Space Coast Fishing
Photos provided by www.floridafishinglessons.com
The Space Coast offers some of the finest fishing in all of Florida. This area has built quite a reputation for its inshore redfish fishery, but there are plenty of other fish to come here for as well. You can target the many types of fish from the surf, the Indian River, Mosquito Lagoon, Banana River, area bridges, fishing piers, marinas or one of the many charter boats in the area.
Some of the inshore species that anglers target are redfish, sea trout, snook, flounder, tarpon, ladyfish, sheepshead, whiting, spanish mackerel and black drum. If you choose to go offshore, you can catch spanish mackerel, marlin, sailfish, tuna, shark, king mackerel, cobia, tripletail and mahi mahi. There are many other fish species that are available inshore and offshore.
If you want to do some pier fishing on the Space Coast, the Cocoa Beach Pier is a good place to go. King mackerel, spanish mackerel, whiting, bluefish, flounder, sheepshead, sea bass, snapper, tarpon and trout can be caught off the pier depending on the time of year you are fishing.
Surf anglers enjoy some excellent fishing right off the beach, although, it can be hit or miss just like fishing the surf anywhere else in the state of Florida. Hit it right and you can catch tasty pompano, whiting, cobia, spanish mackerel and even sharks.
For more information on visiting the Space Coast, take a look at our tourism links below:
- Space Coast
- Space Coast Lodging
- Space Coast Fishing Charters
- Space Coast Bait Shops
- Space Coast Boat Rentals
- Space Coast Fishing Piers
- Space Coast Marinas
Port St. Joe Speckled Trout Fishing
I’m on vacation again in Cape San Blas, Florida. I ended up doing a web design for a company called Cape to Bay Vacations and we swapped out some lodging. Why Cape San Blas? It’s simple. My wife did some research online and found out that Cape San Blas is known for its pet-friendly beaches and I have a chocolate and black lab that love the beach.
I stayed at the same place last year and I fished mostly off the beach in front of our vacation rental and just a couple of miles down the road at the stump hole, but I decided to change it up at the start of this trip. I headed over to the Port St. Joe Marina and I fished in Jetty Park of Port St. Joe (about a 15 minute drive from our vacation rental).
I started with some shrimp and I caught a few pinfish that I decided to use for bait. I had one good bite this morning and it was well worth the trip. On our family vacations, I typically don’t fish that much because I’m there to spend some time with my family. I do get out and fish a little bit each morning and I have a couple of hours to figure out how to catch what’s biting.
This morning, I caught my first speckled trout (not bad…..27 inches) and it was declicious. The guy next to me caught 2 speckled trout and last a few fish as well. Take a look at the picture below. (I wanted to take a picture at the marina, but my camera was at the house) I met some people this morning that were doing well on flounder in the same area, so I will see if I can catch a couple of trout and flounder tomorrow morning.
Posted by: Kevin Sewell (April 29, 2009)
Jacksonville Fishing
Jacksonville, Florida is a unique fishing destination because you have plenty of entertainment and conveniences that a larger city can offer, but you can still get onto a boat and feel like you’re away on a nice fishing trip. Fishermen enjoy a variety of fishing in the area as there are excellent inshore, offshore and beach fishing opportunities available in the Jacksonville area. The top species that anglers target in Jacksonville are redfish, speckled trout and flounder, but you can catch a variety of other fish as well.
The inshore creeks and saltwater marshes hold redfish, trout, black drum, flounder and more. There are numerous anglers that enjoy flyfishing the inshore areas from a kayak or a typical saltwater boat. If you’re visiting the area and you enjoy kayak fishing, take a look at the Jacksonville Kayak Fishing website for more information. The jetty fishing can be very good as well as anglers will target sheepshead, redfish, black drum, trout, flounder and jacks.
Offshore anglers can expect to catch amberjack, tarpon, cobia and kingfish as well as many bottom species such as snapper and grouper.
For more information on visiting Jacksonville, Florida, take a look at our tourism links below.
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Jacksonville Bait Shops
- Jacksonville Boat Rentals
- Jacksonville Fishing Charters
- Jacksonville Fishing Piers
- Jacksonville Lodging
- Jacksonville Marinas
Ft. Lauderdale Fishing
Ft. Lauderdale is known for its tremendous offshore fishery. Anglers that like to target big fish in deep water will like fishing the Ft. Lauderdale area. The winter time provides good fishing for sailfish and sharks, but the fishing can be hit or miss with kingfish, dolphin and other species. Spring fishing starts to get exciting with many types of fish to catch in the area. Anglers will catch sailfish, tuna, amberjack, swordfish, wahoo, dolphin, sharks and kingfish. Charter boats will start catching a variety of fish with a lot more consistency in the spring. Summer Fishing can be excellent for kingfish, dorado, tuna, swordfish and kingfish. Expect some erratic fishing in early fall, but fishing will pick up in October and November as the temperatures cool off and the fish start migrating south. If you can find the bait fish moving south, there is a great chance that you will find a variety of fish in the area following the bait fish for an easy meal. Late fall can lead to some excellent catches as fish migrate through the Ft. Lauderdale area.
For more information on Ft. Lauderdale, take a look at our tourism links below.
- Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
- Ft. Lauderdale Bait Shops
- Ft. Lauderdale Boat Rentals
- Ft. Lauderdale Fishing Charters
- Ft. Lauderdale Lodging
- Ft. Lauderdale Marinas
Everglades Fishing
Fishing the Everglades is truly a unique experience that very few anglers will get to enjoy. If you are heading to Naples, Marco Island or even Miami, you are not too far from the Everglades and you may want to consider hiring a guide to take you out for a memorable fishing trip. The Everglades National Park is the largest subtropical wilderness in the entire United States and it boasts rare and endangered species.
The fishing in the Everglades can be very fast-paced for a number of species. With the brackish, shallow backcountry bays and rivers, outside islands, oyster bars and miles of canals, there are plenty of places to fish for largemouth bass, snook, redfish, trout and tarpon.
Most people have heard of the Everglades for the largemouth bass fishing, but there is a tremendous saltwater fishery in the Everglades as well, which gives you a couple of different options when you plan a trip down here. Most of the fishing guides and charters will take you saltwater fishing for snook, tarpon, redfish or trout or bass fishing in the canals, so you need to know what type of trip you’d like to go on before hiring a guide.
The saltwater fishing consists of Florida Bay, Ten Thousand Islands and elsewhere in the National Park’s coastal zone. While most of the anglers target snook, tarpon, redfish or trout in the Everglades, there are plenty of other saltwater fish to catch while you’re here. Some of the other fish that are available are black drum, bluefish, bonefish, cobia, flounder, grouper, spanish mackerel, pompano, shark, sheepshead and snapper.
For the freshwater angler, the bass fishing can be amazing in the canals. More largemouth bass are caught here per hour than any other place in the entire state of Florida. That says a lot knowing how many excellent bass fishing lakes that are available to Florida anglers. Most guides have no problem getting their clients to catch plenty of bass using artificials, so expect to use a lot of topwater lures, plastic snakes, plastic frogs, big spoons, buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, etc. Just try not to get too distracted with all of the alligators that you may see while you are fishing.
Summer months are going to be hot and humid with temperatures in the 90s, while the winter months will cool off a little bit with temperatures in the high 70s most of the time. Fishing can be good in the Everglades in the spring, summer, fall or winter.
For more information on the Everglades, take a look at our tourism links below.
