Near shore Red hot King Fish bite
June 10, 2024 Fernandina Beach 2 photos
King Mackerel (Kingfish)
King Mackerel (Kingfish)

Trip Summary

Josh and his family of eight wanted to do some near shore fishing. Of course there are no captains in the area that can carry more than 6 passengers, so myself and Capt. Steve Hair of the Ye Ole Pirate split the group into two parties of four. After cast netting for pogies, " The preferred bait for Kings", Pipe Dream III began trolling for Kings. The Bonita were thick and we knew there should be a smoker nearby and it didn't take long for the Shimano reel to start screaming . After a couple of hard runs and some excellent rod handling by the client Pipe Dream's mate brought a nice King on board. Continuing to troll Josh and his family put a few more Kings, Spanish and Bonita in the box. Capt. Steve Hair had a lot of action with Blue fish, Sharks and a nice Cobia.
Scott Thompson
Fernandina-beach, Florida, United States
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Other reports from this captain

2025 fishing season
2025 fishing season
January 18, 2025
HELLO ANGLERS, It's the beginning of a new year and already the bite is hot black sea bass, triggers, vermillion snapper and the endangered red snapper. The bite is so hot it's going to melt the snow that's forecast for northeast Florida this week. Yesterday Pipe Dream III was 50 miles offshore bottom fishing. The Lane Snapper bite was on fire along with vermillion snapper and red snapper. We moved 20 miles closer to shore when the wind picked up. It didn't take long to start catching some nice black sea bass and vermillion snapper, we still couldn't escape the endangered red snapper, they are everywhere. Note, just a few day ago I did receive a NOAA bulletin about increasing our red snapper season for 2025. Looking ahead into the upcoming 2025 season: The Wahoo run is already starting, with some nice fish being weighed. Gulf stream blue water trolling for Tuna, Mahi, Wahoo, Sails and Blue Marlin will be heating up in March and their north bound migration should continue strong thru May. Deep drop bottom fishing for Mutton Snapper, Mangrove Snapper and other deep dwellers is happening now and will continue but getting out there is weather dependent. Grouper season opens May 1st. March is typically when the Big Black Drum start showing up near shore and the Red Fish will fill in the gap between bites. March also ushers in near shore trolling for Spanish Mackerel. If you have young children the jetties and river offer some nonstop action for Whiting and the kids get a blast catching sharks. As the waters warm and the pogies begin showing up the Kings are right behind them. Trolling for Kings is fast action as they will run 100 yards before you can blink. The Kings aren't the only ones chasing the pogies The Tarpon AKA " Silver King" will be trolling the jetties in search of some menhaden. If you are meat hunters or just looking for some fast rod bending action, now is the time to book a charter with Pipe Dream Charters while we still have some available open dates. Call Capt. Scott at **hidden content** or **hidden content**
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