kids are kings (and queens) Near shore (inside of 20 miles) Offshore (20 to 35 miles off)
Report:
This was a strange summer as far as water temp went. There was a Thermo-cline (cold water - less than 80 degrees at the surface) all summer until mid August. Sometimes it was only in the 80 foot and deeper waters and sometimes it was all the way onto the beach. Made for a strange, but good, bite this year. We had some kings, a lot of amberjack (more than I've seen in over 5 years), the cobia stayed on the wrecks most of the summer and there were African Pompano and Blackfish Tuna here intil mid July. The bait, sardines and cigar minnows, would come and go overnight and the menhaden (pogies) would disapear for weeks at a time. This made for some interesting bait catching on a daily basis, but there was always something to use and some fish were always ready to bite it.
The ICW was good early (May) and is getting good again now. I only fished 4 days all summer in the river this year so I'm not the one to give you a good report on what was caught there though we did catch good fish every time we went including a large number of keeper Mangrove snapper as well as reds, drum and flounder. The jacks and ladyfish stayed with us all summer as well.
26# Amberjack,12# line,45 min fight, 13 year old angler OUTSTANDING