Beach Fishing With Paul Sperco Palm Beach/Martin County Area

The early winter surf fishing continues to be excellent along local beaches in our area. The current forecast is for some pretty sporty weather Thursday and Friday but once this system gets through conditions should bounce right back. Bluefish, mackerel, whiting, jack, blue runner, croaker, and of course pompano were active the last four or five days. As has been the case the last couple of weeks, the bite was spread from Fort Pierce to Jupiter. The bluefish and mackerel bite has been excellent from dawn to 9 am every day. Spoons and top water plugs are providing non-stop hook ups during this time frame. Randy and I fished up near Fort Pierce Inlet on Sunday and he had a ball casting a spoon to one mackerel after another. I fished Bridge Road on Monday and the bluefish were bending rods up and down the beach. After the sun gets up, a chunk of mullet fished on a fish finder rig will get strikes all day. The best whiting and croaker reports I received came from Santa Lucea, Stuart, and Tiger Shores beach accesses. Coconut, Blue Heron, and Middle Cove beaches produced some great pompano action. The afternoon bite from 3 to 5 pm has been on fire and recreational limits are being caught by a lot of folks. I fished with my wife Deb one afternoon and we had our twelve fish limit plus in a little over two hours. EZ Flea, Pink Crab, and Orange clam Fishbites, along with some live sandfleas were the baits that proved successful. 
                        
Remember, if you aren't getting the pompano, you probably are not reaching them or you are fishing in the wrong color water. I do not take my rods off of my truck until I take a look at the surf conditions. Dirty water will not produce pompano bites. Find the "clean green" or "powder blue" color and you will most likely find the pompano. I strongly recommend a long rod in the twelve-foot range along with a reel like the Penn Spinfisher V Long Cast to put you in the game. If you want to catch them you have to reach them. I will be doing a Pompano Seminar sometime during the month of January at Bass Pro Shops. I do not have the exact date but once it is set I will post it here. This is the largest attended Seminar of the year and I cover everything from tackle, rigs, baits, locations, casting techniques and recipes for those of you that will be attending.