Inshore Fishing Report
Our summertime Snook fishing is in full swing here on the Treasure Coast. If you’re looking to try to catch a trophy sized Snook, this is a great time of the year to give it a shot! There have still been good numbers of Snook schooled up in the inlet. Look for the schools around the south detached jetty, along the beach by the Hole in the Wall, in the Crossroads as well as on the beaches to the north and south of the inlet. Fishing live baits such as Croakers, Pilchards and Threadfins have been the most effective baits in the inlet. It doesn’t hurt to try fishing dead baits around the inlet such as a dead Threadfin when the fish aren’t eating the live baits as some of the lazier fish tend to be more inclined to eat those. Some of the schools haven’t been as cooperative when it comes to getting bites from them, but if you find yourself in that situation, it is best to move onto trying to find the next school. We’ve been getting a steady supply of Croakers here at the shop and should have a steady supply throughout the summer weather permitting. Don’t be afraid to shoot out the inlet to fish some of the nearshore wrecks and reefs this time of year as they will commonly be found out there. Fishing bridges and docks in both the St. Lucie and the Indian River should result in a few fish as well. The concrete blocks underneath the causeways have been holding some big Snook, be sure to have some heavy tackle if you plan on going to battle there! When we get the high afternoon temperatures, the water will heat up a good bit as well. When that water heats up you will want to focus on areas with deeper water and moving current as the fish will tend to move to those areas. If you’re looking to fish in the evening into the night, the dock light fishing has been pretty good. You will see that the fish may feed more at night in the lights due to the water temperatures cooling down after the sun sets. Anglers fishing from shore can look to get in on some Snook action on the beaches, at the Jensen Causeway, at Indian Riverside Park, the Ft. Pierce jetty and wading north of the power plant in the mornings and evenings. At the causeway they have been feeding pretty consistently on shrimp and crabs that have been flowing through on the outgoing tides in the evenings. Free lining crabs or shrimp as well as fishing a shrimp on a jighead will give you a good shot at hooking up. If you are looking to fish artificials; NLBN paddle tails, Vudu or Thumper Shrimp and Yozuri Crystal Minnows have all been solid choices.
Anglers fishing live shrimp have been able to pick away at Mangrove Snappers around structure here inshore. If you’re looking to weed through some of the smaller ones, fishing a small pilchard or pinfish on a jighead is a great strategy to catch some of the bigger ones mixed in when they’re around. We typically see our biggest Snapper here inshore during the summer months. Those fishing live shrimp have also run into Flounder, Sheepshead, Black Drum and a variety of other species. Keep in mind that July is typically the toughest time of the year to get live shrimp. The water heats up in the gulf and the shrimp will bury themselves in the mud to stay cool, when that happens our shrimpers aren’t able to catch them. The few shrimp that are caught are very small and face higher chances of die off on the ride over due to the warm water. Please be patient with us when it comes to the live shrimp as we are at the shrimper’s mercy, feel free to call the shop for updates when the shrimp supply becomes difficult.
We typically will begin to see more opportunities for catching a Tarpon as we get into July. We are starting to see some crabs flowing through the bridges on the outgoing tide, it hasn’t been nearly as many crabs as last year or years past, but definitely a good sign. If you are fishing around the bridges, you will want to focus on that outgoing tide, free line a crab or free line a larger live mullet to give you the best chance at hooking up. Adding a float on your line isn’t a bad idea either to keep your bait up on the surface where the Tarpon have been feeding. We also usually start seeing more Tarpon showing up in the inlet and cruising the beaches in the mornings and evenings in July. Fishing live Threadfins or mullet will give you a good shot at them if you see them around.
Offshore Fishing Report
The offshore bite has been productive for anglers both fishing the bottom and on the surface. The surface bite has consisted of Sailfish, Kingfish, Mahis, Blackfin Tuna and a few Wahoo. The majority of the action has come from the Sails and Kings as of late. The Sailfish have been caught in as close as 60’ and scattered all the way out to 400’. Finding the proper conditions to fish will greatly increase your chances of finding them when they are spread out, it isn’t always about how deep the bite has been because it can change on a daily basis. Those conditions can be things as little as clean water breaks, current changes, weedlines or water temperature changes. Typically areas with those conditions will hold some sort of life which could be the fish you’re targeting or a school of bait that may bring that fish you are looking for in. Our summer Sailfish bite has been pretty good over the past few years and it is looking like this will be another good year. The Kingfish bite has been pretty good at the Six Mile as well as down to the south off the Loran Tower. You can expect to find them scattered in the 60’-90’ range both to the north and south of the inlet but expect to find them in better numbers around the reefs. The Mahi fishing has slowed down a good bit which is typical for this time of year with a lot of the Mahis that have been caught have been in the ‘peanut’ or schoolie sized class. There have been a few gaffers around and you can’t ever rule out a big bull being around when you’re out there though! Looking for signs of life and the proper conditions will be the key to catching them if you’re on the Mahi hunt, also don’t be afraid to run out deep as there have been some nice fish caught by those on the swordfishing grounds. Typically if you can find a piece of floating structure even as small as a piece of wood out in the 1000ft range there will usually be some Mahis around it. There have been some Blackfins caught out on Pushbutton Hill in the morning as well as some mixed in the 120’-160’ range. The Wahoo bite around the July full moon was really good last year and we are definitely hoping for some of the same this year. Our July full moon is going to be on July 24th. Those who got into them last year caught them mixed in with their standard live bait spreads as well as trolling. Fishing live baits this time of year typically out produces trolling. Bait has been pretty consistent to the north of the inlet, but it has also been tough at times. If you don’t want to stress about bait, reserve your baits with Stuart Live Bait the night before, they do tend to sell out so preordering is definitely not a bad idea, 772-985-0425. Bryan and Mike have been right in front of Sandsprit on the water in the mornings typically with Threadfins, Pilchards and Goggle Eyes. For those live bait fishing; kite fishing, bump trolling baits or just drifting have all been effective strategies. It’s also never a bad idea to stagger your baits and fish them at different depths especially when the sun gets up higher to cover more water.
For those bottom fishing, Gag Grouper season closed for us here on June 25th so they will all unfortunately have to be catch and release going forward until the season reopens next year. The Snowy Grouper season also closed on June 8th. If you are looking to bring home some Grouper for dinner, Red, Black, Scamp and Yellowedge Grouper are all still open. Our Red Snapper ‘mini season’ will be open for recreational anglers on July 11th and 12th and anglers will be permitted one fish per person. Remember to have a descending device and venting tool on board if you are planning on bottom fishing especially during our Red Snapper days as they are required and FWC will be checking boats. We have both available here at the shop. The Mangrove Snapper bite has been picking up on structure in the 80’-110’ range and that action should continue to heat up. They tend to prefer concrete structure on the bottom, but will also be found on some of the natural reefs. You can target them fishing live baits, typically Pilchards will be your best option and they can also be caught using chicken rigs with chunks of sardines. The Mutton Snapper bite was definitely off to a slower start this year but appears to be picking up. Fishing long leaders on reefs in the 70’-90’ range with grunt plugs, larger dead baits or live baits will be your best approach for them. A few guys have been Snapper fishing at night and have been doing really well. We’ve had steady numbers of Vermillion Snapper caught out around Pushbutton Hill, there have also been plenty of Amberjacks on the bottom at PushButton too.
Surf Fishing Report
Whiting fishing has been pretty good for anglers fishing from the surf all month, the main issue anglers have had to deal with is some slime weed. If there is slime weed or an abundance of weeds in the water at the beach you choose, it is best to try a different beach as there may not be any weed at the next beach access and the fish have been spread out along the island. Over the past week, the best of the Whiting fishing has come from beach accesses north of Jensen public beach. The majority of your bites will come close to the shoreline in the 5 to 15 yard range. There have been some nice sized Croakers caught from the surf too. Pieces of shrimp and either bloodworm or shrimp Fish Bites have been the ticket to putting these fish in the cooler. You will also want to focus your fishing around the high tide for both the Whiting and Croakers.
The Snook are starting to show up in better numbers on the beaches for those looking to get in on that action. Typically your better fishing for them will be around the high tides too and in the morning or evening. The morning and evening windows will give you a better chance to get a bite using artificials. White paddle tails, Yozuri Crystal Minnows and twitch baits are all solid choices if you’re going the artificial route. It’s always a good idea to have a rod with a sabiki tied on in the event of some bait moving down the beach. You can catch the threadfins or pilchards with the sabiki and free line them right in the first trough, live Croakers are also a great choice to free line. There have been some Tarpon cruising the beaches, but the majority of them have been out of casting range. We do tend to start seeing them come a little closer when the bait schools get up close to the beach.
