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Understanding Topwater Rods - Flats Class

Scouting Around Palm Beach And Martin County

 

Inshore

Around the Stuart and Jensen Causeways, and most structure in the area, there is still a solid sheepshead bite. They are hitting shrimp and fiddler crabs.

Black drum are being caught at the Roosevelt Bridge and tripletail and croaker are being caught along the channel markers using shrimp on a jig head.

If you're looking for snook, they are being found deeper in to the St. Lucie River right now and even up into the north fork.

The surf fishing along the Martin and St. Lucie County beaches has been hit or miss the past week.  Though it's actually been a little more on the miss side, anglers are reporting catching the occassional pompano and some nice-sized whiting.

There are also Spanish mackerel still being caught around Peck's Lake.

Along the beaches in Jupiter, anglers are getting some pompano, Spanish mackerel and a few bluefish. 

If you're going to walk the beach, throwing a spoon will work well.

Up into the Loxahatchee River, anglers are getting a mixed bag including some hard-fighting jack crevalle, ladyfish and a few pompano.

Like last week, the fishing at the Boynton Inlet has been extremely slow.

Action in the Intracoastal Waterway, inside the inlet has been relatively quiet as well. Capt. Bruce did report seeing small aggregations of manatees moving south.

Lake Okeechobee

The bass bite has been pretty hit or miss the past week. One day it's on fire, the next day it's slow. That said, they are mostly being caught on live shiners. After that, throwing a Senko or flippin' and pitchin' creature-style baits has been working. Working the holes in the hydrilla patches has been good, especially around the Tin House Cove area.

Before this last cool snap, the speck bite had been fantastic. Using jigs or minnows, and fishing the early morning and late evenings, guys were getting their limits. It's still decent and as things warm back up it should improve. Working the edge of the grass patches has been effective, with the pier along with Indian Prairie and King's Bar being hot spots.

More freshwater

Fishing in the conservation area in the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, the bass fishing was fantastic Tuesday morning.

Capt. Bruce caught and released 35 bass, with some up to six pounds, using a mix of Chug Bugs, black/blue football jigs and Whack'n Worms in pumpkin.

Sebastian Inlet Report

 

Our fishing guide, “Snookman” Wayne Landry reports that last week’s blown-out weather yielded to cleaner water and cooler temperatures Thursday through Saturday, drawing in cooler water species usually found this time of year.

Snookman says he saw plenty of black drum being caught on cut clams as well as dead and live shrimp at the North jetty.  

“Most of the fish were between two and five pounds, and a lot of those caught ranged between 20 and 50 pounds,” he says. “Most of these large fish were being caught on the evening tides on the tip of the jetty, a few during the daytime. Also being caught were the large ‘bull’ redfish, most 20 to 30 pounds on cut baits, jigs and spoons, on the outgoing tide.”

Sheepshead are also back, most ranging between one and three pounds and caught on live fiddler crabs and cut shrimp, Wayne notes. He adds that bluefish are being caught on the tip of the jetty during the outgoing tide, while Spanish mackerel are biting small jigs and spoons on the ocean side of the jetty. 

Winds have churned the water at the South jetty and fishing is slow, but anglers are catching small flounder along the rock wall and in the surf pocket area. You might also land catfish, sand perch and whiting using cut shrimp.

Fishing is slow at the T-dock area, but bluefish are possible for those throwing large silver spoons on both tides.

Sheepshead are also back, most ranging between one and three pounds and caught on live fiddler crabs and cut shrimp, Wayne notes. He adds that bluefish are being caught on the tip of the jetty during the outgoing tide, while Spanish mackerel are biting small jigs and spoons on the ocean side of the jetty. 

Winds have churned the water at the South jetty and fishing is slow, but anglers are catching small flounder along the rock wall and in the surf pocket area. You might also land catfish, sand perch and whiting using cut shrimp.

Fishing is slow at the T-dock area, but bluefish are possible for those throwing large silver spoons on both tides.

Winds have clouded the surf on both sides of the jetties, so action is scant, Wayne says.

“Winds will be mostly offshore this week, so expect it to clean up some,” Wayne says. “Since it is cool enough — 67 degrees — the pompano might show up again. Also, I’m hearing reports of sharks being caught in the surf for those throwing large live baits or big chunk baits.” 

“Light winds and cool temperature this week are reasons enough to pack a lunch, hit the bait shop and go to your favorite fishing or ‘chillin’ spot to enjoy crisp air and Florida sun,” Wayne says. “Tight lines, everyone.”

Beach Fishing With Paul Sperco Palm Beach/Martin County Area

 Its been a pretty tough week for any angler who has been trying to put a nice catch of pompano together on our local beaches. The bite has been anything but consistent and a few here and there have been the norm. Based on the lack of a good bite I rescheduled the charter I had today. I just do not want to have anyone waste their time and money if there is not a good chance of putting some fish in the cooler based on weather or lack of fish. I exhausted every resource I have the past couple of days to get some intel on a body of fish being anywhere and its just been tough fishing. Checking back in my saved information I have caught some pompano on the south end of Martin County starting in mid January in past years so I headed down to the Hobe Sound area. Randy caught a pompano and a couple of whiting right away but he had to pack up and head to work. I never had a bite until after the tide change around 1030 and finally managed to put a pompano in the cooler . During the next couple of hours I was lucky enough to catch 5 more , which is the good news. The bad news is I lost at least that many to the army of sharks that moved into the section of beach I was fishing. I only fished two rods the last hour and a half because if you didnt get to the rod immediately , the sharks had your fish. A shark grabbing one on you occasionally is something you can work with. When you cannot get to your rod before its bitten off, its time to leave. As far as what the pompano were eating today, Electric Chicken Fishbites was on fire. I ended up with that being the only bait that was on any of my rigs. Electric Chicken has put alot of pompano in my cooler this year. It looks like this next front is going to shut things down for a couple of days but hopefully it will bring a new body of fish into our area. I also wanted to mention that the Snook Nook just got in a new shipment of Mark Burfords Over The Bar Surf rods. I know there were a few disappointed anglers who missed out on getting one at the Tent Sale but Alec has them back in stock.

From Todd & Eddy @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach

 INSHORE-  Inshore fishing improved a bit this week.  Cooler temps seemed to get the fish biting a bit better.  Sheepshead and black drum action really improved in the Loxahatchee River and ICW.  Live shrimp will be the best bait option for both of them.  Mixed in with the drum and sheepshead will be some ladyfish, jacks, and occasional pompano.  The Hobe Sound ICW flats continue to improve with an assortment of life.  A few trout, pompano, snook, ladyfish, and other assorted life are swimming around on the Hobe Sound Flats right now.  Live shrimp, Gulp Shrimp, and gold spoons are all good bait/lure options on the flats right now.  Look for the stretch from Mile Marker 40-44 to be your best bet.  If the west side of the ICW gets blown out, give the boat docks on the east side of the ICW a try.  

SURF/PIER-  Surf fishing once again left a bit to be desired this week.  Surf and water conditions did improve towards the end of the week; but unfortunately fishing reports did not drastically improve with the better conditions.  A small handful of pompano were caught from Juno Beach up to Hobe Sound.  No rhyme or reason to the pompano, just a few around for those spending time on the beach.  Sandfleas (if you can find them!), clams, and FIshBites all remain good bait choices for the pompano.  The Juno Beach Pier has had a handful of Spanish Mackerel this week.  Crappie jigs or small Rapala X-Raps remain good bait choices for the Spanish Macs on the pier.  Best action for them will be first thing in the morning and then late in the afternoon.  A few kingfish bites on the pier this week as well.  Seems to be best first thing in the morning for the kings.  A size 14 Rapala X-Rap or Yo-Zuri Longcast Minnow will be top lure choices for the kings.  The Blacktip Sharks are starting to show in better numbers along the beach.  Still a few weeks away from full on migration status; but better numbers for sure around this week.