UTER
Photo: Charles B. Hudson, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Calamus bajonado
How to catch Jolthead porgy in Florida
Jolthead porgy feed in 64–86°F water and bite best at 70–82°F.
10 pts · trophy at 16"Feeds 64–86°FBest 70–82°FIn season nowArtificial reefWreckLedge / hard bottom
About
The porgies — jolthead, knobbed, littlehead — are the silver, humpbacked pan fish of the reef, a sheepshead's offshore cousins, and very good eating.
How to fish it
Small hook, squid or shrimp, tight to the bottom on the patches and ledges.
What it eats
squidshrimpcrabssand fleas
Live bait for it
SquidStrips on a bottom rig for snapper, grunts and porgies; whole on a deep-drop rig.
Live shrimpUnder a popping cork or free-lined, hooked under the horn on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook; on a jig head for the bottom. The universal inshore bait.
Sand fleas (mole crabs)On a small circle hook or a pompano rig, digger-end first — the pompano and whiting bait.What to fish it with
the sizes that fish itLeader30–60 lb fluorocarbon
Hook2/0–7/0
Braid30–65 lb
The rule
not confirmed hereGeneral bag limit — confirm at MyFWC.
The current rule at MyFWC →Month by month, water by water
When jolthead porgy is the story
The Panhandle
JFMAMJJASOND
The Big Bend & Nature Coast
JFMAMJJASOND
Tampa Bay & Sarasota
JFMAMJJASOND
Charlotte Harbor & the Islands
JFMAMJJASOND
The Ten Thousand Islands & Everglades
JFMAMJJASOND
The Florida Keys
JFMAMJJASOND
Miami & Biscayne Bay
JFMAMJJASOND
Palm Beach & the Treasure Coast
JFMAMJJASOND
The Space Coast Lagoons
JFMAMJJASOND
The First Coast
JFMAMJJASOND