Beach Fishing With Paul Sperco Palm Beach/Martin County Area

  I am happy to report a pretty darn good pompano bite that’s been going on the past two days in Palm Beach County . Yesterday afternoon was very good south of us and this afternoon the bite is happening as I write this . The other part of this story is that we had some nice water and conditions up here on Hutchinson Island today but those fish that are down south just haven’t made their northern migration yet . Randy looked at a bunch of beaches and talked to a few friends that put some time in from Stokes to Blue Heron and it sounded like pretty slim pickings . The forecast for the beginning of the week is certainly not the best but it is good to know there’s a shot of fish south of us . I have had some calls about my pompano rig availability and I will be dropping off a bunch tomorrow morning at the Snook Nook and they will be getting another delivery Monday or Tuesday . If you aren’t local I sent a bunch to Fishbites in St Augustine at the end of the week and you can pick them up at their tackle store, Fishbites Trading Post in St Augustine or order them from their website. Let’s hope our conditions are fishable this week and those pompano south of us head our way .

From Todd, Eddy & Jeff @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach

 INSHORE-  Snook fishing remains good over the past week.  The Loxahatchee continues to produce some good fish, especially on moving water early in the morning.  A decent push of springtime mullet and warm temps have the fish relatively fired up on bigger baits.  A mullet or loud topwater fished along seawalls with decent current flow are going to be a solid choice for cruising snook.  A few big jacks and the occasional tarpon mixed in as well.  Sheepshead action has slowed a bit, but still a fair number around.  A few more mangrove snapper reports sneaking in this week as well.  

SURF/PIER-  The Juno Beach Pier has had a pretty solid pompano bite this week.  Rough conditions, mixed in with a strong rip, made the pier a little better option than the beach.  The pompano seemed to bite a little better first thing in the morning; with a few midday flurries, and a evening bite as well.  Bright colored Doc's Goofy Jigs (Char, Pink, Orange) seemed to get the most bites; with a fair number of pomps falling to bait as well.  If the surf allows this weekend, should be a good number of pompano along the beach as well...it's that time of year!  Blacktip reports seemed to pick up a bit late last week into this week.  Again, conditions are the main thing working against us along the beach.  

Check It Out

 FWC statewide snook workshops start next week 

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is adopting a holistic management approach for snook that includes a review of several environmental and human factors including habitat, fishing effort and stakeholder feedback to evaluate the fishery at a more local scale. FWC staff is proposing to establish 10 new management regions with snook regulations based on the status of the fishery in each region. The public is encouraged to attend one of the FWC’s in-person workshops that are being held throughout the state. 

Below is a list of locations. Workshops will begin at 6 p.m. and conclude by 8 p.m. EDT. 

March 23, 6–8 p.m. 
Sebastian City Hall
1225 Main Street
Sebastian, FL 32958 

March 27, 6–8 p.m. 
South Florida Water Management District, Building 1
3301 Gun Club Road
West Palm Beach, FL 33406 

March 28, 6–8 p.m. 
Crystal River City Hall Council Chambers
123 N.W. U.S. Highway 19
Crystal River, FL 34428 

March 28, 6–8 p.m. 
Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Karen A. Steidinger Auditorium
100 Eighth Ave. S.E.
St. Petersburg, FL 33701 

March 28, 6–8 p.m. 
Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center Auditorium
300 Tower Road
Naples, FL 34113 

Beach Fishing With Paul Sperco Palm Beach/Martin County Area

I still haven’t been able to get back on the beach I am happy to post a couple of reports that include sand fleas and pompano. It is probably the first time in some time that sand fleas have appeared on South Hutchinson Island in recent memory and it’s really not a coincidence that there have been some pompano caught also . The pompano bite hadn’t been epic but catches of 3, 4, and 5 fish from Blue Heron to Sailfish Point have been reported to me from friends that have fished the past couple of days. It’s encouraging to say the least and if the trend and results continue as we approach the Daylight Savings Time changeover on the 12th I’m hoping for a more consistent and “normal “ spring afternoon and evening pompano bite . Last spring the Electric Chicken Crab Fish bites was the hot bait so make sure you have some in your bait assortment . My friends that have caught some fish the last couple of days where using sand fleas tipped with Power lime Crab, EZFlea, Blue claw Crab , and Electric Chicken . Hopefully I’ll be back up on the sand later this week and get the opportunity to see a rod bend . Grab your Fish bites and include a sand flea rake in your gear this week. The low light periods of the day, dawn and dusk , will give you the best shot of raking some fleas. Good luck this week and catch em up .P.S. The Snook Nook has the biggest inventory of Fish bites that I can remember seeing . The hard to find Blue claw Crab, Purple Perriwinkle Clam, and the Power lime Crab are all in stock .

From Todd, Eddy & Jeff @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach

 INSHORE-  Snook fishing was decent again this week in the Loxahatchee River, and some wind this weekend will likely keep it pretty good.  A decent number of springtime mullet pushing through, and the snook are keyed in pretty good on them.  Relatively warm weather has got the snook willing to eat the big baits, especially when presented to them along easy ambush points with a little current.  A few jacks and the occasional tarpon mixed in with the snook.  Sheepshead fishing has slowed a bit over the past few weeks; but did hear of a decent little handful being caught this week.  The warmer weather has a few mangrove snapper showing up already as well. 

SURF/PIER-  Super calm conditions early in the week made for slower fishing, but as the wind picked up a bit so did the fishing.  The Juno Beach Pier has had a few Spanish Mackerel around, with a white crappie jig being the main lure of choice.  Warm weather has a few more snook than usual already hanging around the pier as well.  A dead sardine fished patiently under the pier is the way to go for snook bites.  It's boring and a waiting game...but man can it be effective!  A decent scattering of bluefish around this week.  Pompano also were scattered in fair numbers up and down the line.  The spinner sharks have been around in decent numbers; but not locked in any one spot.  Singer Island does seem to be holding the best number of sharks.  

Sebastian Inlet Report

 North jetty: It's all about the snook, still. Quite a few fish have been caught last week and throughout the weekend at the tip of the jetty, and along the inside on both tides, incoming being the best as the water is higher. With the full moon being on March 7, it has the outgoing tide pretty low and the fish have moved out further and the boaters are slamming them! Had to reach them from the jetty. Big females are starting to bite now as the water has warmed up to where they like it. Spawning season for them is just around the corner and they are chewing. Live baits of choice have been croakers and pigfish; they have laid off the shrimp some, but are eating them. Other species being caught on the same baits are the redfish, some small and most are bigger bull reds. Remember, they are still catch-and-release. For those fishing shrimp and sandfleas there have been pompano and black drum still around with the cleaner water. Bluefish and jack crevalles are also present on the outgoing tide for those fishing silver spoons and gotcha lures. Along the rock shoreline between the jetty and catwalk on the incoming tide, and first of the outgoing there are some nice sheepshead still being caught on cut shrimp, also some smaller snook on live shrimp. 

South jetty:  Here is pretty much the same scenario: Snook and redfish on the incoming tide along the jetty and rock shoreline on all live baits. Most of the snook are smaller but there is a good mix of slot snook to be had. On the beachside of the jetty there have been pompano and black drum caught on shrimp and sandfleas when the water is clean. Also, goofy jigs are producing some pompano. Outgoing tide at the tip is all about the black margates, sheepshead and jack crevalle. Cut bait is doing the trick for them. 

Catwalk, south side: Incoming tide is still producing nice sheepshead around the pilings for those fishing cut shrimp and live fiddler crabs. Black margates are also in the mix of things. Not much else over here. 

T-Dock area: Here, things have picked up. Anglers are catching small snapper of different varieties on cut baits around the dock pilings. Incoming tide and the first of the outgoing are producing nice snook on all live baits. Boaters have been doing well, but also the shore anglers are catching their share as well. Spanish mackerel and jack crevalles are around for those folks fishing small jigs and silver spoons on both tides. 

Surf area, both side: If you can find clean water during high tide, pompano, whiting and lack drum are being caught on both sides of the inlet. The south side is the better bet due to deeper water. Sand fleas and fresh cut shrimp are doing the trick on these species. Just for fun, small bonnet head sharks are being caught in the area south of the inlet. 

That's it for this week folks. Things are changing, spring is coming, and the fish know it. Grab bait, get out to your favorite spot and possibly catch some nice fish.” —  Snookman

 

Snook-Nook Fishing Report

 Inshore Fishing Report

Snook season reopened on February 1st and there have definitely been some around throughout the river. We can expect the Snook fishing to continue to improve as we get into the spring. In the St. Lucie River, they have been caught on the docks as well as around the bridges. If you are fishing in those areas, they have been catching them on live pilchards and pinfish as well as live shrimp on a jighead. There have been some reports of some larger fish caught up in the North Fork of the river fishing live mullet and top water plugs on the seawalls. The Jensen Causeway has been providing action for anglers in the evenings and at night fishing live and artificial shrimp such as Thumper Shrimp and Monster 3x shrimp around the shadow lines. For the wade fishing guys, the Snook fishing on the west side of the river up by the power plant has been quite productive on artificial shrimp and DOA Cals. 

The wade fishing on the east side of the river has been yielding Redfish, Trout and Snook. Areas to checkout have been Little Mud and Bear Point. DOA Cals, artificial shrimp and topwaters have been the go to presentations up there. Along with those species, there have been plenty of Jacks and Ladyfish to keep you busy. 

We’ve still been seeing Sheepshead inshore around the inlet, the bridges and docks. If you are fishing docks for them, look for the docks with the most growth on them as those docks provide more food for the Sheepshead. We’ve been getting Fiddler Crabs pretty consistently the past few weeks and that would be your best option for targeting them. Fishing them on a jighead or with a split shot would be the best presentation if you are using them. Fishing shrimp on a jighead around structure has been producing Black Drum, Sheepshead, Croakers, Mangrove Snapper and a variety of other species. 

The Pompano fishing inshore has been pretty quiet the past couple of weeks. A few fish have been picked off at the Jensen and Stuart Causeways for those targeting them from land. We haven’t seen too many of them directly on the Sailfish Flats as of late, but some have been caught fishing in some of the deeper cuts around the islands and off the ends of the docks off Macarthur Blvd. Last year the Pompano made a strong push inshore in April so we hope to see them pushing in soon! 

Surf Fishing Report

The Pompano fishing has remained steady as of late with the majority of the action coming on beaches south of Jensen Public Beach. Be sure to check the color of the water before setting up as if it is too cloudy, chances are the Pompano won’t be biting. As we get into the spring bite, historically the afternoon bite becomes more productive. FishBites have remained to be the most consistent bait this year if you are targeting Pompano. The hot flavors have consisted of Powerlime Crab, EZ Flea, Electric Chicken Crab, Purple Clam and Blue Crab. We have already even seen some Permit being caught on the new Blue Crab FishBites, this is going to be one of the best times of the year to hook into a  Permit from the surf. We can expect to see the Whiting and Croaker bite to improve as we get into the spring months as well. Pieces of shrimp as well as Bloodworm and Shrimp FishBites will get the job done for them.