Snook-Nook Fishing Report

 Inshore Fishing Report 

May is one of the most productive months for inshore fishing in Stuart, Florida. With warm water temperatures, usually calmer conditions and bait becoming more abundant, anglers can expect excellent action in both the Indian and St. Lucie Rivers.

Snook: Our late spring Snook fishing has been heating up for anglers in our area! We are beginning to get into the best time of the year for Snook fishing as they prepare for the summer spawn. Not only do we have a chance to catch a good number of fish, this is the time of year where you tend to see a lot of the bigger breeder Snook caught. When you are targeting or catch the breeder fish, please remember to treat them with care when caught as they will be providing us with our future Snook population. Using circle hooks and reducing their time out of the water are helpful to ensure a strong release of the fish. Snook season remains open until June 1st if you are still looking to harvest a slot. All four main causeways (Jensen, Stuart, 10 Cent & Roosevelt) have been productive over the past few weeks. Fishing the bridges with live Croakers will typically be your best bait choice as they will naturally swim to the bottom. If the current is flowing, utilizing larger split shots is not a bad idea to keep your bait in the zone. Sea walls in both the Indian & St. Lucie River have been productive too. Fishing the sea walls with live mullet or threadfins has yielded anglers with a lot of Snook and some big Jacks. You will find some fish bouncing around the docks too. There has been a lot of life around the power plant including solid numbers of Snook hanging out in the mangroves for those looking to fish to the north. We should begin to start seeing more Snook start moving around and work their way towards the inlets and beaches towards the end of the month approaching their summer spawn so areas like the jetty and Hole in the Wall should begin to be more productive. If you are planning on going out for an evening or night trip, the dock lights have been very productive and there have been a few Trout mixed in with the Snook in certain areas. Live Pilchards, live shrimp, small paddle tails or artificial shrimp will be some of your best bait choices if you’re looking to hit the lights. Those fishing by land have found success at the Jensen Causeway, Indian Riverside Park, wading on the east and west side of the river north of the Jensen Causeway also look for the Snook bite to improve at the Ft. Pierce jetty. With the temperatures heating up, if you are planning on fishing in the afternoon or later in the morning on some of our warmer days, try to fish in areas with either deeper water, flowing current or shaded areas as the Snook will head to these areas as the water heats up. If you are looking to fish artificials, mornings, evenings and at night will be your best bet.

Tarpon: The Tarpon have not yet been widespread inshore, but there have definitely been a few around. Anglers have found Tarpon around the Stuart Causeway as well as up by the power plant. Larger live mullet has been the ticket for those fishing live baits. Drifting crabs on a float around the bridges should find you a bite too when they are around. We have not really had a good flush of crabs this year so the crabs have been on the scarce side this year. For those fishing artificials, the DOA Bait Buster and DOA TerrorEyz are tried and true great lures for targeting Tarpon. 

Pompano: The inshore Pompano fishing was definitely on the slower side compared to previous years in April. Our cooler winter this year may have delayed the action with reports of fish still to the south of us that will need to migrate north. For those that have been targeting them, anglers have been able to pick away at a few on the Jensen Causeway east side relief bridge. A lot of the Pompano have been caught directly at your feet up to 10ft away from the bridge so be sure to work your jig through that zone. You’ll definitely want some current flowing as it really slows down during slack tide. 3/8oz and 1/2oz Pompano jigs have been the most popular choices. 

Trout: Those who are targeting Trout have still been able to pick away at a few. The better numbers of fish have been caught north of the power plant on both the east and west sides of the river. On the west side, you will have your better shot at finding a school of them at the end of the docks. There have been Trout caught as far south as Joe’s Point just south of the Jensen Causeway along with a few mixed in the dock lights. Targeting them with soft plastics such as DOA Cals, artificial shrimp, top waters or twitch baits will get the job done when you find yourself around them. For those looking to fish live baits, live shrimp on a popping cork is an effective strategy too.

Misc: There have been some Tripletail caught by those running the crab trap buoys north of the Jensen Causeway. When you do find one, pitching them a live shrimp will typically get you the bite. We will typically have one rod rigged with a jig head and one rod rigged with a small cork to offer two different presentations if they aren’t cooperating. Stone crab season closes in May so you will see a whole lot less buoys in the water which can be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it. The Tripletail are still around, but will move to channel markers and other structures with the absence of the buoys. The Sheepshead and Black Drum bite has slowed down with the warmer water temperatures, but we should begin seeing some better Mangrove Snappers here inshore as we approach the summer. Plenty of big jacks have been around cruising the channels and sea walls too.