With the summer coming to an end, the fishing should start improving for inshore anglers. Make sure to check your snook gear, as September is the start of snook season and it should be good with plenty of action coming from places like the Fort Pierce Inlet, the local bridges and the grass flats. For the inlet and bridges, try a live pinfish, pigfish or a white bait and fish it on the bottom. It will take a heavy weight in the inlet, such as 6- to 8-ounces, a 40-pound fluorocarbon leader about three feet long and a good 5/0 hook. Around the bridges use the same set up, but use a lighter weight (1- to 2-ounces). Free lining the mentioned baits on the flats and around the docks will be your best bet. If it is trout you are looking for, try places like Bear Point, Queen’s Cove or the flats to the north of Harbor Branch. The tackle is simple, a live shrimp fished on a #6 Kahle hook or under a popping cork. The redfish bite should still be good for anglers fishing around the mangroves on the high tide. Try a piece of ladyfish or a crabs on a 2/0 hook with a 20-pound fluorocarbon leader and a small split shot, which should be plenty of weight. Snapper should still be active along the channel edges both to the north and south in the Intracoastal Waterway. Use a live shrimp or a small white bait and a small bottom rig with a #2 hook and a ½- to 1-ounce weight with a 15- to 20-pound fluorocarbon leader. Make sure the leader is at least three feet long, the longer the better. There is still a good snapper bite around the bridges and along the channel edges and they will be feeding on live shrimp or a small white bait. You will want to use about a 4-foot fluorocarbon leader, a ½- to 1-ounce weight and a #2 long shank hook. The bonito, Spanish mackerel and big jacks will be following the bait school as they come into the Fort Pierce Inlet. These fish will take just about anything shiny, like a spoon or a flash minnow and even a live bait. The lobster mini season was a great success with boats limiting out and also bringing in a few nice size grouper. It should continue as the regular season has just started.
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