The mullet run started mid-September in the river, but we haven’t seen them cruising down the coast yet. Looks like it could be October for beach action, so hopefully the winds stay calm. The causeway bridges have been holding tarpon, big jacks, and snook feeding on the mullet, and the best action seems to be around sunset.
Some juvenile tarpon have continued to move back into the St. Lucie River and can be found rolling around 7 a.m. near the docks and bridges. D.O.A. TerrorEyz are always a good lure to cast at them, along with Storm Shads and Hogy Protails.
The flounder bite has been good along the shallow sandy areas of the main river. Simply tipping a jig head with a shrimp and walk it along the bottom or freeline a weightless shrimp or mullet in the current. My brother Alex has been gigging some nice flounder at night near Hell’s Gate in the St. Lucie River. If you’ve never tried flounder gigging, I highly recommend trying it. You’ll see so much night life!
The fall and winter have always been our best chance for catching redfish in the area, usually while snook fishing around the bridges, docks, and mangroves using live pilchards, shrimp, and D.O.A. C.A.L. Jigs. Keep an eye on the water temps and the fall bite should kick-off when the water temps drop down into the 70s. Then we could start seeing pompano on the flats, and more snook moving back into the St. Lucie River for some fun light tackle lure and fly-fishing.
Don’t forget to try using mullet heads on the flats near the islands and sandbar around sunset. The big snook love these during the mullet run. Use a 5/0-7/0 circle hook and an egg weight above a swivel with 50-pound test leader. You can sit back and watch the sunset while holding on for a monster snook…or catfish, lol.
FORECAST BY: Capt. Giles Murphy
Stuart Angler Bait & Tackle
(772) 288–1219
www.stuartangler.com
giles@stuartangler.com
Fishing Charters: (772) 475–4857
