INSHORE- Snook fishing was good agin this week. Warming weather and some wind definitely doesn't hurt the snook fishing! A good number of snook in the Loxahatchee River and north in the ICW. Live mullet fished around boat docks and seawalls will be the best bet for the snook during the day. At night the snook have been around the bridges in good numbers. A flair hawk or swimbait is a solid choice for the snook. Look for a good moving tide and the snook should be around. A few more mangrove snapper reports coming in. Small pilchards and live shrimp are a good choice for the mangrove snapper.
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Friday, April 29, 2022
From Todd & Eddy @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach
Beach Fishing With Paul Sperco Palm Beach/Martin County Area
Snook-Nook Fishing Report
We start to see some more Tarpon action around this time of year as well with more bait showing up in the river. You can expect to find them feeding on glass minnows, pilchards, mullet and crabs. A lot of anglers will try to time their Tarpon fishing to either morning or evening outgoing tides. We have crabs and shrimp that will drift through areas such as the causeways, the crossroads and inlet on the outgoing tide and anglers will post up in those areas targeting them. Hogy Pro Tail and Slow Tail swimbaits are great options for those looking to trick them with an artificial.
Over the past week, we have been hearing steady Pompano reports inshore from the Jensen Causeway mosquito bridge. Anglers are catching them mainly on both Pompano jigs and even Crappie jigs. Some decent sized Pompano up to 4lbs have been in the mix there. Along with the Pompano, anglers have been catching Spanish Mackerel, Croakers and even some Whiting there on the jigs.
For those looking to fish with shrimp, there have been Mangrove Snappers caught around the causeways and other structures such as docks and channel markers. We begin to see more and larger snapper inshore this time of year and throughout the summer. Shrimp on a jig head is a great way to target them, fill up the cooler and catch a number of other species. Other species that have been caught here consistently fishing the shrimp and jig method include Flounder, Trout, Croakers and Bonefish.
For those looking for a battle, there have been plenty of big jacks cruising the sea walls, toss a live bait or top water against some sea walls and hang on!
We see a lot of life inshore starting around May, buckle up and hold on for some great fishing!
Sebastian Inlet Report
"Fishing is like dating: It's all catch-and-release until you find a keeper."
“Fishing as a whole in the entire inlet has been a blowout all last week and most of the weekend due to high winds and rough surf, so it has been pretty slow: lots of dirty water and seaweed.
North jetty: Fishing has been a hit-or-miss deal over here, with some snook being caught on live mojarras on the tip on the outgoing tide when it isn't too rough to be there. It does get pretty wet with the waves splashing up when the seas are big, like they have been. Some redfish are possible, as well along with a few bluefish on big silver spoons. Incoming tide has been slow with the rough conditions.
South Jetty: Not much over here either, just was too rough to fish with the wind and big waves. Very dirty water and lots of weed, but some black margates and sea bream are possible, along with the pesky catfish and stingrays. Some bluefish may be caught still in the channel area with silver spoons.
T-Dock area: Back here it is calmer and cleaner and some nice snook are being caught on live mojarras on both tides along the rocky shoreline. Small snappers and puffers are being caught with those fishing cut bait around the dock pilings. Most of the snapper are still too small to keep. Bluefish and Spanish mackerel are a possibility too for those throwing small spoons and jigs in the area.
Surf area: both sides has been blown out, too rough to fish it.
NOTICE: The North jetty will be closed to the public on Wednesday, May 18, and Thursday, May 19, to allow the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to conduct a cleanup of fouling lines, nets, monofilament and debris. FWC will also conduct “lift bag” training to retrieve aluminum grates lost in past hurricanes.
Scouting Around Palm Beach And Martin County
Inshore
The snook bite in the St. Lucie River continues to get better and better. The fish are still generally making their way towards the inlet and have been congregating around docks and bridges. Like the past few weeks, live baits are working best. Though pilchards do work, nothing is beating live croakers right now.
Also in the river, the pompano bite was good the past few days at the Jensen Causeway. Fish up to three pounds were caught on jigs in what was called 'one of the best bites all season.'
The anglers working jigs at the causeway also reported catching a few Spanish mackerel and croakers.
At the Stuart Causeway and up on the Sailfish Flats, anglers are still getting few flounder.
Along the beaches in Jupiter, though there are likely fish, including pompano and bluefish moving through, there's been so much sargassum that it's made it difficult to target them.
Anglers working the bridges spanning the Intracoastal Waterway in the south county area have reported catching croaker, sand perch and snook.
For the croaker and sand perch, peeled shrimp has been working well.
For the snook, a live croaker fished on the bottom with a three-ounce sinker and 6/0 circle hook on a 40-pound leader has been offering some anglers good catch and release action on some hefty overslot fish.
For past reports and other fishing related information click here
Lake Okeechobee
In the canals adjacent to the lake the bluegill and shellcracker bite continues to heat up. The rim and Indian Prairie canals have been especially good for both bluegill and shellcracker, as well as cichlids. Worms and crickets are working well as are beetle spins.
The bass bite has been good in the early mornings for anglers working the outside edges of the grasslines.
In the mornings any moving baits, including swimbaits and crankbaits, in lighter colors are working well. After that bite begins to back off, switch to flippin' and pitchin' worms like Senkos and Speedworms in darker colors.
report courtesy of The Palm beach Post
Saturday, April 23, 2022
Friday, April 22, 2022
Scouting Around Palm Beach And Martin County
The snook bite continues to get better in the St. Lucie River.
A lot are beginning to make their way toward the inlet and are staging around the docks and bridges. Live baits, including pilchards and especially croakers (which are in stock at the Snook Nook), are working best. Anglers working the bridges at night, however, are having good luck working artificial shrimp and swimbaits along the shadow lines.
Some big tarpon have been caught in the river. Fish up to 50 pounds have been caught and released at the Jensen Causeway. Live mullet are working best.
The flounder bite is still good at the Stuart and Jensen Causeways as well as on the Sailfish Flats. Anglers are finding success using shrimp on a jig head or small mullet or pilchards.
Anglers at the Lantana Bridge have been catching croaker and sand perch on peeled shrimp.
Best bets for catching pompano
For past reports and other fishing related information click here
Lake Okeechobee
On Tuesday at 9 a.m., Capt. Larry Wright had his clients into 26 largemouth bass. They were using live shiners and working the outside grassline in the Indian Prairie area. Though Capt. Larry said there were no giants in the mix, they did have several five- and six-pounders.
In addition to live shiners, Skinny Dippers and Speed worms have been working as have Z-Man Jack Hammer chatter baits in white and Zoom Horny Toads in watermelon red.
Though the spec bite continues to wane, they are still being caught in the Kissimmee River at night on grass shrimp.
The bluegill bite in the Harney Pond and Indian Prairie canals has started to pick up and they are being caught on crickets.
Alligator Alley
If you've got the time and don't mind a relatively short drive, the canals along Alligator Alley are firing right now.
Capt. Pat Smith said at almost any exit, it's easy to get 150 fish in a day including oscars, peacock bass and more.
For the oscars, which in that area can get up to nearly two pounds, three or four weight fly rods are a blast.
report courtesy of The Palm Beach Post
From Todd & Eddy @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach
INSHORE- Snook fishing continues to remain the best bet inshore right now. The Loxahatchee and ICW are both holding a good number of snook. It might not be the most fun to fish in, but the wind really helps fire up the snook. Wind whipped seawalls and points provides easy ambush spots for lazy snook. Live mullet fished along a seawall during the day (especially early morning and late afternoon) is a solid bet: While docelights at night is a good bet for big numbers. As always try to fish the last of the incoming or first of the outgoing for best results (which part of the tide cycle that works best is often heavily spot dependent). The bridge bite at night has also went off pretty good for the snook. A few big jacks in the mix inshore as well as a few resident tarpon. Mangrove snapper are starting to bite a little better inshore. Live shrimp is a good choice for the mangroves.
SURF/PIER- Despite rough nasty conditions (wind and enough seaweed to last a lifetime!) the surf and pier fishing has remained pretty good this week. Conditions aren't nice and fishing will be tough...but still a decent number of fish around. Pompano continue to bite well. Hard to say exactly how long the pompano will hang around, but best guess is we only have a few more weeks of good action before they really start booking it north for the summer.
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
From Todd & Eddy @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach
INSHORE- Snook reports have improved as the week has gone along (no doubt due to warming weather). The Loxahatchee River has been holding a fair number of snook. Early morning topwater bite has been pretty good for the snook. The Yo-Zuri Hydro and Top-Knock Pencil have been great lure choices for the snook. A live mullet fished along a seawall or under a boat dock with some current is a solid choice as the sun get up a little higher in the sky. A few good jacks and a resident tarpon or two in the same areas as well. Other inshore action has been a bit hit or miss. Starting to get a few mangrove snapper reports coming in; but it remains a bit early for the bigger numbers of them to show up. Tarpon fishing in Palm Beach Inlet remains pretty strong. The resident fish around the Sailfish Club are biting live shrimp well on the tide changes.
SURF/PIER- Pompano fishing remains very good along the beach. A few very windy days and some heavy seaweed days slowed it a bit; but still very good numbers of them around! Sandfleas(we have a little batch of really little one in-stock), clams, shrimp, FishBites, and FishGum have all Benn great choices for the pompano. Mixed in with the pompano have been a few permit, croakers, whiting, and plenty of blue runners. Early morning and late afternoon remain best bet for the pompano. Still a fair number of bluefish around; including some really good size ones! The Juno Beach Pier has been holding a little bit of live bait, and the predators are not far behind. Snook fishing has been improving on a daily basis. A few kingfish in the mix, along with some bruiser jacks. A Rapala X-Rap or Yo-Zuri Longcast minnow is a solid lure choice for both the jacks and kings. The Juno Beach Pier has also had a cobia or two come by, along with a few permit. Good springtime fishing right now...get after it!
Sebastian Inlet Report
Snook bite has picked up, but a windy week ahead
“Fishing at the Inlet has been kind of quiet all last week due to the windy conditions out of the southeast, which roughed up the water and dirtied it and brought seaweed with it. The water did warm back up to 75 degrees as of this Monday morning and calmed down a lot. Friday through Sunday last week the water was calm and cleaned up nicely on the north sides. The south side was also calm and clean, but a lot of weeds to contend with. But there were fish to be caught!
North Jetty: The snook bite has picked up a bit from the ‘lock-jawed’ fish we had a week ago. The bite has been early morning and late evening and on the tide changes. The favorite bait of choice was mojarras, but a couple were caught on live shrimp, too. Most fish caught were still the large females, but several slot fish were caught in that period. The keepers were averaging 30 to 32 inches. There were still large redfish caught on the same baits on the outgoing tide, but they will take almost anything as they aren't as fussy as a snook. Bluefish are still around but are on the small side as the waters warm up. The sheepshead bite has gone away, but small ones are still around. I haven't seen flounder on this side from two weeks ago when a few nice ones were caught. Schools of big jack crevalles occasionally swim past the jetty and large silver spoons and big top water plugs will entice them to bite.
South Jetty: Over here, the fishing has picked up as well, with quite a few snook being caught on both tides, and here, too, the bait of choice is live mojarras. Most fish over here will be smaller than the north side fish and must be released unharmed, but I did see some slot fish (29 to 30 inches) taken over the weekend. Bluefish and big jacks are over here as well, traveling in and out the inlet and can be caught on large silver spoons tossed to the channel area, both tides. Outgoing tide at the tip, if you can find a spot, is producing lots of black margates, sea bream, whiting, sand perch and blue runners on any cut bait tossed out. One of the guys I know goes down almost every day and leaves with a full five-gallon bucket of nice fish!!
Friday, April 8, 2022
Beach Fishing With Paul Sperco Palm Beach/Martin County Area
My son , daughter in law , and grandkids headed home yesterday after a pretty slow 5 days of fishing . I think the two most asked questions I have received from folks in the past couple of weeks are , “ Where can I find some sandfleas?”and Where can I find a beach with no slime weed ?”. The answer to the first question is easy . I tell everyone just go buy an extra bag of Electric Chicken or EZ Flea Fishbites and that will handle the bait issue . The answer to the slime weed situation is definitely a tough one . This stuff seems to be from Ft Pierce to Juno and yes, some days are worse than other but the ability to find an area tgat has none has been a problem . I fished as far north as John Brooks over the weekend and the weeds gave us a chance for a day but a return to Coconut Tuesday proved to be a bad decision as the weeds were thick as can be . I looked all the way to Bathtub and it just got worse . I tried at Stuart beach yesterday around 530 pm and it was unfishable. The Hobe Sound to Jupiter stretch was fishable last week and there were definitely some fish caught but the last couple of days have proven to be loaded with weeds and after talking to some friends today that was still the case . The good news I did hear today that there is a big shot of pompano in the Lake Worth area so we still have some fish headed our way . Winds are forecast to switch to the west/northwest direction through Saturday so let’s hope a wind shift will get rid of some of this stuff . Hope everyone has a great weekend. Good luck and catch em up .
Ed Killer South Fla. Report
Inshore: Capt. Glyn Austin of Going Coastal charters has been steering anglers this week to catches of oversized redfish, oversized snook, sharks and jacks. He is fishing live croakers and crabs where the big reds and snook are staging, just offshore the north jetty. Drifting the inlet is another way to catch all four targets.
Freshwater: Trophy bass catches keep being caught at Headwaters Lake which has developed a reputation for being one of Florida's finest freshwater fisheries. Wild shiners are the key, but plenty of nice fish are being caught using lipless crank baits, spinnerbaits and worms.
St. Lucie County
Inshore: Some of the best snook fishing of the year is right now. Fish with live pilchards in places where seawalls have dock pilings nearby, mangrove shorelines with points, oyster bars and other kinds of structure. The inlet and the bridges are holding fish, too.
Surf: Paul Sperco said it's best to scout beaches on Hutchinson Island in order to find the right kind of water. Pompano and whiting are biting on Fishbites and Fish Gum or pieces of shrimp. There are no sand fleas anywhere to be had. Spanish mackerel and bluefish have likely moved north, although stragglers can always be caught year-round.
Martin County
Inshore: Tarpon are being caught in the Crossroads and around the inlet. Boaters should beware of the dredging operation in the channel, but the tarpon will take pilchards and mullet. Snook are hitting at the bridges in the rivers during the outgoing tide.
Lake Okeechobee
Lake levels are at 13.79 feet above sea level which is roughly 3/4 of a foot below what it was at the same time last year. The western and northern quadrants of the lake have good vegetation with lily pads, bulrushes and Kissimmee grass. Fish with wild shiners in Pearce Canal, Cody's Cove, Tin House Cove and near Horse Island for the best action. Bluegills and shell crackers will hit live crickets.
Thursday, April 7, 2022
From Todd & Eddy @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach
photo courtesy of Pompano Rich
SURF/PIER- Pompano fishing remained very good this week both along the beach and at the Juno Beach Pier. Hard to say just how long this spring run of pomps will last; so definitely get after them if you have the chance. The usual natural baits (shrimp, clams, and the ever elusive Sandflea) are the way to go; while FishBites and FishGum continue to rack up the catches as well. On the Juno Beach Pier a Doc's Goofy Jig will also produce some pompano bites, especially early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Lowlight periods remain the best bet for the pompano. Good numbers of late season bluefish around this week; with catches coming from both the pier and beach in good numbers. Cut sardines and mullet will be top bait choices for the bluefish: A silver spoon or swimming plug is a solid choice as well for the blues. Croakers have been abundant in the first trough; and are biting fresh shrimp the best. The Juno Beach Pier is also starting to hold some live baits on a little more consistent basis (summer is just around the corner!). With the bait showing up a bit more the snook numbers are improving; along with a stray cobia or kingfish as well. Good time of year to get out on the beach or pier for nice mixed bag action!
Monday, April 4, 2022
Snook-Nook Fishing Report
The Snook bite is definitely starting to heat up for us here. For those fishing from boats; docks in the St. Lucie River have been quite productive fishing live baits such as Croakers and Pilchards. A lot of slot sized fish have been in the mix along with some nice over slots. Snook have also been caught at the Stuart Causeway, 10 cent bridge and Roosevelt Bridge. Have heard about a lot of Snook hanging out around sea walls in the mornings as well, it will be tough for them to pass up on a nice mullet for breakfast. We haven’t heard too much about Snook being found around the St. Lucie Inlet quite yet. For our land based anglers, the Snook fishing at Jensen Causeway has remained to be quite consistent. A lot of anglers are going in the evening/night and fishing with artificial shrimp such as Monster 3X or Thumper Shrimp and some anglers have been throwing swimbaits such as NLBNs and finding fish. Live shrimp and croakers have been producing some fish there as well. Outgoing tides in the evening have been the most productive there with some small crabs and shrimp flowing through with Snook feeding on them. We should have a steady Croaker supply going forward throughout the summer, if you haven’t tried them out yet, you’re missing out!
The Sailfish Flats have been showing some life here recently. Anglers jigging the flats have been finding some Pompano, Bonefish and a variety of species. Anglers have still been picking at Sheepshead in the inlet as well with shrimp on a jighead. Around the causeways, other than Snook there have been some Mangrove Snappers, a few Black Drum, Sheepshead and more species that have been willing to eat a shrimp on a jig. For those looking to run to the north, there have been some Croakers, Sheepshead, Flounder and Triple Tail on the channel markers. If you are looking to do some flats fishing around the power plant, there has been some Trout action in the morning around Bear Point and Middle Cove. Top water plugs, artificial shrimp, shrimp on a popping cork or a jig should get you a bite. There have also been some Flounder and Snook caught in that area.
For those looking for Tarpon, there have been some in the 40-60lb class towards the power plant. Fishing live pilchards, mullet or DOA Terror Eyz should give you a good chance if you can get into them. There have also been some juvenile Tarpon up in the North Fork, the same baits will do the trick there. As we get into the Spring, more bait should be showing up inshore which should be followed by Tarpon. Be on the lookout for them in the Crossroads, the St. Lucie Inlet and around the causeways on outgoing tides.
Surf Fishing Report
Mid to late March provided some solid Pompano action on Martin and St. Lucie County beaches for anglers. Our spring run historically has brought along with it some of the best Pompano fishing of the year. A lot of these Pompano are quality sized fish as well. We should expect to see more Pompano caught during the month of April when conditions permit. The fish have been spread out from Middle Cove to Hobe Sound. If you can find a beach without slime weed, there is a good chance you will find some fish. The majority of these fish have been caught 60-90yds off the beach in the deeper troughs. On windier days, a lot of anglers have hit up Hobe Sound Beach to fish, the reef is able to knock down the waves a bit making the conditions a bit more fishable. Electric Chicken Crab FishBites has proven to be the bait of choice for those targeting them. The Electric Chicken Crab has been so productive that Capt. Paul Sperco has been tying special edition electric chicken Pompano rigs. Capt. Paul is in the shop on Thursday mornings and drops off some of his rigs when he comes in. They go fast, so if you are looking for them, it is best to get here as early as you can on Thursday mornings. We have a solid stock of the electric chicken FishBites, if you haven’t used them, I would definitely give them a shot. EZ Flea and Yellow Crab flavored FishBites have produced fish as well. You can always add some frozen bait to your rig when fishing with FishBites as well, pieces of shrimp, clam or sand fleas will be the best options if you are looking to fish with bait. Sand fleas have been extremely tough to get this year, both on our local beaches and from our distributors. We have been able to get some here in the shop, but we are limiting three bags per customer at the moment due to their availability.
As we get into the spring, whiting and croaker fishing should improve on a weekly basis. A lot of these fish will be caught in the first trough on pieces of shrimp tipped with pink shrimp FishBites. Anglers targeting Pompano have also caught some nice Whiting and Croakers as bycatch in the deeper troughs.
There have been a lot of signs of life on the beach, more bait has been showing up which has been followed by Bluefish, Spanish Mackerel, Jacks and a variety of species. Look for the birds and throw spoons for some light tackle action.
From Todd & Eddy @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach
INSHORE- Snook fishing remains strong inshore right now. The Loxahatchee River continues to hold a nice number of snook during the day. Fishing live mullet around docks and seawalls with light to medium current flow is great way to go. The snook are fired up enough to eat a topwater early and late in the day as well. Just don't be surprised if a big jack decides to swipe your topwater before a snook gets to it. Tarpon fishing remains pretty good in the Palm Beach Inlet. The south jetty has had a jig bite at night for the tarpon. They are also biting live shrimp well around the Sailfish club.
SURF/PIER- Pompano fishing remained very strong this week along the beach. Catch reports bounced around a bit, with fishing showing up south of the Juno Beach Pier to north of Jupiter Inlet. The slime grass blew in for a day or two; but seems to have cleared up for the most part at time of writing. Sandfleas(If your lucky enough to find some), clams, shrimp, Fishbites, and Fishgum have all been popular bait choices. Best bite is early in the morning, with another little push of fish generally late in the afternoon. Good numbers of late season bluefish around this week as well. There blues could be found scattered along the beach, and holding in good numbers at the Juno Beach Pier as well. Silver spoon, loud noisy poppers, Rapala X-Raps, and cut bait have all been working well for the blues. Croakers have been around in good numbers in the first trough, and are biting fresh shrimp well. Starting to see a few more snook showing up in the surf as well these days. Overall, a nice mix bag of springtime surf action!
Sebastian Inlet Report
Decent snook bite at North jetty; reds and blues at the South jetty
Our fishing guide, “Snookman” Wayne Landry has the scoop on last week’s fishing scene:
“Well, my fishing folks, the weather last week and this past weekend played a big part on the fishing at the inlet, as always. When it wasn't blowing and the water was clean, there were fish biting; when it was blowing and the water dirtied up, it all shut down pretty much, but I did see fish caught during the blow as the dirty water was still warmed up to the 74 degrees it has been for the past week.”
“North jetty: At the beginning of last week there was a fairly good bite on the snook. Quite a few fish were being caught on the tip on the outgoing tide with live mojarras and pilchards. As always, most fish were too big to keep, but several slots were caught in the bite. Also, there were large redfish in the mix, with those all being too big as well, same tide and same baits. Another species I saw caught were large bluefish in the three-to-five-pound range on cut baits and large silver spoons (on the outgoing tide casting to the channel area). Sheepshead, though small, are still being caught around the jetty pilings on both tides on live fiddler crabs. Most have been too small to keep, but there are keepers in the mix. Also, I saw nice flounder caught over on this side. Live shrimp did the trick on them on the incoming tide, both sides of the jetty. Schools of the ‘springtime’ mullet are showing up around the jetties, not many yet, but enough to get the fish active when they are around.”
“South jetty: It has been a mixed bag of species being caught, depending on which tide you were fishing. Outgoing at the tip has been black margates, sand perch, sea bream, sheepshead and catfish. Incoming has been small snook and redfish. Some snook are big enough to keep and some redfish are small enough to keep. Also, there has been a pretty god showing of flounder over here when the water is clean and calm. I have seen quite a few nice fish in the 15 to 18-inch range caught on live shrimp and small grubs, fished slowly on the sandy bottom. Most the flounder are ‘just’ short of being keepers, but fun, nonetheless. Bluefish and large jack crevalles are roaming in and out of the inlet for those throwing large silver spoons to the channel area on both tides.”
“T-Dock area: Back here the fishing is still slow, but you can catch snook when the conditions are right - clean and slow-moving water. Use mojarras them. Bluefish and jacks are also possible if you’re throwing spoons and jigs to the channel area.”
“Surf area, both sides: Depending on the winds and water clarity, I saw some nice whiting, croakers and pompano being caught just outside the break line in the waves. Small pieces of fresh shrimp and sandfleas are the best baits for these species. Also, it’s still possible to catch black drum. They are still migrating up and down the beach line. Blues and Spanish mackerel can also be found running the surf in search of small baitfish. Silver spoons and small jigs fished in the surf will attract them if they are present. Snook are also a possibility when the water is clean and calmed down, when croakers and mullet are present.”
“The weather is supposed to be kind of ‘uncertain’ all week, with gusty winds and some more rain headed through the area, so if you do get out to fish or beach it, check your weather so you don't get caught in it.
“Just a side note for anyone thinking about fishing for sharks from shore, or any dock, pier, jetty, or bridge: Sharks are a protected species. Please be mindful of these magnificent creatures and know the regulations before you go - https://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/sharks/