As a veteran Florida l fishing captain and guide, I always look forward to the arrival of the great southern white butterflies on Florida's Space Coast. The great southern whites arrive by the thousands fluttering across the lagoon and even out over the Atlantic on the gentle west wind. Their arrival not only marks the beginning of spring, but also spring break and Easter which is our busy season for Florida guides and during this past week I had the pleasure of fishing with several families and kids here from across the nation enjoying what we often take for granted as Floridians.


Zac's 31-inch Redfish

Like the arrival of the great southern whites, other notable arrivals were observed while on the water this week. April marks the beginning of our sea trout spawning season, where hundreds of sea trout aggregate (bunch up) to spawn on the first full moon of the month, which is this weekend. Sea trout are in the drum family, and at night under the light of the moon, the smaller males call the female up onto the flats with their drumming and spawn just before first light. As the summer progresses this activity will continue typically three days before and three days after each full and new moons. Finding one of these aggregations can result in catching large numbers of sea trout concentrated in one location which was the case with yesterday's charter where my clients boated over 50 fish in two hours. Although the trout bite was excellent, the puffer fish attacks resulted in the loss of over thirty DOA Shad Tails on ¼ ounce jigs. It's interesting how Mother Nature works, as this trout spawning activity coincides with the return of silver mullet and the top-water sea trout action. When targeting there aggregations remember these are spawning sea trout, so please handle and release them we care for our future generations to enjoy.

In addition, the Indian River Lagoon water quality has improved in the area of Titusville and once again we found schools of ladyfish, bluefish and jacks pushing up schools of glass minnows to the surface under flocks of diving terns and gales which set the stage for some fast and furriest action for my clients.

Lastly, the lagoon water levels are low, so please use caution while operating in shallow water.
As always, if you need information or have any questions, please contact me.

Good luck and good fishing,