POnce Inlet fishing report 12/10/19

I was out of the country for a month and have been back at it hard. Inshore the bite has been off in mangroves but I have heard the lagoon has had some awesome stuff happening. The water was clear and the tide was moving but things just would not line up. Mangrove snapper were caught on live shrimp fishing docks at good tides. A few larger trout were landed on paddle tail jigs and live shrimp. Scale down your leader for more strikes. I hope to have better results inshore by the next report. Offshore, the fishing has been good when seas allow. The north winds have changed up the flow. Large warm water eddies swirl off of the gulf stream this time of year, and they make dramatic temperature breaks when the warm Bahamian water meets the cooler coastal water. If these temperature breaks form over offshore reefs, expect the bite on the troll to be active in these areas. Wahoo were landed this week in relatively shallow water, as they will follow their preferred temperature very far inshore. Wahoo are also very in tune with the moon and tides so pay attention to the time of month you plan to fish for them. Some mahi were also found trolling ballyhoo at faster than normal trolling speeds. The kingfish are extremely thick in certain areas, so use wire accordingly for kings and wahoo.
    The bite on the bottom has been hot but many species are closed right now. Plenty of mangrove and red snapper were landed on live baits. Amberjack also added color to the ice box this week, but all of the almaco jacks we caught had to be thrown back. Red grouper were also in the mix, but they are closed as well. The triggerfish bite was a little slow, but the porgys were there as usual. Squid was used on chicken rigs for the smaller jacks and snappers. There is swell coming that contains an unusually large amount of energy. Seas may reach ten feet this week offshore. This is a northeast swell with northeast winds over 20 knots. There is a small craft advisory so please exercise caution. Inshore, look for wind protected areas. Hopefully we will get some calm days before Christmas. Good luck out there and feel free to call or stop me anytime to talk about fishing.
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