The surf/pier fishing is really starting to come to life these days. Here are a few of the highlights.
Mullet Run Update- While Hurricane Irene may have caused one hell of a mess up north, it helped get the mullet moved down to south Florida a little bit ahead of schedule. With the mullet (and if you have been reading the last few posts you know this) come a whole host of top level, and not so top level, predators. Snook, Tarpon, Jacks, several types of sharks, large jacks, redfish, kingfish, and others will be following the schools of mullet down the beach. Most often the mullet will be schooled up the tightest early in the morning and then again late in the afternoon. This is the time the predators take full advantage of the easy buffet line. Large noisy top-water plugs will get a little play in these low light periods, but nothing beats the real thing in this case. With so much food around, it is a good idea to try and set your bait apart. Try fishing outside of the school or underneath with a livey, use a fresh dead mullet, or even a nice fresh chunk of bait. I prefer to use a heavy mono leader for this fishing, usually 50-80lb, but will switch over to wire if the toothy critters show up in big numbers. The nice thing about fishing the fall mullet run, is it turns everywhere into a potentially good spot. The usual good spots; Hobe Sound Beach, The Refuge, Blowing Rocks, Jupiter Inlet, Carlin Park, Double Roads, Juno Beach Pier, Pierless, and Ocean Reef Park are all good spots to start looking for the mullet. Mullet Run Fishing Tip- Travel light on the beach, the more mobile you are the easier it is to follow the bait schools. Very often one school in particular will be holding the most feeding fish. Be able to follow that school, and you can stay with the fish.
Pier Outlook- Fishing has been good for a nice assortment of species on Juno Beach and Lake Worth Pier these days. All of the above listed species are possible catches these days. Very often predators following the mullet schools will use the pier as a jumping off point or staging point for attack on the mullet. Should you find yourself in between mullet schools, and other baitfish options are slim, be sure to have some kind of chunk bait to fish underneath. This is a good way to pick up a snook or redfish hanging out underneath the pier.
In other news, the fall species are already making a nice showing. The past week has seen a nice little run of pompano at Juno Beach Pier. Doc’s Goofy Jig in gold, pink, and orange have already began pulling in some nice keeper pompano. Ladyfish and a few bluefish are hanging around to steal a few of those jigs as well. Spanish and some nice Cero Mackerel are around, but the bite seems to be day to day.
Good Luck Everyone,
Todd
