Hobe Sound continues to be the area to target if you want to put together a nice catch of tasty pompano. I fished by myself today and wound up with a limit plus of pompano, blue runners, jacks, and bluefish. The nice part of the body of pompano that are currently along the Hobe Sound beaches is that you don't have to worry about catching and releasing fish that are under the 11 inch minimum size. All of the ones I was lucky enough to catch today were well above that minimum mark. EZ Flea Fishbites was the hot bait today as most of the pompano preferred the artificial bait over the clam strips and sand fleas. The bluefish schools were somewhat thinned out over some previous days and here is a little tip for when they show up in big numbers: remove your clam strips and natural sand fleas from your bait spread for a period of time and fish with the artificial Fishbites. They will still hit the Fishbites but the natural scent of the clam strips and sand fleas will keep the bluefish schools in the area you are fishing. I certainly do not want to give anyone the idea that bluefish are not a fun gamefish to do battle with, but if you are targeting pompano, the blues can chase the pompano from the area. Blues definitely put up a great fight and if put on the grill when they are fresh they can provide a great dinner. Our winter surf fishery is definitely in high gear when you can catch a nice recreational limit and play catch-and-release after you achieve your limit. Factor in the other species like bluefish, whiting, croaker, jacks, and blue runners that are presently available to us and it all adds up to a rod-bending day on the sand. Weather looks good for the rest of the week so good luck and catch em up.
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