Inshore Fishing Report
Snook fishing is starting to heat up in our area with the numbers of fish caught by our local charter captains increasing by the week. Not only have there been more fish around, but we are starting to see some bigger Snook caught. The Snook fishing will continue to improve throughout the spring. The water temperatures have been warming up which has made them more eager to feed on live baits such as croakers, pilchards or mullet. For those fishing from a boat, look for them on seawalls in the mornings and evenings as well as around docks in the St. Lucie and Indian River. The causeway bridge fenders at the Stuart Causeway and 10 cent have been producing some quality action and there have been a few Redfish mixed in with the Snook at the Stuart Causeway. It’s tough to beat a live croaker for bait if you are fishing the bridge fenders, just be ready for the thump! A few fish have also started to show up around the inlet and at hole in the wall; we can expect to see bigger numbers of Snook in those areas in May. For those fishing from land, the Jensen Causeway has been producing some steady action in the evenings and at night. There have been a good amount of shrimp flowing through on the outgoing tides that they have been keyed in on. You’ll want to try to match the size of your shrimp to the size of the shrimp that are flowing through for best results. One of our employees, Noah, was fishing a 3” Vudu Shrimp and wasn’t getting much action and noticed that the shrimp flowing through were a little bigger than the presentation he was throwing and switched to the 4” Vudu Shrimp which made a big difference and started catching. The Vudu Shrimp and Thumper Shrimp have been our most popular artificial shrimp choices here at the shop. The dock at Indian Riverside Park typically starts providing some good Snook fishing in the spring for us as well. For those wade fishing, we’ve heard solid reports from both the east and west side of the river north of the power plant. Snook, Trout and Redfish have all been in the mix. Topwater baits, 3” paddle tails and artificial shrimp have been the go to baits if you’re looking to head that way. If you prefer fishing with live bait, you can’t go wrong with a live shrimp on a jig head or on a popping cork.
A few Tarpon have been around inshore and we should start seeing that bite picking up as we get deeper into the spring. We typically have a better flow of crabs flowing through the bridges on the outgoing tide this time of year, but we really haven’t seen a lot yet. If you’re looking for Tarpon, focusing on the channels around the Stuart and Jensen Causeways will be one of your best bets. If you can get your hands on some crabs, that will be your best bait option, larger live mullet will work as well. There have been a lot of big jacks cruising the channels and hitting the seawalls if you’re looking for some screaming drag action as well.
The inshore Pompano bite is starting to pick up again for us with steady reports coming from the Jensen Causeway Mosquito bridge. Over the past two years, April has provided us our best inshore Pompano action of the year and it looks like it is shaping up for that to be the case again this year. The chartreuse/orange and chartreuse/pink jigs with a pink or gold teaser has been a favorite for anglers jigging the bridge over the past few weeks. Anglers have also been picking off some Pompano jigging from the east side relief bridge on the Stuart Causeway. Those fishing from boat have found some on the Sailfish flats along with some on the flats around the power plant. We’ve heard about a lot of fish that are still to the south of us that will be migrating back north over the next few weeks.
Those fishing live shrimp around structure have found a variety of species including Triple Tail, Flounder, Snapper, Black Drum, Sheepshead, Croaker and Bonefish. There have still been a few Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish around the inlet and causeways as well.
Offshore Fishing Report
The offshore bite was really productive on fishable days in March. For those fishing the surface, the Blackfin Tuna bite was on fire out at Pushbutton Hill. Those fishing live baits on the surface, kite fishing, trolling and jigging were all able to get in on some of the action. We had multiple reports of them airing out on live baits and putting on a show for those on the boat. Those trolling had success with squid chains, tuna feathers and cedar plugs. Anglers jigging for them would mark the schools on the screen and drop their jigs down to the appropriate depth. Typically first thing in the morning and in the evening offer the best Blackfin bite out at the hill, but there were several days where the best bite was between noon and three in the afternoon. Along with the Blackfins; Mahi, Sailfish , Kingfish and a few Wahoo made the catch list. The Mahi fishing hasn’t been off the charts here recently, but there have definitely been a few schools around with the majority of them being smaller with a few gaffers mixed in. We typically see some larger Mahi and better numbers of fish show up in April. You’ll see a mix of anglers fishing live baits and trolling for the Mahis this time of year. Keep an eye out for edges, weedlines, debris, color changes, birds or any signs of life before putting your lines in to improve your chances of hooking up. If you’re looking to catch sails, typically live bait will be your best bet during the spring. If you’re looking to get some live bait, be sure to give Bryan or Mike with Stuart Live Bait a shout the day before you’re heading offshore to reserve your baits, 772-985-0425. If you haven’t tried kite fishing yet and have entertained the idea of getting into it, this is a great time of the year to start as it provides a ton of action. If you are trolling, it is a great idea to run a rod down deeper with a planer. With all the smaller Mahi around, there’s a good chance of running into a Wahoo or getting into some of the bigger Mahi. You can try rigged mullet, ballyhoo with an islander or sea witch, bonito strips or Nomad DTX plugs on the planer rod.
Bottom fishing is beginning to pick up for us as well with more Mutton Snappers being caught. You can look for them on wrecks and reefs in the 70’-100’ range. You will want to fish a long leader as they can be a bit line shy. For bait, grunt plugs, butterflied ballyhoo, or live baits will work for the Muttons. You typically will want to fish a larger, tougher bait if you are going with a dead bait to keep bait on your hook longer while the ‘picker’ fish like the grunts and smaller reef fish pick away at your bait. We typically start seeing the Mangrove Snapper bite pick up as we get deeper into the spring as well so you can be on the lookout for them. Look to find them on concrete structures on the bottom, you can find them mixed in on the reefs as well. We’ve still had some steady Lane Snapper fishing on the reefs in the 60’ range by those fishing chicken rigs with sardines or squid. The Vermillion bite has remained steady out at Pushbutton Hill on chicken rigs with squid. Grouper season opens up on May 1st so it’s never a bad idea to scout out some spots for when the season reopens!
Cobia fishing has been pretty good over the past few weeks with a good amount of fish being caught around the Sandpile. If you want to try to target them, it is typically best to set a drift and have a spread of live baits with one on the surface, one mid-water column and one towards the bottom. Always have a rod with a Cobia jig ready as well in the event one swims by the boat. You’ll typically see them sticking close to the bull sharks so once that bait gets hit, be ready to rip that fish away from the shark and use heavy tackle. You can also run the beach looking for them as there have been a few manta rays around and you can typically find a few Cobia on the rays. There have been a few Permit caught at the boils offshore of the power plant, if you’re able to get your hands on some live crabs they will be your best option to throw at them either free lined or on a jig head.
Surf Fishing Report
April has been one of our best months for Pompano fishing from the surf over the past few years and surprisingly the afternoon high tides have produced some of the best numbers of fish. Pompano still are caught in the mornings, but for whatever reason after we get past daylight savings the fishing really starts to heat up in the afternoons. Numbers of Pompano from the surf have begun to increase over the past week and we should expect to see the action get into full swing here shortly. Electric Chicken Crab and EZ Flea Fishbites have been the top two choices for those targeting Pompano. There have been a lot of sandfleas on the beaches as well so if you have a rake it would definitely be a good idea to bring it with you as the live fleas have been producing as well. The majority of the Pompano have been in the deeper troughs 80-100yds off the beach so you will definitely want to bring the long rods out. The whiting fishing has been pretty good as well, they have been up in the first trough as well as mixed in with the Pompano in some of the deeper troughs. Pieces of shrimp, shrimp and bloodworm Fishbites will get the job done for the whiting. Expect the whiting and croaker fishing to pick up as we approach the summer.
