Snook-Nook Fishing Report

 Inshore Fishing Report 

Snook fishing is starting to heat up in our area and it will only continue to improve as we get closer to their summer spawn. The water temperatures have been warming up which makes them more eager to feed on live baits such as pilchards and mullet. For those fishing from a boat, look for them on seawalls in the mornings and evenings as well as on docks. Docks in both the St. Lucie and Indian River have been holding fish as well as the causeway bridge fenders. They haven’t really started showing up in the inlet in numbers yet, we can expect more fish in that area towards the end of the month and going into May. A lot of Snook are still being caught at Jensen Causeway in the evenings and at night. We’ve had a good amount of shrimp flowing through on the outgoing tide which they have been feeding on. Match the hatch with a live shrimp or artificial shrimp such as a Thumper Shrimp, Monster 3x or Vudu Shrimp to give yourself a good shot at hooking up. For those wade fishing, we’ve heard solid reports from both the east and west side of the river north of the power plant. Snook, Trout and Redfish have all been in the mix. Topwater baits, DOA Cals and artificial shrimp have been the go to baits if you’re looking to head that way. If you prefer fishing with live bait, you can’t go wrong with a live shrimp on a jig head or popping cork. 

There have been a few Tarpon around cruising through the channels. If you are going to target them around the causeways, try to fish the outgoing tide as there have been some crabs flowing through. Live mullet and crabs will be the best options for them. Tarpon fishing should start heating up as we get closer to the summer. If you are looking to tire your arms out, there have been a lot of big Jacks inshore cruising the seawalls. Live mullet, pilchards or a topwater will be your best options. 

The Pompano bite inshore has been on the slower side over the past couple of weeks, but has begun to really pick up here as of late. Last year, we had some of our best inshore Pompano fishing in April and it is looking like we will be experiencing that again this year. Anglers have been catching them off the Jensen Causeway Mosquito bridge, the east relief bridge on the Stuart Causeway as well as in the Ft. Pierce Inlet. We have still heard about a lot of fish to the south of us that will need to come our way as they head back north. 

Those fishing live shrimp around structure have found a variety of species including Flounder, Snapper, Black Drum, Sheepshead, Croaker and Bonefish. 

Surf Fishing Report 

March was tough on a lot of our surf anglers due to unfavorable conditions such as seaweed and wind, but luckily we’ve had some steady reports coming from the surf over the past week. You will definitely want to check the beach before setting up as there has been a good amount of seaweed, but that doesn’t mean the seaweed is going to be bad at every beach. Anglers have been putting their limits of spring Pompano in the coolers and FishBites have still been the bait of choice. The top flavors have been Powerlime Crab, Electric Chicken Crab and EZ Flea. If you are fishing multiple rods, it would be a good idea to stagger your casting distances as there have been good amounts of fish caught both in the 100yd range as well as the 50-60yd range. Don’t be afraid to go after a late afternoon Pompano bite either, historically we see a lot of spring Pompano get caught in the afternoon. The Whiting fishing has been improving for those fishing in the first trough, remember not to cast too far as you may be casting past them. Pieces of frozen shrimp as well as bloodworm and shrimp flavored FishBites should get you the bite. The Whiting and Croaker fishing is just starting to kick off and we will see more in the area over the next couple of months.