During the month of July, fishing along Florida's Space Coast should be fast and furious.

Along with Fourth of July parties, July brings in the hot weather, the chances of afternoon thunderstorms and lots of great early morning fishing opportunities.

As the temperatures rise throughout the month of July, we will continue to have decent to excellent fishing for gator sea trout and the larger redfish in both the Indian and Bananna Rivers, as well as in the Mosquito Lagoon.

Right now, the eastern shore of the Mosquito Lagoon and the shorelines around the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge are where slot size redfish are hanging tight to the shorelines.

Early mornings will bring explosive action at first light on top water lures for Snook or Trout along the flats, until the sun rises and the fish head for deeper water.

Fish along the mangroves for Snook and Redfish with DOA Shrimp, CAL Jerk Baits and top water plugs in 2-3 foot deep water.

As the sun comes up and warms the water, the sea trout will move to the deeper edges of the flats in 2-6 feet of water where they will hit live pigfish, live shrimp, DOA Shrimp and CAL Jerk Baits. 

Always fish the sand holes on the flats!  You will find the bigger fish sitting in or around these holes waiting for the wind and tide to bring food to them.

The outstanding topic of discussion so far this summer has been the gator sea trout that are being caught on top water plugs very early in the morning in two to three feet of water around the areas where mullet are actively schooling.

Fishermen willing to give up their beauty sleep have been nailing gator sea trout of up to 10 pounds in the Indian River lagoon flats, around and north of Titusville, Fl.

The best performing lure for sea trout has been the smaller Rapala Skitterwalks, with the silver glitter DOA shrimp coming in at a close second.

The biggest sea trout have been caught using a live 6" to 8" ladyfish or a 6" finger mullet.  Free line the bait near a school of finger mullet just at daybreak or again just before sunset and you'll have a good chance of scoring.

I've recently experienced some great fishing during the late afternoon thunderstorms that roll through the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

The larger fish become extremely active just before and during the storms, and if you are careful around the lightening, you can get in some unbelieveable fishing in a very short period of time.

If you enjoy fishing for redfish, read the water as you drift or pole the flats for signs of activity that might be a school of Reds.  As you move across the flats, look for schools of finger mullet and be on the lookout for fins just breaking the surface.

Once you locate a school, toss out a fresh cut chunk of ladyfish, finger mullet, pinfish or a DOA shrimp and you should get hooked up.

Gold Johnson spoons, Gator spoons, or soft baits like the DOA Shrimp or CAL Jerk Baits also work well on schooling redfish.

These baits are also great for pulling Snook, Trout or Redfish from around docks or pilings during the day.

In the Banana River No-Motor Zone, your best bet for catching a bull redfish, gator sea trout or even a big jack crevalle will be fishing top water lures during early and low light conditions around the channel drop offs and along the flats. 

Any lure with a side to side "walk the dog" type action like Rapala's Skitter Walk, will do the trick.  The key to catching these fish is to mimic a wounded bait fish.

A seven foot medium action spinning combo with 15# to 20# braid and a foot or two of twenty pound fluorocarbon leader is the tackle of choice to land these big bruisers.  Using a loop knot on the business end will allow your lure to swim more naturally.

Summer flounder will be picking up in July in this area. 

A steady east wind in combination with a full moon should produce lots of flounder action. 

DOA shrimp, jerk baits, hair jigs or a fresh dead mullet fished on the bottom works well for summer flounder; especially around the Port Canaveral jetties.

When you go fishing, don't overlook the bridges. 

During july the bridges will be producing Snapper, Black Drum and Sheepshead.  Live or dead shrimp or cut clams are the baits of choice.

Hopefully the Tarpon will show up in the Mosquito Lagoon this month. 

The lack of glass minnow shcools that normally show up around the beginning of June may be the reason why we haven't yet received any reports of Tarpon inside the lagoons.

Near Offshore Fishing out of Port Canaveral

Right now the waters near shore have cooled off a little and there are sailfish out there along with King Mackerel and Dolphin. 

There are a lot of flying fish around Buoy #2 and several sails have been reportedly caught in this area.  You don't have to waste fuel and run too far offshore to pick up sailfish or dolphin right now, surprisingly they are just inside of 90 feet. 

The guys that are out there in 70 to 90 feet of water on the reefs are catching good numbers of mangrove snapper on plugs of grunt or pinfish and live sardines or pogies.

Off the beach there are large schools of pogies that are still drawing Kingfish and Tarpon.

The Kingfish are generally ranging from Daytona Beach to Fort Pierce with some of the heavier kings (35 to 40 pounds) found north of the Cape offshore Playalinda Beach and the Canaveral National Seashore.

Big kings will also be over the inshore reefs that parallel the beach from Wabasso to The Cove south of Vero Beach.

Smaller 15 to 25 pound kings will be following the bait pods and can be caught trolling near the surface until mid morning.

Look for tarpon in the Canaveral Bight and south of the port toward the Cocoa Beach Pier down to Patrick AFB.

Up to the north around Ponce Inlet area, there are still good numbers of Cobia on the backs of Manta Rays being caught along with Jacks, Kingfish and Bonita.

Slow trolling with live baits is reported to be the most productive method for catching these fish.

As the seas settle down a bit during July, near shore fishing should be improving.

Caribbean Spiny Lobster