Some of the best snook and tarpon fishing on central Florida’s east coast is found in the St. Lucie River’s North and South forks. The St. Lucie River is an 8-mile-long tidal estuary in St. Lucie and Martin counties. It empties into the South Indian River Lagoon at Sewall’s Point near the St. Lucie inlet.
Both the North and South forks of the St. Lucie are known for deeply stained water that is the spawning ground and haunt of monster snook and tarpon. I’ve been lucky enough to fish both waterways with two of Stuart Rod & Reel Club’s finest fishermen: Jim Harter and Jim Bohrer.
Harter is the king of the South Fork. He resides and fishes there daily. Bohrer has fished both forks of the St. Lucie for more than 17 years. The good news is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has stopped dumping polluted water from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie because of low lake levels. Fishing for tarpon, snook, jack, redfish, bluefish and ladyfish is good. The trout are off this year because of lack of grass.
As you motor up or down the North Fork or South Fork you’ll see tarpon rolling and snook busting bait. Try throwing a topwater in the morning or evening. If you cast to the edge of the mangroves with a 1/8-ounce CAL jig with 4-inch paddletail, be ready for snook to take your jig and take to the air. You can also get closer and flip or skip the jigs under the branches. In deeper water or around bridges, you can bounce the jig off the bottom or slow roll it. Harter likes to throw a D.O.A. Terroreyz around the bridges, and when I fished with him I caught two near-slot snooks doing just that.
Tarpon is the ultimate sports fish. If you’re lucky enough to “jump” a tarpon (set the hook and have it leap from the water), you’ll be triple-lucky to land one. A Tarpon’s mouth is boney and hard, and getting a good hook set is difficult. Landing a 100-pound tarpon on light tackle is almost impossible… but it can be done. You have to follow the fish with the motor until the fish tires.
Fortunately, there are a number of catchable-sized tarpon in the 10- to 20-pound range. Bohrer and I were fishing the North Fork and saw tarpon rolling in an area by deeper water. We cast jigs into 6 feet of water and bounced them off the bottom. I felt a light hit and set the hook—wham! Fish on! A silver king erupted from the water jumping 4 feet in the air. “Tarpon!” I yelled. The tarpon exploded in the air again, nearly hitting the boat a foot away from Jim, who was operating the trolling motor. After a couple more exhilarating leaps, I brought it boat size and Jim clamped its mouth with his Boga Grips.
How To Get There: One access to the South Fork in Martin County is the Palm City Bridge Boat Ramp. The North Fork can be accessed at the White City landing on Midway Road in Fort Pierce.
For information on the Stuart Rod & Reel Club, call 336-414-3440 . Meetings are the second Thursday of each month at 6 p.m. at Flannigan’s on U.S. 1 in Stuart.