Being in the slow season for charter fishing combined with the snapper closure and the seasonal grouper closure, I decided to follow the kingfish south. I fished the Northeast Grounds between Sebastian and Fort Pierce, Fl for a couple days. There were bunches of large schools of fish seemingly everywhere… The problem was the fact that the fish were not cooperating very well. Take your pick from a laundry list of excuses: 1. It was a full moon, 2. There were over a hundred boats trying to fish a four square mile of ocean, 3. The porpoises and sharks were continuously harrassing the schools of kings, etc… I managed to scratch out a limit late in the afternoon the first day, but the next day was a different story. It seemed there were even more fish, but they all seemed to have lockjaw. Oh well, I caught maybe a dozen or so and threw in the towel and trolled back to canaveral.
Author: Capt. Scott Bussen
Capt. Scott Bussen has been a professional fisherman and Central Florida resident for over 40 years.