To the angler who loves to fish the beaches, shores, jetties, bridges and piers of Florida.
Thursday, September 22, 2022
Saturday, September 17, 2022
From Todd,Eddy & Jeff @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach
INSHORE- Snook fishing popped off pretty good this week. The finger mullet started to show up inshore in fair numbers, and the snook (along with tarpon, jacks, and ladyfish for that matter) are tagging along with them. Look for the best action to be at night as the mullet move more comfortably under the cover of darkness. Moving water (incoming or outgoing) is key, and it's kind of a guessing game on where when the mullet will come through. Topwater plugs (like a Yo-Zuri Topknock), swimmning plugs (Rapala X-Rap), or swimbait (3 and 5" NLBN) are all great lure choices for the snook. Fish the baits with the current, and focus on ambush spots and current breaks. If you find yourself fishing in the middle of big mullet schools; focus on fishing the outside edges or underneath the school. At that point it's all about making the bait look different (IE a injured baitfish on the edge of the school).
SURF/PIER- Swells at the first part of the week somewhat limited surf reports; but it's looking pretty good coming into the weekend! Plus...the mullet run is basically here! Reports of big (we are talking BIG schools) mullet schools were coming in from Jensen Beach this week with tarpon and big snook in them. Everything looks right for them to be in our area (or at very least only a short drive north) over the weekend. Expect the tarpon, snook, jacks, big ladyfish, and a whole bunch of others around the mullet schools. No bluefish reports yet, but they will likely not be far behind now as well, same with the sharks. A handful of pompano reports as well coming in. It's a bit on the early side for the pomps, but not by much. It may still feel like summer outside...but we are no doubt on our way to fall fishing!
Sebastian Inlet Report
This week’s fishing report by “Snookman” Wayne Landry: “Good morning, Sebastian Inlet fans. Fishing at the inlet for the past week and the weekend has returned to a normal state for this time of the year. The snook bonanza we had the first five days of the opening season has gone away, and they are back to being tough to catch. I figured this would happen; it always does. If you are in the right place with the right bait at the right time, you might catch one. The bait scenario at the inlet has changed as it always does this time of year. The greenies and pilchards have mostly left and been replaced by mullet, which have started coming down the beach — a mix of fingerlings and bigger mullet. Also, pigfish and pinfish are starting to come out of the inlet, along with river shrimp for them to feed on. The mojarras have also pretty much gone as well, they are a spring/summer bait. And without further ado, here is your report.
North jetty:. The hot topic here has been the cubera snappers which have been putting on a good bite on cut baits and live mullet. Most fish are caught at the tip on the outgoing tide. Fish up to 33 inches are being caught, with the average being 28 to 30 inches. The mangrove snapper are still biting as well on cut baits and small greenies if you can get some, as they are not as plentiful as they were. Most fish caught are between 11 and 16 inches. They, too, are caught at the tip on the outgoing tide fished right in the rocks, also all along the jetty pilings on the incoming tide, same baits. There have also been many jack crevalles caught on the outgoing tide at the tip for those tossing spoons, jigs, live baits and cut baits. These fish have moved in due to the rough conditions from the offshore storm swell and the presence of the mullet. Snook fishing is back to normal but you must work for one. Most are caught at night now, and during the late evening tide. Also, early in the morning is producing fish, too. The night anglers are getting them on flair jigs, and the new hot bait: the NLBN swim baits. On the ocean side of the jetty, during the swell and high tide with the mullet coming down the beach, look for snook on the beach side in the pocket area when the water is rough. They like to ambush the mullet in the pocket area and along the beach. I saw three to four keeper snook caught Saturday in that area. Fish live mullet and your favorite swim baits for a hook-up. Also, while I was down a couple of days last week, I saw two large schools of monster redfish about 100 to 150 yards off the north tip. Both times they surfaced, milled around, then went back down and vanished. Nobody hooked any. The school measured about 30 yards across, with possibly 2000 fish or more.
South jetty: The fishing has remained good, with the snook being the topic on the incoming tides all along the rock shoreline. Most of the fish here are smaller, which are a blast to catch, but there have been plenty of keepers. The best baits have been live pins and pigs, and large live shrimp, if you can get some. Also, smaller redfish are being caught as well, but remember, they are now catch-and-release only. On the outgoing tide at the tip there are a lot of jack crevalle, blue runners and catfish being caught, as the water is much dirtier than the north side. A few snook are being caught on live baits in the eddy at the southeast section and the beach pocket. The late evening incoming tide is producing snook for the jig and swim bait guys.
Catwalks, both sides: Fishing has been slow, with the small baitfish going away. Small mangrove snapper are still being caught, along with some black margates and jack crevalles on cut baits fished around the pilings and fenders.
T-Dock area Anglers are catching small mangrove snapper on cut baits. Most are too small to keep, but quite a few are keepers. Also, there are still mutton snapper being caught, but they are just shy of the 18-inch minimum to be kept. For those tossing small jigs and spoons, there are plenty of jack crevalle and some Spanish mackerel being caught. Snook fishing has been hit-or-miss. Catch them on the incoming tide on live pigs and pins; nighttime on both tides the snook can be caught on plugs and larger swim baits.
Surf area, both sides: The south surf is slow due the big swell from the offshore storm clouding the water, as well as seaweed. Snook and redfish are possible this time of the year if you find any bait schools swimming the beach. Jigs, swim baits and any live bait will produce a bite. Also, there are many nurse sharks swimming the beach, so they are a possibility as well. The surf area north is a happening thing, especially if you find mullet schools present. My beach comber fishing friends have reported that the snook and tarpon bite has been good in the early morning and the late evening, with plenty of snook and big tarpon on live baits and swim baits. If you find clean water, nice whiting and croakers are a good bet on cut shrimp and fish bites, but be aware, the pesky catfish are around, also.
Thursday, September 8, 2022
Their On The Way
Mullet Run 2022
Word is that larger pods are up near Satellite Beach, I've been seeing a few small ponds of fingers in the ICW
Wednesday, September 7, 2022
Scouting Around Palm Beach And Martin County
Remember you must have a snook permit, it's one per person per day and they must be at least 28 inches, but not over 32 inches.
The snook bite is still red hot at the St. Lucie Inlet with plenty of slot and overslot fish being caught.
The docks along the St. Lucie River have been holding snook as well with the early mornings and late afternoons being the best time to target them.
The Stuart and the Jensen causeways are still good for snook during the outgoing tide.
Snook are also still cruising the beaches and are being caught by anglers at the Ft. Pierce Inlet.
Though mullet and pilchards will work, live croakers are by far working the best and are available at the Snook Nook.
Mullet are being found along the west side of the river up near the powerplant.
At both causeways there is still a good tarpon bite during the outgoing tides. Use live crabs or mullet.
Around the powerplant up to Ft. Pierce, there have been reports of flounder and a few redfish being caught. Live shrimp and pilchards are the best bet.
Working the beaches from Lake Worth down to Ocean Ridge, surf anglers are catching permit, palometta, jack crevalle and snook.
For the permit, live crab on a five-ounce surf rig are bringing fish up to 25 pounds.
Cut mullet, shrimp or sand fleas on a standard pompano rig are working for palometta.
The snook and jacks have been hitting two-ounce Gator spoons at sunrise along the shore reefs just south of Lantana and again just south of the Boynton Inlet.
In the Intracoastal Waterway around the Boynton area, there has been good action for both snook and tarpon.
Big tarpon, up to 90 pounds, have been holding around the rubble piles throughout the ICW. Use live herring, greenies or sardines free lined back to the rolling fish.
Snook action around all the area bridges has been on fire this past week. Using live pinfish, small grunts and herring fished on the bottom has been very effective. Also using two-ounce bucktail jigs, flair hawk jigs, D.O.A. TerrorEyez and Rat-L-Trap lures bounced or retrieved slowly near the bottom will also work well.
There are still bonefish being caught on the flats near the Boynton Inlet. Small jigs tipped with shrimp during the first two hours of the falling tide has been best.
Lake Okeechobee
With the heat of summer, the bass fishing is still a bit tough.
That said there's still a decent bite during that first hour in the morning on swim jigs. After that switching to flippin' frog-style baits or pitchin' a black and blue junebug can keep things going a little longer. King's Bar, Tin House Cove and Third Point have been the better spots.
Though the shellcracker bite has backed way off since the last full moon, if you're looking for panfish-style action, the cichlid bite has been excellent in the canals along the lake. They are good eating and there's no size limit or numbers limit. Red worms, wigglers and crickets. They're moving water from the rim canal into the lake and, though a lot of folks don't know about it, there tarpon in those areas and they get active. They can be seen rolling in the J&S Canal by the hundreds some days and are up to 60 pounds.
Snook-Nook Fishing Report
Tarpon fishing has begun to pick up inshore for us. Fishing live crabs on outgoing tides around the causeways has produced the most action, larger live mullet will do the trick as well with the fish being anywhere from 40 to 100lbs. We have also heard reports of Tarpon feeding on shrimp at night at the Roosevelt Bridge. Anglers have been finding some success fishing the crossroads and the inlet with live mullet and crabs. If you are looking to fish artificials, the top baits have been the Hogy Slowtail swimbait, NLBN 5” Purple paddle tail and the 8” NLBN Purple paddle tail and straight tail.
There have still been some Mangrove Snappers caught around the bridges and at the inlet. You can fish live shrimp on a jighead to target them, if you want to weed out the smaller ones, you can try fishing a small finger mullet or pilchard to find the bigger ones. A few Black Drum have been caught at the Roosevelt Bridge on crabs and shrimp. We should expect to see more Drum being caught in the coming months. There have also been a few Permit surprisingly caught at the Jensen Causeway east side relief bridge.
Sebastian Inlet Report
North jetty: Snook fishing was the hot topic here. It was crowded but manageable - everyone played well. Many fish were caught, with a lot of keepers taken home all five days. Incoming tide was the preferred tide, but some were caught on the early outgoing at the tip where the boaters were catching fish on croakers, pins and pigs. Up top on the jetty on the incoming, Thursday's bite was on pins, pigs and live shrimp, and they didn't have to be hand-picked shrimp, either - they bit them all! Friday's bite was LIVE SHRIMP only: they would not hit a pin of pigfish. Saturday thru Monday it was live shrimp again, nothing else. I did see a couple caught with pinfish, though. Sunday and Monday, live shrimp were small and scarce since the shrimp boats didn't go out because of the holiday. Working shrimp boats didn't have much to deliver, and they were small, and everyone was complaining about it, but the fish still hit them if you got it out where they were staging. When shrimp are in short supply, catch pins and pigs, as this time of year. Snook will be keying in on them as they come out of the river on the outgoing tides - along with the shrimp that usually start running out as well. The large mullet schools haven't started coming down the beach yet. If it does this year like last year, it's going to be a super "hot" fall season! Looking forward to that again, it was nuts last year! The other species being caught on the north jetty have been the mangrove snapper. They are being caught at the tip on the outgoing tide on live and dead cut greenies, and alone the jetty pilings on the incoming tide. Also still being caught at the tip on live and cut baits are the cubera snappers. I have seen fish up to 33 inches being caught and heard reports of bigger ones being caught by the boaters at the tip. The Atlantic spadefish are still around as well and will take cut shrimp floated to them with a very small split shot sinker, on the incoming tide. Barracuda are still around for those tossing tube lures or live baits to them, but they are being pretty fussy at wanting to bite.
South Jetty: Fishing has picked up considerably on the incoming high tide. The water is still a bit dirty and weedy, but the snook have moved back in and are biting. I saw several nice keepers caught through the weekend on all live baits and swim baits. Most of the fish I saw were undersized, but you could see the bigger ones busting into the bait fish schools along the rocks. It got kind of crazy over here as for a bit. Outgoing tide at the tip, the jack crevalle, blue runners and sea bream were biting cut baits - a bit further out, snook were schooled and biting live baits.
Catwalks, both sides: For the most part, fishing on the cat walks has dropped off, except for a few mangrove snappers, but most were too small to keep.
Surf, both sides: On the North side, the surf has been producing nice snook and tarpon for those fishing jigs, swim baits and live baits in the early morning and late evening time frame. Mullet schools and glass minnows are coming down the beaches, which will get the fish sparked up. It is that time of year for the bait to come down the beaches. Whiting, croakers and possibly a few black drum would be caught on cut and live shrimp in the deeper trough area beaches, along with some redfish. On the South side, anglers are hooking mangrove snapper and a few pompano along with whiting, croakers and sand perch at the south day-use area just south of the inlet, and between there and the south jetty. Find a good spot with clean water. As always, those pesky catfish are ever present on this side as the water tends to be a bit dirtier than the north side.
From Todd,Eddy & Jeff @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach
INSHORE- Snook season is back open...I mean it's kind of like a holiday in itself right??? Snook bite remains strong in the Loxahatchee River early in the morning on topwaters. The Yo-Zuri Hydro and Topknock Pencil continue to get smashed by snook hanging along seawalls, dock, and mangrove points with current on them. The current is a big key to it. While you can on occasion coax a bite out of a snook on slack tide, moving water will greatly improve your chances! The snook bite also remains strong around the bridges at night. Top of the outgoing tide will likely produce the best results on the snook, especially in areas closer to inlet with cleaner water. Other inshore action is a bit slow. Best bet will no doubt be to focus on the snook.
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