Fishing has been good along Florida's Space Coast reports Captain Keith Mixon (www.mixinworkwithplay.com). Inside Port Canaveral, sheepshead measuring up to five pounds have been caught near the jetties, barnacle covered pilings, and other structure. Most of these tasty fish have been willing to bite small jig heads tipped with shrimp on an outgoing tide during both early morning and late evening hours. In addition, several mangrove snapper have also been caught near the jetties. Live shrimp is the bait of choice when fished just off the bottom. The average length of these fish has been twelve inches. Also, cobia weighing up to seventy pounds has lost the tug of war battle just south of Port Canaveral. Live eels and bright colored buck tail jigs have been used to catch these fish. During calm conditions, several cobia were caught when sight casting during mid day.
Inshore, slot size red fish have not been able to resist gold spoons or scented jerk baits when fished along the flats in three feet of water near drop offs. Spoil islands in both the Indian and Banana Rivers has produced several nice reds when using light tackle. In addition, speckled trout continue to hit top water lures during low light conditions. The average size of the trout caught has been two pounds.