August is a great month for catching a variety of fish. At the docks you can see Vermillions, Kings, Black snapper, Tripletails, Kings, and Amberjack as well as the occasional bonus fish like chicken dolphin or wahoo.
Amberjack are popular targets in August, and are generally found around wrecks in 50ft to 400ft depth range. They tend to like large wrecks rather than natural bottom. Live cigar minnows, hardtails, pinfish and vermillion snapper are the baits of choice. Use a Carolina rig with extra long leaders, up to 20ft when fish are picky. Amberjack also love butterfly jigs and large swimbaits.
Kings are becoming more steady this month and remain one of the main targets of charter boats and recreational fisherman alike. Trolling for kings with live bait is the most popular method.
As in July, with the warmer waters caused by soaring summer temperatures, Trout and reds will be on the flats and in the shallows early and late in the day. They will both gather around deep-water structures during the heat of the day. These trout and redfish will bite topwater plugs, Berkley Gulps, Savage Shrimp, DOA Shrimp and live baits. The best live baits are shrimp, menhaden and finger mullet. It can be tricky getting live bait this time of year, so make sure to plan ahead.