Stuart Jensen Beach Inshore Fishing Report and Forecast: September 2016

It was a good day snook fishing aroudn the St. Lucie Inlet with my son, Ben, who is a U.S. Navy First Class Petty Officer stationed in Jacksonville. PHOTO CREDIT: Capt. John Young.
It was a good day snook fishing around the St. Lucie Inlet with my son, Ben, who is a U.S. Navy First Class Petty Officer stationed in Jacksonville. PHOTO CREDIT: Capt. John Young.

Bring on the mullet run! I visualize acres of mullet pouring down the beach, sliding into the inlets and riding the tides back into the Indian and St. Lucie rivers. The fall mullet should start towards the end of the month. Tarpon, snook, jacks, sharks and other species are also waiting for bait schools to show up. A drop in barometric pressure before a storm will be an additional bonus to this epic fall fishing. Snook season is open (on September 1) and the scouting trips indicate a good bite. Plenty of snook are being caught over the last couple weeks from the inlet to the Roosevelt Bridge. I see more bait showing up and getting pounded by the Big Three: “Snook, Tarpon and Jacks”. If, you don’t want to put a cast net in your mouth, then I recommend to match the hatch with D.O.A. Bait Busters or Storm Swim baits in the mullet pattern. The Ten Cent Bridge has always had big snook lurking around the underwater rubble, but it seems there are some huge mammas recently.  Work the structure with free lined mullet or lip hook one with a jig head and hold on. Cast Bomber plugs or First Light jigs along the bridge shadow lines and work it back slowly. Back in the Indian River, the trout bite has been good early with walk the dog style plugs fished near the mangrove edges and grass flats. Tight bait schools will indicate feeding fish so work the edges of the bait schools. Scale your plug to match the size of the bait and you will have more looks. Flipping docks with D.O.A. C.A.L. or the shrimp for redfish and snook is good this time of year. You can make it or break it with your leader selection fishing barnacle encrusted pilings or leader shy fish, so you have to be selective in your equipment. Until next month, Bites On!

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