Beach Fishing With Paul Sperco Palm Beach/Martin County Area

                

The surf fishing along our local beaches is still being affected by the slimy green seaweed that has been evident for the past two weeks. Some of our great croaker and whiting locations, like Dollmans Beachside and Normandy Beach were still unfishable as of yesterday. I fished Middle Cove last Sunday and had constant action with blue runners that were hitting the long rods intended for some late season pompano. The water here was not over run with the green weeds but the blue runners were the only species that were feeding in that area. Hobe Sound was my location on Tuesday and the water there was clean and blue. I put some nice whiting in the cooler from that spot with fishbites and cut shrimp producing all of the action. The message here is: look for a beach area with clean water with no weeds and you should bend a rod. My son Randy and I fished the Stuart beach yesterday and Randy caught more blue runners, spanish mackerel, and a 3-pound bonita. Tiny one-inch baitfish were being chased by these speedsters and a small krocodile spoon fished from a light Bass Pro Gold Cup spinning rod with a Penn 3000 Conflict spinning reel was the tackle that worked. Keep an extra rod rigged like this in your equipment, as this time of year these fish can appear quickly and then move on in the blink of an eye. Look for the pelicans and terns along the surf and when they start diving at a particular spot, direct your casts to that area. I always have a spoon rigged on one rod and another set up with a Live Target swimbait or a YoZuri Crystal Minnow. The swimbait setups are used when the tarpon, jacks and snook show in the bait schools. Remember snook are a catch-and-release fishery now, so if you do land one, get them back into the water as quickly as possible. It looks like we are going to settle in to our summer pattern of afternoon thunderstorms for the upcoming week so fish early if you want to stay dry. If you do plan on fishing later in the day, pay attention to the developing storms and get off of the beach when the first sign that lightning strikes are approaching your area. High tides will be in the 4 to 5 am and pm time slots this weekend, so fish at daybreak and late in the afternoon if the thunderstorms have not developed. Stay safe,good luck, and catch em up.