December Fishing Frenzy: Redfish, Snook, Tarpon, and More

The fishing is awesome in December! So much going on that some times it’s a little tricky what to do. We got our first good cold front and had temps in the low 40s and this cooler weather has the water temp dropping. It quickly went from upper 70s to mid/low 60s. The inlet has been on fire! Outgoing tide has been producing redfish, snook, and black drum consistently. I’ve been using live shrimp and mullet a lot around the inlet. Pinfish and pigs should be some good baits too I just haven’t gotten my hands on them recently. Most of these redfish have been in the 30-40” range. The snook bite has been stellar and I think I’ve had more big snook landed on my boat this year than I ever have. Snook season closes December 15 - January 31 so keep that in mind but they’re still a blast to catch. The black drum have been in the 5-10 lb range but there’s been some fish up to 40lb caught recently. I’ve been getting most of my drum just using live shrimp. It seemed like once this water started cooling down the tarpon showed up in numbers around the inlet. I’ve noticed some days they have been spread out all over the inlet in the channel and also over the shallow area south of the channel. We have hooked some of them while fishing for reds and snook on the bottom and I haven’t even really targeted them specially on recent trips. We have also caught some big jacks around the inlet channel which is always good for drag screaming. Sheepshead and a few pompano have started biting good as well. Two of my favorite eating inshore fish! I like using sand fleas for them over fiddler crabs but they will both work and even just small shrimp can do the trick. 

In the intracoastal I’ve been hitting the bridges and docks for drum and snook but I’m sure there’s some sheeps around too. Select shrimp and live mullet are a couple of the baits I’m fishing the bridges with recently. I’ve heard lots of other reports of people getting black drum and snook around all the bridges in our area. 

This time of year the weather can be absolutely gorgeous or about as bad as it gets with Northeast winds cranking with cold fronts so take advantage of the nice conditions when you can! Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from Pole Dancer Fishin’ Charters! Looking forward to making awesome memories on the water in 2025! Get your rod bent!