Check each channel marker carefully, because there can often be more than one of the chocolate bruisers in residence this time of year.

Live-bait anglers won't go wrong if they drift a lively pinfish to the marker with the tide, but lure tossers can also score. A 1-ounce bucktail jig dressed with a 6- to 9-inch chartreuse plastic worm or curlytail is like candy to a cobia.

Peacock bass start lighting it up in the maze of canals in the Miami/ Dade areas this month, and many locations are accessible to bank fishermen.

High-speed trolling is the preferred method of many anglers, but a growing number of specialists are producing excellent results with live bait on down riggers.

Regardless of the tactic chosen, gear up on the stout side, because wahoo over 80 pounds show up during the hottest summer months.

The action can be fast and furious on Lake Talquin this month as the white bass begin to surface school. Long spinning rods for equally long casts with silver spoons and soft-plastic jigs are the ticket.

Look for reds to follow baitfish up onto the shallow shorelines of the islands, especially those with oyster beds, on the flood tide. On low tide, drop back into the deeper pockets and potholes.

A gold spoon is the classic redfish lure here, but if you find big reds busting mullet schools, toss in a live mullet and hang on!

Bruiser reds (most too large to keep) are eating cut mullet or crab fished on the bottom at the Mayport Jetties in Jacksonville.

One of the simplest ways to tangle with these linesides is from the catwalk below the dam. Dip up a live shad and put on enough weight to get it to the bottom. Those favoring artificial lures find a 1/2-ounce white bucktail jig tipped with a pearl-colored plastic worm or grub to be very effective. Large topwater plugs can also produce in periods of dim light.

Stout gear in the 15- to 20-pound line class is suggested, and it's a good idea to make certain the reel spools about 200 yards of line. It comes in handy when a big striper decides to head downstream.

Kingfish are prowling the 25- to 40-foot depths outside Charlotte Harbor. Find the line where the water changes color and slow-troll live bait.

Look for good activity in the Lostmans and Broad rivers, as well as in connecting passes to the Gulf of Mexico. Top snook hangouts include the backside of points with a good current flowing over them, deeper mangrove shorelines, and creek mouths. Moving water is a plus.

Although topwater lures are the most exciting, this month sub-surface baits, like hard-plastic jerkbaits and plastic-bodied jigs, are often more productive.

Jacksonville anglers find aggressive grouper moving shallow this month. Some invade wrecks and hard bottom areas as close as six to seven miles from the beach.

The effort is deemed worth it by many trophy hunters, however, because trout over 8 pounds are there every winter. In fact, it is the major refuge for most of the big seatrout in the Matanzas area.

Peak activity happens on dark, drizzly days, using slow-sinking minnow plugs and plastic-bodied jigs. Most of the trout are found downstream of the U.S. 1 Bridge, and while smaller trout often inhabit the deeper holes, look for the big fish to feed on relatively shallow flats during an outgoing tide.

Stripers are feeding aggressively at the mouths of the west-shore spring runs on Lake George. Peak activity is early and late in the day, but the bite can last on overcast days. Small silver spoons, plastic jigs and slender minnow lures are the lures to use.