Beach Fishing With Paul Sperco Palm Beach/Martin County Area

I am preparing material to put into the handouts for my upcoming seminars and wanted to focus on some of the fishing that we often seem to lose sight of in the upcoming months. The star of the show along our local beaches is definitely the pompano in the winter months, but do not forget about the other species that will still be around all winter. At the present time I am a recreational angler like 90 per cent of most of the surf fishing public. My main focus at this time of year is to search out the pompano, and I know most of you share in that quest. I sometimes forget about my main reason for fishing the beaches, and that's to bend a rod and have some fun. " PompanoMania" as I call it, will do that to you. Whether its the challenge of finding this fish because of its elusive nature due to water color, or a temporary dip in water temperature that will send it looking for the 65 to 72 degree range that it prefers, they will definitely not leave our beaches for a long-term duration. According to NOAA, the average winter water temperature in Jensen Beach is 73.4 degrees in January and 73.2 degrees in February. The beauty of living along our stretch of the Treasure Coast is the ability to target something other than Pompano on the days when we have a brief cool down or slight water discoloration. What's wrong with stopping into the Snook Nook during those times, buying a package of finger mullet along with a CP Rig or a Fish Finder to catch bluefish and jacks; or getting a couple dozen shrimp, a package of Fishbites and some whiting and croaker rigs to catch a Hutchinson Island Fish Fry? We will definitely have more cold fronts this winter and our conditions will not always support a great pompano day, but don't let a temporary pompano shutdown keep you from enjoying the local resource that's hard to beat along the entire coast of Florida. Jacks, ladyfish, whiting, croaker, bluefish, blue runners, and spanish mackerel always bring a smile to my face when I hook one and although some of these species are catch-and-release, something pulling on the other end of the rod is the main reason I fish the beach. So don't regretfully tell your son, daughter, neice, nephew, grandson or grandaughter they have not hooked a pompano - they really don't see it that way. Good luck and catch em up.