December Fishing Forecast
As the last quarter of 2021 is about to end, your Florida fishing season should end either for game fishing, fun fulfilling or for a first-time fishing experience that is worth remembering. Here we share our December Fishing Forecast to give you a glimpse of how you want to remember your 2021 fishing experience as unique, special, and worth remembering to be in Stuart, Florida.
1. Barracuda
Barracuda or also known as Cuda, or Great Barracuda, is a saltwater fish and the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae. They are popular with their snake-like looks and sharp-edged teeth resembling piranha. Cuda’s have big, pointed heads with an underbite on some species. The Great Barracuda is known to many veteran game anglers for its ferocious behavior during tackles. They are spectacular fighters, and combined with quick and long runs, Cuda’s can overpower and knock off an inexperienced angler.
Ideally, these fishes can be tackled by spinning, flying, or baitcasting along shorelines. Casting tackle is the best technique when you spot some overwrecks and reefs. Also, they love natural baits like live fishes and Ballyhoo.
Finding a Barracuda is no problem in Florida because it is their home. From salt waters to shorelines, they can be seen mostly on artificial reefs and wrecks but not so often inshore.
2. Jack Crevalle
If you are a game fish newbie and want to improve and test your fishing mettle Jack Crevalle is the best fish for you. Finding a Jack Crevalle is easy since they are available all year round and can be found anywhere from reefs and deep offshore wrecks to estuaries and residential canals.
Under the jack family, Carangidae, they are known by many names like Cavalli jack, yellow cavalla, black-tailed trevally, common jack, jack crevale, or black cavalla. By appearance, a Jack Crevalle can be mistaken for a smaller Amberjack, but much larger with its many physical features. They vary in light silver, green sheen, or blue colors.
You can catch a common jackfish with live baits such as pilchards (sardines), herring, mullet, and particularly a lively baitfish. Also, artificial baits like spoons, topwater plugs, and bucktail jigs get the attention of hungry jack crevalles.
3. Sheepshead
Archosargus probatocephalus, or commonly sheepshead, is a marine fish that has an oval-shaped and deep body, with a small and blunt snout. They can be distinguished by their silvery to greenish-yellow colors and olive back. However, the most significant appearance that sets sheepsheads apart from other fishes is their human-like teeth, including grinders, molars, and incisors.
If you plan to catch a sheepshead, having the right equipment is necessary. Hooking them can be challenging because its mouth has soft spots between the teeth. Finding the right hook with the right strength, size, and sharpness will have a greater chance of catching these fish.
Sheephead fishes around Florida waters are bountiful, both offshore and inshore. Most anglers found them around reefs, rocks, retaining walls, pylons, and docks. While some of them flock around their source of food like fiddler crabs, oysters, and other crustaceans.
4. Redfish
Another excellent game fish for every avid angler is Red Fish, or the Channel Bass (Sciaenops ocellatus). For most Floridian fishers, they are also known as red drum, red, spot tail bass, or puppy drum. Being the only species under the genus Sciaenops, redfishes can be identified with their copper-bronze, fading to a lighter belly body. These fishes have large scales, the lower jaw lacks barbels, and strong pharyngeal teeth to crush shellfish and oysters.
Luring redfishes can be done effectively with live bait. They are ravenous regarding shrimps, crabs, baitfish, or dead baits. Also, live shrimps and minnows are the best for baits on shallow coastal waters.
Red fishes can be found almost anywhere in Florida. They are mostly found on fishing waters like shallow flats, grassy shorelines, and shell bars. In addition, they forage in the surf of outside beaches along the East Coast during falls.
5. Cobia
Another unique deep-sea fish because of its tasty delicacy is Cobia. Cobias, also known as black salmon, black kingfish, Sergeant Fish, or lemonfish, belonging to the Rachycentridae family, live at water depths of 50 to 100 meters.
Cobias are identified with their dark brown colored single dorsal fin. Often, they are mistaken as sharks, but a young cobia is known to have a distinct color appearance with alternating black and white horizontal stripes and multi-colored splotches like green, orange, and bronze.
These deep-water fishes can be caught using lures such as imitation eel lures, suspending and diving crankbaits, and topwater plugs. However, their favorite lure is the cobia jig, where they can be easily caught without sweat.
Spotting the school of cobias on Florida waters is best during migration in the spring and back down south in the fall. They feed on other fishes, crabs, and other marine life, such as turtles, sharks, and rays.
6. Sailfish
Sailfish(Istiophorus albicans) are popular saltwater gamefish. They are an exciting species to catch because of their resistance to capture. Sailfish has a blue to gray metallic color with a majestic sail-like dorsal fin (which is why it’s called a sailfish) and a billed snout like other marlins. They are relatives of swordfish and barracudas. The Atlantic sailfish is a carnivorous species that enjoys hunting schools of fish such as sardines, anchovies, and mackerel. They have also been observed preying on squid and crustaceans.
How to catch the sailfish? Because of how they resist, sailfish are highly sought-after game fish by anglers. They are strong, have long endurance, and are known to dive and leap out of the water repeatedly during a fight. When catching this fish, remember to conserve your strength. Set your gear to sink depths of 30-65 feet, and let your boat run slowly so your leader can swim freely. Tease the fish a little, and when the sailfish bites, keep your grip firm because it will try to shake it off first. Allow the fish to run before attempting to pull.
7. Blackfin Tuna
Blackfin Tuna (Thunnus atlanticus) is one of the few tuna species with a limited range. It can only be found in the western Atlantic Ocean. Blackfin tunas are caught by throwing free swimming bait into the water to bring schools of large Tuna to the surface and then presenting baited hooks. When this method is useless, trolling the surface for smaller Blackfin Tuna can be very effective.
The Blackfin Tuna is distinguished by a dark-blue to black stripe across its back, usually accompanied by a golden hue beneath it and a silver belly. The flesh of a Blackfin tuna is less fatty and slightly lighter in color than that of a Yellowfin tuna. The average size of the Blackfin ranges from 7 to 30 pounds. Regarding game fishing, the Blackfin is our bread and butter: great eating and strong fighters.
8. Wahoo
Wahoo (Acanthocybium Solandri) is also known as Ono, Ono Malani, Hoo, Pacific Kingfish, Malata kingfish, Queenfish, Paala, Paere, Peto, Sierra, Solandra, Serra-da India, Kamasu-Sawara, Acantocibio, Cavala de India, Keskas, Kin Fis, Mersad, Kinkfish, Peto, Guarapucu, and Thazard batard. The Wahoos may describe.
The wahoo has a long, slender body covered with small scales. It has a silvery-white underside and silvery sides with zebra-like blue stripes or bars and a shimmering blue back that may appear green from above. It has a beak-like snout, a large mouth, and sharp serrated teeth. It has two dorsal fins that split into eight to nine finlets, leading to a forked caudal fin. The anal fin has 9 finlets and is located below the second dorsal fin. Its lateral line runs the length of its body and curves under the first dorsal fin.
Wahoos are sometimes referred to as “the favorite bycatch” during big game fishing. They are pelagic and mostly solitary, swimming in small groups of 2-6 at times.
9. Kingfish
The king mackerel (Scomberomorus cavalla) or kingfish also known as Spanish Mackerel is a migratory mackerel family found in Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Kingfish are distinguished by the small, hazily visible, loosely attached scales covering their entire body. Its dorsal fin is completely colorless and usually folded back into a groove (like the pelvic fins). King Mackerel are generally olive on the back, with a white underbelly and rosy, iridescent sides. Kingfish are smaller than the Atlantic Mackerel and may have some brown to yellowish spots on its flanks. Their teeth are very similar to those of Bluefish.
Kingfish are popular due to their speed, which is matched only by the Wahoo, their distant relative. Jigging, trolling, and using live or dead bait, spoons, and other artificial lures are the most common methods of catching King Mackerel.
Stuart, Florida’s Most Trusted Boating Charter
Hate 2 Lose Sport Fishing Charters offers premium fishing charter services and the best customer experience for everyone. Our Captain has the experience, knowledge, and skill to help you enjoy the sun, relax, and catch your desired game fish this December. We are more focused to provide the one-of-kind and memorable fishing experience of a lifetime, both for inshore or offshore fishing in Stuart, Florida.
Stuart’s, FL Inshore & Offshore Charter Trips
Visit us personally at Pirates Cove Resort and Marina: 4307 SE Bayview St Slip N4 Stuart, FL 34997. Call us at 772-214-1889 or book your December charter trip today!
