Beach Fishing With Paul Sperco Palm Beach/Martin County Area

Surf fishing was excellent the past couple of days along our local beaches and after the front that is pushing through this morning, Sunday, it should only get better. I had the pleasure of taking Billy Carr, who is one of the owners of Fishbites, and Brett Burford, the Director of the Pro Staff division of that company, out on the beach Friday morning to sample some of our late fall action. We also got a visit from the southeast's number one lead columnist for the TC Palm publications: Ed Killer. Ed has been keeping the entire area not only up to date on all of the fishing from offshore to Lake Okeechobee, but also on the red tide situation we have been experiencing. I will tell you with a smile we did not have any effects on Friday at Stuart Beach and fishermen I heard from yesterday told the same story. I am happy to report that the trip was a success as the pompano, whiting, croaker, jacks, and bluefish kept the rods bent all day. We caught over 60 pompano and eight nice sized ones made it into the cooler for the guys to take home with them. Double headers were common and the good news is even the throw backs are increasing in size as we caught many in the the 10 to 10 1/2 inch range. This is the normal pattern for the early run of pompano and the ratio of keepers will increase as we head into November. As you would expect all of the fish were caught on EZ Flea, Orange Clam, and Pink Shrimp scented Fishbites. Billy and Brett also brought a sample of their new bait, "Bob's Your Uncle" fish-n-tail lure that the bluefish and jacks found to their liking. This bait can be fished on a jig head or as a trailer on spoons and have proven to be deadly on snook, trout, redfish, flounder, bluefish, and jacks. Other reports that I received on Saturday was that there was steady action of pompano from Middle Cove to Hobe Sound, with the National Wildlife Refuge Area of Hobe Sound producing the most keepers. Good luck this week and catch em up.