Snook-Nook Fishing Report

Inshore Fishing Report 

Snook fishing is starting to heat up in our area with the numbers of fish caught by our local charter captains increasing by the week. Not only have there been more fish around, but we are starting to see some bigger Snook caught. The Snook fishing will continue to improve throughout the spring. The water temperatures have been warming up which has made them more eager to feed on live baits such as croakers, pilchards or mullet. For those fishing from a boat, look for them on seawalls in the mornings and evenings as well as around docks in the St. Lucie and Indian River. The causeway bridge fenders at the Stuart Causeway and 10 cent have been producing some quality action and there have been a few Redfish mixed in with the Snook at the Stuart Causeway. It’s tough to beat a live croaker for bait if you are fishing the bridge fenders, just be ready for the thump! A few fish have also started to show up around the inlet and at hole in the wall; we can expect to see bigger numbers of Snook in those areas in May. For those fishing from land, the Jensen Causeway has been producing some steady action in the evenings and at night. There have been a good amount of shrimp flowing through on the outgoing tides that they have been keyed in on. You’ll want to try to match the size of your shrimp to the size of the shrimp that are flowing through for best results. One of our employees, Noah, was fishing a 3” Vudu Shrimp and wasn’t getting much action and noticed that the shrimp flowing through were a little bigger than the presentation he was throwing and switched to the 4” Vudu Shrimp which made a big difference and started catching. The Vudu Shrimp and Thumper Shrimp have been our most popular artificial shrimp choices here at the shop. The dock at Indian Riverside Park typically starts providing some good Snook fishing in the spring for us as well. 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, 3” paddle tails 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 on a popping cork.

A few Tarpon have been around inshore and we should start seeing that bite picking up as we get deeper into the spring. We typically have a better flow of crabs flowing through the bridges on the outgoing tide this time of year, but we really haven’t seen a lot yet. If you’re looking for Tarpon, focusing on the channels around the Stuart and Jensen Causeways will be one of your best bets. If you can get your hands on some crabs, that will be your best bait option, larger live mullet will work as well. There have been a lot of big jacks cruising the channels and hitting the seawalls if you’re looking for some screaming drag action as well. 

The inshore Pompano bite is starting to pick up again for us with steady reports coming from the Jensen Causeway Mosquito bridge. Over the past two years, April has provided us our best inshore Pompano action of the year and it looks like it is shaping up for that to be the case again this year. The chartreuse/orange and chartreuse/pink jigs with a pink or gold teaser has been a favorite for anglers jigging the bridge over the past few weeks. Anglers have also been picking off some Pompano jigging from the east side relief bridge on the Stuart Causeway. Those fishing from boat have found some on the Sailfish flats along with some on the flats around the power plant. We’ve heard about a lot of fish that are still to the south of us that will be migrating back north over the next few weeks. 

Those fishing live shrimp around structure have found a variety of species including Triple Tail, Flounder, Snapper, Black Drum, Sheepshead, Croaker and Bonefish. There have still been a few Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish around the inlet and causeways as well.