Mahi bite strong, cobia showing up on the beach

Mahi bite strong, cobia showing up on the beach

**HE ST. JOHNS RIVER**

**AND AREA LAKES**

Here a good example of what happening in freshwater. One of the first calls I make each week before the sun rises is to R&J Tackle in Green Cove Springs. No real reason for this other than I call freshwater contacts first, then the saltwater folks  about 40 in all. Rick Hamilton runs the store and we chat each week. This week, though, a female voice answered the phone and told me that Rick was sick. Still, not expecting an answer, I asked if she knew what had been going on the past few days. Her answer was as good as any I could have gotten: “I dont know. We sold out of everything [because] of the full moon.

**Everything.**

What were seeing and what well be seeing along the river and lakes for the next three weeks will be the best fishing of the year. Every species of fish is in some stage of reproduction  except speckled perch. The largemouth bass spawn is on the downslide, shellcracker are in full rut, bluegill are filling with roe, but their big push will likely occur on the May new moon. Catfish are moving into the shallows for egg-laying. Even the garfish and mudfish are excruciatingly promiscuous.

It just a great time to be alive and on the river. The bass bedding is slowing but the biting is not. If you ever want to do some topwater fishing for big bass, the guides say it now. The fish are still shallow and hungry. Find a high tide at dawn or dusk and work the vegetation edges. One angler hit five fish on a short morning, three were 4 pounds or over and one topped 6 pounds.

The catfish bite is just stupid. There are both small pan-sized fish and some jumbos. A 24-pounder was weighed at Georgia Boy Fish Camp this week. “Bream heads, Im told did the trick for bait. But big, wild shiners are generally the ticket.

Bluegills are coming in shallow as well. You should find plenty along the edges of lily pads.

**THE INTRACOASTAL**

**WATERWAY**

Water temperatures are in the high 70s now. Seems that the redfish are all along the ICW edges rather than up in the creeks. Target those oyster bars you see all up and down the ditch, especially where deeper water exists. The black drum and speckled seatrout bite are both picking up. This is also the time to target big trout with topwater plugs at dawn and dusk. The flounder fishing is picking up, or at least the flounder sticking is.

While is seems strange, most of the guides are reporting the same thing this week: The fish are turning up their noses up at finger mullet and sucking down shrimp. And live shrimp on jig heads are doing most of the damage on most of the species.

Pompano are straying way up the ICW, with reports of them being caught as far north as the airport. A couple of snook were caught this week, along with other weirdos  including a lookdown, a tripletail and a blowfish.

**THE ATLANTIC**

The dolphin bite remains red-hot, but the numbers of fish are on the decline. Still, most boats are bringing in 20 or 30 mahi, along with some blackfin tuna and a very few wahoo.

We didnt get any bottom fishing reports this week because everybody was chasing dolphin out deeper, but there no reason the bite isnt excellent for vermillion snapper, triggerfish, black sea bass, porgies, a few grouper and scads of voracious, yet illegal, red snapper.

The local reefs and wrecks are getting covered up in sharks, and this is more than a month early for that. Big amber-jack are out there. Capt. Guy Spear had something blow up a 4/0 Penn (the one with stainless gears) earlier in the week while bottom fishing. It was literally in pieces.

And the cobia are still on wrecks and reefs. But the first of the beach cobia began showing up Tuesday. It a good bet Wednesday was a good day, but deadlines didnt allow any afternoon calls. One river angler called to say a boat came in to Devil Elbow on Tuesday with four cobia, while he was cleaning a few flounder.

**THE WEATHER**

The weekend weather looks sunny with highs nearing 90 degrees. Southerly winds will blow at 10-15 knots with seas at 3 feet or less.

**Jim Sutton** provides a weekly fishing report for The Record

Reach him at [email protected]

**CONTRIBUTED PHOTO** Captain Billy Hunsicker, right, of the Endless Summer II with a 47-pound dolphin that was one of 38 caught recently in 300 feet of water east of the inlet. From left are Billy wife Athena, son Benjamin and daughter Ellie. Angler Matt Thomas is not pictured