Summer is the best time of year for beach fishing. There is a lot of bait making the way down the beach, with a lot of fish following.
Snook season is closed so handle the snook with care. The spawn is on and your chance for a big snook along the beach will happen if you follow some hints. First get there before the sun rises or right before the sun sets. You don’t need live bait, use soft rubber baits and hard baits. D.O.A. C.A.L. lures, Monster 3X and Z-Man lures, in silver and black, work great along the beach. The number one hard bait I use is the Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow in black and silver. Cast your bait north to south and work it slow to cover a lot of area. Go to beaches that have close reefs, like Bathtub Beach, Walton Rocks, Hobe Sound and House of Refuge.
Night fishing is great. It’s when I catch my biggest snook. Inlets will be loaded with snook. Just throw a bait that gets down deep. Light a flair hawk or big jig to get where the fish are.
Tarpon will be following the bait schools and the place that holds bait first is the Fort Pierce Inlet, so I would start there and look at every beach until you find the bait. Use heavy rod and reel, don’t go light because these fish will be big and there is no way to land them without using big stuff. An eight-foot rod, a 5500 reel or bigger, with 65-pound braid tied to an 80-pound leader is the way to go. Tie a #9 circle hook out and throw a big mullet out or big greenie. It’s hard to use plugs and land these silver kings, so use a SpoolTek lure or a large Hogy in purple or white. Use a dark color at night or light color when fishing in daylight. The best tarpon spot is Walton Rocks during low light hours. You will see the tarpon rolling, so cast right on them during the roll.
Permit fishing along the beach will be good too. Look for a beach that has rocks along it and you will find them. Small shrimp, like a MonsterX soft rubber bait, will work great. Just sight cast for them or look for them to show themselves.
Keep the sunscreen on and drink lots of water. Tight lines!
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