Where they're biting in the Daytona Beach Area Jan.04, 2008

[BigEarl]

Surf & Piers

Anglers had been getting lots of whiting and drum up until the cold snap, said Ed Countryman at Ocean's Bait & Tackle. Pompano in the 3- to 3 1/2-pound range were mixed into most catches, too, he said. Jack Nelson of Ormond-By-The-Sea got nice reds and blues on cut mullet just north of the old pier, Countryman said.

Regular Flagler Pier angler Bob Burns said it's a little slow, with some whiting, drum, sheepshead, sharks and rays. He said the best catches this week are 13-year-old Richard Williamson's 22-inch drum and Ivor Dehaney's 19-inch drum.

Tomoka Basin area

Coutryman reported a good bite on sheepshead and mangos under river docks.

Capt. Kent Gibbens said he guided a great fly caster and found schools of reds but they wouldn't strike. A fresh peeled shrimp left to soak might have done the trick, he said.

Up the Tomoka River, tarpon and snook are sunning along the banks, he said, but they are tough customers. Look for that bite to get red hot as soon as this weather warms, he said.

Halifax River

Cindy Crosby, the Main Street bridge tender, said a few Spanish mackerel have been caught off the southeast side of the bridge and trout are getting caught until around 7:30 a.m. with a few stragglers until 11 a.m. The trout were mostly on the southwest side of the bridge, she said. The sheepshead bite is off and on, but they're visible most of the time swimming just a foot below the surface along the bridge fenders, she said.

Offshore

Capt. Robert Sorenson fished on the Sea Spirit at Turtle Mound late last week and the trip got keeper snapper, gray grouper and cobia. Capt. Sorenson went with Capt. Lee Carver on the Super Critter early this week and the trip got 25 keeper snapper, including two big sows. Capt. Sorenson reported that earlier this week Capt. Lee Lingo got the Sea Spirit a bunch of snapper, cobia, sea bass and red eyes.

On Sunday, Capt. Sorenson had a troller trip and said it was "horrendous," with 30 mph winds and a 6- to 8-foot bounce, but they got some dolphin and had one big marlin strike.

Wave models show the seas laying down by late Saturday, early Sunday. On Thursday, the buoys were rocking in 9.2-foot seas with 8-second intervals.

Mosquito Lagoon

Capt. Nathaniel Lemmon has been fishing the north tidal area and said the water had warmed up to 75 degrees this past weekend, but by this morning it should be in the 50s. That will school up the reds and clear up the water. Plus, this cold wind kept most boats off the water, so when the first fishable day comes, reds should be calm and approachable. He said top-waters early have done the best and then he has been going to a gold spoon dragged slowly through mullet pods and then sight fishing with a D.O.A. shrimp.

Ponce Inlet area

Capt. Lemmon said blues up to 6 pounds and trout up to 22 inches have been active at night around dock lights. He's been free-lining white and chartreuse soft plastics. Now that it's colder, he said he'll switch to a jig head with a soft plastic and bounce it very slowly along the bottom.

Capt. Fred Robert said a lot of small snook and trout are around and the inlet channel bite is being ruled by black drum. Folks are starting to get some flounder, but only a few have been big ones, he said. Also, there was a big mullet run just before the cold front, he said.

Matanzas Inlet area

Lucas Smith at the Devil's Elbow Fish Camp said the Faver Dykes flats hit 42 degrees Thursday afternoon, so the reds and snook are hiding deep, but the sheepshead have been real active as well as the drum.

Indian River Lagoon

Capt. John Tarr at The Fly Fisherman said the wide open north end has been empty. He said a 28-inch snook was caught in Haulover Canal. It got pulled out of a deep hole where it was crashing baitfish with a little crank bait.

St. Johns River

Capt. James Hillman at Highland Park Fish Camp said bassin' was good before this chill, with respectable catches on live bait in the Norris Dead River and on Lake Woodruff, but this high atmospheric pressure needs to subside before that will resume.

[Frogfish101]

Nice report Earl. Good luck!