From Todd / Eric @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach

Catch 365

"Never Skip A Chance"

Everyone has heard the saying (or some variation of) "You almost never regret the fishing trips you go on, you almost always regret the ones you skip." It's easy to get hung up on trying to pick just the right time, tide, weather, etc for the perfect fishing trip.  Sometimes though, it's important to throw that all out the window and just go fish!

Every trip doesn't  have to be well planned, well thought out, or even a long trip.  This afternoon Fisher and I went for a spur of the moment bike ride/fishing trip around Riverbend Park in Jupiter.  We caught this nice bass, fished for a few minutes, threw rocks and sticks in the water, climbed on picnic tables, gobbled at a turkey, and had a great time...all in about two hours.  

Sometimes the simple quick trips end up being awesome ones, don't skip them! 

Sebastian Inlet Report

               
04-02-14 WEDNESDAY: BLACK DRUM, REDS, SNOOK, JACKS, BLUES, SEA TROUT, SPANISH MACKEREL AND SHEEPSHEAD 

We have another gorgeous day waiting for us at the Sebastian Inlet. Winds are blowing out of the South-Southwest at 4 mph, gusting to 6, which will probably increase as the day progresses. There is a light to medium chop on the water.

We have had a good Sea Trout bite on the flats and in the inlet, north and south sides. Good sized Black Drum and a few whoppers are coming over the rails along with Reds, Snook, Blues, Spanish Mackerel, a few Pompano and Margate. Live shrimp seems to the bait of choice for most species, although the Mackerel prefer silver spoons are gotcha lures. Shrimp continue to run at night.

Our first photo today features Heydee Rojas of Orlando with a beautiful C/R Redfish she landed using live shrimp to land this oversized Red, her first one! The Red was released unharmed right after the photo. 

Rich Blum, inlet regular during our winter months, and his brother Ken who was visiting from Indianapolis fished the north jetty. The men had great luck with Black Drum; they walked away with three nice ones. Rich reported that a lot of Black Drum came over the rails and a few nice ones were lost. The Pompano bite got hot for a while and about 10 - 12 came over the rails. Photo two is of Ken Blum with a large Black Drum, his largest to date. 

Photo three is of snow bird Rich Blum with two nice Black Drum at the north side cleaning table. 

Photo four features year round inlet regular Tony Swiderski of Sebastian with a 20" Black Drum he landed off the north jetty using live shrimp. 

From Capt. Charlie @ Fishing Center - Ft Pierce

As March blows out of the area, you can still plan on some windy days ahead in April. The transition into the summer pattern is well under way and soon the winds will die down and you can enjoy those calm days of summer once again. Expect the fishing to be especially good this April as the water temperatures have remained warmer this year and the fish have been active all winter. March was a little cooler, but the water is warming back up to suit the fish. As the river fills with bait schools, you can bet the fish are hungry and will be feeding heavily. Have fun!

Redfish and trout will become more active around the flats. They will be shallow early and gradually move to the edges of the flats as the sun get higher in the sky. Look to areas like Bear Point, Harbor Branch and Round Island for trout to be feeding on the flats. On a calm morning, break out the top water lures and switch to jerk baits, like a DOA CAL 4” Arkansas Glow or Watermelon. Shallow running Mirrolures will also entice the trout into biting. Don’t forget to use the Deadly Combo or CAL Airhead for more exciting trout action on the grass flats. There has been a lot of redfish activity throughout March and it should make April a fantastic month. Redfish can be found on sandy flats around the docks or try the Moorings and Bear Point for a chance at a nice size red. DOA shrimp or CAL grub tails in root beer or glow colors are great ways to find a redfish along with a trusty gold spoon.

The snook season has many anglers out seeking that slot fish this year. The bite has been good around the inlets and will improve on the flats as well. Snook season will close May 1st so you have this month to find that slot fish. Docks will hold sheephead, jacks, redfish and many other species. I like either a DOA shrimp or TerrorEyz around docks. Fish them slowly to keep them under the dock as long as possible. Drop a live shrimp or pinfish under a dock as well for a great chance at hooking up. There are many great areas to fish so plan on getting some fishing in this month.

Bridges will continue to hold sheephead, jacks, bluefish and some black drum. The big jacks will be invading the river this month. They are not great to eat, but provide a tough battle on light tackle. Ladyfish will be all over the river and keep the kids smiling. The inlet will continue to hold bluefish, jacks and mackerel. While April might be a little windy, it is still a great month to fish the Indian River.

April is the first month that fish can enjoy all the many baitfish schools and they will be feeding heavily on the schools around the flats. The water has already been warming up and you can see the changes in the bite already. Early morning can bring lots of good results this time of year. It was a mild winter this year and the fish are anxious to enjoy some warmer water…..and so are we!

Sebastian Inlet Report

04-01-14 TUESDAY: SEA TROUT, SHEEPSHEAD, SNOOK, REDS, SPANISH MACKEREL, BLUES AND JACKS 

We are experiencing another gorgeous day at the inlet. This morning winds are blowing out of the North at 4 mph and there is a light chop on the water. 

We've been seeing a pretty strong Trout bite, Sheepshead, Blues, Spanish Mackerel, a few Pompano, Reds, Snook and Jacks. 
Our first angler of the day is Wilson Soto of Palm Bay. Wilson was fishing the north jetty when he landed this 30", approximately 25 lb. Black Drum. 
Our second photo is of Randy Meadows of Laurel, Delaware with a real nice Pompano he landed.

SISP Ranger Ed Perry sent in our next two photos. The third is of an unidentified young man with a Spanish Mackerel that he landed off the north jetty. 

From Todd / Eric @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach

Catch 365

"A 'Single' Advantage"

Throwing lures with a single hook, as opposed to several treble hooks, is a great choice to consider when snook fishing at night.  Using a single hook lure has advantages for the angler and the snook.  Anglers tend to find that a single hook "sets", and stays in, much better than treble hooks do.  Anglers also find that a single hook is much easier to remove from a snook's mouth than a large mouthful of treble hooks is.  On that same note, snook that are going to be released very often suffer less damage from one single hook than they do from treble hooks.

Flair Hawk style jigs are a great choice for snook fishing at night.  As is a DOA Baitbuster, like the one in this snook's mouth just before being released.  

From Whites Tackle - Ft Pierce / Stuart

Ft Pierce
 Inshore there has been some nice reds to the north around Vero on the west shoreline with a nice snook mixed in to. The trout fishing has been ok around the islands to the north in like 3 to 5ft of water on soft baits on the outgoing tide. The south jetty has had a few Spanish around and a few snook to.

Stuart
The Trout fishing is still good up around the power plant and Walton rd area, with a couple small Redfish mixed in.  Snook fishing has been good around the docks, bridges and seawalls with live baits and Flare hawks at night.

From Capt Joe Ward @ Bait Shack - FT Pierce

The inshore fishing has been on the slow side this week due to the windy conditions. However, some anglers are finding some nice trout & redfish around the islands to the north of the North Bridge. Try places where you can get out of the wind and the bait of choice has been live pilchards fished under a popping cork and up next to the mangroves. The snook fishing around the bridges has been the best at the late night tide change and most of the fish were caught on live pilchards, pigfish, pinfish or a mullet. Make sure you fish the bait on the bottom. In the Ft. Pierce Inlet look for Spanish mackerel, bluefish and jacks. They will be taking anything shinny. The incoming tide has had the best bite. Still some snapper, sheepshead and black drum along the channel edges. The snapper will take a small live shrimp and the black drum and sheepshead will take a fiddler crab and a live shrimp.