The dog days of August are howling with heat and it’s making inshore fishing challenging. There’s plenty of bait around, as you’d expect this time of year. Pinfish, pilchards, finger and large mullet, mud minnows and ladyfish for cut bait are all readily available. That bodes well for whenever the temperatures do finally start to cool, perhaps within a month.
Trout are holding in deeper water right now. Subsurface lures are fooling them and noisy topwater lures tossed at dawn is also feasible. There have been some good reports of dock light action at night for specks and reds. Tarpon are also holding around the new 3-Mile Bridge, where they are eating big swim baits and eel imitations like Gag’s Whip It or Hogy lures. Large flies like EP Minnows should also attract interest.
With all the bait, schools of jacks are feeding in wolf packs. It’s hard to target these fast-movers, but if you do hook up, hang on. Pound per pound, jacks are one of the hardest fighting game fish in the water. There are also plenty of sharks around right now. Blacktip and spinner sharks are great sport on plugs and big red or orange streamer flies.
Water temperatures are in the upper 80s right now. Find some deeper holes with slightly cooler water or plan your trips in low-light intervals (dawn and dusk/dark) for the best chance of success. Redfish are much more tolerant of spa temps, however. The copper drum have been prowling the shallows and shorelines. The water clarity is somewhat turbid despite a lack of rain lately. As a result, darker patterns are working well. Root beer, black and dark greens are good choices. Lures that make noise or vibration like weedless spoons or spinnerbaits are more options.
Next Thursday full moon will improve tidal action all next week leading into the Labor Day holiday weekend. September 4 also marks the end of the CCA Florida STAR Tournament. You can still sign up to win some great prizes. Or if you’re already registered, it’s not too late to hunt for a tagged redfish. Only one tagged fish has been caught so far by a registered angler (who claimed the 22 Contender Sport as his prize—congrats!). So there are still some boat, trailer, engine packages up for grabs, along with other fun prizes and junior angler scholarships. To register or to learn more, visit: ccaflstar.com
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