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.
Offshore Fishing Report
If you have been looking to get offshore this month, chances are you may be a bit frustrated. Frustrated by the conditions more than anything as when there has been a window to get offshore, the fishing has been really good, there just haven’t been many windows to get out there. On the surface, the Mahi bite has been really good with some quality sized gaffers in the mix. The majority of them have been caught by those covering water and trolling Ballyhoo. Live baiting and kite fishing will definitely work as well if you find yourself in the right zone. With all the freshwater that has been coming out of the inlet, there have been some nice color changes offshore and that is where you can have a good chance of finding a few Mahi. Aside from the color changes, look for debris, temperature changes and signs of life to fish. There has been some steady action out at Pushbutton on both Blackfin and Skipjack Tunas. You can catch them trolling feathers, cedar plugs and ballyhoo. There has been a good amount of small ones in the mix so fishing live baits can typically weed out the smaller ones and get you some more quality sized Blackfins. There should be a few Wahoo around so it’s not a bad idea to run a planer rod to see if anything is down a little deeper. We’ve had some scattered Sailfish action too.
On the bottom, the Vermillion Snapper bite has been pretty hot out at Pushbutton. A chicken rig with squid will get you the bite when you find them! The electric reels have been very popular for those who are looking to get their limits quick and explore other possibilities. We’ve got a full lineup of electrics in stock from Daiwa including their new models and the new Penn Fathom Electrics will be here soon, so come on down and hit us with any questions you may have if you are in the market for one! Aside from the Vermillions, there have been Mutton Snappers and Mangrove Snappers making their way back to the fillet tables. The Lane Snapper bite typically gets pretty good this time of year in 60’-70’ and occasionally even shallower, a chicken rig with a squid or sardine will get the job done on them.
Surf Fishing Report
Unfortunately the winds have made it a bit difficult for those who are looking to head out to the beach to get in on our fall surf fishing. Even on the less windy days we haven’t had a long enough break in the wind to clean up the water to the conditions where you will find your Pompano, Whitings and Permit. Prior to the blow, we started seeing some Pompano caught off our beaches as well as started hearing steady reports of Pompano to the north of us that will have to make their way down. Electric Chicken Crab and EZ Flea FishBites were producing the most bites and were the most popular flavors this time of the year last year. Anglers fishing natural bait such as sand fleas and clam have found success as well. The majority of the fish have been caught in the deeper troughs which is very common for the fall and winter, so a long rod in the 11’-13’ range paired with a long cast reel can truly add some distance to your cast and make a difference. We have the Penn Spinfisher VII long cast reels in stock which are a favorite amongst surf anglers, we also have the 13’ Capt. Paul Series Over the Bar rods to pair with them which makes for a great combo and is exactly the setups that Capt. Paul Sperco uses. Our annual Snook Nook Tent Sale is coming up on December 14th, as always you will have the opportunity to cash in on some big savings from Penn if you are in the market for a new surf combo. You also can’t forget about the buy 2 get 1 free FishBites tent sale promotion that is always a huge hit and provides a great opportunity to stock up on FishBites for the season. Be sure to stop by and chat with Brett and the FishBites crew at the tent sale!
Fishbites is hosting their Shoreline Showdown Surf Fishing Series here in Jensen on Saturday, November 16th with a captains meeting on Friday, November 15th. The headquarters, captains meeting and weigh in location will all take place here at the Snook Nook. The total tournament payout is $15,000 amongst several categories including Pompano and Whiting. If you are interested in signing up or want to learn more, all the details are available on their website which is linked here. https://shorelineshowdown.com/
Lake Okeechobee Fishing Report – Capt. Angie Douthit
Lake Okeechobee’s water level is still rising but the bass bite has been on fire. The crappie bite
is still iffy due to warm water temps but that will all change in about 3 weeks. Since we are not
quite into the “main” spawn season for crappie, the best way to target and catch them is a slow
troll or minimal wind drift in deeper water; ledges and drop offs. Fishing with a rod that’s made
for trolling/drifting is best such as the BnM Capps and Coleman 10ft trolling rod or a Buck’s
Graphite Crappie Combo. When fishing with type set up I like to use Road Runners in the Vibe
Runner or Curly Tail series. The colors of bodies I prefer are: Chartreuse/Black; White and
Electric Chicken, the water clarity depicts which color scheme will work best. While trolling for
crappie we’ve been catching a few smaller bass and bluegill which is always fun when fishing
with kids but for those of you specifically targeting bass, areas on the lake such as the Shoal;
North shore; Dyess Ditch and Tin House has been the most active areas but that will change
somewhat as the weather starts to cool off and bring in more spawning bass then these areas
will extend out and allow more boaters to catch bass and enjoy the day. These areas are a
good starting point once the crappie start moving into the shallows to spawn. Areas to try from
the south end are: around Uncle Joe’s; Blue Hole and Turners Cove; East Wall; Kramer Island
and Houseboat Cut. Areas on the north end: Monkey box/Dupree bar; Dyess Ditch/point of
Horse; some areas around Indian Praire and lots of areas in/around Tin house; spots on Kings
bar; grassy; 1 st /2 nd points and over on the east side around Nub N slough and a few areas down
towards J & S. Lures right now that are producing are popping frogs; swim baits/swim jigs;
flipping/pitching; worms; some rattle trap and some top water lures worked slowly and
methodically around certain types of cover. For the most part, the water quality looks good,
some areas you can see the bottom but we need to see more aquatic vegetation such as eel
grass; pepper grass; shrimp grass and hydrilla which allows coverage and food for smaller fish;
bait fish and minnows to thrive. I hope this information helps you to have a more productive
day on the water. Please use boater courtesy and respect those around you and while running
in your boat. To book you’re next fun-filled and productive day fishing on Okeechobee call 863-
228-7263. I’ll be happy to answer your questions and discuss what’s important to you and gear
the trip accordingly so that everyone has fun and catches fish.
www.southfloridabassfishing.com is where you can find more information when booking a trip
such as hotel accommodations/discounts available; toll-free number to purchase licenses; past
fishing reports; what’s included with your trip and up-to-date pictures of customers with their
catches. Thank you to my Sponsors: Mercury Marine; BnM Poles; Bullet Weights; Real Magic;
Gill; Lews; Gene Larew; Pradco Brands; Rapala; G-Loomis and Toho Marine.
