The past week has been windy and rainy and thus not a whole lot of fishing has been happening. Water temperatures are still relatively warm for getting near the mid-December mark, now reading in the mid to upper 50s. Once conditions subside, the fishing should start to get back to a more normal winter routine.
Before the blow, reports started coming in early last week of the arrival of bluefin tuna off the coast, which has become an annual event that anglers eagerly anticipate. If you want to tie into one of these behemoth fish and don’t have a lot of experience tangling with one, I strongly suggest hiring a local boat that has the equipment and know how to boat one of these beasts — they can easily top 300 pounds.
On a more subtle fishing note, the inshore fishing has remained steady even through the windy and rainy conditions, however there are fewer anglers willing to fight the elements just to catch a fish. The speckled trout fishing has been good around the inlets and also in the creeks. Some smaller fish have shown up on the inside but there are still some decent fish around. Areas around the jetties and surf are more apt to hold the larger fish but conditions just have not been conducive to fishing those areas the past week. Some red drum are also being caught and as the waters cool, these fish will start congregating into larger schools that can be sight casted to from the beach.
Bait fishermen are finding some decent-sized Virginia mullet and for those who like them, blowfish are in the sloughs and deeper holes. Black drum are in the mix with some fish weighing up to 5 pounds being reported. Of course the majority of this information came before the gale, but once conditions settle, I’m positive they will be right where you left them.
As far as the fishing into the month of December, barring any significiant cold weather events, we should see some decent fishing well into the month and possibly right on into January. The speckled trout fishing has always drizzled into the first of the year with a few catches here and there, but with warmer waters, there’s a possibility we could have some good fishing well into the month.
