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Pompano is a popular, flat, and silvery fish that features a wide forked tail that enables it to be a powerful swimmer. Pompano will put up a spirited fight when it is hooked. Additionally, it is also known as a tasty fish which makes it a target of many anglers. If you want to learn how to catch pompano, then this article will give you information and fishing techniques to help you catch more pompano.
Table of Contents
How To Catch Pompano
1. How To Catch Pompano From The Beach
Fish for pompano on the beach early in the morning or late in the evening. Pompano will be on the far side of wave breaks and sand bars. They will be waiting for sand fleas and other small crustaceans to be taken off the beach and brought to them by the waves. Send your bait into the first trough off the beach that you identify. If you don’t get any pompano in that trough, then you can cast it further out.
As the sun comes up, pompano will move further off the beach to deeper water. You can then use a long rod and heavy pyramid sinker. Only let your bait sit for about 5 to 15 minutes after casting it. If you don’t get anything, reel it in and check it to make sure it hasn’t been taken by crabs or other fish.
There are many tackle combinations that you can use for catching pompano on the beach. One option is to use a spinning rod, a fish finder rig, 2/0 circle hooks, and a 12-pound monofilament line.
2. How To Catch Pompano From A Boat
When fishing for pompano from a boat, one tactic is to look for them on the down-current side of a bridge. They prey on the small crustaceans that the current pull off the bridge pilings. If they are being fed with the small crustaceans from the bridge pilings, they won’t leave that area. This will make it easy for you to catch them using a boat.
Anchor your boat and send your line close to the current pilings. Pompano will be on one side of the bridge when the tide comes in and on the other side when the tide goes out. Therefore, you will have to move your boat if the tide changes or you will not get them when the tide changes.
About every 15 minutes, drop cut bait into the water to attract pompano. After eating the bait, they will come back to that area looking for more. This practice is called chumming and makes catching fish predictable.
Additionally, when fishing from a boat, let your bait sink to the bottom and then pull it up slightly, and then let it hit the bottom once again. This repeated maneuver will disturb the sand on the bottom and attract the fish. The weight on the sinker may need to be changed to a heavier one to get this done.
3. How To Catch Pompano From Pier
When fishing from a pier, look for structures that they hang around when preying on small crabs, clams, sand fleas, and shrimp. Logs, fallen trees, and wrecks are some of the structures to target when fishing for pompano from a pier.
Still fishing, jigging, casting, and drift fishing can be used to catch pompano from a pier. Lures such as jigs are also used when fishing for pompano from a pier.
4. How To Catch Pompano In Florida
When fishing for pompano in Florida, look for them off the beach, in grass flats, and around inlets. Pompano feeds off shrimp, crabs, sand fleas, and clams. You can also catch them using lures. Bottom fishing, casting, drift fishing, jigging, and trolling can be used when fishing for pompano in Florida.
5. How To Catch Pompano In North Carolina
When fishing for pompano in North Carolina, the best time to target them is from June to September. At this time, the waters are warmer and pompano will move into shallow waters around piers and the shore. Surf fishing is one of the best ways to target pompano in North Carolina. Shrimp, sand fleas, small crabs, clams, and bloodworms are some of the best baits for catching pompano. A basic surf fishing rig will get the job done.
Best Baits & Lures For Pompano
1. Sand Fleas
Sand fleas are one of the best dead baits for Pompano.
2. Shrimp
Shrimps, crabs, and sand fleas are some of the best crustaceans for Pompano.
3. Clams
Clams are also a good bait that anglers to catch Pompano.
4. Mussels
Mussels are also used as bait by anglers for Pompano and other fish.
5. Small Baitfish
Small baitfish are regularly used by anglers to catch a variety of fish including Pompano.
6. Jigs
A number of jigs are used for Pompano including white or pink Pompano feather jigs and orange or banana jigs.
7. Glass Minnows
Glass minnows are also a good bait for Pompano.
8. Pilchards
Live pilchards or cigar minnows are good bait for Pompano.
Pompano Fishing Tips
1. Sand fleas are one of the best baits to catch pompano. They also feed on small crabs and shrimp.
2. The temperature of the water is important for pompano. They migrate to schools going south in the winter and north as the weather warms up.
3. The timing of the “pompano run” will be different depending on where you are located.
4. When the water temperature gets closer to 62 degrees, the pompano begins to move. Target Pompano on beach when the temperature is in the range of 65 to 85 degrees.
5. Go to the beach during low tide and look for darker areas. Then go back to high tide and fish those dark areas you found during the low tide.
6. Fish for pompano where there are rip currents. You will find pompano and other game fish there preying on bait that is being swept offshore.
7. When the surf is slightly active and stirring up crustaceans on the bottom is ideal for catching pompano.
8. If you find an area of the beach with a lot of sand fleas or small clams, that is a good sign that you are in the right place to fish for pompano.
9. A spinning reel 3500 or 4000 series with a 12 to 15-pound test line can be used to catch pompano. Pompano usually comes in under 3 pounds and therefore you don’t need more than a regular tackle.
10. Pompano is a schooling fish. When you find some, there is a good chance that there are many more in that area.
11. Pompano are primarily bottom feeders and eat crustaceans, shrimps, clams, small baitfish, mussels, etc.
12. You can also catch pompano around inlets and passes. They like sand bars and sandy cuts that are close to the mouths of inlets.
13. You can fly fish and catch pompanos.
14. Find a pompano school on the down current side of a bridge.
15. Find sand fleas on the beach to use as bait.
16. Cast into the break of the surf and on the back sides of sand bars.
17. When fishing for pompano from a boat, chum every 15 minutes or more.
18. You can catch pompano by surf fishing.
19. Drifting the flats works well to catch pompano.
The Bottom Line
Pompano is a popular gamefish for anglers. It is sensitive to temperature and will migrate when the temperature changes. The key to catching pompanos is knowing when they go on a “pompano run” and fishing them in the right areas. Pompano is a schooling fish and is mainly a bottom feeder that preys on shrimp, sand fleas, and small crustaceans.
In this article, we shared information and fishing techniques to help you learn how to catch more pompano. If you catch walleye, the walleye fishing tips will give you more ideas on how to catch more walleye. You can also learn how to catch spotted seatrout from this article. You can also read how to catch salmon, how to catch croaker, how to catch whiting, how to catch tautog, how to catch African pompano, and how to catch snook.
