Inshore Fishing Report
September can be one of the best months to fish inshore here in our area with our annual mullet run approaching. We have begun seeing schools of larger mullet inshore and a few pods moving down the beaches but haven’t seen many schools of finger mullet around quite yet. Our trends have all been a bit later this year with the cooler winter that we had. We can expect to see more mullet showing up both inshore and on the beaches in the coming weeks. Fishing the mullet run can be a bit frustrating at times due to the amount of bait around, you really need to make your bait stand out to increase your chances of getting bit. If you are fishing with artificials, don’t be afraid to use bigger profiles as well as surface baits that make commotion on the surface to make your presentation stand out. Fishing your lure on the edge of the bait pods can result in more bites too. You will have plenty of opportunities for an artificial bite throughout the day if you are able to stay with the bait pods. If you are fishing with live mullet, one of the best techniques you can try out to make your bait stand out while maintaining a natural presentation would be to use a small float on your line. The float will provide enough resistance for your bait to slow it down and give it more of an injured presentation making it a much easier target to get hit. You can also fish a bait on the bottom with a lead or even a dead bait underneath a pod of mullet as a lot of times you will see lazier Snook and Tarpon cleaning up on the bottom.
Snook: Snook season reopens on September 1st for our area, one fish per person per day in the 28”-32” slot size. We have still had some schools of Snook around the inlet and on some of the nearshore wrecks, reefs and rock piles. A lot of the schools of Snook are moving back into the river as their annual summer spawn is coming to a close. Look to find them staging up on docks in both the St. Lucie & Indian River as well as around the bridges. Sea walls and canals can also be excellent areas to fish during once the mullet run gets going as the predators will push the mullet up against the seawalls to ambush them. Fishing top waters as well as swimbaits along the seawalls can both be very effective this time of year for those who are looking to throw artificials. If you are fishing the seawalls and are getting a lot of Jack bites, sometimes you will either have to get your baits up closer to the wall or go through a few Jacks before you start getting your Snook bites. For those fishing live baits other than mullet, Croakers, Threadfins and Pilchards all can still be effective even when the mullet get thick. For those fishing with live mullet, you will notice that the bigger Snook will tend to key in a bit more on the larger mullet, typically 6” and larger. Those fishing the mangrove lines up by the power plant have had some Snook action as well. Casting topwaters in the morning and transitioning to soft plastics when the sun gets higher such as DOA Cals, or 3” paddle tails should do the trick.
Tarpon: The Tarpon fishing has been pretty good here lately and should only continue to pick up over the next month with the mullet run approaching. The best action as of late has come from those fishing live mullet in the crossroads. As we start to see the mullet becoming more prevalent, you can look to find Tarpon in a number of areas. Hot spots can include all the bridges, the crossroads, the inlet, cruising the beaches, as well as around Bear Point and Little Mud in the mornings and evenings. You can typically find out quickly if they are in the area you are looking to fish as you can see them either rolling or airing out on mullet schools. ou will see that sometimes your window of opportunity with the Tarpon can be short at times with their feeding on a school lasting only 15 minutes, but sometimes you can also stick with them and get on a really good Tarpon bite. Over the past few years during the mullet run, some of the better fishing can come at night around the shadowlines at the bridges. Timing the tides can also be the key as one day, you might find that the mullet push through at a spot at a certain point in the tide, if you go back and fish the same window of the tide the next day, there’s a good chance that the action will be there again. The larger live mullet will be one of your best baits to use, if you are seeing a good flush of crabs on an outgoing tide, you can switch over to crabs. You can either free line the crab or mullet or fish it with a float. If you are looking to throw artificials, some of the bigger baits from NLBN such as the 8” Paddle Tail & 8” Straight Tail along with the larger JYG Pro paddle tails and
Trout & Redfish: The flats fishing to the north has really come alive over the past year thanks to the seagrass coming back. We have solid areas of seagrass now both on the east and west side of the river. You’ll find more grass once you get north of the power lines, but there are still areas south of the power lines holding grass. The grass is holding a lot of life including Trout, Snook, Redfish and tons of pinfish. Anglers fishing the flats have had steady Trout fishing on both sides of the river. There have been a lot of smaller schoolie sized fish around but those who have put their time in have been able to pick away at some better fish over 20”. Throwing a top water first thing in the morning as the sun is rising then switching over to a soft plastic shrimp, small paddle tail or jerk bait as the sun gets higher will typically be a very productive strategy. Typically if you find one Trout, you will start finding more bites as they have been found in schools. If you are fishing on the east side, you will find more of your Trout bites on the flats as opposed to up under the mangroves. We have also begun to see more Redfish on both sides of the river. You can target them fishing the same baits as you would use for the Trout. On the east side, you will typically find more of them up along the mangroves. On the west side, you can find them under docks or feeding in the grass.
Jacks: For those just looking for some action, we have already started seeing plenty of Jacks cruising the river ready to feed on mullet. Look for them cruising the channel edges and sea walls as well as up on the flats. Pretty much this time of year, if you find a good school of mullet around, there’s a good chance that there will be some jacks nearby and they won’t be too picky. Getting them on topwaters can always be an exciting bite!
Offshore Fishing Report
Surface Fishing: The surface bite really started picking up for anglers in the back half of the month with Sailfish, Mahi, Blackfin Tuna, Wahoo and Kingfish all consistently making the catch lists. The weeds that we have been dealing with the majority of the summer are finally starting to push away making conditions much easier for those fishing the surface. Those targeting Sailfish have had the best success fishing live baits. We will typically start seeing better results trolling for Sailfish in the fall and winter. The better numbers of Sails as of late have come offshore of the Loran Tower. Anglers have been finding Sails scattered around on good conditions along with on some of the local reefs elsewhere but the better numbers have been down south that way. Mahi are generally scattered this time of year, but can be traveling in packs when you do find them. The majority of the Mahi that have been caught have been out deeper around Pushbutton and beyond. They may pop up in shallower depending on conditions and current as they are usually moving around. Looking for signs of life or the right condition such as temperature change, color change or current change will really make a difference when the fish get spread out when fishing for your pelagics. We have seen some jumbo Blackfin Tuna pop up over the past week which is usual for this time of year. The majority of these Tuna will be caught drifting live baits or by those kite fishing. If you are drifting baits, you will definitely want to put a few down to cover the water column. A few of the bigger Tunas have been caught out at Pushbutton but a lot of smaller ones have been mixed in with them. The better quality Tunas have been caught around the hill, inshore of it as well as both to the north and south. We saw a good amount of Wahoo caught around our August full moon with several fish caught after the moon too. There seemed to be consistent reports of Wahoo caught on the 8 mile by those trolling ballyhoo and by those fishing live baits. Other Wahoo reports came from some of the wrecks to the north along with Pushbutton and down to the south around the Loran Tower and in Jupiter on the ledge. We’ve still had plenty of good Kingfish reports on the reefs and wrecks in 60’-90’.
Bottom Fishing: For those Grouper fishing, Gag Grouper and Snowy Grouper are both closed for the remainder of the year. Red Grouper, Black Grouper and Scamp Grouper are all open until December 31st. We generally see some good Red Grouper fishing later in the summer and going into the fall in the 120’ range both on live baits along with chicken rigs with full squids. Mangrove Snapper fishing has been decent, if you can find live Sardines, those will be your best bet for targeting them. Smaller pilchards or chicken rigs with cut sardines can get you some bites too when they’re around. Focusing on bottom in the 70’-110’ range will typically be your best bet. Those targeting Mutton Snappers have been able to pick away at some nicer sized fish, the bite hasn’t been lock and load but those putting their time in have been rewarded with some quality Muttons. The majority of the Mutton reports have been coming from the 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, but live Threadfins or Pilchards can get the job done too. Current is a big part of Mutton fishing, you will definitely want current and enough lead to hold your bait on the bottom. Plenty of Amberjacks have been caught on bottom in the 120’-140’ range along with a few out at Pushbutton.
Surf Fishing Report
Surf fishing can really come alive for us in September when the conditions permit. For those fishing for Whiting & Croakers, they have been around up in the first trough. It has not been a lock and load bite but if you focus on fishing for them on a beach where you aren’t battling slime weed two hours before the high tide mark and two hours of the outgoing tide, you should be able to put together a haul of them. Pieces of frozen shrimp along with either Jingle Bites or Bloodworm flavored Fishbites has been the ticket. We typically start to see a showing of Pompano for those fishing the long rods in September. There usually aren’t a lot of fish, but the ones that are around are bigger Pompano. Staggering your casting distance can be key to finding where they are feeding when they are spread out. Orange and White and Electric Chicken EZ Flea Fishbites along with sandfleas will give you a shot at them. Our Pompano fishing should only begin to pick up as we get into September. Those casting spoons in the mornings have been able to put together a nice haul of Spanish Mackerel.
The beach can turn into a National Geographic like scene during the mullet run and it is truly a sight to see. Tarpon, Snook, Sharks, Jacks and a variety of other predators will be feeding on schools of mullet as they work their way down the beaches. It is always wise to check the beach before hauling all your equipment because a half a mile of distance can be the difference from a lifeless beach to that National Geographic feeding frenzy. If you are able to locate the schools of mullet you will typically find the fish. Live mullet, NLBN paddle tails and straight tails, JYG Pro SWYM and Y-Tails, Hogy swimbaits, Rapala X-Raps, Yozuri Crystal Minnows and spoons are all some of the top choices for those looking to get in on the surf mullet run action. We have started to see some schools on the beaches already so it will only continue to pick up!
