Playalinda Beach is perhaps one of the most pristine beaches on the East Central coast of Florida.
The surf fishing in this area is better than average because of the deeper sloughs in several of the areas and the Eddy Creek boat launch offers shallow water boaters the opportunity to hit some of the better know fishing spots in the Mosquito Lagoon.
Whales Tail and Cucumber Island are easily accessible and normally hold good numbers of slot sized and over redfish and sea trout.
In addition, there are several "holes" that harbor gag grouper if you know where to fish for them.
On the way to pick up some groceries, I called a friend of mine in Georgia and we discussed among other things, surf fishing. He loves to surf fish when he gets a chance to visit both Playalinda Beach and Patric AFB below Coco Beach.
The talk about surf fishing got me to change plans, so I headed for the beach to purchase a Federal Park pass.
Expecting to pay the $35.00 annual rate, I was surprised to find out that I qualified for a Senior Pass that is lifetime and only costs $10.00. I also discovered that the pass allows entry to any Federal National Park. However, you need to be 62 in order to qualify for it.
The ranger at the park said that the surf fishing was good for pompano and whiting, so I decided to make a run to Eddy Creek and check out some of my old spots.
Stopping first at Eddy Creek, I talked to a fisherman who was just coming in from a morning's trip to see how he fared.
He reported that he caught 8 redfish around the slot and one redfish near Cucumber Island that measured about 38"; all by sight fishing. All were caught on a light colored DOA CAL jerk bait.
He said the fish were skittish because of all the guides bait fishing for them, but that they were catchable if you practiced a "stealthy" approach.
Some people on the wooden dock were just having fun catching croaker and pinfish while a kayaker was doing the same in the shallows of the creek.
I moved to three different parking lots to see how the surf fishing was doing and at #8 found everyone ready to head home.
Lots #8, #9, and #10 are usually better for fishing because of the beach contour and the fact that less swimmers frequent this area.
The tide was almost full and the surf was rough. The guys I talked to said they needed 6oz. in order to hold bottom and they still missed fish. Despite the rough surf, there was one guy out about 300 yards in a kayak having a ball fishing!
Contrary to the information I got from the ranger at the entrance; everyone I spoke with said that the pompano had not been biting well for the past 3 weeks however, the whiting and croaker were "hot".
Everyone I spoke with caught whiting, "sailors choice", and some croaker. One guy had an undersized redfish that he returned to the surf.
After taking some pics that you can see here, I decided to get on with my grocery shopping so I could get out and do some fishing in the afternoon.
Hope the info helps some of you surf fishing addicts out!
Till next time, Tight Lines!
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John,
Great report, enjoyed reading the whole thing. My boat is down right now, and I am somewhat landlocked fishing until my boat gets repaired.
I used to have a 24' full cabin hardtop with a chevy 350 cu. in. engine----6k lbs, large trailer and all the headaches......Thank God I wised up, now I have a Sportsman's model pontoon boat----Great for Haulover, Perfect for shrimping and fishing. My days of off shore fishing were few, just because I did so much better -- back saltwater, especially in Haulover Canal and Sabastian area. I fished Haulover about 9 mos. of the yr., and Sebastian area for about 3 mos., both places--mostly night time fishing. Haulover always in a boat, Sebastian Area, very seldom in a boat.
The attachment is an old pic---back in the days when there was not a bag limit. The pic is bluefish, 1 night catching, off the beach about 1 mi. south of Sebastian Inlet. Best night--- 264 lbs. in about 6 1/2 hrs. As I told you before, I used to have SPL commercial lic. and Retail Seafood lic. I have a small album with a few pics, just because many people did not believe me when I told them that I could catch over 100 lbs. of fish, hook and line, in less than 12 hrs off the beach. I also used to catch sharks on spinning tackle---12' rod with Penn reel....largest shark was 7' 2", It took me and my 2 sons to pick it up....to this day, I do not know how much it weighed. Best night-- 5 sharks, there was a company out of St. Petersburg called " Save On Seafood", that would drive across the state to buy my sharks, as long as I had them dressed, on ice and have a net weight of 300 + lbs. and no shark smaller than 40 lbs
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