From Todd & Eddy @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach

 INSHORE-  Snook fishing was good agin this week.  Warming weather and some wind definitely doesn't hurt the snook fishing! A good number of snook in the Loxahatchee River and north in the ICW.  Live mullet fished around boat docks and seawalls will be the best bet for the snook during the day.  At night the snook have been around the bridges in good numbers.  A flair hawk or swimbait is a solid choice for the snook.  Look for a good moving tide and the snook should be around.  A few more mangrove snapper reports coming in.  Small pilchards and live shrimp are a good choice for the mangrove snapper.  

SURF/PIER- Strong east winds in the forecast will likely make surf fishing very tough this weekend.  Seaweed has been thick in the surf this week; and based on the forecast it doesn't look like it will clean up all that much.  Pompano fishing has been good this week, with some good numbers of fish definitely still around.  Sandfleas, clams, shrimp, and FishBites remain the bait of choice for the pompano.  The Juno Beach Pier has had some good action over the past week as well.  Schools of big jacks have been cruising through in good numbers.  A GT Ice Cream or diamond jig has worked well to get them to bite. Late season springtime bluefish are still around the pier in good numbers.  A diamond jig or swimming plug has been working well for the blues.  A few kingfish at the end of the pier.  The big news though has been a good number of cobia at the pier.  Most of the cobia have been caught on bottom baits, but if the water clears up sight fishing may come into play.  

Beach Fishing With Paul Sperco Palm Beach/Martin County Area

Yesterday morning I took a ride to Stuart beach to see if the weeds had subsided and thankfully they were broken up and the surf was fishable . I was doing a “grocery” trip as Bill Taylor from the Black Dog fishing boat would say and targeting whiting and croaker . The tide wasn’t optimum but an hour and a half of outgoing produced a nice cooler of 23 nice whiting and croaker . Bloodworm Fishbites fished in the first trough produced all of the fish . Today my son Paul tried the bridge again and managed to put 5 more nice pompano in the cooler along with lots of catch and release fishing that included Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, bluefish, mangrove snapper , and jacks . The bite turned on after the tide turned and started the outgoing cycle . There have been some pompano being caught down in Hobe Sound when the weeds permit so it’s nice to know they are still around . The winds look a little challenging the next couple of days but if conditions allow there should be some pompano opportunities. I’ll be back out on the weekend and will post what happens .

Snook-Nook Fishing Report

 May typically brings along with it some of the best Snook fishing of the year for us here on the Treasure Coast. The Snook are getting ready for their summer spawn and start showing up more around the inlets. This is the time of year where you have a great shot at catching your personal best Snook! Live Croakers are hands down the best option to fish with when targeting Snook this time of year. A few things that make them such a great bait option are; they are extremely tough and can last multiple casts, they typically will swim right to the bottom and hang out towards the bottom of the water column making them a great option for fishing around bridges, deeper docks and deeper water in general and they are a predator to Snook’s eggs. Croakers will eat Snook’s eggs during the spawn so Snook will attempt to protect their eggs and try to kill the Croaker either by eating it or just crushing it. You will notice that sometimes you are having a hard time hooking up on Snook while fishing Croakers because they are just picking the bait up, crushing it and spitting it back out as a defense mechanism when they aren’t feeding. You can expect us to have a steady supply of Croakers here at the shop throughout the summer. Live Pilchards, Mullet, Sand Perch, or shrimp will also get you a bite. Along with in the inlets, you can expect to find Snook out on our local beaches and even on some of our local reefs and wrecks typically from May-August. You will find plenty of action in the St. Lucie River around Sewalls Point and the 10 cent bridge along with around the Stuart and Jensen Causeways in the Indian River. Snook season closes on June 1st so you have another month to land that keeper! 

We start to see some more Tarpon action around this time of year as well with more bait showing up in the river. You can expect to find them feeding on glass minnows, pilchards, mullet and crabs. A lot of anglers will try to time their Tarpon fishing to either morning or evening outgoing tides. We have crabs and shrimp that will drift through areas such as the causeways, the crossroads and inlet on the outgoing tide and anglers will post up in those areas targeting them. Hogy Pro Tail and Slow Tail swimbaits are great options for those looking to trick them with an artificial. 

Over the past week, we have been hearing steady Pompano reports inshore from the Jensen Causeway mosquito bridge. Anglers are catching them mainly on both Pompano jigs and even Crappie jigs. Some decent sized Pompano up to 4lbs have been in the mix there. Along with the Pompano, anglers have been catching Spanish Mackerel, Croakers and even some Whiting there on the jigs. 

For those looking to fish with shrimp, there have been Mangrove Snappers caught around the causeways and other structures such as docks and channel markers. We begin to see more and larger snapper inshore this time of year and throughout the summer. Shrimp on a jig head is a great way to target them, fill up the cooler and catch a number of other species. Other species that have been caught here consistently fishing the shrimp and jig method include Flounder, Trout, Croakers and Bonefish. 

For those looking for a battle, there have been plenty of big jacks cruising the sea walls, toss a live bait or top water against some sea walls and hang on! 

We see a lot of life inshore starting around May, buckle up and hold on for some great fishing! 

Sebastian Inlet Report

 "Fishing is like dating: It's all catch-and-release until you find a keeper."

 “Fishing as a whole in the entire inlet has been a blowout all last week and most of the weekend due to high winds and rough surf, so it has been pretty slow: lots of dirty water and seaweed. 

North jetty: Fishing has been a hit-or-miss deal over here, with some snook being caught on live mojarras on the tip on the outgoing tide when it isn't too rough to be there. It does get pretty wet with the waves splashing up when the seas are big, like they have been. Some redfish are possible, as well along with a few bluefish on big silver spoons. Incoming tide has been slow with the rough conditions.

South Jetty: Not much over here either, just was too rough to fish with the wind and big waves. Very dirty water and lots of weed, but some black margates and sea bream are possible, along with the pesky catfish and stingrays. Some bluefish may be caught still in the channel area with silver spoons.

 T-Dock area: Back here it is calmer and cleaner and some nice snook are being caught on live mojarras on both tides along the rocky shoreline. Small snappers and puffers are being caught with those fishing cut bait around the dock pilings. Most of the snapper are still too small to keep. Bluefish and Spanish mackerel are a possibility too for those throwing small spoons and jigs in the area. 

Surf area: both sides has been blown out, too rough to fish it.

NOTICE: The North jetty will be closed to the public on  Wednesday, May 18, and Thursday, May 19, to allow the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to conduct a cleanup of fouling lines, nets, monofilament and debris. FWC will also conduct “lift bag” training to retrieve aluminum grates lost in past hurricanes. 

Scouting Around Palm Beach And Martin County

 

Inshore

The snook bite in the St. Lucie River continues to get better and better. The fish are still generally making their way towards the inlet and have been congregating around docks and bridges. Like the past few weeks, live baits are working best. Though pilchards do work, nothing is beating live croakers right now. 

Also in the river, the pompano bite was good the past few days at the Jensen Causeway. Fish up to three pounds were caught on jigs in what was called 'one of the best bites all season.'

The anglers working jigs at the causeway also reported catching a few Spanish mackerel and croakers.

At the Stuart Causeway and up on the Sailfish Flats, anglers are still getting few flounder.

Along the beaches in Jupiter, though there are likely fish, including pompano and bluefish moving through, there's been so much sargassum that it's made it difficult to target them.

Anglers working the bridges spanning the Intracoastal Waterway in the south county area have reported catching croaker, sand perch and snook.

For the croaker and sand perch, peeled shrimp has been working well.

For the snook, a live croaker fished on the bottom with a three-ounce sinker and 6/0 circle hook on a 40-pound leader has been offering some anglers good catch and release action on some hefty overslot fish.

For past reports and other fishing related information click here

Lake Okeechobee

In the canals adjacent to the lake the bluegill and shellcracker bite continues to heat up. The rim and Indian Prairie canals have been especially good for both bluegill and shellcracker, as well as cichlids. Worms and crickets are working well as are beetle spins.

The bass bite has been good in the early mornings for anglers working the outside edges of the grasslines.

In the mornings any moving baits, including swimbaits and crankbaits, in lighter colors are working well. After that bite begins to back off, switch to flippin' and pitchin' worms like Senkos and Speedworms in darker colors.

report courtesy of The Palm beach Post

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