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NE Florida December Surf Fishing
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In spite of missing a direct hit from hurricanes this fall, the impact from both Hurricane Ian and Nicole has been felt by all of us. Last month after Ian, I warned that we might not be out of the woods yet with hurricanes, and we weren’t! Nicole showed up in a fury and stripped our beaches of what little we had left. Our beaches were not only suffering from massive erosion in some places, but these weather systems only made things worse. After Nicole, Marineland beach consists of piles of rocks and boulders, totally inaccessible with a beach cart until restoration work can be done. However, as bad as it was, we didn’t get hit as badly as some places in Volusia County, and many beaches have to recover—either naturally or from man-made efforts.
Jacen Geier of Redfin Fishing notes, “Surf fishing in northeast Florida is going to take a while to get back to normal. We fish Ormond, Daytona, and New Smyrna Beach, and other areas haven’t been as affected as we were. First, the storm earlier in the year washed all the sand and sand fleas away, now after two hurricanes this fall the sand, runouts, and bars will all be changed.”
What’s been wonderful to see is the rapid response to some of the restoration. For instance, A1A was accessible within days after some places had washed out from Nicole’s damaging waves. I thought it would have taken weeks before the road opened again, and it was just days! And after Ian, some beach ramps were restored much more quickly than I thought they would be.
Let’s take a look at what to expect and some strategies for surf fishing this December.
Bait
As far as I have seen, the only people catching large quantities of sand fleas are pretty far south of our area. I was holding out hope they might return, but that doesn’t look to be the case. Sand flea Fishbites seem to be working still yet. Paul Vancelette, author of Fishing As I Lived It and designer of custom surf-fishing rods says that shrimp and sand flea flavors of Fishbites are always a good staple to keep on hand.
Mullet are still running in the surf in Jacksonville, according to videos that I’ve seen posted lately, so bring your cast net when you go fishing in case you see a school of them running. On my own recent trips to the beach, I was catching black drum on fiddler crabs.
Shrimp should always be a staple of any saltwater angler, and if you can’t get them fresh, try salting your leftover shrimp to bring along on future trips. I have many moments when I have limited time to fish, and stopping at a bait shop would take away valuable fishing time, so I go with Fishbites, glass beads from The Sinker Guy, and my own salted shrimp. It never disappoints!When it comes to what bait to use in December, Jacen Geier reminds us, “Bait and rig color will change when there is dark, murky water. Use well-scented bait, colorful floats, or beads, and bright, flashy spoons or jigs when throwing lures. I have been catching pompano, whiting, bluefish, and reds, and they all have been biting on various bright colors, naked rigs with shrimp, Fishgum, crab, and clams.”
Once the water temperature drops to 64 degrees or below later this month, I will start soaking fresh dead shrimp in Diet Pepsi. If you’ve never heard of Diet Pepsi shrimp before, you can’t knock it until you try it! (Just make sure to label the bottle in the fridge so nobody takes a big swig of it!) I caught so many big whiting last winter using this unique bait. Chip Brundage, The Sinker Guy, has a very helpful video showing this method: https://youtu.be/S_XwnMMCYic. I have a few bottles ready and waiting for the water to get colder.
Weather and Water Temps
Over the last week or so, the water has been cooling down to that sweet spot of around 68 degrees and cleaning up, producing lots of reports with quality fish being caught; big pompano, larger whiting than we’ve been seeing, and lots of other desirable species such as big sheepshead. So we are stepping into December in a great fishing opportunity. According to Paul Vancelette, the lighter northeast breezes we’ve had lately have kept our waters clear, yet a little dirtier on the last of any incoming tide. He notes that the migrating pompano are thinning out and heading south, following the warmer waters.
I believe we are past hurricane season, so now it’s a matter of paying attention to the tides, wind direction and speed, and the tides for the beaches that you are planning to fish. Be prepared for colder weather and windy conditions by wearing layers and bringing a warm jacket that winds can’t penetrate. I live fifteen minutes from the beach and the winds can be calm at my house and crazy as soon as I get past that beach crossover, so pay attention to apps like Magic Seaweed in your pre-planning to know what to expect before you get out there.
December Strategy
I’m so glad that in December, we can start keeping flounder again! I will be going out to specifically target these delicious flat fish. Last year this time I was catching them in the first trough on high-impact beaches using a white paddletail like slam shady on a jighead, or with Fishbites white Dirty Boxer on a jighead. On calm days, try throwing in the trough near a drop where they like to hang out and make sure not to reel too quickly. They have a limited scope of vision so you’ve got to let it drop into their line of sight.
Paul Vancelette gives some insight that for the most part, you want to throw toward the outermost sandbar and that throwing into the sudsy water is a good trick too. He always brings along a selection of Fishbites and uses different flavors on his four poles until he finds what the fish are looking for that day.
In light of all the beach erosion and how drastically our beaches have changed, Jacen Geier reminds us that this doesn’t mean fishing will be bad, it just means that we will have to rethink our strategies and be more targeted in our planning. Go to the beach during low tide to find the runouts and other structures. When you get out there, have multiple types of bait and rigs and cast to different depths to find where the fish are biting.
If you’re newer to surf fishing, make sure you study fish identification and know the rules and regulations for the common fish you might catch in the area you will be fishing. There’s always a chance you will hook something unexpected too, so using an app like Fish Rules is a tremendous asset for looking up different species. I also carry one of those rulers with all the fish pictures and regulations printed right on it, sometimes that is easier to use to ID a species in a pinch. The best rule of thumb: if in doubt, throw it back! You don’t want to keep an illegal fish.
So have fun this December and catch up some good fish! Remember to post pictures here or in the various fishing groups you are a part of; it really helps others to know what strategies are working right now and what fish are biting. We are all part of one big community of anglers, so let’s come into this Christmas season by helping each other out. Tight lines!
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