Mid July Fish Report: Drum Drum & Drum

We have seen numerous schools of #drum in the area. They were in the clean 77- 79 degree water in 35- 45 feet depth. The big drum schools are not picky eaters nor are they shy of the boat. If it has a hook and you cast it into the school you will get hooked up. Look for golden, tan, reddish water. Anything that looks different than the rest of the water it could be a school. Sometimes they are just below the surface and easy to see from far away but they can also be 5 - 10 feet under and you will see what looks like a slight dirty sandy or bronze area in the #water.

We found them while #trolling at 4 - 5 knots and all five rods went off at once. We were trolling clark spoons on the surface with #outriggers, and drone spoons down deep on planers. The planers went off first and then the school of hundreds of drum came up and attacked all the lures on the surface. Once we found the schools we tracked them all morning and sight casted #bucktails which is much easier to maneuver the #boat and avoid tangles. We ended up catching 5 drum, two of which were release #citations!

We have also caught nice sized #SpanishMackeral in calm clean warm water in 15 - 25 feet of water. They have been caught on #clarkspoons trolling and sting silvers sight casting. They bite really well in the evening close to the beach. You will see thousands of small glass minnows on the surface, it looks like it's raining almost. The Spanish will be cutting through them and jumping. They like fast shiny and colorful lures and are excellent eating within 1-2 days of being caught.

Lastly, #Cobia can be found in the bay and some off the oceanfront. They can be caught trolling, sight casting, or #chumming. We have had our best luck sight casting, look for lots of #rays, and #seaturtles. The rays are light tan/brown, the Cobia will be mixed in with the rays and turtles and are a dark brown/blackish color. Use a bucktail or live eel, slowly bring the boat within range, cast in front of the fish leaving enough room as to not spook it but close enough that they can still see your lure.

Tight lines, Capt. Brett