2025 is now upon us and we are looking forward to a great year with plenty of fish hopefully in everyone’s future!
Inshore Fishing Report
For those fishing inshore there has been a good bit of action! Triple Tail, Sheepshead, Black Drum, Croakers, Snook, Trout, Redfish, Pompano, Spanish Mackerel, Bonefish and Bluefish have all been on the catch lists over the past few weeks and we should continue to see them around over the next few months.
For those Snook fishing, the season did close on December 15th and will reopen for us again in our area on February 1st. The Snook bite has remained productive for anglers even with the cooler water temperatures. You will find that Snook tend to be a bit more lethargic when the water temperatures drop and will be more inclined to feed on a slower moving presentation. This time of year you will want to look for Snook in areas with deeper water and structure as they will use those areas to stay warm, you can also look for them sunning themselves to stay warm on the flats and along sea walls. Live and artificial shrimp in the mornings and evenings are great choices this time of year if you’re looking to target Snook. The evening bite at the Jensen Causeway has been pretty good for anglers free lining live shrimp and throwing artificial shrimp such as Thumper Shrimp and Vudu Shrimp. Fishing flair hawk jigs and slow rolling paddle tails are also solid choices for those looking to fish artificials. The evening and night outgoing tides at the causeway have been the most productive as there have been some shrimp flowing through with the tide that are getting ambushed by the Snook on the shadow lines. As the sun gets higher and the water warms up the fish will become more active and more willing to chase after a live bait. Fishing the dock lights at night with smaller artificials can be a productive strategy, we also tend to see some Trout mixed in with the Snook in the lights this time of year. Speaking of Trout, we have had some pretty good Trout fishing again finally! The majority of the Trout have been caught north of the power plant on both the east and west sides of the river. The Trout have been caught by those wade fishing and fishing from boats. The Trout have been schooled up so once you find them you will typically find a few more. Anglers have had success throwing artificials such as DOA Cal paddle tails, artificial shrimp as well as top waters. Those fishing with live bait have had success with live shrimp either on a jig head or on a popping cork. A few Redfish have been mixed in up that way as well. Some Tarpon have been scattered around too, you can look for them up in the North Fork and scattered in both the St. Lucie and Indian River. Live mullet, live crabs or DOA Terror Eyz are great choices for the Tarpon when you’re able to find them.
Our Sheepshead fishing is starting to heat up and will only get better as we typically see our best Sheepshead fishing in February. You will look to find them around structure such as docks, the causeways, sea walls, submerged mangroves and pretty much anything with solid barnacle growth. You will see some anglers will scrape some barnacles off of structure to get the Sheepshead chummed up. You can also look to find them on some of the nearshore reefs like Pecks Lake. Live shrimp, chunks of crabs and fiddler crabs when available will be your best bait choices. Black Drum fishing around the causeways has remained productive as well fishing the same baits. You will typically find your drum bites fishing the edges of the bridge fenders. The bases of the power lines going across the river from the power plant typically will hold some Sheepshead and Black Drum this time of year too.
Running the crab trap buoys and fishing the channel markers north of the Jensen Causeway is a great place to look for Triple Tail. Triple Tail fishing has been on the slower side this year so far. A lot of undersized Triple Tails have been hanging on the buoys, but there have definitely been a few nice ones in the mix for those who are putting the time in. On clear days, you can run down the crab trap buoys to see if you can spot them and sight fish them with a shrimp. You can also look to find them on the channel markers. Along with the Triple Tail, you can expect to find Sheepshead, Croakers and occasionally some Black Drum on the markers. A lot of times when you find the Croakers, they will be schooled up so you can try to take advantage of that opportunity and load up on them and have an excellent fish fry. Croakers can also be found around docks as well as up in the North Fork. We see some nice sized Croakers around this time of year with some caught up to 18”.
Our inshore Pompano bite is starting to pick up. Anglers have been catching them fishing jigs in the inlet, in the crossroads and on the Sailfish flats. The incoming tide has been the most productive. The Pompano will typically come in the inlet on the incoming tide and you can follow them with the tide and typically end up following the school onto the Sailfish Flats or over by the Stuart Causeway depending on which way the school decides to go. Land based anglers have also been picking some off at the Jensen Causeway east side relief bridge. Jigging for Pompano this time of year can bring anglers a lot of action as you will also run into Bonefish, Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish, Jacks and more that will be mixed in with the Pompano. The Spanish Mackerel have also been starting to show up at Pecks Lake for those who are looking to load up on them. Gulfstream Flash Minnows, Gotcha Plugs and spoons will be your ticket to getting them.
Offshore Fishing Report
The weather made it tough to get offshore in December, but on the fishable days and for those who have been able to make it out on the bigger boats, anglers have been greeted with a pretty good surface bite. The majority of the boats have been finding their bites trolling ballyhoo. The live bait is typically tough to find locally here in the winter. A lot of the action has been coming from 110-160’ NE of the St. Lucie Inlet. In that area anglers have had success catching Mahi, Blackfin Tuna and Sailfish. There have been steady reports of Mahis caught, not many big ones around but definitely some gaffers in the mix. There have been some Blackfins found in that 110-160’ range as well as some caught out at Pushbutton Hill. You can catch the Blackfins out on the Hill either trolling or jigging. The jigging tends to be more effective as the sun gets higher the Tunas will push down. The evening Tuna bite can be pretty good too! You can sometimes mark the schools of Tuna on your machine and drop your jig to the appropriate depths. Power Pro has a depth hunter braid where the color changes every 25ft for those who want an exact idea of how much line you have out, we have it available at the shop in 20lb-80lb.
Bottom fishing has been pretty good for those fishing in the 60’-90’ range. Mutton Snappers, Lane Snappers, Triggerfish and some Sea Bass have been making their way back to the fillet table. The Lane Snapper bite has been the hottest for those bottom fishing. Chicken rigs with pieces of squid or sardines will get the job done on them. The majority of them have been caught in the 60’ range. There have been a good amount of them caught on the shallower reefs as well, even at Pecks Lake underneath the Spanish Mackerel. You can also expect to find Sheepshead and a variety of other species on some of the shallow nearshore reefs this time of year. As mentioned earlier in the inshore report, the Spanish Mackerel have shown up in good numbers at Pecks Lake. For those out a little deeper, the Vermillion bite out at Pushbutton Hill has been steady along with some Amberjacks mixed in.
Surf Fishing Report
The conditions have made it tough to have a successful day on the beach over the past few weeks, but when the conditions have been fishable there have been some Pompano caught. Keep in mind that even if the surf seems calm after a few days of wind, you will want to check the water color. If the water is all sandy and dirty you typically won’t have very good luck targeting Pompanos as they like the cleaner water. The majority of the Pompano action has been coming from Hobe Sound Beach with a few fish mixed in from Stuart Beach to Ft. Pierce Inlet. The Pompano bite will only continue to improve from now until typically April when conditions permit. The new Fishbites Electric Chicken Sand Flea bait has been pretty hot as of late! The top three Fishbites choices for the Pompano have been the Electric Chicken Sand Flea, EZ Flea and Flesh/Pink Crab. Anglers have paired the Fishbites up with Sandfleas and Clams as well as just the natural bait alone to have success. There have been some nice sized Whiting around too, the new Fishbites Ghost Shrimp has been the top choice for them. For those looking to throw artificials, there have been Spanish Mackerels, Jacks and a few Bluefish cruising the surf that can be caught throwing spoons.
Lake Okeechobee Fishing Report – Capt. Angie Douthit
The bass and crappie spawn has been in full swing since last month, so now is the time to book
a fun-filled day of fishing, whether it’s filling the cooler with crappie or landing that big bass of a
lifetime! January marks my twenty first year as a guide on this beautiful fishery, helping friends
and families make lasting and fun memories and through those years, you’ve given me some
wonderful and fun times….customers that are “Family” to me. I’m thankful for all of you and
look forward to the next twenty-one years ahead.
If you’re bass fishing areas to try have been on the Shoal from the Blue Hole (located mid-way
on the Shoal) on up to just past the 2 nd pole area and on into the opening that leads into
Moonshine bay. I’m seeing some boats fishing in Moonshine, some days you catch them
decent and other days you can’t hardly buy a bite but it’s an area that’s fishable on windy days.
Some areas in the Monkey box and Whidden’s pass as well as Dyess Ditch; Indian Praire and
mostly in Tin House. Both sides of Kings’ bar and River side of Grassy and Eagle bay close to the
hard wall. There are bass being caught over on the east side around J&S if you are wanting to
run that far on a low-wind day. For the crappie bite, the areas are somewhat the same but do
try Dupree bar (north-side); around Sportsman’s; Indian Praire and the Kissimmee River. Live-
minnows works best when anchored fishing the River or grass edges and jigs work best
in/around grass. Jig colors to try are white; chartreuse; green; pink and some orange….color
choice depends greatly on water clarity and depth.
The current water level is higher than normal for this time of year but still use caution and
respect everyone’s space especially in areas where there’s a lot of boat traffic/fishing. To book
a bass or crappie trip call 863-228-7263 or log onto my website:
www.southfloridabassfishing.com where you’ll see up-to-date customer’s catches; rates; hotel
accommodations; toll-free number for fishing licenses and etc. I do offer group trips and
multiple day trips. I also offer military and one-person trip discounts and a deep hotel discount
with the best hotel in town. Thanks to all my sponsors: Caymas boats; Mercury; Lews; Gene
Larew; BnM poles; Mid-South Tackle; Pradco Brands; Bullet Weights; Real Magic; Gill; G-Loomis;
Rapala and Navionics.
