Inshore Fishing Report
Our annual fall mullet run has brought along some great fishing inshore over the past few weeks. Snook, Tarpon, Jacks, Sharks and a variety of predators have been putting on a show feeding on the schools of bait. We have had very strong numbers of mullet schools pushing through our area and we should continue to see some schools continuing to push our way as we get into October as there have still been steady reports of schools north of us. Mullet schools have been prevalent throughout the day, but it seems the best of the action has been at night and early in the morning with the bite slowing down a bit as the sun gets higher. For those that are targeting Snook, the low light conditions will play to your advantage as the Snook will use the shadow lines from dock lights and bridges to ambush the mullet or whatever bait is pushing through. Making your bait stand out in the school is key to getting the bite when the bait is prevalent, many anglers will prefer artificials such as paddle tails, jerk baits and top waters depending on the situation that you are fishing. Don’t be afraid to use bigger profiles as well as surface baits that make commotion on the surface to make your presentation stand out. Fishing your lure on the edge of the bait pods can result in more bites as well. Some of the most popular artificials we have been selling this month have included; NLBNs, JYG Pro SWYMs, Hogy Pro Tail Paddle Tails, Yozuri Crystal Minnows, Fingerlings, Top Knocks & Hydro Pencils, Rapala Xraps & Skitterwalks. If you do prefer fishing a live mullet, adding a small cork to slow the bait down or trimming the tail fins will give your bait a more injured presentation making an easier snack for the fish. For those Snook fishing inshore during the day, there has still been action. Locating schools of bait in areas such as canals, on seawalls, along mangrove lines or near any ambush point or structure will be keys to your success. This is one of the best times of year to fish the sea walls even if you aren’t seeing any bait around. Larger mullet in the 6-10” range are one of the best bait choices if you’re hunting for big Snook. You will want to keep that mullet tight to the seawall for the Snook as when the bait comes off the wall a few feet you will start running into more Jacks.
There have been a lot of Tarpon around inshore with a lot of them being in the triple digit class! Look to find them up by the power plant, around the bridges, in the crossroads, in the inlet as well as up in the North Fork. Fishing larger live mullet, floating crabs around the bridges or using mullet heads on the bottom for some of the lazier fish are all effective options for those looking to use natural bait. Those targeting them with artificials have had success throwing larger swimbaits and straight tails such as the 8” NLBNs and larger Hogy Protails. The purple or black colors have been some of the hottest models for those Tarpon fishing.
For those who want to catch a Redfish, we see them quite often around the Stuart Causeway in October. They can be caught with shrimp on a jig head, cut mullet and live Croakers. You may run into some Black Drum as well fishing shrimp on a jig head around the bridges this time of year as our Black Drum fishing starts to heat up. Those fishing the flats to the north have had success catching Snook, Trout, Redfish and Tarpon. Pitching lures like DOA Cals or Thumper Shrimp into the pockets of the mangroves is an effective strategy. You can also fan cast out on the flat with either top water plugs before the sun gets high or cover water with a DOA CAL. If you are heading to the north, stone crab season opens up in October and that means everyone will be putting out their traps. All those crab trap buoys are great areas to look for Triple Tail. We typically see better numbers of Triple Tail caught after stone crab season opens up. You can free line a shrimp or fish one on a jig head and pitch it to them if you see one. As we begin to get some cool fronts and north winds which we usually start seeing in late October, we will begin to start seeing some of our migratory fall/winter fish making an appearance such as Sheepshead, Black Drum, Croakers, Spanish Mackerel, Pompano and Bluefish. October always brings us a nice variety of opportunities inshore with the mullet run and early signs of some of our migratory fall/winter fish!
Surf Fishing Report
Those who were looking for the mullet run action from the beach definitely had some shots at action! A lot of anglers were able to take advantage of some great Tarpon fishing from the beach both on artificials and live bait. There have been Snook, Jacks, Sharks and a variety of other predators feeding on the schools as well. We’ve had some Pompano action over the past few weeks from the beach with some keepers hitting the sand. Last month there were a lot of shorts caught and this month the short fish have all been pretty close to being keepers. It is still pretty early for the Pompano so the fishing will only improve as we get into the fall. If you are fishing multiple rods, it is a good idea to stagger your casting distances to locate where the fish are feeding. EZ Flea, Electric Chicken Crab and Pink/Flesh FishBites have been producing bites along with sand fleas. These fish are coming from the north so don’t be afraid to hit some of the beaches to the north even up towards Vero if you’re looking for some Pompano action. There has been some good Permit fishing from the beach too and they can be caught the same way as Pompano. While it is tough to specifically target them, they have definitely been around. The beaches around the power plant will typically give you a better shot at hooking one, but they can be caught all over Hutchinson Island. There have also been some Whiting and Croakers mixed in for our surf anglers too
