Inshore Fishing Report
January was a cold one for us here on the Treasure Coast. It has definitely been a while since we have had such a stretch of cold weather and wind to go with it like we had in January. Unfortunately it kept a lot of anglers off the water and cooled the water temperatures down a good bit, we saw water temperatures as low as 54 degrees inshore on the Snook Nook boat. When the water temps drop that low it can definitely make fishing a struggle as the fish are typically not very active. It appears warmer days are ahead of us and the fishing should pick up right along with it!
Snook season reopens on February 1st in our area. The cold fronts definitely slowed the Snook fishing down for us, but with water temperatures heating back up, the Snook bite should improve. For those who are fishing artificials, anglers using flairhawks around the bridges typically do well this time of year and we just got a restock of First Light jigs, be sure to grab a few before they start flying off the rack! Artificial shrimp are definitely a go to option this time of year. Fishing them in the shadow lines around the bridges at night is a very effective strategy. Slow rolling paddle tail baits across the bottom such as the NLBNs and JYG Pro Swyms should find you a bite too. Keep in mind that in the cooler water conditions you will want to slow down your bait presentation for better results. For those fishing during the day, the water has been warming up a bit as the sun gets higher and you should have better luck fishing live bait around docks and the bridges rather than first thing in the morning. Don’t be afraid to fish up in the North Fork either, a lot of the bigger fish will head up that way to stay warm. Those fishing on the flats to the north have also had success finding Snook sunning themselves up on the flat in the shallow water. Those fishing to the north have also had some pretty good Trout fishing both on the east and west side of the river. We have had more grass growing up that way and the Trout have been holding around the grass. Both anglers wade fishing and fishing from boats have been able to find them. Popular baits for the Trout have been Mirrolures, DOA Cal paddle tails, Thumper Shrimp, top waters if you are fishing in the morning or evening and live shrimp on a jig head or popping cork. There have been a few Redfish mixed in with the Trout too.
We have started to see some better numbers of Pompano caught by those jigging for them inshore recently. Look to find the Pompano in the cleaner water on the Sailfish Flats, in the inlet and in the crossroads if you are fishing from a boat. You will often see the Pompano sticking with the tideline and moving with the clean water as it comes into the inlet and up through the crossroads and onto the sailfish flats. By following the tideline you may at times be able to stay in the fish a bit longer. You will also occasionally skip some Pompano north of the Jensen Causeway on the flats. The Pompano in that area can be a bit more finicky typically and aren’t as willing to bite the jig. Fishing with bait on a standard Pompano rig such as sand fleas, shrimp or Fishbites can typically produce a better haul if you find them. There is plenty of bycatch to be had when jigging for Pompano, you’ll get Spanish Mackerel, Jacks, Snappers, Croakers, Bonefish, Bluefish and more. For those Pompano fishing inshore from land, those jigging at the Jensen Causeway and Stuart Causeway east side relief bridges have been picking away at some fish. They haven’t been caught in huge numbers, but there have definitely been some fish around. We saw the best bite for them later in the season last year so don’t be too discouraged!
Sheepshead fishing has been pretty good around the inlet as well as around the bridges. Look for structure such as rock piles as well as pilings or seawalls with heavy barnacle growth and typically there should be some Sheepshead around. February typically provides us with one of our best months of Sheepshead fishing. Fish either shrimp on a jig head, fiddler crabs or chunks of crabs to get the bite. We’ve had some steady Black Drum action too. The Roosevelt Bridge and 10 cent bridge have seemed to produce the most fish while there have still been some caught around the Stuart and Jensen Causeways. You can also find them around docks, channel markers and up in the North Fork. You can target the Drum with the same baits as the Sheepshead as they share a very similar diet. We’ve had some good Croaker around the bridges as well as up in the North Fork, you can target them with either live shrimp or pieces of frozen shrimp. The Triple Tail fishing on the crab trap buoys north of the Jensen Causeway has been on the slower side this year. Those who have put their time in searching for Triple Tail have been able to find a few, but they haven’t been coming in big numbers and a lot of undersized fish have been around. If you do find them, they typically won’t pass up a live shrimp.
Nearshore Fishing Report
The Spanish Mackerel fishing at Pecks Lake has been pretty good over the past few weeks for those looking to get in on the action. You may even find schools of them on your way out to Pecks around the inlet. Fishing Gulf Stream Flash Minnows, Gotcha Plugs, Clarkspoon Mackerel Tree Rigs and spoons will be your best options to throw at them. Bring a box of glass minnows out with you to get them chummed up! You can also find a variety of other species underneath the Mackerels at Pecks such as Sheepshead, Lane Snapper, Mangrove Snapper and more with shrimp on a jig head. Look to find the Sheepshead and Snappers on reefs in the 30-50′ range too.
Offshore Fishing Report
Opportunities to get offshore were certainly limited in January, but the fishable days definitely produced some action for anglers who were able to make it out. The Blackfin Tuna bite has been really good out at Pushbutton Hill. The best bite has been first thing in the morning up until about 9am for those trolling or fishing live baits. The Tunas will typically go down deeper and not feed as much on the surface as the sun gets higher and boat traffic increases. If you’re trolling for them, small ballyhoo, rigged squid with a skirt, small squid chains, cedar plugs or feathers will typically get you a bite when they’re around. If you see them feeding on the surface, throwing larger poppers at them always makes for a cool bite and a fun time! When the Tunas do go a little deeper, you can get them either slow pitch jigging, speed jigging or dropping live baits down with leads at varying depths to find the bite. It doesn’t hurt to cut up some sardines to chum them up and get them a little closer to the surface too. There have been a good amount of Sailfish around from Palm Beach to Ft. Pierce. Anglers have caught them both by live baiting and trolling. If you are looking for live bait on the water, give Bryan with Stuart Live Bait a call to reserve your baits, 772-985-0425. There have been some Mahis mixed in with the Sails too, we should see the Mahi fishing improve as we get closer to the spring. With all the fronts we’ve had the fish have been a bit scattered and haven’t really stuck to a certain trend over the past few weeks. Finding the proper condition will be a key to finding your fish. Conditions such as color changes, temperature changes, debris or signs of life are all good things to look for to increase your odds of finding the fish. A very useful resource for Facebook users is joining the Treasure Coast Fishing Hub for daily updates and reports from fellow anglers. You can join the group by using this link, https://www.facebook.com/groups/1980300408862732.
For those bottom fishing, the Vermillion Snapper bite has picked up at Pushbutton Hill. Chicken rigs with pieces of squid will get you the bite when you find the schools of them. There have been Amber Jacks and Almaco Jacks out at Pushbutton and around the wrecks and reefs too if you want to drop down a live bait or a jig to go to battle with them. The Lane Snapper bite has been really good on the nearshore reefs in the 50’-70’ range. You can catch them on chicken rigs baited with squid or sardines as well as with live shrimp on a jig head or knocker rig. We’ve had a few Mutton Snappers and Mangrove Snappers around as well. Bigger baits such as grunt plugs, whole ballyhoo or live baits typically produce a few more quality Mutton bites.
February typically provides our first good showings of Permit and Cobia nearshore. The action typically kicks off mid to late in the month and continues into March. You can look for Permit at the Powerplant boils, and the Pipe Barge and other areas with structure in the 40-70’ range. Your best bet is using live crabs when available either free lined or on a jighead. For the Cobia, you can look in the same places that you’re targeting Permit as well as at the Sandpile. When you’re fishing these areas, you can fish live baits, you will typically want to spread them out and have one as a surface bait, and put a few down deeper at various depths ready for one to swim by. You will also want to look for sharks as you will typically see them following close to the sharks on their backs, typically pitching a Cobia jig to them when you see them in those situations is the most effective option. It’s not a bad idea to always have a rod rigged with a Cobia jig this time of year incase you see one when you’re catching bait, run across a turtle, shark or ray with Cobia on them, or even reeling up a fish as sometimes the Cobia will follow your hooked Snapper to the surface. Be prepared with heavier tackle to be able to get the fish away from the sharks, if the shark is about to get your fish you can also free spool your reel to allow the Cobia to swim away from the shark and resume your battle after the shark pulls away.
Surf Fishing Report
Those surf fishing the past few days have been greeted with plenty of action. Anglers casting artificials such as spoons and poppers have stayed busy catching plenty of Bluefish and jacks. Those targeting Bluefish can also cast out chunks of mullet or sardines on wire rigs. There have been a lot of Blacktip sharks around too that can be caught using chunks of dead bait as well as larger poppers. There have been a few Whiting that have been caught on the Fishbites Ghost Shrimp along with pieces of shrimp. The Pompano action is starting to heat up on our local beaches. We can expect to see some of our best Pompano fishing up until April from the surf as long as conditions permit. Fishbites EZ Flea, Electric Chicken Flea and Flesh/Pink Crab have been the hottest scents so far this year. We have assembled packs at the shop that have a strip of each of the three so you can use those to determine what the hot bait is for the day. You can also pair the Fishbites with a sandflea to add some extra scent. The Pompano over the past few days have been caught between 50-80 yards off the beach depending on which beach you are fishing. The Pompano also tend to prefer the cleaner water so if you see a clean water/dirty water line you will want to cast your bait on the cleaner side for better results. There will be days where you will have to hit the 100 yard mark depending on if that is where the good water is or if it is a beach with shallow troughs. Varying the distances of your casts when you get to the beach can be an effective strategy to locate where the schools of fish are feeding too. Typically we start seeing more Permit caught off the beaches this time of year, we haven’t seen many yet due to the water being churned up from past fronts. You will need to have clean water if you want to try to catch a Permit. With the water cleaning up from the calmer days we should start seeing some caught. You will find them in the same range mixed in with the Pompano.
Fishbites is hosting their Shoreline Showdown Surf Fishing Series here in Jensen on Saturday, March 1st with a captains meeting on Friday, February 28th. 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/jensen-beach-march-2025
