Cape Canaveral to Sebastian Inlet
Beth Sinclair
January 5, 2008
Melbourne - Saltwater Fishing Report
Florida Surf Fishing Report for:
Cape Canaveral to Sebastian Inlet
The red tide disaster seems to be over, at least for the time being, with levels of the red tide organism being low to non-present along Brevard County beaches. Further south, however, anglers are still contending with this menace.
When the weather is fair, anglers are finding fairly good numbers of pompano in the surf, particularly between Melbourne Beach and Vero Beach. Clean water and cool temperatures seem to be the best combination for targeting these fish.
Live sandfleas are hard to beat for bait, however, when the temperatures are cold, anglers likely won't find these little critters in the surf zone. Try fresh cut shrimp and clam in the absence of live fleas. Even frozen sandfleas are worth a shot, though are often somewhat mushy and fall off hooks easily.
Black drum and whiting are also present in the surf. Look for whiting along beaches between Port Canaveral and Indialantic, while the drum are more common adjacent to structure, such as inlets, rocky ledges and piers. Much like the pompano, whiting and drum prefer fresh crustaceans, such as fleas and cut shrimp, but whiting will also hit cut mullet as well.
Bluefish are a decent bet around Port Canaveral and Sebastian Inlet, particularly if bait fish are in the area. Fresh cut mullet or lures like spoons, Gotcha plugs and other mullet imitations work well for the blues. When working with cut bait, try using a long shank hook to help avoid cut-offs. Anglers may also want to beef up their rig line strength to 40 or 50 lb. Test for these toothy predators.
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