Fishing report: Bull dolphin striking with more frequency

Offshore fishing has seen a dramatic, positive uptick in the last week, while river anglers can’t seem to bait their lines fast enough.

OFFSHORE: The dolphin are here, near and growing bigger with each trip out to the Atlantic Ocean. Reports are flooding in about fish weighing 50 pounds and up anywhere from 25- to 35-miles offshore. Just a few weeks ago, captains had to get out at least 50 miles to get a good nibble. The crew of the Miller Time III offered visual proof with a photo of a 55-pound dolphin caught out of Ponce Inlet. “The dolphin bite is picking up,” said Jeff Burkhead at Fishin’ Cove Bait & Tackle in New Smyrna Beach. “We had the Southwind (charter boat) in here and they were loaded up with bull dolphin. The ‘big greenies’ have come in a little ways closer to shore.” Leo Norris at Fishing Shack Bait & Tackle in Daytona Beach Shores had a similar report. He said they have been landing a few wahoo on the troll. Bottom fishermen are getting their fill, too. Burkhead said the list includes amberjacks and some cobia. “If you can fight your way through the red snapper, which is getting most of the bait, the bottom bite is good,” he said. “The (migrating) cobia look like they have all moved north of us, like around Jacksonville.”

SURF, PIERS: The large waves of big, bruising bluefish, which are headed north for the summer, have slowed significantly, which has helped increase the variety of fish being caught in the surf. “They are still catching bluefish, but we are seeing whiting, pompano and some sharks being caught off the beach,” Norris said. It’s the same story at the Sunglow Pier. “They are catching all the same fish in the surf, but on the pier you can add in redfish, black drum and some flounder,” he said. The Fishin’ Hole in downtown Daytona Beach reported a steady catch of bluefish, flounder and upper-slot redfish being caught at the Daytona Beach Pier in the last several days.

PONCE INLET, HALIFAX RIVER: Capt. Kyle Busby of nobigreel.com emailed this report from the banks of the Halifax. “There are lots of jacks in the river, so that is the common catch throughout the area,” he said. “These fish are up to 5 pounds in size.” And Busby had these encouraging words for snook anglers. “The snook action is really picking up,” he said. “We're catching some really nice snook throughout the river from the Dunlawton Causeway all the way back to the Williamson Road Bridge in Spruce Creek. They're starting to eat top-water plugs again, so that's been my go-to lately.” Norris said the river bite is on fire right now and rattled off the list of redfish, black drum, mangrove snapper, jacks, blues and flounder. “The bait of choice right now is live shrimp,” Norris said. Around the metro bridges, The Fishin’ Hole reports an increased flow of big flounder and mangrove around the bridges at night. Burkhead said his regulars, who fish the inlet, are reporting sheepshead, black drum and redfish. “And some of them big blues are still hanging around,” he said.

MOSQ. LAGOON, INDIAN RIVER: Capt. Michael Savedow (edgewateriverguide.com) said the lagoon is beginning to experience normal summer patterns of activity. “There are visible mullet schools on the surface all through the backwaters,” he said. “Good trout catching with slot size and lots of smaller ones trying to grow up, an occasional good-size snook and redfish coming to the boat. We are seeing more keeper-size mangrove snapper.” Capt. Brad Kayholm (whambamcharters.com) backed up Savedow’s report by saying, “The water is clean and the fish are still in schools and seem to be happy and chewing. The trout bite is really picking up and they are sticking close to the mullet schools.” Savedow had more good news for anglers. “The redfish and black drum have been chewing well into the afternoon, which is nice with this clear water as we can spot the schools from a good distance away to make our casts without spooking them,” he said. Around New Smyrna Beach, Burkhead said river anglers are pulling black drum from the bridges and trout around docks at night. “You can fish trout on a high tide around the oyster beds, too,” he said. “We’re seeing some pretty nice trout being picked up on top-water lures.”

MATANZAS INLET, RIVER: Don Ayotte at Devil’s Elbow Fish Camp, which is located north of the inlet, said the water action has been lively for fishermen in this area. “Oh man, we’re seeing redfish, black drum and sheepshead,” he said. “The flounder are starting to make their way in. The folks on the beach are catching pompano and whiting.”

TOMOKA BASIN, RIVER: Capt. Barry Englehardt (fishwithcaptainbarry.com) said this area has been popping. “The redfish action has been very productive in both the river and the basin using pinfish and cut bait,” he said. “The average red has been around 25 inches.”

ST. JOHNS RIVER: Capt. Rick Rawlins at Highland Park Fish Camp said freshwater fishing has been rootin’-tootin’ good the last week. “We’re doing real good on bass, using artificials and wild shiners,” he said. “Not only are we seeing good numbers, but we are catching decent-sized fish, like in the 7- to 8-pound range.” The good news did not end there. Rawlins said the pan fishing has picked up with the addition of shellcracker arriving in the Lake Woodruff area. “We had a couple of guys with a near limit,” he said. Bluegills are also being hauled in good numbers. “On crickets and worms,” Rawlins said.

SEND PHOTOS: We want to see your most recent catch. Email your fish photos to jeff.wilen@news-jrnl.com. Be sure to include type of fish, size of fish (weight and/or length), where the fish was caught, first and last names and hometown of angler who caught the fish, and first and last name of person who took the photo. If a child is in the photo, please include their age. The News-Journal will use one or two photos in print each week and the other photos submitted will go into the online gallery called “Readers Fish Photos.”