The 'Black and Blue Division' is back and roughing up tackle in our waters | Fishing Roundup
My bad.
Last week here, we heralded the apparent arrival of spring and the great local fishing that annually accompanies it.
And a few weeks back, we delivered a collective whew as the calendar turned past a very windy February, only to be reminded that March traditionally delivers our steadiest and burliest blows.
Can we get a re-rack?
As of yesterday, today’s forecast looked more like a threat — rain and wind, broken up occasionally by wind and rain. After a shaky Saturday, Sunday might get you tethering yourself to the porch if you dare go outside — temps in the 60s, winds in the 20s, gusts in the 30s.
SPRINGISH Springtime is a great time to cast about, and spring is springing
Prior to this mess, and as things begin to ease up early next week, the fishing was good and should continue to produce quality catches. And expect two predominant colors to continue grabbing all the headlines, and bait, simultaneously.
Black and blue.
Your dad’s NFL had the ol’ Black & Blue Division, known today as the NFC North — Bears, Lions, Packers and Vikings. Our surfline and intracoastal are steadily delivering bluefish and black drum with shoulders broad enough to go toe-to-fin with Carl Eller, Jerry Kramer or any of the Black & Blue’s old warriors.
The blues, especially, are making 2024 a banner year for fish dip, since that’s their most popular destiny. We’ll say it again, folks: When most preparation instructions begin with bleeding the fish immediately after the catch, we’re talking smoked appetizer, at best. Not a main dish, those blues.
The blue brutes started showing up last month and seem to have put down roots.
Black drum, on the other hand, are good to taste largely because they themselves have good taste — they feed mainly on mussels, crabs, oysters and clams.
Black and blue will be a familiar refrain as we go ’round the horn with our weekly look-see at what those tight lines are delivering.
Halifax/Indian River
On the better days, Capt. Jeff Patterson (Pole Dancer charter) was putting his clients on a variety of fun fish — yes, including big blues and large black drum.
“Sometimes you can find big schools of very large drum as they work their way out of the inlet and up the coast all the way to Chesapeake Bay,” Capt. Jeff says.
He confirms the blues are still all over the place, from the surf to the inlet and throughout the ICW system. Also, “Spanish mackerel have gotten really thick around the inlet, in the river and off the beach, too.”
Our predominant warm-water keeper, the mangrove snapper, is still trickling in, and not just babies and pre-teens.
“The mangroves are getting bigger off our pier,” Ike Leary says from his Granada bait shop in Ormond Beach.
Live shrimp and paddle-tail jigs are attracting reds and snook in the calmer backwaters up in the Highbridge area, according to Yellow Dawg bait shop’s Jeff Muller.
“At the bridge itself, some very nice snook and black drum were caught, with a couple of flounder starting to show up,” he adds.
Also, overnighters are still breaking out the lights and nets and riding the Big Red Machine. The shrimp are still thick in Southeast Volusia — the famous Oak Hill Reds, specifically
Surf
Get a good day and you almost can’t miss catching something that’ll give you a decent workout — not just big blues, but scrappy whiting, perhaps a drum, and if you have the right tackle, a shark or three.
Both Marco Pompano and Chris Mansfield (Reel Healin’ Outdoors) say there are plenty of whiting to go around, with the occasional pompano still mixed in.
Meanwhile, our contributing fly angler, Geno Giza, says he and wife Gayle were cruising the beach when he did a double-take upon seeing a guy whipping flies into the surf. The discovery got Geno to expand his fly territory.
“Fly-fishing the surf isn’t easy,” he confirms. “Between high and low tides, locate a long, narrow depression close to shore — I call it a tide pool. Surf-fishing is a blast if it’s calm.”
He says he’s learned to get out in the water and cast parallel to the beach into that tide pool.
“This is sight-fishing at its best,” he says.
Offshore
Capt. Scott Housel (Sudden Strike charter) says he’s been bringing up lane and vermillion snapper, along with triggerfish, in depths of 85 to 110 feet.
“There have also been a few blackfin and mahi caught near the Gulf Stream," he says, "but it’s still early to see them in any significant numbers.”
Capt. Scott also points out that NOAA recently released this year’s window for recreational grouper in the Southeast Atlantic — May 1 to July 15, a window deemed too tight by plenty of irked offshore fishermen. More to come on that hot topic.
The new owners of the Sea Spirit have been taking full advantage of the better days.
“Busy, busy,” says Haley and Capt. Nic Stephens. Not too busy to take their 5-year-old son, Mason, on his first offshore fishing trip. He brought several snapper back for show-and-tell.
St. Johns
As the speck catch seems to have passed its peak and started to ebb a bit, the vacuum is being filled, more and more, by bluegill and shellcracker.
“You’re more likely to get a mixed bag of panfish now with warmer weather and warmer water temps,” says Capt. Bryn Adams (Highland Park Fish Camp). “Fishing the shoreline, tree-tops and structure will be your best bet.”
One of Capt. Bryn’s Highland Park regulars, Don McCormick, says bluegill can’t resist a cricket tossed near shoreline.
Also, he says, “shellcrackers are being caught near their bedding areas.”
“Areas with a shell bottom are good, and using earthworms is best,” Don says. “Speckled perch are still in depths of 3-4 feet, and fishing along the pad lines is the best bet.”
The population of largemouth and sunshine bass continues to pick up as they’re following the springtime run of baitfish into the main river and lakes.
Hook, line and clicker: Send us your fish pics
We want to see your most recent catch. Email your fish photos to ken.willis@news-jrnl.com.
Please include first and last name of angler(s), as well as type of fish (we're occasionally stumped). All are included with our online fishing report, and some occasionally make the print edition.
Do I need a fishing license?
You can find all the license info, including exemptions, on Florida's Fish and Wildlife Commission website: MyFWC.com. But the basics are: No: If you're 65 or older, 15 or younger, you don't need a license. “Probably” Not: If you're fishing with a licensed guide or charter boat, both of which often purchase commercial licenses that cover their customers. Yes: Most everyone else, including visitors from other states. Yes: Even if you're a shore-based angler (shoreline, dock, pier, bridge, etc.), and even if fishing with a shore-based guide. However: The shore-based license is free . . . But: You still need to register for that free license.
Where do I get a license and what does it cost?
Many bait shops sell licenses, as do the bigger retailers (Bass, Dick's, Walmart, etc.). Florida's FWC uses a third-party site for buying or renewing fishing licenses: GoOutdoorsFlorida.com. The cost: $17 for an annual license. Don't forget: Whether you're fishing fresh or saltwater, you need the specific license. Freshwater and saltwater licenses are both $17 annually.
I’m here on vacation, do I need a license?
Yes you do, and they're also available at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com or certain bait shops and big retailers. Cost: $17 for three days, $30 for seven days, $47 for a year. Also: Non-residents need to purchase that license even if they're just fishing from shoreline or shore-based structures. (Florida residents need that license, too, but they're free.)
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Black & Blue delivering bruising battles | Daytona Fishing Report