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OFFSHORE- Should be a very fishy weekend offshore; and for this time of year it's a favorable weekend. Sailfish action remains very good up and down the line in 130-200' of water. Sailfish bite seems pretty consistent from Juno Pier to Jupiter Inlet; with the biggest concentration of fish moving north and south depending on conditions. Mixed in wit the sailfish have been a pretty good number of dolphin. Most of the bigger dolphin this week have been caught on live baits (goggle eyes and blue runners below the kite), but trolling strips and squid will also work for the dolphin. Seem to be a fair number of wahoo around this week, along with a fair scattering of kingfish. Smaller Blackfin tuna have also began to make a spring showing. Bottom reports were a bit slower this week, but still a good number of snapper around. Hoping those cobia show up one of these days...maybe it'll be this weekend! INSHORE- Inshore fishing overall was pretty good this week. A few days in a row of warmer weather had the snook biting a little bit better; and that looks to continue into the weekend. The Loxahatchee River snook seemed to come alive a bit this week; and a fair number of small tarpon were also cruising around. Live mullet is the bait of choice for both; and in fact may prove more challenging to find than the snook or tarpon. Sheepshead action remains good inshore; with Palm Beach inlet really being the best spot for them. Live shrimp is the best bait for the sheepshead. A few inshore pompano reports this week. Take lots of Goofy Jigs when you go looking for them...the ladyfish will be in the same areas in big numbers as well, and they are great at swiping jigs. Small jacks are also likely to invade the party as well. SURF/PIER- Pompano reports were spotty this week, with fish seeming to be scattered up and down the beach. Most anglers putting time in on the beach were rewarded with a fish or two; and those in just the right lucky spot managed a few limits. Sandfleas remain very hard to come by; with shrimp, clams, FishBites, and FishGum remaining the baits of choice. If your on the Juno Beach Pier or along the Bech in the boat looking for the pomps a Doc's Goofy Jig will, as always, be the lure you want tied on the line! The Juno Beach Pier has had a great croaker and whiting bite this week. Shrimp (both live and frozen will work) is the top bait choice for them. The Juno Beach Pier has also had a fair number of Spanish Macs around; with a white crappie jig being the bait of choice for them. Bluefish reports have steadily improved over the past few weeks. Cut bait (sardines and mullet) is the way to go for the blues. Lowlight periods of the day generally speaking will be best for the blues. Shark reports slowed the past week with rougher weather; but as it calms down a bit this weekend they will no doubt make their presence known! NOAA MARINE WEATHER: FRIDAY...East winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Period 4 seconds. Intracoastal waters a moderate chop. SATURDAY...East northeast winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Intracoastal waters a moderate chop. SUNDAY...East winds 5 to 10 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Intracoastal waters a light chop. Thanks For Reading, Todd Report also available: junobait.substack.com/p/juno-bait-weekend-fishing-outlook-9de Good luck to our friends Goin' Raptor this weekend in the Sailfish Challenge!  OFFSHORE- Rough weather this week severely limited offshore reports. Some of the bigger boats that did make it offshore picked away at the sailfish. It wasn't a red hot sail bite, but a fair number around. Based on the weather forecast, at the time of writing, it looks like the sails could snap off pretty good on Saturday. That north wind would/could/should get them up tailing in the waves. Mixed in with the sails have been a few good size dolphin. The mahi's (especially the bigger ones) are quick to eat the same live goggle eyes and small blue runners intended for sails. Hard to beat live baiting in 120-250' of water this time of year. The trolling bite can be ok, but it is really a live bait game until you get up north towards St. Luice Inlet. Out deep, before the weather went away from us, the golden tilefish and swordfish continued to bite well. No bottom reports to speak of this week. When conditions improve the snapper fishing should remain pretty good; and fully expecting to see the cobia start showing up anytime. No wahoo reports this week with the weather; but the moon looks good for them if conditions allow. INSHORE- Very windy conditions (and an early cool snap) this week made inshore fishing tough. Snook fishing should gradually improve into the weekend with a warming trend. Snook have been biting ok at night around the bridges. Shrimp seems to be the main thing they are eating, but in the right conditions they will eat a swimbait or flair hawk. Try and time it to fish the warmest part of the tide (that takes a little work to figure out, but is a great snook fishing secret for winter fishing patterns) if possible. Sheepshead action remains pretty good inshore and in Palm Beach Inlet. Live shrimp is a solid choice for the sheepshead. A jighead or basic bottom rig is the best way to go when rigging the live shrimp. SURF/PIER- Brutal weather conditions this week had reports a bit slow this week. The Juno Beach Pier did produce some Spanish Mackerel this week. A white crappie jig remains the top choice for the Macs. Takes a little practice to fish the crappie jig in the wind, but it is possible. A few bluefish as well at the pier this week. Sardine or mullet chunks are the best bait choice for the bluefish. The same sardines, fished very patiently on the bottom could also yield a snook bite or two (It's boring and the bites are kind of few and far between, but it defiantly does work!). Pompano reports were a bit slow this week. Hopefully a north wind on Saturday gets some pomps pushed towards us this weekend. The spinner shark migration is in full swing, but finding them in current conditions has been tough. When it calms down, it should be full on with the sharks! NOAA MARINE WEATHER: FRIDAY...South winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Period 5 seconds. Intracoastal waters a light chop. SATURDAY...North winds 10 to 20 knots. Along the coast, seas 2 to 3 feet. In the Gulf Stream, seas 2 to 3 feet building to 3 to 5 feet with occasional seas to 6 feet in the afternoon. Intracoastal waters a moderate chop. Slight chance of showers in the afternoon. SUNDAY...East northeast winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 2 to 4 feet with occasional seas to 5 feet along the coast and 4 to 6 feet with occasional to 8 feet in the Gulf Stream. Intracoastal waters choppy in exposed areas. Thanks For Reading, Todd  Beautiful Fireback Grouper caught by our friend Colton on a Jyg Pro Slow Pitch Jig in the Bahamas recently.
And Don't Forget...Get Fishing Report delivered right to your Email Inbox: junobait.substack.com/p/weekend-fishing-outlook-9d5 OFFSHORE- Sailfish action slowed a bit this week; but still a decent numbers of them around. Didn't have a lot of boats getting double digit chances on the sails, but a handful was pretty common for those putting in the time. Northerly winds in the forecast this weekend should help push a few more in our general direction. Best bite on the sailfish has bounced around a bit from Palm Beach up to Stuart. Hard to beat the 130-220' depth range for the most part for the sails. A few dolphin mixed in with the sails, but not in big numbers. The average size of the dolphin though tends to run a little bigger this time of year. Sounds like a few more Blackfin Tuna showed up this week as well. A scattering of kingfish along the 120' ledge, along with a wahoo or two. It's about time for the cobia to show up in pretty good numbers offshore...hasn't happened yet, but a few short ones were caught this week. Snapper fishing was good this week. Mutton snapper were the main catch, with a few mangroves and vermilion around depending on the depth. Out deeper, like the 600-750' range, the tilefish have been biting good this week. INSHORE- Cold water has the snook fishing on the slower side. Trick is to either find the snook over a dark bottom laying in the sun, or targeting them on an early incoming tide (when warmer ocean water pushes inshore) depending on the spot. It's the time of year when snook are keyed in on shrimp, especially at night around the bridges, so keep that in mind. The sheepshead bite has been very good over the past few weeks. Palm Beach (Lake Worth) inlet is always a great spot for the sheepshead. Live shrimp on a jighead, or basic bottom rig will generally do the trick. Bridges in the ICW and the Loxahatchee River are also holding the sheepshead. Palm Beach Inlet has also had a pretty good jack bite going on; with plenty of bruisers around to really test your tackle! SURF/PIER- Pompano fishing fired off really good over the past weekend. It slowed a bit during the week, but overall remains very good. Bait availability (mainly Sandfleas) remains a bit of an issue for pompano. Luckily clams, shrimp, FishBites, and FishGum are available and will all get the pomps to bite. Typically speaking best bite on the pompano will be early morning and late afternoon. An incoming tide is also a good time to fish on the beach. A decent scattering of bluefish and jacks on the beach this week. A GT Ice Cream, noisy topwater popper, or silver spoon should work to get the bite on them. Again, early morning and late afternoon will be the best bet for the blues and jacks. The Juno Beach pier has had a few snook around. The water is cold and the snook are moving slow...dead bait on the bottom is the best bet for them. Spanish Mackerel have been in and out at the Juno Beach Pier. A white crappie jig is hard to beat for the Macs. This historically is the weekend that the Spinner(Blacktip) Sharks show up in full force along the beach...time to get the big topwater ready. Nothing like watching the sharks blow up on a popper as the sun is coming up! NOAA MARINE WEATHER: FRIDAY...Northeast winds 10 to 15 knots with gusts to around 20 knots. Seas 2 to 4 feet with occasional seas to 5 feet. Period 5 seconds. Intracoastal waters a moderate chop. Chance of showers. SATURDAY...East northeast winds around 10 knots. Seas around 2 feet. Intracoastal waters a light chop. Slight chance of showers. SUNDAY...Northwest winds 10 to 20 knots. Along the coast, seas around 2 feet. In the Gulf Stream, seas around 2 feet building to 2 to 4 feet with occasional seas to 5 feet in the afternoon. Intracoastal waters a moderate chop. Chance of showers. Thanks For Reading, Todd Jeff with a great Golden Tile on the Slow Pitch Jig!  OFFSHORE- After what seems like months of waiting for them; a good number of sailfish showed up last Sunday/Monday. Finally had a few of those days were double digit releases was not just possible; but pretty likely if you were in the right area and had good bait. The bite bounced up and down the line a bit; but just south of Juno Pier to just north of Jupiter Inlet in 160-250' had a very solid bite. The trolling boats out of Stuart also caught good numbers; so we finally seem to have a good body of fish around. This of course comes with a big...BUT south winds this weekend will likely slow the bite. It's anybodies guess on how/where the sails will bite this weekend; but in similar situations (south/east southeast winds after a solid frontal bite) the bite will move back up to the Loran Tower/Stuart. I would bet that the next few days with a hard north wind will see a pretty solid bite! A handful of dolphin reports this week mixed in with the sailfish. Not enough to really make targeting them worthwhile. The kingfish seem to be showing in decent numbers along the 120' ledge. They are in a typical winter pattern of slight smaller schools and spread out; but they are definitely around. Still waiting on those cobia to show up in good numbers, this would/could/should be the weekend that it happens! Sardines will be the top bait choice for the cobia. Snapper fishing remains fair; and conditions look good for them to bite this weekend.
INSHORE- Snook season opened this week on the end of our hardest cold front of the year; if you couldn't guess reports were slow. The water is COLD inshore right now and the snook are for the most part just not having it! Best bet snook fishing will be to go at night around bridges that have warmer ocean water getting to them. The snook are keyed in on shrimp so keep your baits small and moving SLOW. The snook will bite this time of year, but not if they have to spend any extra energy to chase something down. During the day the snook will be locked onto the darkest mudflats they can find that get a lot of sun. Sunning snook are super tough to trick, but if you find the right spot it can offer some good sight fishing chances. Sheepshead continue to bite well in Palm Beach Inlet on live shrimp. The Loxahatchee River has produced a few pompano and sheepshead this week as well. Palm Beach Inlet has also had a good number of jacks around. SURF/PIER- This week saw some much better fishing along the beach and at the Juno Beach Pier. Surf conditions early in the week made the beach tough to fish; but the pier fired off pretty good. Decent number of both Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish around early in the week, along with a decent number of pompano. The Spanish Mackerel have been biting white crappie jigs and small swimming plugs the best. The bluefish were quick to bite spoon, swimming plugs, and in lowlight conditions topwater lures. Good number of jacks cruising the beach as well. A GT Ice Cream has been a killer on the jacks! The Pompano on the pier have been biting Doc's Goofy Jigs the best. A 1/2 oz Goofy Jig in orange, yellow, or pink (with an opposing color quill/teaser) has been a good choice. From the beach the pompano have been biting the usual baits of Sandfleas, clams, shrimp, and Fishbites or FishGum. A handful of snook were caught at the pier this week with season opening. Best bet for the snook this time of year is a dead sardine fished on the bottom and a LOT of patience. Hard to say what will happen on the beach over the weekend...calming conditions will make it much more fishable, just hoping the south winds don't push the fish back north too fast. If Juno/Jupiter don't produce; look for the fishing to fire off in Hobe Sound or Jensen Beach. Lastly...the blacktip/spinner sharks are here! NOAA MARINE WEATHER: FRIDAY...Southeast winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 2 to 4 feet with occasional seas to 5 feet. Period 7 seconds. Intracoastal waters a moderate chop. SATURDAY...South southeast winds around 5 knots becoming east northeast in the afternoon. Seas around 2 feet. Intracoastal waters a light chop. Slight chance of showers in the morning, then chance of showers in the afternoon. SUNDAY...South winds 5 to 10 knots becoming east southeast in the evening. Seas 2 to 4 feet with occasional seas to 5 feet. Intracoastal waters a light chop. Chance of showers. Thanks For Reading, Todd Fishing Report Also Available Via Email: junobait.substack.com/p/juno-bait-weekend-fishing-outlook |