SUWANNEE

Heyeverybody, welcome to the month of May! May is the month when we transition from Spring into Summer, as the water temps will generally be approaching 80 degrees by the end of the month.

May is also the month when all the pelagic species will be in our area! This means more opportunities for the inshore and nearshore anglers. Your best bet will be to fish the outside reefs and bars in the area like the Suwannee Reef and Seven Brothers on an incoming tide.

As the tide floods in, it will bring the bait fish and pelagic predators like Spanish Mackerel, ladyfish and jacks. These predators will be working the bait schools, and can many times be located by looking for the birds! These fish like bright colored and flashy baits fished fast, to very fast. Once located, you can cast into and around the school of bait fish. Many times, the larger fish will not be in the middle of the action, but along the edges!

This next part is hard for me to write, but it's the truth.

Suwannee for many decades has been a prime location to visit when fishing for speckled trout. Now, that's not so. With the loss of thousands and thousands of acres of seagrasses, the habitat and subsequent food supply is not present to support a healthy population of speckled trout!

The FWC is aware of this situation and I encourage all concerned anglers and citizens to reach out to them and voice your concerns!

https://myfwc.com/contact/fwc-office/ senior-staff/commissioners/

Good news, is that we have a great population of redfish and a growing population of snook, to stretch the lines of the inshore anglers here in the Lower Suwannee River Estuary! The cool thing is that we can target both species in the same locations, using the same baits!

Remember the snook is more an ambush style predator while the redfish is more of a hunter on the move, looking for opportunities!

One of my favorite baits during the warm months of the year is a topwater plug. You can fish these baits around shallow submerged structure and minimize your "hangups"! I have also switched to the single inline hooks on my plugs. This really helps when you cast them into the sawgrass! Yep that happens!

We have had a pretty good sheepshead season this year. With waters being pretty dirty, the fish have primarily been on the offshore artificial reefs in 30 to 45 feet of water. The mix of males and females has been pretty good. I encourage my clients to release the biggest females (over 5 lbs) and keep the males. Year after year we have seen a reduction in the numbers of big mature females. These fish are vital for a thriving sheepshead fishery! Catch n release, does work!

Until next time, be safe, Tightlines and Catchemup!

Captain Tony Johns | 352-221-2510 www.lowersuwanneriverfishing.com

Instagram: captaintonyjohns

Facebook: Lower Suwannee River Fishing Adventures or Captain Tony Johns

May is just an awesome month for fishing in Northeast Florida! The inshore fish (redfish, trout, flounder, drum, bluefish, ladyfish, jacks, etc.) will be on the feed with the influx of baitfish (finger mullet and pogies). With warming air and water temps, the nearshore fishing should be firing up as well with huge jacks, a few lingering cobias, and probably even a tarpon or two, all waiting to put up that drag screaming fight of a lifetime!

Inshore the redfish will be crushing the finger mullet, and that means a top-water plug, especially at first and last light, will be the go-to lure of choice. Look for large concentrations of mullet and toss your plugs around them. There's sure to be a redfish lurking around looking for an easy snack. Once the sun gets higher in the sky, I like to switch to a search bait this time of year. The water will become murky and a lure that makes some noise will be a good way to get the redfishs’ attention. Some of my favorites are spoons, twitchbaits, and one of my favorites, the spinner bait. My clients and I have caught a ton of big redfish on an inline spinner bait. Of course, a popping cork with a shrimp or mud minnow will catch its fair share of reds this month as well.

May has always been a “gator” trout month for me. A top-water plug will account for some of the bigger trout catches this month. The outgoing tide along the ICW banks should be loaded with trout, especially if the baitfish are around. Once the day heats up a bit I like to fish a 1/4-ounce Saltwater Assassin jighead paired with a Saltwater Assasin soft plastic for the trout. Like I always say… use a twitch, twitch, pause method and most of the time they'll hit it on the pause. A free-lined live shrimp with a small pinch weight a few inches above it is a great was to catch some trout too.

The inlets will come alive with all kinds of fast hitting fish this month. Look for jacks, blues, ladyfish, and Spanish macs to be on the feed around all the area inlets. Crankbaits, spoons, and just about anything that's moving fast through the water will catch these fish.

The flounder bite has been consistent all year and will be a good bet this month. Some of the bigger springtime flatties will start to show in the inlets. Use a finger mullet or big mud minnow pinned to a jighead or fish-finder rig. Bounce the minnow (or mullet) along the rocks at the inlets to find some of the big "doormats".

Capt. Tommy Derringer www.InshoreAdventures.net

904-377-3734

Thismonth may be the best of 2023! The water warmed up in late March. April was on fire when the wind and surf would lay down. Now this month, all we need is some clean water with winds 15 mph or less. The pompano have returned in mass! They are spread out from Fernandina down to Canaveral. In April, they almost exclusively wanted clams, but I would take my flea rake. Use a double hook rig with flea on the top and a clam on the bottom. A 2/0 L197 Eagle Claw is my favorite hook to use. With this bait combo, you will also have a great chance of catching whiting, redfish, and black drum. Remember, do not leave home without your Fishbites! This time of year, crab is my favorite scent. Check out the pompano in the picture! He ate BOTH pieces of Fishbites on my double dropper rig!!

On our local piers, be sure to take your float rigs and some live shrimp. May is the month for spotted sea trout! The larger bluefish also make their return this month. Action will heat up with Spanish mackerel, so do not forget your Gotcha plugs! For both of these species, you can’t go wrong with live finger mullet and some light wire leader.

Whether you are in the surf or on the pier, the boys in the grey suits will be in full force this month. To get your string stretched, just soak a whiting head in a deep trough along the beach. The blacktip sharks will be actively feeding on them and the pompano. I like using one foot of 480 lb. cable tipped with a 10/0 L2022 by Eagle Claw. Above that, six feet of 300 lb. mono to avoid being tail whipped. This fish will run 70 to 160 pounds. So make sure you have enough line to soak up the first run. Blacktips are a blast because in shallow water they almost always go airborne when hooked up.

I am pleased to announce that the Florida Surf Casters Club will be holding their 19th Annual Surf Fishing Tournament on Saturday May 13th. This tourney is for pompano and whiting only. The weigh-in will be hosted by the Strike Zone in Jacksonville Florida. For more information, go to www.surfishingflorida.com As a founding member of the club, I want to thank Dave Workman and his team at Strike Zone for making this tourney an ongoing success!

Noel Kuhn

43 years of surf fishing experience, surf fishing guide and long distance casting coach. Founding member of Florida Surf Casters club. 904-945-0660 www.TheSurfAngler.com