Our annual Customer Appreciation Tent Sale is approaching and is scheduled for Saturday, December 14th from 8am – 6pm! This year will be extra special as we celebrate our 75th Anniversary! Make sure to save the date to cash in on the deals of the year! This year will feature more deals than ever, more tent space than ever including the debut of the ‘Closeout Cove’ tent where you will find savings of up to over 50% off, find savings store-wide, buy 2 get 1 free promos, buy 3 get 1 free promos, free braid promos and much much more! We will have more companies on hand than ever this year including; Penn, Shimano, Daiwa, Quantum, Tsunami, Van Staal, Fishbites, No Live Bait Needed, Thumper Shrimp, Yo-Zuri, Gulfstream Lures & more as the list continues to grow! This is the perfect opportunity to pick out Christmas gifts, get your first rod & reel combo or even outfit a boat with the opportunities to save hundreds! You will find savings from your favorite brands on rods, reels, combos, lures, tackle, tools, beach carts, coolers and more, there will definitely be something for everyone!
As always with a purchase of $100, you will receive a limited edition Snook Nook event shirt and with every $100 spent you will receive a raffle ticket toe enter to win well over $10,000 in prizes ranging from inshore and offshore charters, rods, reels, rod & reel combos, tackle packages, gift cards and more! Hands down our best lineup of raffle prizes to date! The first 75 people in line will also receive a special gift and have the opportunity to enter into a separate raffle with the grand prize of a $750 Snook Nook gift card amongst other prizes. Stay tuned for more details and announcements as we get closer to the big day. Follow along with us on Facebook or Instagram @thesnooknook for the latest updates. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!
Inshore Fishing Report
Our fall mullet run is coming to an end here on the Treasure Coast as we are seeing fewer and fewer schools of them. 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 their 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 been on the slower side over the past two weeks, granted we do have to look at a few factors that have been causing that. Even though we were not directly affected by Hurricane Milton, we still did get a lot of rain and that rain from inland eventually made its way to us. The amount of freshwater inshore has slowed the Snook bite down, but the fish still do need to feed so you will find your opportunities if you put your time in. The freshwater is finally starting to make its way out so we should be back to normal here soon. The early morning bite before the sun gets high as well as at night have seemed to provide the best opportunities for Snook. 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. The Snook fishing at the Jensen Causeway has been pretty good at night and in the evenings as the water quality has been really good up our way. 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. As we begin to get greeted with some cooler temperatures, the Snook will begin to be more inclined to go after baits with a slower presentation such as a shrimp. 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! The night time fishing at the Roosevelt has provided the most opportunities.
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 pick up around the bridges and at the power lines that go across the river from the power plant, you can find them on docks as well. 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 will try to have a steady supply of them throughout the season, but it does get difficult to get them when it gets colder as they are caught in northern Florida as well as Georgia. 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. A few Pompano have been picked off by those jigging on Jensen Causeway east side relief bridge. They have been picking at them for a few weeks now and that bite should only pick up as more Pompano begin to migrate down our way. There have also been some Trout and Redfish caught north of the power plant by those fishing the flats. If you haven’t gone up that way in a while, it’s definitely worth the trip to look as there has been a good amount of grass that has come back on the east side of the river.
