Lake Worth Pier Report With Dylan Campbell

 

Lake Worth Pier fishing report: Its that time of year again when there is no bait at the pier under natural circumstances. Yes there are goggle eye but there is no guarantee the school will be in range of the pier. Chumming the normal way for gogs is temporarily effective but they fill up quick. Bugging is slow but doable. Furthermore that brings me to my next point. Chum; Chum brings in ballywho and ballywho brings the mackerel in. It is completely a ghost town at the pier with out chum. Bring chum blocks if you want any modicum of success. Personally I am cheap and make my own chum and use oat flakes from a tractor store as a way to propagate my slick for a few miles. The wind and current actually under most circumstances Working are working well together. In the late afternoon and early morning seem to be the hot points of the day.

Generally nothing happens during the day except a incredible slow bite and Houndfish if you are into that. I imagine when the moon cycle changes a bit day time fishing will get better but for now it is really bad.

*Pompano are incredible random they just seem to come in in a swarm for like 15 minutes always in the shallows. Then disappear for the rest of the day.

*Cobia come in on the bottoms of the rays and sharks and seem to be more frequent on the really nasty days.

When the wind was blowing on shore some freak appearances happened in the afternoon. I hooked up on a large mahi and my hook literally snapped. Broke my heart, anyways. As well as a few blackfin being followed by frigate.

Artificial; When the water is dirty and the winds are good artificial is the way to. When its clear expected to get skunked with the exception of the odd 1lb jack.

Sharks, sharks, sharks: Very strange combination of sharks in terms of circumstances: when the water is clear its mostly black tip and spinner and a odd small bull/lemon(hammerheads appear randomly but not with any consistency to tide or anything)

When the water is dirty, very dirty in fact is when you see a lot of bulls and monsters at that. You will see a odd great white here and there but they don’t seem to stick around for very long just cruising the shallows when the waters is 0 visibility.

The bait bite: None, bring bait from somewhere as or chum a lot for ballywhoo/gogs. I highly recommend crabs if you can get them.(pro tip leave a pinsor on for the puffer fish)

Tldr: Pick a day with good conditions or start chumming.

From Todd, Eddy & Jeff @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach

 INSHORE-  Snook fishing remains good inshore right now.  Water temps haven't fallen much yet; and the snook's metabolism has them biting well.  Coupled with a fair amount of mullet around still: Bigger baits/lures are still in play; but smaller swimbaits and shrimp jigs are also starting to produce good results.  The smaller baits really play well at night around the bridges.  An outgoing tide tends to produce the best results for the snook.  Live mullet has been the top choice for the snook during the day.  Boat docks and seawalls with dark bottom (close to deeper water) and a little bit of tide are the ideal spots to look.  Early morning and late afternoon the snook will still jump on a topwater lure (especially in areas that don't have super heavy boat traffic).  Sheepeshead action has started to improve inshore.  A live shrimp on a jighead is the easiest/most effective tactic.  Boat docks with some depth and good barnacle growth on the pilings is a great spot to start looking for sheepshead.  

SURF/PIER-  Fishing was a bit slow this week at the pier and on the pier; but an ideal weather forecast leading into the weekend should get the fishing back on track.  Early in the week thew water was dirty and it was primarily the dreaded catfish.  As water conditions have started to improve the pompano fishing has picked up drastically; with some good reports from both the pier and the beach.  Bright colored Doc's Goofy Jigs continue to work well from the Pier; while the usual bait assortments (Sandfleas, Clams, FishBites) are all good choices from the beach.  A fair scattering of Spanish Mackerel around.  Sidewinders, Got-Cha Lures, Spoons, Diamond Jigs (Pretty much and smaller faster moving lures) are all good lure choices for the Macs.   From the Juno Beach Pier a white crappie jig is the top lure choice for the Mackerel.  Mixed in with the Spanish Mackerel will be some bluefish and jacks.  The same lures will work for the jacks and bluefish.  A pretty good number of croaker and whiting in the first trough over the past week.  Small pieces of fresh shrimp is the bait of choice.   

Sebastian Inlet Report with The Snookman

 

Lousy fishing but conditions are expected to improve 

“Good morning, Sebastian Inlet fishing fans. I hope you all had a great weekend. The report for this week is not a good one, due to the bad weather all last week. Fishing at the inlet was a disaster. The winds and the wave action last week made it treacherous to fish either jetty and the rock shoreline on the north side. The water looked like chocolate milk everywhere! Over the weekend, the winds and the seas calmed down some, but the water is still very dirty, both tides, both sides. It's going to take a few days of tide changes to clean it up any. About the only thing I saw being caught anywhere were the pesky catfish and puffers that love this kind of dirty water! A few small jack crevalle were being caught as well. 

Conditions should improve, according to the coastal surf reports I monitor, with winds being around 10 to 15 mph all week, but shifting all around. Hopefully, the water will clear up. The water temperatures are good for the fishing along the coast at 72 to 74 degrees, but it needs to clean back up. I don't like doing these kinds of reports, 

How to Surf Fish: Learn Surf Fishing from Local Surf Fishing Guides. Pow...

That Time Of Year Again

 

From Todd, Eddy & Jeff @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach

 INSHORE-  Snook fishing remains very good inshore right now.  Still a surprising number of mullet moving around, and the snook are taking advantage!  With temps not falling too much yet the snook's metabolism is till up pretty good and the are still chasing down the bigger baits.  As water temps come down they will begin to switch over to the smaller stuff.  We likely only a few weeks away from shrimp jigs being a reoccurring theme in the reports.  The Loxahatchee River has been holding the best number of snook during the day.  At night the bridge bite has been best, especially on outgoing tide.  Starting to see a few more sheepshead and small black drum showing up inshore.  Live shrimp is the best way to go for them, and can be easily presented on a jighead.  Deeper holes near boat docks and  bridge pilings tend to be good spots to start when looking for them.  

SURF/PIER-  Despite rough conditions and a lot of wind; the water continues to look very very good along the beach.  It's a fishy looking blue color, and looks like we should have fish all over.  Of course that 40mph+ wind blowing straight out of the east provides for a bit of a challenging cast (Morgan told me this morning..."If you could manage to get your popper out there...this weather would have the fish all riled up!"  I'm inclined to believe she's right).  Bluefish, Spanish Mackerel, and some pompano have all been around this week.  As the wind calms down a bit, look for the fishing to absolutely fire off along the beach and at the Juno Beach Pier.  I know: I said that in last weeks report and the fishing fell out to almost nothing over the weekend; but it looks to good not to go off this weekend.  For the Spanish Mackerel a crappie jig, sidewinder jig, Got-Cha lure, or small swimming plug should all be good choices.  For the bluefish a bigger swimming plug, spoon, or diamond jig will all be good choices.  For the pompano a bright colored Doc's Goofy Jig is the lure of choice.  

Snook-Nook Fishing Report

 Inshore Fishing Report 

Our mullet run is coming to an end here on the Treasure Coast as we are seeing fewer and fewer schools of them inshore. We will begin to transfer into our fall and early winter bite as the water temperatures begin to cool down a bit which can be really good for the fishing. The fish will tend to feed a little bit more and you will get more opportunities at getting on a bite throughout the day with the cooler temperatures. Those looking to target Snook and Tarpon will still have plenty of opportunities and we will begin to see more of our fall/winter species moving our way with each cool front such as Black Drum, Redfish, Sheepshead, Triple Tail, Croaker, Pompano, Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish. 

Snook fishing has still been pretty good for us and as we are greeted with some cooler temperatures, they will begin to be more inclined to go after baits with a slower presentation such as a shrimp. If you are out early before the sun rises fishing the dock lights or out late at the causeway fishing the shadow lines, don’t be afraid to tie on your favorite artificial shrimp and give it a few casts. Thumper Shrimp and Vudu Shrimp have been some of the go to choices lately. Slow rolling paddle tails and fishing jigs will work as well. On the warm days and as the sun gets a bit higher on the cooler days, they will still be willing to feed on live bait with no hesitation such as Pilchards, Pinfish, Croaker, Mullet, etc. A good majority of the Snook have moved away from the inlet and can be found throughout both the Indian and St. Lucie River around structures such as docks, bridges, sea walls and mangroves. There have also been Snook caught by those fishing the flats north of the power plant and the numbers of fish in that area will continue to increase. Snook season is still open all month if you are looking to harvest a slot size fish between 28-32”, the season closes on December 15th. 

If you’re looking to hook into a Tarpon, there have been some north of the Jensen Causeway around Nettles Island, around the Roosevelt Bridge with a few fish still showing up around the Jensen Causeway. Live mullet or crabs will get the job done for you on them! 

A lot of anglers look forward to this time of year for our Sheepshead and Black Drum fishing. The Black Drum bite is starting to heat up around the bridges and at the power lines that go across the river from the power plant. You can fish live shrimp, pieces of shrimp or chunks of crab on a jighead or knocker rig to target them. The Sheepshead will typically be found in some of the same areas that you will find the Black Drum. Look for structure with heavy barnacle growth on them and you will typically find some Sheepshead crunching on those barnacles. The same baits and presentations will work for Sheepshead, but Fiddler Crabs are one of the best baits you can throw at them and we should have a steady supply of them throughout the season. Fishing the channel markers is also a great strategy to catch Sheepshead, Black Drum, Triple Tail, Croakers and more. Bouncing from channel marker to channel marker with a shrimp on a jig head can lead you to a variety of fish to put in the cooler and can be fun for everyone on board. Some channel markers also have debris that has gotten stuck around them such as lost crab traps that make for excellent structure to fish. While you’re checking out the channel markers, don’t be afraid to look at the crab trap buoys to see if you can spot some Triple Tail floating in the current. 

Some Spanish Mackerel have begun showing up around the Jensen Causeway already, anglers have been catching them on small pilchards, shrimp and spoons. We can expect to see more showing up with more cold fronts and you will be able to find them inshore around the bridges and in the inlet. We typically get into our better numbers of Spanish Mackerel towards the end of the month and into December as you will see anglers heading to Pecks Lake to fish the schools of Mackerel there. Similar to the Mackerel, there have been a few Pompano showing up inshore but we will need more fronts to see larger numbers of them in the area. When they do show up, expect to see them caught in the inlet, Sailfish Flats and on the Jensen and Stuart Causeway relief bridges. 

Sebastian Inlet Report with the Snookman

 

Gnarly weather in the forecast, but the weekend was rife with blues, reds, snook, macks and more

"Good morning, fishing friends. I hope everyone had a great weekend. The weather was nice both days. To begin, I need to remind everyone, again, that the jetty was built as a navigational aid to assure safe passage for the boaters entering and exiting the inlet. Boaters have the right of way. It is up to you, the angler, to be aware of their presence while fishing the tip of the jetty on the outgoing tide or any tide for that matter. I know it gets hectic out there when the blues and jacks are biting well, but the yelling, swearing and profanity and rude behavior directed at the boaters and any other anglers, will not be tolerated. This kind of behavior could result in you losing your fishing privilege for an extended period of time. Please be courteous to each other out there, and we can all have a great time. Thank you, folks. 

Now for the good stuff. For the most part, last week picked up pretty nicely Monday through Wednesday with a many finger mullet coming down the beach again and filling the inlet, both sides. This, in addition to calmer winds and seas — and the water staying on the cool side —  got the bluefish, jacks, ladyfish and a bunch of jumbo Spanish mackerel turned on and biting! And some snook and redfish. The mullet were so thick again that you could throw a net and not miss, even if the net didn't open. The fish were biting everything you could toss out!

The breakdown:

North jetty: Over the weekend the fishing was pretty good, both days. The finger mullet thinned out, but they were still enough to cast net and attract fish. There was a frenzy of bluefish both days on the outgoing tide at the tip. The blues were biting just about everything you were using! Dead bait, silver spoons, jigs and live bait. Most of the bluefish caught were in the two to four-pound range, with a couple even bigger than that! Usually, we see smaller ones this time of year, but these fish are much bigger than normal. Remember, you can only keep three fish per person per day, with a minimum size of 12 inches to the fork. I also saw anglers catching snook over the weekend on the early morning incoming tide on live shrimp, redfish on mullet and live shrimp, on both tides, black drum on dead and live shrimp, a couple of really nice pompano, and one permit about 30 pounds that was lost at the net!! Cut shrimp for them. The Spanish mackerel were around, but not in the numbers they were in the beginning of the week. Greenies, small jigs and silver spoons attracted a bite from them.

South Jetty: On Saturday morning's incoming high tide there was a good snook bite and nice black drum along with them. Plenty of fish were caught as the water was pretty clean, and they like that. Live shrimp was the ticket for them. The outgoing tide at the tip was all about the black margates and black drum. Live shrimp or cut dead shrimp produced a bite from them. There were also a couple big redfish caught on live finger mullet and shrimp. The bluefish were also making a presence for those tossing silver spoons to the channel area, also some jack crevalle were biting. 

T-Dock:  It’s been slow here. On the incoming tide and the first of the outgoing, there have been  decent Spanish mackerel, along with bluefish caught on small greenies and white or green crappie jigs and silver spoons. For those fishing shrimp, dead or live, I saw undersized mutton snappers caught around the dock pilings. They have to be at least 18 inches overall to keep. The snook and redfish back here has been pretty slow. 

Surf area, both sides: When the water calmed and cleaned up, they were catching some pompano just north of the inlet, along with a few black drum. Also, bluefish and Spanish mackerel if using silver spoons, jigs and live and cut bait. With the presence of schools of finger mullet, snook and redfish are still a possibility. Fish live bait or four to five-inch swim baits for them. South side the bite has been a little slower due to the water dirtying up easier. But they still caught pompano and a few black drum on shrimp, dead or alive. The other species rounding out the bite have been blues, Spanish and catfish. With the water being in the 72 to 73-degree range, it's time for flounder to show up in the beach pocket area, and just south. They can't be kept until December 1, but I'm sure they are around; there just isn't anyone fishing them because you can't keep them.