Fishing forecast for weekend of Dec. 30-Jan. 1

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Offshore: It looks like a beautiful weekend to head offshore. A long-period, 2-foot swell is expected through Sunday. Gag and red grouper are biting well on the 60- to 90-foot reefs off Canaveral and Sebastian. Drop down live pinfish or butterflied grunts. Kingfish and the occasional schoolie dolphin have been hitting flatlined and slow-trolled live baits on these same reefs. Remember, grouper season closes Saturday at midnight and reopens in May.

Surf: Cool, clear water along Brevard beaches has enhanced surf catches this week. Whiting, pompano and large croakers are taking fresh peeled shrimp, but the larger fish are hitting live sandfleas and cut, quartered crabs. Bluefish are present on most beaches. Cut fish or silver spoons work best.

Sebastian Inlet: The burst of cool air has boosted the flounder and black drum bite at the inlet. Flounder are ranging from 1 to 3 pounds and are hitting live mullet. If by boat, look for drop-offs using a fish finder to locate flounder. If by shore, fish close to the rocks. Fish the high tides for black drum, sheepshead and pompano. Use fresh cut clams or crab chunks for the drum, and sandfleas or fiddler crabs for the sheeps and pomps.

Inshore: The northern Banana River Lagoon has been holding black drum and smaller redfish. Locate schools or individual fish and cast cut ladyfish or live shrimp. Fish late mornings as flats heat up.

Captain Glyn Austin has been finding pompano and seatrout around the spoil islands between Grant and Vero Beach. They’ll fall for small grubs or shrimp-tipped pompano jigs. Look for schools of ladyfish, seatrout and jacks in the Sebastian River and Turkey Creek tributaries. Capt. Austin says the fish have been slow to bite artificial lures, so live shrimp or baitfish might be the ticket.

Freshwater: The cooler weather has invigorated the speck bite on the St. Johns chain. Try to find and fish near submerged structure such as brushpiles, downed trees or stumps. Use live minnows beneath a float on no more than 6-pound Monofilament. Deeper canals might also be holding feeding crappie, especially at junctions where feeder canals meet open lakes.