It’s Tuesday morning and I haven’t been putting up a lot of posts because My fishing time has been limited because of a work schedule, taking it easy on my shoulder, and our new addition, our 10 week old Pomeranian, Cooper . I am hearing from a lot of of my fishing friends and this past week sounds like it’s been less than spectacular. The pompano they are catching seem to be in the afternoon which is the normal pattern for our spring bite that in past years hasn’t really kicked in until after daylight savings time which is March 12 this year . Martin County beaches have out produced our northern end beaches all week . Powerlime , Blueclaw Crab, EZFlea, and Electric Chicken have accounted for the majority of the bites . We had some pretty good fishing in January when traditionally is a lot slower than February so let’s hope the month of March kicks in a good bite . Even the whiting, croaker, Jack, blue runner , and ladyfish bite has been slow . I’m planning on getting out this weekend and giving it a look . Good luck to everyone and catch em up . A quick reminder that The Indian River 3rd Annual Sand Spike Shootout is fast approaching but there’s still time to register . It’s a pompano and whiting tournament on March 18-19 . Go to their website for all of the information and registration. This is a well run and organized tournament and a lot of fun . Mike Conner spent alot of time and effort to get this venue going and he has passed the reins over to Troy Brown who is really committed and is happy to answer any questions you might have concerning this tournament . Go to their site and get yourself registered .P.S. I’m pretty sure The Snook Nook is the only store in the area that has a full supply of Fishbites on their shelves including the new BlueClaw Crab .
To the angler who loves to fish the beaches, shores, jetties, bridges and piers of Florida.
Tuesday, February 28, 2023
Monday, February 27, 2023
From Todd, Eddy & Jeff @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach
INSHORE- Starting to see a few springtime mullet (spring mullet are typically bigger in size and not in big schools like the fall) inshore and the snook and big jacks are not far behind. Seawalls with current flow, and preferably good ambush points, will be key to finding the snook. Lowlight periods and tide changes will produce the most action. At night the snook continue to bite the shrimp jig well around the bridges. If the warming trend holds they will start to key in more on bigger baits over the next few weeks. Sheepshead action remains fair to good in Palm Beach Inlet. Live shrimp remains the bait of choice for them. Jacks are still cruising Palm Beach Inlet in good numbers as well.
SURF/PIER- Calm clearer conditions had the surf feeling almost like June this week instead of February. Pompano reports were fair along the beach, with a decent scattering of pomps from south of the Juno Beach Pier up to Jupiter Inlet. It wasn't huge numbers for anybody; but 2-3 fish with a few limits seemed to be the norm. Sandfleas and Fishbites continue to be top bait choices for the pomps. Best action remains early morning and late afternoon. With the pompano of course come the sharks; so reel them in quick. Not huge numbers yet on the sharks (spinner/blacktips), but the migration does seem to be slowing kicking off. A popper early in the morning or late afternoon should get some attention, as should a fresh chunk of bait at night. Bluefish action picked up locally this week. Best bite on the bluefish has been coming at night (the surf and the Pier have both been producing) on cut bait. It is still early for the snook, but those patiently fishing dead sardines under the pier have been getting a few bites. Pretty solid biting on croakers this week, with small pieces of fresh shrimp being the best bet.
Friday, February 24, 2023
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Sebastian Inlet Report
I’m happy to report that the fishing action has finally picked up again. To begin, most of the north jetty is NOW OPEN! Only the last 30 feet or so remain closed for repairs. Now we can get to the fish that the boaters have been enjoying for so long. Also, park services has completed rebuilding the north side cleaning station and it has reopened. Great news and thanks to Sebastian Inlet State Park for all its hard work in getting us back up and running. With all that good news, here is good news on the fishing.
North Jetty: Last Tuesday, when park services moved the barrier to the end of the jetty, the water was clean and calm and the fish were biting. I was there fishing and we caught just about everything that can be caught this time of year. Everything was caught on live and dead shrimp. We had a lot of nice snook caught, several of them were slot sized keepers but most were either too small or oversized. There must have seen about 20 or 30 fished hooked up, but many were lost on the rocks when they ran around the tip. Redfish were plentiful as well with most of them being between 20 to 34 inches. They are still catch-and-release only. Black drum, sheepshead and a few pompano and nice whiting were being caught as well. For those throwing silver spoons and small jigs the bluefish, Spanish mackerel and jacks were playing. All of these fish species were being caught on both tides and on both sides of the jetty. After Tuesday, for the remainder of the week the ocean swell and the winds picked up and dirtied the water. The bite slowed, but the fish were still there if you had decent shrimp. The weekend — especially Saturday —was a mess, but Sunday calmed down, cleaned up and the fish were back. Along the rock wall between the catwalk and jetty on the incoming tide anglers were catching some nice sheepshead, sea trout and small snook on live shrimp.
South Jetty: The fishing has been slower as the water is shallower than the north side and the big swell we had last week and through the weekend put things on hold. Small snook and redfish were caught on live shrimp and the artificial shrimp jigs on the incoming tide, but it was wet fishing due to the wave action. Beachside, there were pompano and black margates caught at the tip on the outgoing tide — cut shrimp and sand fleas were the baits of choice.
Catwalks: The north side is still closed. On the south side, anglers were catching sheepshead and black margates on cut shrimp and sand fleas around the pilings, both sides.
T-Dock area: The catch here is pompano caught on both tides when the water is clean. Most were being caught on the small goofy jigs, but some were caught on shrimp. Also, there have been decent-sized Spanish mackerel and bluefish caught on small jigs and silver spoons. Sheepshead are also a good bet around the pilings with shrimp of live fiddler crabs. The boaters back here fishing the incoming and the first of the outgoing tide have been doing quite well with snook on live baits.
Surf area, both sides: The surf was largely blown out last week and the weekend, but with the westerly tides, expect calmer seas and cleaner water. Look for the clean water and some deeper water and you should see some pompano and whiting show up again. Live sandfleas and fresh cut shrimp should do the trick. Possible some black drum as well as they migrate down the beach this time of the year.
From Todd, Eddy & Jeff @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach
INSHORE- Tough inshore fishing for the most part this week. Palm Beach Inlet continues to hold a fair number of sheepshead, along with a pretty good number of jacks. Snook fishing has been a bit slow. A few snook to be found laying up along seawalls in the Loxahatchee River. A live mullet fished patiently along walls with light current is the wway to go for the snook. At night look for the snook to be keyed in on shrimp around bridges and docklights on outgoing tide. Live shrimp, DOA Shrimp, and Vudu Shrimp are all a good way to go for the snook. Munyan Island has had a few big jacks cruising around.
SURF/PIER- Pompano fishing was pretty good along the beach this week; with a fair number of fish coming from the surf south of Jupiter inlet. Fishbites and Sandfleas remain the bait of choice for the pomps. The Juno Beach Pier has had a few pompano as well; but the better action has come from the beach for the most part.
Friday, February 10, 2023
Beach Fishing With Paul Sperco Palm Beach/Martin County Area
According to the Jensen Beach webcam it’s blowing 21mph with gusts to 31 out of the Southeast. Another pretty tough week along our local beaches for anyone trying to catch a few pompano. There have been a few fishable days this past week but not a lot of bites . I took a ride on Wednesday and looked from Stuart to Fort Pierce but ended up fishing in the river . A couple of friends caught a few pompano down in Juno on Wednesday but the fishing was far from good . Just a heads up to anyone heading up to the beach in the next couple of days , there was a good bit of beach erosion from last weekend’s weather and there are some big cliffs and drop downs on a number of accesses from the Power Plant north . My son Paul Jr fished on the river on Monday and Tuesday and caught and released 5 undersized pompano and a big snook on a yellow goofy jig . We tried again on Wednesday and only managed 1 short pompano and 1 mackerel . I looked at the river this afternoon and the water was pretty murky. The water color on the beach has been pretty decent the last couple of days but that SE has made fishing a bit tough . We have another front forecast this weekend with some south, southwest, and west winds up to 25 and some rain so it doesn’t look like it’s going to be a Chamber of Commerce weekend. We need some fishable conditions so we can get out and find some of those silver speedsters . Hope everyone has a great Superbowl weekend, Good luck and catch em up .
Snook-Nook Fishing Report
Inshore Fishing Report
Snook fishing is beginning to tick in the right direction with season reopening on February 1st as the water temperatures have been warming up a bit. As the water temperature warms up, Snook will be more willing to go after live baits and larger profile baits. With the cold water temperatures, they become more dormant and don’t exert as much energy to feed as they do in warmer temperatures. Fishing live shrimp and pilchards are great live bait options for them this time of year, for artificials, artificial shrimp and paddle tails will be your best choices. Look for them around the bridges and docks, on seawalls and sitting in deeper holes.
The inshore Croaker bite has remained steady as well as anglers have been finding them schooled up around the bridges, on channel markers as well as at the Hole in the Wall. Live or frozen shrimp will get the job done for them. It is also a good time of year to check out the crab trap buoys and channel markers for Tripletail.
The Pompano have started to show up inshore in better numbers. Anglers are finding them on the Sailfish Flats, the deeper cuts around the islands, the Crossroads and a few in the inlet. Those jigging the Jensen Causeway mosquito bridge have also been picking some off. Expect to run into some bycatch such as Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish, Bonefish, Jacks, Runners, Lady Fish and more.
If you are looking to get into some Trout, anglers wade fishing on the east and west side of the river towards the power plant and Bear Point have been getting into them pretty consistently on DOA Cals as well as artificial shrimp.
Surf Fishing Report
Our surf fishing has been really good here the past few weeks as the cold fronts have pushed a lot of fish into our area. The Pompano bite has been quite productive, however it is extremely important to be reaching the fish as those who aren’t getting into them are most likely not getting their baits out far enough. On the high tides, they have been anywhere from 60-90yds off the beach while on the low tides they’ve been as far as 100yds from the beach. Having an 11’-13’ rod is crucial this time of year if you are really looking to find them and having a long cast reel will get you even more distance. FishBites have been the most productive bait by far, Powerlime Crab, EZ Flea, Electric Chicken Crab and Purple Clam have been the hottest flavors this season. Don’t be afraid to bring a few of those options with you and start with one flavor on each of your rods. When you start getting bites on a certain flavor, switch your other rods to the hot flavor to stay on top of them. There has been plenty of bycatch to go along with the Pompano including Bluefish, Bonefish, Runners, Whiting, Croakers and more. If you get to the beach early, it’s never a bad idea to have a rod rigged with a spoon to find some Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish as there has been a lot of life in the surf first thing in the morning!
From Todd, Eddy & Jeff @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach
INSHORE- Relatively mild weather this week helped the snook fishing improve a bit. Still a pretty good shrimp jig bite around the bridges at night; especially on outgoing tide. The Loxahatchee River has also been holding a pretty decent number of snook as well. A live mullet fished along seawalls with dark bottom is going to be the best bet for the snook. A little current (doesn't really matter incoming or outgoing) is also going to help drastically in the river. Expect a few big jacks and a tarpon or two to be mixed in with the snook. Jupiter INlet has been holding a few sheepshead this week, with live shrimp being the bait of choice to target them. Palm Breach Inlet also has had a fair number of sheepshead around. Palm Beach Inlet is also holding a good number of jacks. A lot of the jacks are in the 2-4lb range, but some real bruisers mixed in as well. Fair number of tarpon cruising around Palm Beach Inlet as well still.
Thursday, February 9, 2023
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
Beach Fishing With Paul Sperco Palm Beach/Martin County Area
fisher , a 7 foot light action Penn Batallion rod, and 15 lb braid . There are fish in the river . Fishing this weekend is going to be a challenge as we are forecast to get a big wind and rain event . This front will hopefully push those mackerel and pompano down our way as they have been in the Vero Beach area all week. I hope everyone has a great weekend and stay dry .
From Todd, Eddy & Jeff @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach
INSHORE- Tough fishing inshore this week. Snook season opened back up, but snook fishing as a whole remains a bit tough locally. The shrimp jig is still producing a few bites around the bridges at night. Look for outgoing tide to be best, especially in areas that have cleaner water. That slightly dirtier water on outgoing tide is often the ticket to trick finicky snook. During the day the snook will be laid up around seawalls and boat docks with dark mud bottom. The dark bottom heats up quicker and the snook will be more active. Sheepshead fishing remains fair. Inshore reports have been a bit better than reports coming out of the inlets. Although both Jupiter and Palm Beach Inlet have both been producing a few sheepshead. Live shrimp is a top bait choice for the sheepshead. Palm Beach Inlet continues to hold a pretty good number of jacks. A lot of them are in the 1-3lb range, with some bruisers mixed in as well. Also a fair number of tarpon moving around Palm Beach Inlet as well.
Sebastian Inlet Report
“Good morning all you fishing fans out there. I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend — the best you could with the weather we had. It wasn't very good for fishing, that's for sure. This week’s report is one that I really don't like to write because the weather was so bad from Thursday through the weekend. This is a rinse-and-repeat of last week’s report. Almost the same conditions as well.
The opening of snook season was a disappointment. With the water temps still being on the cold side (64 to 68 degrees) they just didn't want to bite. Snook prefer 72 and above to be active, plus there is no bait in the inlet for them to want to feed. Also, with the tide being an outgoing on most of the days last week, it’s tough for the jetty anglers to get to them. The boaters at the tip were catching some fish on live shrimp, but most were too small to keep.
About the only thing you could count on were the blues and jacks being caught on silver spoons everywhere in the inlet. That's it for now due to the dirty, rough and cold water. This week isn't looking any better as the winds and surf are going to remain up, and that's going to keep the water churned. If you go fishing this week, find a spot where you can get out of the wind and see what comes up to bite.
Sunday, February 5, 2023
Friday, February 3, 2023
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"Tony Rose"