Central East Region

May Fishing Forecast for the Treasure Coast Inshore: Finally, the windy months of March and April are almost behind us and we can look forward to the great fishing weather that May has to offer us on the Treasure Coast. Other than the usual windy days, it has been a pretty mild winter and spring has arrived. Look for warmer temperatures and little less blustery days. As the water temperatures ...full report

May 2012 brings the beginning of summer fishing patterns to Mosquito Lagoon Florida. I had a great April with loads of fun charter trips, many Redfish were caught sight fishing on the grass flats, some great Seatrout also as these are the main 2 target species here on the Lagoon. With low water levels during this our dry season, much of my flats fishing has focused on the edges where the flats drop ...full report

There is a great tuna bite going on in Fort Lauderdale this week. This morning's Catch My Drift fishing trip landed 2 really nice tunas, some kingfish and a couple bonitos. The blackfin tuna are averaging 25-35 pounds, biting good in 100-150ft of water, just outside the reef. They are travelling in small pods of 3-4 fish. All week, we've been picking at the tunas on our sportfishing charters. ...full report

It's hard to believe that it is already the month of May but with May brings change to the Lagoon system. The fish are starting to get into their summer time patterns with the warm temps and higher water. Look for the schools of Red Fish to start splitting up into smaller pods or singles. They will be holding on the shallow grass early then moving to deeper water as the day go's on. The ...full report

Redfish and Trout Galore Yesterday we had the slowest day of the month with 8 fish. Wow, the trout have been big and fat. Paul got some nice Trout that he caught on Berkley Jerk bait/Finger mullet. Bounce it off the bottom for best results and choose a jig head with a 5/0 size or bigger for good hook up ratios. It’s like using a 7” bait. It keeps the smaller ones from messing with you and gives ...full report

The sailfish bite is going off this week in Fort Lauderdale. 200-300ft of water, wherever the blue-green water color change is that day, is the hot area for the bite. A lot of these sailfish are mutliple hookups too, pods of 3-4 fish. May is usually one of the best spring fishing months to catch sailfish. Some will get caught in the summer months of June-September, but this next couple weeks will be ...full report

Gators in the Grass Big trout is what we caught yesterday and the day before and the day before that. Along with some nice over slot redfish. The trout have been plentiful on the shallow flats in the Mosquito Lagoon. Yesterday Steve tossed Gulp Sinking minnows and minnow worms at big trout sitting, waiting to ambush bait. He ended up catching eight trout from 1.5 to 4 plus pounds. He and his son ...full report

Feb 2012 Believe it or not it is already Feb but the weird thung is that our average tempature has been 70 degrees here in Central FL. We did have a couple of cold fronts earlier this winter which did throw our fish into there winter patterns but it did not last all that long. With the constant change in wind directions and weather the water in the lagoon has been abnormally higher then usual this ...full report

Redfish Everywhere Fishing in the Mosquito Lagoon lately has been awesome, trout, redfish, black drum and a flounder here and there. Trout season opened January 1st, and we have been catching our share since. All my other charters I had last week caught many fish, fifteen reds was the slowest day 48 reds was the best. We are catching the numbers in the deeper holes where the water is a little warmer. ...full report

last couple of days cobia are showing up mostly north of inlet 40-60ft.at the pines or look for rays and schools of bait,cobia jigs or live bait what ever you have on board,good luck.offshore,dolphin are starting to show up,look for clean water from 90 +ft.also some kingfish and small blackfin tuna will be around,live bait and ballyhoo works,I myself use small lures with 60# mono leaders and troll ...full report

February 19, 2012 Inshore: The mild days continue along the Treasure Coast this week. Winds have picked up now, but most days allow you to get out in the river. The ocean has been another story with one or two days a week that anglers can venture out. The water temperatures are still mild around the area and that means the fish are on the flats and feeding. We had some good days this week. Bob ...full report

Man the big-uns are biting, where do I begin? Well I have been scouting staging areas and have had several big bass catching experiences. We have been throwing big baits and the results have mostly been very big fish. I have been on four trips out of the past five days and have boated ten fish over six pounds with three weighing over ten pounds an loosing two others (over 10) that I had up to the boat. ...full report

Well what a great week on the Indian River Lagoon! Fishing in Fort Pierce has been great despite the tough conditions including the water temperature dropping below 60 degrees. We found plenty of fish though hiding in deeper cuts, and holes. Redfish are definately cooperating out there. They don't mind the cold as much as snook do and during wintertime you can count on finding a school of slot ...full report

The bass have been biting all week long on West Lake Toho. Large wild shiners are your best bet. Found a lot of big fish in the shallows, still bedding. Clients have been getting many bass, to at least 6 lbs. every trip. The weather has been a little breezy. Difficult to fish artificials, but shiner fishing has been very productive. There were at least three tournaments out of the Toho Marina ...full report

still dredging inside inlet,pompano are hitting sand fleas and small shrimp inside inlet,dredging sand of the bottom is moving a lot of small crabs,fish,shrimp,and other bait with the moving tides,the water is a little cloudy but blues,jacks,spanish macks,pompano reds and snook will stil feed on them.the river fishing on the flats a bit slow due to lack of grass beds,most of the flats look like sand ...full report

Reel Screaming Action Wow, I am so glad the wind has calmed down. This past weekend it was blowing extremely hard and despite how hard it blew we still caught good fish. The redfish have been schooled up so nice. Yesterday we pitched shrimp in front of the first school we targeted and Melissa hooked up in just a few minutes of fishing. The water level had dropped out from the day before and it made ...full report

March 1, 2012 South Indian River Fishing Forecast - March Inshore: March has arrived on the Treasure Coast and, traditionally, we can expect windy conditions along with some rain clouds. It might dictate where and when you can get on the water, but at least we aren't cutting holes in the ice to fish! Water temperatures will continue to rise and the fish will be actively feeding ...full report

March 2012 is here and spring fishing patterns are beginning, February was a great month for me with lots of fishing charters and many fish caught. We had the warmest winter in many years, expecting a great warm spring coming up. Here are some pictures of happy clients with some of the good fish we caught the last few weeks. Redfish hunting on the flats will continue this month, spring techniques will ...full report

March's Fishing Forecast March is here and over the past few months my clients and I have been in awe over the beautiful weather. I continue to wear shorts and sandals and leave my winter clothes at home to collect dust. As we get in to March the fishing has gotten even better if you can believe that. The Snook are feeding like crazy the Reds are everywhere and the big trout have infested the ...full report

Redfish Tide The fishing has been really good on the lagoon this past week. Big schools of happy redfish and big trout are on the flats. We caught 30 plus redfish yesterday. The bigger trout will roam the shallow flats this time of year as well. Look for sand patches on the grass flats and you will see trout holding in them. There are also trout hiding in the grass that you won’t see, but make ...full report

Boy it has been a month and a half since the water laid down this nice. There was a definate temperature break at 100 feet of water. It went from 68 degrees up to 71. Then when we hit the 20 mile bouy it was up to 74 degrees and that is when the dolphin bite got hot. With every pass by the bouy we had a strike. We had a new comer to Mahi fishing on the boat, Melissa and she did a great job landing ...full report

Last weekend started off great. We only had to run about 7 miles out of Sebastine Inlet to find the King Fish boats turning their ritualistic circles. We went through 5 bags of ballyhoo snagging up little king fish. We had a few smokers on only to have them spit the hook. The seas started out at 2-3 foot but quickly became 4-5 and higher. We only fished for a couple of hours and got our limit of king. ...full report

We finally got a great weekend to get out with family and friends on some great seas. They were 1 to 2 waves and the king fishing could not have been any better a 2 per angler limit was easy to get! Whether we were fishing trolled ballyhoo or droping back sardines on the drift, the result was the same...FISH ON! We got to see some of the finest smoker kings skyrocket through the water to get to ...full report

Well the bait run is in full swing even after all of this tropical storm type weather. It only took one throw of the cast net to have enough bait for the day. The finger Mullet were everywhere! In fact the bait was so thick I think the predatory fish had a hard time finding one that was attached to our hooks. At first it was the usual, a Bluefish here a Catfish there. gcookilaBIG RED The Hook Up10/16/2011 ...full report

Well for the first time as I went out I had a newly engaged couple on the boat, Ralph and Megan. I wanted to make this a memorable one so as we broke the inlet at Cape Canaveral we joined hands I asked God for a bountiful safe fishing day and I thanked for the many blessing in our lives. I also prayed with them to bless their future union of marriage… If I HAD BEEN A FEW MORE MILES OUT I WOULD HAVE ...full report

gcookilaNice Sharks9/25/2011 8A NorthWell we got out both days this weekend and both were pretty productive. Most of the action was on the bottom for a change. We started Saturday watching the sun rise as we hit about 15 miles out and started to troll and didn't even get a bite. So out out to the weather buoy we went. Three short hits later we decided to come back in and do some bottom fishing. ...full report

You know sometimes you really have to scrape the bottom of piggy bank to go fishing...so with a less than a 1/4 of a tank of gas, off to the jetty we went. We took a few dozen shrimp, poles and a positive attitude. We went to the northern side of the north jetty and threw out the anchor. gcookilaSmall Mangrove Snapper9/3/2011 Canaveral North JettygcookilaSmall Ladyfish9/3/2011 Canaveral North JettyBites ...full report

Boy Irene sure messed things up offshore. I went out three times this past week and only yesterday did I start to see activity. Diving birds led me to the Baitfish, which led me to the little Spanish Mackerel. There were not any size to them so back into the ocean they went. They were crashing on what looked to be Pogies so I was throwing a small 2 ounce spoon and landed about ten for the fun of it. ...full report

gcookila48 Inches 25 Lbs King8/20/2011 8A Reef CanaveralWell it did not take us long to get a hook up. My buddy Brandon had put out a spoon and I put out a naked Ballyhoo. Before we could get the third pool out we had a hook up on the spoon. A respectable 6 lb. Tuna. My buddies eyes where a glow! The fishing dark shadow had left him and we where in for some good hookups today! Next we set out a ...full report

Trolling for Mahi 18 miles dead east of Sebastian Inlet with two zuckers feathers and two naked Ballyhoo running 6.2 knots. Caught a 5ft white marlin on naked Ballyhoo which was relased boatside. 30 minutes later hooked a 7 ft white marlin on a purple/pink zukers feather and after a tiring 40 minute battle, fish was released boatside. Tackle used was two Shimano 15 TLD lever drags filled with 20lb ...full report

This weekend, I was about trying out the new boat, so we didn't want to too far offshore, just incase some thing was not functioning properly. The new 21 ft Chris Craft Carolina hull and a 175 HP Mercury did it job and brought us to the fish and back. gcookila10 Lbs. Bonito7-9-2011 Cape CanaveralWe trolled skirted and naked Ballyhoo that where purchased double rigged from Bionic Baits at the ...full report

gcookila39 Lbs Dolphin7/2/2011 East of MelbourneWe had a slow start to a morning and began trolling in 110 ft. We had 6 lines out on 3 skirted Ballyhoo and 3 naked Ballyhoo. Finally after 2 hours we had the left outrigger pop off and and we where provided with a grand ariel show by a great bull Dolphin. Immediately, I put the pole in the hands of our youngest crew member, Andrew Gamble, and he was ...full report

gcookila18 Lbs. Mahi-Mahi6/18/2011 North of Sebastian InletStarted trolling at about 110 ft until we found the weed line. Didn't have a bite for the first two hours. We decided this week to add stinger rigs to our trolled Ballyhoo. Sure enough the first strike was short and we had a hook up. Fought the Mahi for about five minutes and an it just came off...got the Ballyhoo in to check it and sure ...full report

krauterstein29" Redfish6/19/2011 Cocoa Beach Thousand IslandsOn the water at 6am. 3 Trout, biggest was 22" and a 29-inch Redfish. The 2 big fish were caught using poppin corks with live Pinfish. Everything else was sweet topwater action. Pin to Win! ...full report

gcookila52 Inches 34 Lbs. Mahi-MahiJune 5 Northeast of Sebastian Inletgcookila7 Fish Day Good Day Mahi And TunaJune 4 Northeast of Sebastian InletMan the fishing has been the best I have seen in a while. The Mahi-Mahi have been on fire. I wish I could say I have brought all in the boat, but I am averaging about 60% hook up to landing ratio. Over the last two weekends I have boated 8 really nice keeper ...full report

Hit it pretty hard yesterday. We trolled everything in the boat just about everywhere (from 110 to 230ft) but could not put a 'Phin in the boat. Talked to a few guys on the radio that had about the same luck. Around 2 o'clock, we ran back in to hit a few bottom numbers. We did well catching about 6 highly endangered Snappers (that all went back safe and sound) and we also found a nice Seabass ...full report

Started fishing May 9 at 9am. Went due-east to the gulf stream and fished 140 to 200 foot depths. Water temperature was 78 +/-. There was some grass but no defined weed line. Water color was blue. Trolled all Ballyhoo. Got consistent strikes through 2 PM. Boated 11 nice Dolphin from 12 to 32 pounds. ...full report

Went looking for Sea Trout this morning. Didn't find any, SW wind made fishing difficult when suddenly a nice big Flounder ate my Mirrolure. Bon Appetite! ...full report

Headed almost due East and began trolling at 25 miles (western edge of the Gulf Stream). Water temperature went from 74 to 77 degrees. Quickly got a strike but no hook up. Performed two circles and then headed east. Waves were 3-5 feet but long interval so trolling at 6 mph was no problem. Got all the way to 550 foot depth with no strikes. Pulled rods and went back to starting position. Soon ...full report

I hit spot 11 today, arrived just after 11am. There were a couple of other anglers north and south, I talked to one of them and he had been out for a couple hours with only a single Whiting and small Bluefish. I brought some clams and dead shrimps, neither produced. The surf was very rough and I could see the pelicans fishing a lot further out than I could even think about casting to. I didn't ...full report