Another June Excursion

Summer heat is here and the fish are chewing! We had quite a bit of funky weather through June making things pretty tricky at times. One of the toughest parts of being a guide or a charter captain is that the clients are relying on you to determine whether or not it’s safe to make the trip when the forecast is calling for inclement weather. I feel like being born and raised here in Florida helps for what it’s worth.

The flounder bite has been great at the inlet and off the beach with a lot of 1-4 lb fish being caught. I’ve been using both mud minnows and live shrimp. There’s been a bunch of tarpon out there too from 20 lbs to up over 100 and I do best with live pinfish, croakers, and pigfish. The tarpon have been hanging out just outside of the surf north and south of the inlet and especially if you can find bait pods down the beach. King mackerel, bonito, and big jacks are out there as well for some good drag screaming. Redfish have been showing up in better numbers around the inlet after a little stretch of slower action. Quite a few 30-40”+ fish being caught the last couple weeks. Mangrove snappers have gotten thick all over with the spawn going on from the river all the way offshore. One of my favorite species to target this time of year. 

Inshore there’s a good pompano bite right now in the creeks between Port Orange and the Inlet and it seems outgoing tide is where it’s at. One of my favorites as far as table fare for inshore/nearshore fishing. Seatrout have been plentiful especially south of Ponce Inlet and it’s hard to beat pigfish and croakers for bait. However it does take time to figure out where these fish are more plentiful. Oyster bars and deeper little cuts in the river are a good place to try. Dock lights at night are just about a sure bet! July is a great time to wet a line so call me if you want to set up a trip!