Fishing Report – September 2017 – Stuart, FL

First things first, all of us here at the Snook Nook hope everyone got through hurricane Irma safely, our thoughts are with those severely impacted by the storm. The minor damage we saw here locally is nothing compared to what others are enduring. This storm left millions in the dark, many with major damage and even worse, some without a home to return to. Help your neighbors in any way you can, we are all in this together. With that being said, the shop is open, back to regular hours and the live shrimp are coming through the door as I write this report. Let’s go catch a fish!

[product id=”1511″]

The baits were able to weather the storm and the mullet run is in full swing here on the treasure coast. The fall Snook season has arrived and is already yielding many slot sized fish. The bridge anglers have been doing extremely well both jig fishing and throwing plugs. Let the conditions determine the weight of the jig, it’s not like the winter time fishery where you’re working with a 20-knot north wind, typically a 1oz jig is more than enough to get you to the bite zone. Colors depend on the angler, we sell a lot of different colors and many state, “It doesn’t matter what color jig you throw, as long as it’s chartreuse!” Topwater plugs are a great choice as well and produce more and more as we get further into the mullet run. MirroLure’s Top Dog or the Rapala Skitterwalk are both excellent in the greenbacks, black backs and red/white colors. Work them on the outer edges of the mullet schools with intermittent pausing until you find the action they want to eat! All the causeways along the Indian river have been producing some big fish as well as a few fit for the table, remember 28”- 32” is the slot limit and your allotted one per person per day. The tarpon bite in the inlet has been nothing short of spectacular, dead baits, live baits and large swim baits like the Spooltek and LiveTarget lures all have been putting fish in the air. Make sure you bring heavy enough tackle if you want to have a shot at bringing a fish boat side.

There was a considerable amount of erosion at many of our local beaches as reported by our good friend Capt. Paul. The fishable beaches are Middle Cove, Herman’s Bay, County Line, Tiger Shores, Santa Lucia and Stuart Beach among a few others. Most all other accesses have considerable drop-offs of 4′-6′ to get to the water’s edge, tough to get your fishing gear down a 5′ sandy cliff. While a little early for a full report, Paul did note that the mullet at Middle Cove were getting pounded by all kinds of predators but were just out of casting distance. Look for the bait to move in closer and thicker as the conditions calm down. As far as the beach goes, find the bait, find the fish.

Offshore, your guess is as good as mine. The majority of the charter fleet is just getting back in the water and the rest of us are still taking down a few boards. Be cautious when boating both in the river and offshore, the strong winds produced a lot of debris from dock pilings to palm trees so be safe out there. Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments below!