Inshore Fishing Report
With Snook season reopening on the 1st and our annual fall mullet run, September is one of the best months to fish inshore here in our area! Our mullet run seems to be starting a bit earlier this year as we have already begun to see schools of both finger mullet and large mullet throughout the river. The run isn’t in full swing yet and it will only continue to get better as the month goes on. Fishing the mullet run can be a bit frustrating at times due to the amount of bait around, you really need to make your bait stand out to increase your chances of getting bit. If you are fishing with artificials, 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. You will have plenty of opportunities for an artificial bite throughout the day if you are able to stay with the bait pods. If you are fishing with live mullet, one of the best techniques you can try out to make your bait stand out while maintaining a natural presentation would be to use a small float on your line. The float will provide enough resistance for your bait to slow it down and give it more of an injured presentation making it a much easier target to get hit. You can also fish a bait on the bottom with a lead or even a dead bait underneath a pod of mullet as a lot of times you will see Snook cleaning up on the bottom.
The Snook fishing has remained steady as of late. There are still some fish in and around the inlet, but a lot of the Snook have begun to move away from the inlet and work their way back inshore. Fishing the causeways as well as docks and seawalls in both the St. Lucie and Indian River are good places to look for them. Fishing the seawalls with larger live mullet or top water plugs can be a blast this time of year! Fishing at night in the shadow lines at the causeways and in dock lights will present plenty of opportunities as the Snook will wait for the mullet to come into the light and ambush them. If you want to fish north of the power plant, you’ll be able to find Snook on the flats as well as up in the mangroves. Casting top waters in the morning before the sun gets high and transitioning over to soft plastics after that will be one of your most effective strategies if you’re heading up there. You may even run into some trout or redfish as well.
Snook won’t be the only target for anglers during the mullet run, plenty of people will be out chasing Tarpon. There have been a lot of Tarpon around already and we should begin seeing even more of them as more schools of mullet push into our area. You can look to find Tarpon north of the power plant around Little Mud and Bear Point, around the causeways, in the crossroads, in the inlet, up in the North Fork as well as out on the beaches. You should be able to see them rolling or airing out on mullet. The larger live mullet will be one of your best baits to use, if you are seeing a good flush of crabs on an outgoing tide, you can switch over to crabs. You can either free line the crab or mullet or fish it with a float. There have been plenty of the big triple digit fish around so be ready for a battle! Along with the Snook and Tarpon there have been plenty of big jacks around cruising the channels and seawalls hunting down schools of mullet.
Aside from all the mullet run excitement, Black Drum, Sheepshead, Mangrove Snapper, Triple Tail, Bonefish and Pompano have been caught. Black Drum have been caught at the Roosevelt Bridge on shrimp, chunks of crab as well as fiddler crabs. We had a pretty good Black Drum bite there last year too with some bigger fish caught. Sheepshead and Mangrove Snappers have been caught around structure such as channel markers, docks and the bridges. There have been some Triple Tail caught north of the Jensen Causeway on channel markers and crab trap buoys. Bonefish have been caught on the Sailfish flats on jigs, fly and pieces of shrimp. The east side relief bridge at the Jensen Causeway has been holding some Pompano that anglers have been catching on jigs.
Offshore Fishing Report
The surface bite offshore has been hit or miss for us as of late. We’ve had Mahi, Kingfish, Sailfish, plenty of Bonita and a few Blackfin Tunas making the catch list. The Mahis have been pretty spread out so trolling to find your bites is definitely a good idea to cover some water. There have been recent reports of Mahis caught in as shallow as 100’ all the way out to 1000’. If you’re heading out to go trolling, find yourself a good condition to fish before putting your lines in. That condition may be scattered weeds, debris, a color change, a temperature change or an area with signs of life. Fishing live baits will also be effective if you find yourself in a good condition. We typically get a decent fall Mahi run so we should see some more fish showing up soon. Sailfishing has slowed down a bit for us as well. There are still some fish around, but when you find them it is typically only one fish at a time that you run across unlike the summertime where there were more opportunities for multiple hookups. There have still been plenty of Kingfish around, look to find them on the reefs and wrecks.
The bottom fishing has remained productive with Vermillion Snappers out at Pushbutton Hill, Mangrove Snappers on bottom ranging from 70’- 110’ and Mutton Snappers around the Six Mile and Loran Tower. You can catch your Vermillions on chicken rigs with squid, Mangroves on live pilchards or chicken rigs with sardines and the Muttons on long leader rigs with grunt plugs or live bait. September has provided us with some pretty good Red Grouper fishing over the past few years and we hope for the same this year. Look to target them in 90’-140’ on either live bait or chicken rigs with squid. They aren’t too picky so they won’t be afraid to hit a chicken rig, but you may have to go through some smaller ones along with some bycatch.
Surf Fishing Report
Our summertime Whiting and Croaker fishing has slowed down a good bit. There are still a few to be caught in the first trough on pieces of shrimp and Fishbites, you will want to focus on fishing the incoming tide if you’re on the hunt for them. We’ve had some Pompano actually showing up on the beaches which is typically uncommon this time of year. They have been caught by those fishing the long rods 70-90yds off the beach in the deeper troughs. Capt. Paul Sperco has been catching them on the Pink/Flesh Crab Fishbites. Like the Whiting and Croakers, you will also want to focus on the incoming tide if you’re looking to catch a few. Bonefish, Palometta and a good amount of short Pompano have been caught as well from the surf. We have also had a good amount of Sandfleas on the beach too for those looking to load up for the winter.
The beach can turn into a National Geographic like scene during the mullet run and it is truly a sight to see. Tarpon, Snook, Sharks, Jacks and a variety of other predators will be feeding on schools of mullet as they work their way down the beaches. It is always wise to check the beach before hauling all your equipment because a half a mile of distance can be the difference from a lifeless beach to that National Geographic feeding frenzy. If you are able to locate the schools of mullet you will typically find the fish. Live mullet, NLBN paddle tails and straight tails, Hogy swimbaits, Rapala X-Raps, Yozuri Crystal Minnows and spoons are all some of the top choices for those looking to get in on the surf mullet run action.
Lake Okeechobee Fishing Report – Capt. Angie Douthit
Bass and Crappie fishing on Okeechobee has been good with some outings we catch numbers
with some nice kicker-size bass and other days a bit slower but bigger in size using both artificial
lures and/or live bait “shiners”. The bluegill is still on/around the beds and will continue to
spawn throughout the summer months. Potential clients who call are asking questions such as:
“when is the best time to fish”? “What’s the average size bass?” It’s imperative as a
professional fishing guide to ask customers some questions to help familiarize with what the
customer is wanting to get from the trip…”what species would you like to target” “you prefer
live or artificial lures” “are there Children” “can you use spinning gear or bait casters”, knowing
my customers and their capabilities and what they want to gain from the trip helps me to
better prepare myself and the boat and a more productive day on the water and not putting
them into an element where they’re not comfortable or feel as though it’s beyond their
capabilities…that is not fun for anyone !! I absolutely love putting smiles on people’s faces by
helping them make memorable days on the water, they gain knowledge of the lake, how to fish
it successfully and enjoy all the beautiful wildlife that only Lake Okeechobee offers. Now, let’s
get on with the fishing report….the month of September will be a mixed bag of weather such as
hot temperatures; rain and more heat which is why getting out on the water early in the
mornings and perhaps late afternoon is much more pleasant, weather wise for this time of
year. The early Fall timeframe moving forward into the Winter months then early Spring can be
an ideal time to fish Okeechobee, typically the bass and crappie start to move into the shallows
for the start of the spawn season mid November and can extend all the way until the mid/latter
part of April. Although fishing during the heat of the summertime months here on Okeechobee
can be rewarding and fun, most people prefer a little cooler weather and a better chance at
landing that big female bass or jigging up a limit of really-good sized silver and black crappie.
Whatever your preference is whether its catching bass on artificial lures or perhaps live bait or
pinpointing big “specks” which is what we call “crappie” is your style of fishing, now is the time
to book your fun-filled and productive day fishing Lake Okeechobee. A few areas to fish now
for bass and bluegills are the North shore; Tin house; Observation Shoal; Kissimmee River; J & S
canal and some parts of Kings Bar. If you have any questions call or text 863-228-7263 or log
onto my website at www.southfloridabassfishing.com where you’ll find updated pictures of
customers and their catches; top hotel discounts/recommendations; fishing reports; what to
bring; what the guide provides and etc. Be safe out on the water !!! My sponsors are:
Mercury; Power-Pole; Gene Larew; Bullet Weights; Gill; Navionics; BnM crappie poles; Mid-
South tackle; G-Loomis; Rapala; Real Magic; Pradco Brands; Lews and Megastrike.
