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

Fall is coming just a little early to south Florida this year…inshore fishing wise at least.  Large surf from hurricane Irene helped push large schools of finger mullet down the coast just a little earlier than usual this year.  Of course those that like to fish inshore will not be complaining about this!  The large schools of finger mullet will bring with them a whole host of assorted predators including; snook, tarpon, jacks, redfish, bluefish, sharks, snapper, and more.  Fishing this time of year is relatively straight forward, find the bait and you will find the fish.  Here are a few tips to help make it just a little easier.

If your fishing during the day try and get out of heavy boat traffic areas.  The mullet will stay schooled up during the day, but heavy boat traffic tends to send them down towards the bottom.  If they are not run over time and time again they will stay schooled up on top, and thus be a lot easier to find.  Areas like the Loxahatchee River, Erman River,  Munyon Island, Lake Worth and Little Lake Worth, and backwater residential canals and seawalls are ideal for finding mullet schools during the day.  During lower light periods it may be possible to trick a few fish with lures.  I like to toss a Zara Spook Jr, Rapala Skitterwalk, or Mirrolure MirroMullet around schools of mullet on top early in the morning or late in the afternoon.  Yes it does produce a lot of jacks, but many snook and tarpon will fall to a “walk the dog” style topwater in low light conditions.  As the sun gets a little higher in the sky, switch over to live mullet for best results.  Fish those baits on the edges of the schools for best results.

Once the sun sets and boat traffic dies down the mullet really come to life. High traffic areas, like The Intracoastal Waterway(ICW) around Jupiter Inlet, absolutely come alive with large schools of mullet.  The fish take notice of the easy pickings and line up at the buffet line.  At night I like to fish lighted bridges (Katos, A1A, US1, Donald Ross to name a few) with good current.  The fish line up on the dark side of the shadow line and wait as school after school of mullet are washed over their heads.  Tossing live mullet, Rapala X-Raps, Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows, and DOA Baitbusters are all good choices for getting the attention of assorted predators lurking below.

And lastly, in non mullet run related action inshore, it should be a good month for some mangrove snapper.  Fish live shrimp or cut sardines around structure with some good current, and a few grovers should show up.

Thanks For Reading Everyone,

Todd