Intracoastal Waterway Fishing Reports (July 2026)

Gulf Shores, Alabama

Reported 2 years ago

Spanish mackerel have made a large showing lately. Along with a few king mackerel. Red Snapper area target on the weekends when the weather allows me to get off the beach a little ways. Mangrove snapper are finally starting to show up in good numbers also.

Tom M. Gulf Shores, Alabama Reported 2 years ago

Spanish mackerel have made a large showing lately. Along with a few king mackerel. Red Snapper area target on the weekends when the weather allows me to get off the beach a little ways. Mangrove snapper are finally starting to show up in good numbers also.

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Brandon D.

Bartow, Florida

Reported 2 years ago

The summer fishing is heating up and you don’t want to miss a second of the action. Big beautiful redfish, powerful snook and an abundance of seatrout have been giving us some fun days on the water lately. Bait is all over the sound and it’s the perfect size to sit off groups of fish and access the bite with long casts. This time of year we really try to use a long light leader so as to not give ourselves away. These lighter leaders sometimes means tougher times getting those big fish to the boat and requiring a lot...

Brandon D. Bartow, Florida Reported 2 years ago

The summer fishing is heating up and you don’t want to miss a second of the action. Big beautiful redfish, powerful snook and an abundance of seatrout have been giving us some fun days on the water lately. Bait is all over the sound and it’s the perfect size to sit off groups of fish and access the bite with long casts. This time of year we really try to use a long light leader so as to not give ourselves away. These lighter leaders sometimes means tougher times getting those big fish to the boat and requiring a lot more maneuvering when these fish get us in a tight situation, but that’s what makes this sport so fun, the thrill of the fight. The water is heating up quickly which means we are required to keep less bait so they have plenty of oxygen in our well. We are starting to see some mangrove snapper moving into the inshore waters and it’s about to get even more exciting when we can fill limits of delicious snapper. Tarpon are all around and we’ve managed a few short hookups but with the windy conditions we’ve been facing some days just aren’t great days to fish for them so the time spent fishing tarpon has been limited unfortunately but that is sure to change with nicer weather on the horizon.

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Mark H.

Jupiter, Florida

Reported 2 years ago

We caught 30 blackfin, 2 sails and mahi on Saturday

Mark H. Jupiter, Florida Reported 2 years ago

We caught 30 blackfin, 2 sails and mahi on Saturday

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Frank C.

Jacksonville, Florida

Reported 2 years ago

Jetty fishing has been good with the numbers of sheepshead dropping off but the fish are all quality. Redfish are biting good at jetties and creeks. Some good catches of speckled trout but lots of shorts.

Frank C. Jacksonville, Florida Reported 2 years ago

Jetty fishing has been good with the numbers of sheepshead dropping off but the fish are all quality. Redfish are biting good at jetties and creeks. Some good catches of speckled trout but lots of shorts.

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Frank C.

Jacksonville, Florida

Reported 2 years ago

Capt.Frank here with our Northeast Florida first weekend in February Fishing Report. Weather continues to be a challenge. Cold front after cold front has brought low temperatures and high winds to the area. Wild changes in barometric pressure has affected fishing. Nonetheless, on fishable days, there are fish to be caught. Inshore, the speckled seatrout bite has been pretty consistent with good catches of legal trout and some lower slot redfish. Slow trolling with grubs near the bottom is a good way to locate the schools. Once found, traditional float rigs with live shrimp will produce numbers. Sheepshead fishing has...

Frank C. Jacksonville, Florida Reported 2 years ago

Capt.Frank here with our Northeast Florida first weekend in February Fishing Report. Weather continues to be a challenge. Cold front after cold front has brought low temperatures and high winds to the area. Wild changes in barometric pressure has affected fishing. Nonetheless, on fishable days, there are fish to be caught. Inshore, the speckled seatrout bite has been pretty consistent with good catches of legal trout and some lower slot redfish. Slow trolling with grubs near the bottom is a good way to locate the schools. Once found, traditional float rigs with live shrimp will produce numbers. Sheepshead fishing has been generally good with some really good days and some slower days. But some quality fish are being caught. When weather permits, the black seabass bite has been consistent - if you can get your baits past the red snapper. Further offshore, trigger fish have been good with some 5 pound plus fish being caught. Wahoo fishing has been tough this winter because of the weather. On the fishable days, boats are often encountering cold dirty water. But, there's lots of bait and some nice wahoo in excess of 100 pounds have been caught. Bottom line is - go when you can go and you may be rewarded. Hopefully, calmer weather is around the corner.

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Frank C.

Jacksonville, Florida

Reported 2 years ago

Ok, was just looking on my listing for a place. Forgot. Thanks. Not much fishing going on here. Weather has been horrible with only a few fishable days over the last 6 weeks. Inshore speckled seatrout has been good. Sheepshead has slowed. Offshore, black sea bass has been good when boats can get out…

Frank C. Jacksonville, Florida Reported 2 years ago

Ok, was just looking on my listing for a place. Forgot. Thanks. Not much fishing going on here. Weather has been horrible with only a few fishable days over the last 6 weeks. Inshore speckled seatrout has been good. Sheepshead has slowed. Offshore, black sea bass has been good when boats can get out…

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Brandon D.

Bartow, Florida

Reported 2 years ago

Sheepshead fishing is in full swing and they’re giving us some fun days on the water. These tasty, hard fighting fish are highly sought after during our winter months. They can be a tricky fish to hook, with a mouth full of human like teeth the areas to set a hook are few which can make them an even tougher target. Alongside the sheepshead we are catching reds, snapper and black drum, plenty of variety and good eating fish to catch when the weather is cold. For the next couple months we will stick to shrimp for our bait of...

Brandon D. Bartow, Florida Reported 2 years ago

Sheepshead fishing is in full swing and they’re giving us some fun days on the water. These tasty, hard fighting fish are highly sought after during our winter months. They can be a tricky fish to hook, with a mouth full of human like teeth the areas to set a hook are few which can make them an even tougher target. Alongside the sheepshead we are catching reds, snapper and black drum, plenty of variety and good eating fish to catch when the weather is cold. For the next couple months we will stick to shrimp for our bait of choice. Catching white bait these times of the year can be difficult and the fish switch their food choices to bait easier to catch like shrimp, crabs and sand fleas. Fish get slower with dropping water temps so their energy levels drop as well, they still fight like crazy and show us a great time on the water.

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Tom M.

Gulf Shores, Alabama

Reported 2 years ago

Last week, the trout and Pompano bite was red hot. A few Sheepshead are starting to arrive. Also several black drum got a ride to the dock. Awesome way to finish out the year.

Tom M. Gulf Shores, Alabama Reported 2 years ago

Last week, the trout and Pompano bite was red hot. A few Sheepshead are starting to arrive. Also several black drum got a ride to the dock. Awesome way to finish out the year.

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Craig K.

West Palm Beach, Florida

Reported 2 years ago

Mid December, whoever thought we would get a tropical depression in south Florida this time of year. Lots of rain and wind have been the main story the past week. There are many places we can hide and fish, but 45 to 50 winds are not fun.
A few days that we were able to get out dodging rained and wind, the snook were plentiful in the backcountry, targeting mangrove, shorelines and deep channels, using Live bait and Rapala, shadow wrap, and X wrap twitch baits. A mixed bag of species of snook common, fat and sword spine, great catches...

Craig K. West Palm Beach, Florida Reported 2 years ago

Mid December, whoever thought we would get a tropical depression in south Florida this time of year. Lots of rain and wind have been the main story the past week. There are many places we can hide and fish, but 45 to 50 winds are not fun.
A few days that we were able to get out dodging rained and wind, the snook were plentiful in the backcountry, targeting mangrove, shorelines and deep channels, using Live bait and Rapala, shadow wrap, and X wrap twitch baits. A mixed bag of species of snook common, fat and sword spine, great catches for anglers due to the weather.
The jacks and bluefish are still plentiful in the channels and deep holes using DOA 3” shad tail and top water Rapala skitter walks for best results. With the cool fronts, pushing into the South Florida area, we will be receiving migration fish, like mackerel and Pompano to add to the fun.
Well, that is the fishing report for the past week, hope you all enjoyed. Remember, you can’t catch them from the couch, so get out there and get hooked up. Tight lines!

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Robert M.

Crawfordville, Florida

Reported 2 years ago

It can be windy and tough, but if you find a place to tuck up where there's a depot, you can catch trout pompano and other fish with a shrimp on a jig head suspended under a cork.

Robert M. Crawfordville, Florida Reported 2 years ago

It can be windy and tough, but if you find a place to tuck up where there's a depot, you can catch trout pompano and other fish with a shrimp on a jig head suspended under a cork.