16” and 18” flounder, a couple trout, 5 snook to 16”, ladyfish and mangrove snapper.
The cold front this past week will more than likely shut down the bite for a few days. Look for the fishing to pick up after it starts to warm up this weekend.
Johnny Garrett at Flagler Beach Bait and Tackle reports whiting, black drum in the 3 to 5 lb range, sheepshead 4 to 5 lb, scattered bluefish and a few reds being caught at the pier.
Jake Jaquish at Jake’s Highbridge Bait and Tackle reports that redfish are being caught in the backwaters in that area. He also reports that some big snook are still being caught in the area but look for the cold front to slow the snook bite down. Trout season is back open south of the Flagler County line and Jake says small trout along with the occasional keeper size are coming from the ICW and backwaters.


Photo: Dr. Claude Hearn with a 25” redfish he caught and released using a live shrimp.