October is my favorite month out of the year for fishing the Treasure Coast. The mullet run is on and all sizes of bait are in the river and surf. With cooler air and water temperatures, the big fish will be hungry and aggressive. In the surf, look for birds diving and dark clouds of bait moving south. In the mix will be sharks, tarpon, snook, jacks and the early arrival of the winter residents, blues and macs. Most any plug will work but you can’t beat a shiny lure like a Kroc spoon with a single hook. Load up on some live bait and toss a mullet out and it won’t take long before your bait gets hammered.
The snook bite has been good in the river using finger mullet or the D.O.A. Bait Buster. Fish the shallows early and move to deeper water when the sun comes up. Any structure in the water such as docks, mangroves, dead trees hanging in the water and seawalls will hold snook. A well placed big topwater plug near structure will usually result in a blow up or quick look. These fish are on high alert due to fishing pressure so stay as quiet as you can.
The finger mullet will be on the flats and the little drop in water temperature should fire up the trout and reds. The redfish population is growing and many fish are now over slot. I like to fish the edge of the bait schools with a walk the dog style plug at first light then switch to D.O.A. and C.A.L. jigs. The docks on the west side of the river have been producing some nice reds and snook. All the bridges on the Treasure Coast are snook magnets during the day but at night they really turn on with the right tide. First Light jigs are the go to lure of choice at night. You will lose a few on bottom structure so bring some extra. Work the jigs just off the bottom and wait for the THUMP.
Keep the waterways clean and wear your Bullfrog.