In this weeks Jacksonville Fishing Report, read about what you need to know heading into this years red snapper season.

The circus returns to Mayport on Friday, the long-awaited opener of this years four-day red snapper season.

The season runs from July 10th to July 12 and will reopen for the final day on July 17. Youre now required to register for a free State Reef Fish Angler endorsement from FWC if you will be bottom fishing. And starting July 15, bottom anglers will also be required to have a descending device on their boat.

Snapper have been abundant on local reefs this summer, even on the public inshore numbers. The hard part will be finding a parking spot at the boat ramps, even for boaters not participating in the highly popular season. If your boat doesnt live at a marina, you better wake up early this weekend.

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I wont get into the controversy surrounding the red snapper regulations, because the world has more than enough problems right now. Please do your best this weekend to avoid becoming another one. Practicing the golden rule and respect for our daily afternoon thunderstorms would be a good start.

Mother Ocean has signed up as a sponsor for this years snapper season, as the weather forecast calls for Lake Atlantic conditions through the weekend. Just dont forget about that nasty thunderstorm that will be waiting for you back on the hill.

Nearshore/offshore

The bad news about bait is the pogie pods remain elusive. But on the days theyre flipping, the pogies are big. And theres a good chance a tarpon is nearby.

"I had five tarpon bites yesterday in the pogie pods on the beach, but the bait is there one day, gone the next," said Capt. John Eggers in a text message Wednesday.

Some nice kingfish were caught over the weekend, including a 37 pounder by Chuck Darner and his grandson Byron. This is welcome news a week ahead of the Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament.

The junior tournament will be held July 14, and the two-day general tournament will be on July 16 and July 17. The contest will pay 10 places deep, with the winner taking home a 24-foot Contender with a 300 horsepower Yamaha outboard and trailer thats valued at $141,000.

This years contest will not require a check-out. Entry is $305, and registration is open until July 15.

Capt. Kirk Waltz said the kingfish bite has been great between 3 and 9 miles off the beach despite the pogie problems. The good news is that theres plenty of bait to be jigged up if you have sabiki rigs on the boat.

"I caught some cobia this week too, and the tarpon are starting to show up in good numbers," Waltz said in a text message.

Capt. Kris Kell said he isnt going any further than 12 miles offshore to find his kingfish, and hes found plenty this week. Hes also seven cobia, but all but one was too short to keep.

Sailfish are also lurking at the nearshore wrecks, and Capt. Steve Mullen caught a beautiful one over the weekend while slow trolling for kingfish.

Inshore

Capt. Tony Bozzella fished Wednesday with Craig and Shopia Meyer. They fished lures early during the high outgoing tide and found a steady bite of spanish mackerel, blue fish, jacks and ladyfish. As the tide dropped, they moved back into the shallow waters of Hannah Mills Creek and caught a 25-inch trout, 27-inch redfish and a flounder to bring home an inshore slam. They caught the fish on shrimp and quarter-ounce jig heads.

Capt. Ron Schurr said the backcountry bite has been surprisingly decent despite the hot muddy water. He said hes catching most of his fish around dead low tide on jigs and shrimp.

Eggers said the redfish have been biting well during low incoming tides in the morning on topwater plugs. When the tide turns, hell switch to mud minnows on jig heads to target a "pretty good" flounder bite. Hes finding fish along dropoff edges of the Intracoastal Waterway and grass lines during high tide.

Surf

Surf anglers have been catching lots of big whiting and a few nice pompano during the last week, said Spencer Brogden.

It can be easy to overlook surf fishing during the summer, but last week proved you dont have to go far to fill the cooler. My advice is to follow Brogdens "Brokenreel23 Northeast Florida Surf Fishing" group on Facebook, where he provides daily updates on whats biting at our local beaches.

Freshwater

South of downtown Jacksonville, the croaker and yellow mouth trout bite has been "on fire" in the St. Johns River at Mile Markers 18 and 19, said Jon Hamilton. He also said the striped bass are chewing well under the Buckman Bridge and in Doctors Lake.

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Jacksonville Fishing Report: Red snapper season is (almost) here. - The Florida Times-Union