2026 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 with our winter migratory species making more of a showing as we continue to get cold fronts! 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 especially during the cold fronts are also solid choices for those looking to fish artificials. 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 such as croakers or pilchards. 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.
The Trout fishing on the flats around the power plant and north of there has remained productive and we are starting to see a few bigger Trout around. During the summer and fall, we had a lot of schoolie sized fish in the 10”-15” range, but now we are beginning to see a few more fish in the 20”+ size range. The Trout have been caught on both the east and west side of the river. If you find an area with glass minnows around the mangroves or on the flats, it would definitely be wise to take a few casts around them. 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. There have been a lot of pinfish around which can make fishing a live shrimp a bit more difficult as you will definitely go through some bait. A few Redfish have been mixed in by those fishing the mangroves north of the power plant too.
Our Sheepshead fishing is starting to heat up and will only get better as we typically see our best Sheepshead fishing inshore 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 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. 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.
Our inshore Pompano fishing has been productive so far this year. 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 Pompano have been tougher to get a bite out of at times, even when they are skipping around. If you run into a situation like that, fishing a standard Pompano rig like you would fish off the beach with sand fleas sometimes will get you the bite when they aren’t feeding aggressively. The Spanish Mackerel have been at Pecks Lake for those who are looking to load up on them. Gulfstream Flash Minnows and spoons will be your ticket to getting them. Never a bad idea to bring a box of glass minnows with you to chum them up too!
Offshore Fishing Report
December actually provided the opportunity for a lot of boats to get offshore this year and those who were able to get out there were greeted with a pretty good surface bite. The majority of boats have been finding their bites trolling Ballyhoos. For those who want to fish live baits, Bryan and Mike with Stuart Live Bait have been out there when the weather has been good with live baits on the water, give them a call to reserve your baits the day before at 772-985-0425 as there really hasn’t been much bait for us out front. The action on the surface has been scattered from Jupiter Inlet to Ft. Pierce Inlet. We’ve had a good showing of Mahis around with some Sails in the mix too. The majority of that action recently has ranged from 90’-140’ but always can change. 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 a 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. The Blackfin Tuna bite has remained hot out at Pushbutton Hill. Fishing live baits is generally more productive for those looking for the Blackfins. Anglers have been loading up their wells with small chummer sized baits to get the Tuna fired up and have been catching them on artificials as well as on live baits they toss in with the chummers. Anglers have also been able to catch the Tunas early in the morning trolling feathers and Cedar Plugs as well as on jigs when they get down a bit deeper when the sun gets higher.
Those putting their time in searching for Mutton Snappers have still been picking a few nice ones off in the 60’-90’ range. 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. Lane Snappers, Vermillion Snappers, Triggerfish and some Sea Bass have been making their way back to the fillet table too. 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.
Surf Fishing Report
When conditions have permitted, the surf fishing has been pretty good and should continue to improve as we get more cold fronts. 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. For those targeting Pompano, the bite has been scattered from Hobe Sound Beach all the way up to the Ft. Pierce Inlet. The Pompano bite has ranged 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. The Pompano bite will only continue to improve from now until typically April when conditions permit. We also generally start seeing a few more Permit caught mixed in with the Pompano as we get into January/February. We have also had a good number of sandfleas on the beaches too for those who are looking to catch them.
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.
Lake Okeechobee Fishing Report – Capt. Angie Douthit
Lake O’s water level has been around the 13.5 ft mark which makes for safe boating a priority especially
if you are unsure where you are as you navigate Okeechobee’s expansive fishery. Bass and crappie
fishing has been pretty consistent with quality and quantity size bass and limits being caught for the
crappie. If you haven’t booked your fun time fishing on beautiful Lake Okeechobee now is a great time
to get your trip of a lifetime booked for bass and/or crappie before the spawn season ends. Bass are
being caught on a few major areas on the lake such as: Observation Shoal; Dyess Ditch/Horse Island
areas; Indian Praire/Tin House; Buckhead Ridge area; Kings Bar and a few areas on the East side around
Nub N Slough and some small areas around J & S. Some areas of the lake have lots of eel grass and
other vegetation that is taking hold and growing back and both crappie and bass love those areas. Lures
for bass are: senkos; popping frogs; swim jigs/baits; cut tail worms; spinner baits; shallow crank baits
and some top water. A good color pattern for this time of year is Junebug; Redbug; White; Crawdad;
Tilapia; Green-Pumpkin/Gold flake. For the crappie bite, both drifting/pushing/pulling with live-
minnows are working in the deeper water areas such as Canals and the Kissimmee River. Lure colors for
crappie for jigging are: chartreuse; white; orange; pink and green…water color/clarity can depict color to
use and well as color for the jig head but I prefer simple black with chartreuse/white eye. Areas for
crappie are pretty much the same as for the bass. Some crappie are being caught in mixtures of various
vegetation clumps. To book you’re fun and educational day on the water call 863-633-0034 or 863-228-
7263 to find out more information on booking a trip and what all is included check out my website
www.southfloridabassfishing.com hotel discounts available at the time of booking with a top hotel in
Okeechobee as well as Veteran/One-person discounted trips. My Sponsors include: Toho Marine;
Mercury; Lews; Bullet Weights; G-Loomis; Gill; Real Magic; BnM Poles; Mid-South Tackle; Tru-Turn hooks
and Road Runner crappie lures.
