# Surf Fishing



## MattFroggatt97 (Feb 5, 2015)

I'm gonna be coming to the Daytona area for college sept.-june, im very familiar with surf fishing, but have never fished the Daytona area, what can you catch this time of year? Do y'all yak your baits out?Thanksi I'd appreciate the help


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## hugehail (May 25, 2013)

The fishing at Daytona, like anywhere else, is tied to weather patterns and water temperature. You can catch fish during that entire period but when the water temperature is below 60F, you will be mainly
fishing for Whiting. For big Pompano 62F seems to be a critical lower end number and 74F is perhaps an approximate higher end number and once the WT reaches 63-64F it will be game on for Bluefish, Spanish, Pompano, Whiting and many other fish. For flounder you need around 65F or warmer. The WT only drops below 55F after an arctic outbreak and when this happens, fishing is slow for the most part. But this only happens a few times per winter and in some winters it doesnt happen at all. The good thing about being in Daytona is that when the fishing slows in the colder winters, all you have to do is drive down to Melbourne to Sebastian Inlet to catch loads of fish since the climatological average WT stays 65F or warmer down there while the average WT at Daytona falls to 59F for Jan-Feb. There will be a lot of days from late March through June when the wind is 15 mph or greater from the south-southwest through west-northwest. When this happens, I suggest checking the surfline and if it looks like chocolate milk, just forget about fishing unless you like to catch cat fish. In the fall, a northeast wind can be very good unless it's too strong, then just forget about fishing because the waves will be too high. Just remember that big Whiting can occasionally be caught even in cold water so dont give up on those even when the water is cold in Jan/Feb. Ive also noticed that the WT critical thresholds are a couple of degrees higher in late fall than in early spring but this is detail you probably dont need to know.

Use this link to check the WT at Daytona Beach which is taken by Beach Safety at 9 am each morning. The reading you see at 6 am is for the previous morning. Other readings that you see online that
seem to be for Daytona, really arent for Daytona at all, but rather at some buoy well offshore. I have an archive of WT for Daytona all the way back to 1994.

http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=NWS&product=SRF&issuedby=MLB


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## BAYFISHER (Jul 6, 2001)

Its minus 3 in md and sunday will be minus 25 oh my


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## DANtheJDMan (Aug 29, 2012)

Hugehail,

Hey we are going to Cape SanBlas the middle of March. 

You got any data on the water temps for that part of Florida. We are set up to kill some pomps and need to know where to look.
Thanks for all the information you post. The surf is all about water temp and clarity.


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## Raymo (Jan 11, 2011)

Dan...
did some research on Cape San Blas...but never made the trip...
here is the water temps you can expect
Jan-Feb, low 60s
March, mid 60s - might have better luck in the bay...but I would still work the beach
April, low 70s
May-Sep, 80+
Oct, mid 70s
Nov-Dec, mid 60s


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## DANtheJDMan (Aug 29, 2012)

Raymo,
You mean St Joseph Bay right behind the peninsula? 
Prolly wade fish the flats reds and trout? The bay side of the point? It's a long walk down there but it might be worth it. I've got a Reels on Wheels Sr. just for that. 
Hit the bridge by Port St Joe?
What about Indian Pass?
Somebody said the sea wall for pomps.
I have a sand flea rake and I'm going to make a ghost shrimp pump to take along.
My wife is going to use that CPS rod I got from you and slay some pomps. She can't cast a spinner for sh*t so maybe she is a natural born conventional thrower. She has a long smooth cast that sucks for spinners. At least if I can get her using a straight up and over cast she will stop crossing my line way down the beach.
We were there in October 2 years ago when Sandy was wiping up on New Jersey. 
Man it is going to be blow zero for the high tomorrow...................................can't wait till March 14th.
Thanks for the information.


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## hugehail (May 25, 2013)

DantheJDman

I think the WT's are similar to Flagler Beach, except for the summer where its a lot water on the gulf since the east coast of Florida has cold water upwelling.
Apalachicola averages 57 in February and 64 in March. But each year is different and of course the WTs are going to depend on the weather pattern for the prior
two weeks. If we can get a warm pattern going in early March this year then the pomp fishing would be good to go by mid march at places like Flagler or
Apalachichola. The WT right now is 57 degrees at Apalachicola so its got some work to do to reach into the lower to mid 60s. 62 is kind of a magic number for the east coast of Florida as many species come to life between 61 and 64F. I assume its similar for the panhandle. But the water can warm fairly quickly if we get into a mild pattern.


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## ez2cdave (Oct 13, 2008)

BAYFISHER said:


> Its minus 3 in md and sunday will be minus 25 oh my


Well, I guess that means "no fishing:, huh ? LOL !

A good opportunity to make a nice, big pot of Chili or Soup and "ride it out" in front of a nice, roaring fire !


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## hugehail (May 25, 2013)

Yeah that sounds like a plan. I just looked at the long range and it appears as though this chu-chu train of arctic fronts will come to an end around March 1. That would be fabulous. Whiting normally do very well in 
early march, in fact I think the first half march is the peak time for big numbers of whiting. Then the Blues show up followed closely by the pomps then flounder and spanish. Great fishing is right around the corner.


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