The mullet run started in September and the beach fishing was blown out with windy conditions through most of October. On top of that, we had record rainfall causing very dark-stained water. This limited visibility takes away a lot of the feeding and pushes the mullet south towards Jupiter. We are also seeing Lake Okeechobee discharges due to a late rainy season. However, we have been catching some tarpon and snook back in the St. Lucie River west of the Roosevelt Bridge and up in the North Fork. When they started dumping Lake Okeechobee, I also start fishing slightly north in the Indian River casting along docks and mangrove shorelines for snook, trout, and redfish. Some good baits for this are D.O.A. C.A.L. jigs, gold spoons, and bucktail jigs.
November can be a big turning point though for the light-tackle fishing here in Martin County. There has been some pompano showing up for surf casting from the beach and near the inlet to fish from boat with sandfleas and jigs. Its also a good time to start cruising the flats for any “skipping” pompano.
As the water continues to cool down from the 80s, we should see the big schools of Spanish mackerel and bluefish showing up near the inlet down towards Peck Lake Beach. It’s also a good time of year to start jigging the bridges for monster snook casting First Light Jigs. Simply cast these 1-to-2-ounce jigs somewhat up-current and retrieve down-current keeping your jig inches from the bottom. These big flat belly snook like to lay on the bottom and can be triggered when a jig come close or even bumps into them. The key is finding where the snook are sitting under the bridges. The faster the current is moving, the closer they will position themselves to the abutments and pilings to escape the current. This technique requires patience and lots of casting but can be very rewarding with a monster snook.
FORECAST BY: Capt. Giles Murphy
Stuart Angler Bait & Tackle
(772) 288–1219
www.stuartangler.com
giles@stuartangler.com
Fishing Charters: (772) 475–4857
