December is now upon us which means our 2025 Customer Appreciation Tent Sale is right around the corner! Join us at the shop on Saturday, December 13th from 8am – 6pm to catch the deals of the year! Tune into our social media pages for more information, shoot us a message or ask a crew member on your next trip if you have any questions. Find savings storewide on your favorite products, have a shot at over $15,000 in raffle prizes and get to talk to some of the pros from some of the top tier brands!
Inshore Fishing Report
Our wintertime inshore fishing is definitely starting to heat up with more species making their way to us!
Snook: Snook fishing has been steady and the season remains open until December 15th for those looking to harvest a slot sized fish. Some of the better Snook fishing we have seen recently has been around the bridges on live Croakers, Pigfish or Pinfish. On the cooler mornings, the Snook bite will be on the slower side if you are fishing live bait fish such as Croakers but you should see an uptick in the bite as the sun gets a little higher. The Snook will tend to hold around structures like the bridges when the water gets cooler to stay warm so focusing on areas like the bridges, sea walls and deeper holes in the river are all good places to look. A good majority of the Snook have left the inlet and will be found throughout the river. Fishing baits with a slower presentation when the water cools down tends to produce a good amount of bites this time of year such as artificial shrimp, slow rolling paddle tails, jigs and live shrimp. Those fishing with artificials at night have had success fishing the shadow lines of the bridges with lures such as paddle tails and artificial shrimp. Those fishing flairhawk jigs have also found success too. For our Snook fishermen who like to throw artificials, you will find plenty of great deals at the Tent Sale. Thumper Shrimp & JYG Pro artificials will all be Buy 2 Get 1 Free! For every 3 NLBN products purchased, you will receive a free pack of Tent Sale Exclusive Limited Batch 4” K-Tails. All other lures will be at least 20% off too!
Pompano: The Pompano bite has really picked up here inshore over the past week. The majority of the action has been on the Sailfish Flats on Pompano jigs. Typically the high and incoming tides will be most productive on the flats. There have been a lot of Cownose rays on the flats that have been kicking up the sand and the Pompano have been found with the rays. The Pompano will follow the rays when they are around because when they kick the sand up, they are kicking up little shrimp, crabs and other crustaceans that the Pompano will feed on. Those jigging on the flats have caught Bonefish, Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish, Jacks & a variety of other species along with the Pompano. If you can find a good tideline inshore, it’s never a bad idea to jig on the clean side of it as the Pompano may be following the clean water. Those fishing the Jensen & Stuart causeways for them have been able to pick off a few fish too.
Spanish Mackerel: We are starting to see the Spanish Mackerel show up at Pecks Lake and we have had some pretty good weather for anglers to get out there. They aren’t at Pecks in huge numbers yet, but with another cold front or two we should begin to see more fish there. Chumming them up with glass minnows to fire them up and casting out a Gulfstream Flash Minnow or spoon will typically get the job done. Spanish are being found in the inlet as well as a few around the bridges too.
Trout: Trout fishing to the north around the power plant has remained steady. The majority are being caught on the grass flats, but you can pick a few off casting into openings in the mangroves as well. Artificials like the DOA Cal, 3” paddle tails, artificial shrimp and top waters all have been productive for those Trout fishing. If you are fishing paddle tails, you definitely will want to bring a few extras as you will be surprised with the amount of pinfish there are up there that will bite the tail of the bait off. The majority of the Trout caught have been schoolie sized in the 12”-15” range, there have been a few fish caught over 20” too. If you come across a school of glass minnows on the flats or up against the mangroves, it is always a good idea to take a few casts around them. For those who want to fish live bait, live shrimp on a popping cork is one of the best methods to go with.
Misc: Black Drum fishing has really started to pick up. They have been caught at the bridges, with the Roosevelt Bridge producing the best numbers. You can also find them on various docks and channel markers in both the St. Lucie and Indian Rivers. You can catch them with shrimp on a jig head, fiddler crabs as well as on chunks of Blue Crab. Sheepshead fishing is starting to pick up for us, we typically see our best bite on them starting in January going into February, but there have been a few that have been cooperative. Look to find them around any structure with barnacle growth as they will typically be around them crunching on those barnacles. Live shrimp or fiddler crabs will be your best bait choices. The fiddler crabs can give you an advantage at times because all the bycatch like little snappers typically won’t pick away at them like they will the shrimp. Those fishing the channel markers and crab trap buoys north of the Jensen Causeway have been greeted with Triple Tail, Sheepshead, Croakers and a few Black Drum on shrimp and a jig head. This style of fishing can be fun for the whole family cruising from marker to marker catching a variety of different species. Along with the species mentioned, you can also run into Flounder, Snook, Grouper and more fishing this method.
Offshore Fishing Report
Surface Fishing Report
The surface fishing has been pretty good out of the St. Lucie Inlet over the past few weeks. We’ve seen a good showing of Mahi with plenty of gaffers in the mix, some decent Sailfishing and a ton of Blackfin Tunas. The Blackfins have mainly been caught out at Pushbutton Hill. They have been caught trolling, on live bait, on jigs and even on poppers. A few boats have been loading up their wells with small chummer sized pilchards in the river before leaving the inlet and chumming the Tunas up to the surface which makes for an epic bite. They have been nice sized Tunas too, with plenty in the 20+lb range. The Mahis and Sails have mainly been caught by those trolling Ballyhoo. The fish have been scattered from Jupiter Inlet to Ft. Pierce Inlet and have been holding up in good water conditions. If you are heading out trolling, you definitely want to look to find a good condition before putting your lines out. Look for conditions such as a current rip, color change, temperature change, weedline, floating debris or signs of life such as bait, birds or other marine life to increase your chances of hooking up. If you aren’t getting bites on the clean side of the color change, don’t be afraid to try on the dirty side as sometimes the fish will hold up in there. Those who have been trolling with planers have also been able to find a few Wahoos around. Trolling skirted ballyhoo or bonito strips on the planer rod should get you a bite if you come across a Wahoo. Live bait has been difficult outside of our inlet, there really has not been much to be found over the past few weeks. Bryan and Mike from Stuart Live Bait are finishing up their yearly maintenance from a busy spring and summer and will be traveling to find the baits very soon. Shoot them a text or give them a call at 772-985-0425 to get the scoop on what they have available.
Bottom Fishing Report
Bottom fishing out of the St. Lucie Inlet has yielded Mutton, Vermillion, Lane & Mangrove Snapper along with Triggerfish, Amberjacks and a few Red Grouper. The Vermillion Snapper bite has been steady out at Pushbutton Hill, they can be caught on chicken rigs with squid. You can also find your Amberjacks out at the Hill on live baits, jigs or bigger chunks of dead bait. The Lane Snapper bite has been pretty good on some of the nearshore reefs in the 50’-70’ range. We typically see some really good Lane Snapper fishing this time of year that will continue for the next few months. You can catch them on chicken rigs with cut sardine or squid. Look to target the Red Grouper 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. The Muttons have been tough to find, but the ones being caught have been some quality sized fish. It’s never a bad idea to look down south around the Loran Tower in 70’-90’. You will definitely want to fish a long leader in the 40’ range to get the bite along with enough lead to keep your bait on the bottom. Grunt plugs are typically one of the favorite bait choices for those targeting Muttons.
Nearshore Fishing Report
As mentioned earlier, we are starting to see the Spanish Mackerel make an appearance out at Pecks Lake. Another cold front or two and we should begin to see them in really good numbers. Anglers have still been able to put together their recreational limits on the Mackerel. Chumming them up with glass minnows to fire them up and casting out a Gulfstream Flash Minnow or spoon will typically get the job done. As we get into January and February, you will start seeing more Lane Snapper and Sheepshead make an appearance at Pecks on the reef underneath the Mackerel. You can catch them with shrimp on a jighead when they show up. The Permit fishing at the boils offshore of the power plant has been really good. Anglers have been able to catch them with live crabs as well as sandfleas and shrimp.
Surf Fishing Report
Surf fishing has really picked up over the past few weeks. We saw a really good Pompano bite off the beaches after the cold front that lasted a good week. When that bite was going on, the fish were caught anywhere from 60-100yds off the beach so it is always wise to vary your casting distances to locate where the fish are feeding and then adjusting to the distance that you end up finding them. Capt. Paul Sperco has had his best luck with the Fishbites Electric Chicken Flea and standard EZ Flea. He has also reported production out of Powerlime Crab and Pink/Flesh Crab Fishbites. Fishbites will be Buy 2 Get 1 Free at our tent sale and Sputnik Sinkers will be Buy 3 Get 1 Free so Saturday, December 13th will be a great chance to stock up for the Pompano season. All rigs, sandspikes, sandflea rakes, carts, rods and a majority of the entire store will be 20% off that day so be sure to come on by and take advantage of the savings. There have also been a good amount of sandfleas on the beaches, Capt. Paul has been doubling the Fishbites up with a live sandflea when they have been around. Along with the Pompano, a few Permit have been brought up to the sand by those fishing the long rods. We should continue seeing waves of Pompano pushing down with the cold fronts.
We’ve had some solid Whiting fishing by those fishing the first trough. If you are targeting them, you will want to aim around fishing the last of the incoming and high tide mark and you will want to focus your fishing about 10yds from the shoreline. You can catch Whiting on pieces of shrimp as well as shrimp flavored Fishbites.
We thank you all for another great year and look forward to a great 2026 with plenty of fish in everyone’s future. From the whole crew at the Snook Nook, we wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Lake Okeechobee Fishing Report – Capt. Angie Douthit
Lake Okeechobee’s water level has been hovering just below the 14 ft. mark so exercise caution
when boating by coming off plane with your boat on the outside grass edge then idle or troll to
the inside areas you are wanting to fish. Okeechobee has a lot of rock bottom and lower units
are costly to replace. I’m seeing some areas of the lake that the eel grass and hydrilla are
starting to come back and should really thrive and be plentiful in looking ahead to the very near
future. Areas on the lake that are producing bass are: Kings Bar; Buckhead Ridge area(s); Tin
House; some spots around Indian Praire and on down towards Dyess Ditch. Outside areas
around Dupree bar; some parts of the Monkey box and areas on the Shoal as you make your
way South. On the East side, Nub and Slough and around Hendry Creek. Live-bait for bass is
catching numbers along with bigger female bass that are spawning and the lure bite is really
good throwing frogs; swim baits/jigs; worms; flipping/pitching; some top water and spinner
baits. Lure colors are: june bug; red shad; white; tilapia; bluegill patterns (shallow crank baits)
and black/blue. Boaters are scattered as they fish, you’ll see some back in against hard walls of
vegetation; some out in the middle area and others keeping to the outer edges. I’m booking a
lot of crappie trips for the jig bite fishing in the shallows so get your prefer date(s) in before the
crappie season is over in late March/early April. Every year, the lake does change so explore
your old spots and check out new areas that look fishy! I’m anticipating a very active but tricky
bass and crappie spawn this year, which means that they could be in areas that you couldn’t or
didn’t find in the past. To book you’re next fun-filled day fishing Okeechobee, call me at 863-
228-7263 or check out my updated website that contains a plethora of information at
www.southfloridabassfishing.com I can accommodate 4 people on my new 21.5 foot Caymas
bass boat that is rigged with forward-facing sonar and offers a really nice-comfortable, roomy
ride with tons of storage for you to bring your own tackle/lures if you choose to do so, but I do
supply top of the line rods/reel, all terminal tackle for artificial trips for both bass and crappie;
bottles of water; ice; sunscreen and light rain gear. I also have access to another guide boat to
accommodate group trips; offer active Military and One-person guided trip discounts. Cleaning
your days Crappie catch can be arranged. I AM TAKING BOOKINGS TO FISH HEADWATERS LAKE
LOCATED IN FELLSMERE, FL. I hope this information helps you to have a better, more
productive day of fishing. Tight Lines !!
