Fishing Report: August 17, 2020

It’s that time of year again in central and northeast Florida. The bull redfish are starting to show up. These big redfish congregate at and around the inlets to spawn usually around late summer into fall. Live bait is my go to for these upper to overslot reds. Light tackle rods rigged up with a 1/4oz-1/2oz jighead is my favorite setup to use when fishing for them. Mullet, live mud minnows, and blue crabs are all great choices for bull reds. Just keep in mind if you are going to try your hand at catching bull reds, these are our spawning fish and should be handled with extreme care and not kept out of the water for long periods of time. After all, they are the future of our fisheries. 

Just a short run away, we have the opportunity to fish for false albacore. These small tuna, like other nearshore fish, get on schools of baitfish on the surface and create a feeding frenzy - also known as a blitzing school. A blitzing school of albies is a very exciting sight to see. These hard fighting fish can be taken with light tackle spinning gear or on a fly rod for anglers who can match their presentation to their high speed feeding. However you target them, albies are a very underrated sportfish and a blast to chase.

We have had a great flounder bite in Palm Coast and it’s surrounding waters. These flat fish can be very fun to target with light tackle spin setups. Lately, small finger mullet and mud minnows have been the favorite snack of our local flatfish. A 1/4oz jighead rigged with a finger mullet or mud minnow is the easiest way to take flounder. Flounder for the most part are slow moving fish, which means we need to present our bait very slow by dragging the bait across the bottom. 

Palm Coast fishing charters