Dear ryguy,
It would be nice if this year they had an August croaker run like they used to have 10 or 15 years ago?
Back then 16 to 18 inch fish were plentiful and when the flounder weren't biting you could almost gaurantee a double of croakers on a top and bottom rig. It was good enough that we often ran out of bait and just fished twister tails and jelly grubs and still caught them.
They are a lot like baby redfish and they will hit a Clouser minnow too, the issue will be finding them. Decent sized ones are very good eating BTW. You may want to consider renting a small boat and working the edges of the channel, that's how we did it back in the day.
Bahia Marina rents boats but that's about the only place down there that I've ever found?
The surf that time of year is real hit or miss. There are always some kingfish or spot but it takes structure and bait to bring schoolie sized stripers and blues into the suds. They won't be real big but if they come in you can catch enough fish to about 5 pounds to make it worth your while.
If you are going to fly fish off the beach you will need a stripping basket. Buy one or make one out of a $ 3.00 dishpan from Wally World but you will need one because line control while retrieving is critical in the surf.
Dropping the line at your feet when you retrieve will result in a lot of headaches upon hooking a fish or even just beginning another cast because the line will wash all over the beach with the wave action.
If you make a stripping basket add 4 to 6 hoops made out of .080 diameter weedwhacker line to the basket. Just cut the line in 12" or so sections and drill holes about 3 to 4" apart in the bottom of the basket. Insert the line in adjoining holes and burn the ends of it with a lighter so the line can't pull out. The hoops make the line lay in looser coils and it is much easier to cast.
Good luck, I'll be in North Bethany the first week of August but I'll probably spend my time at Indian River Inlet.
Regards,
Tim Murphy