South Florida Weekly Fishing Report - Dec. 9, 2021
Offshore
Off of the Jensen Beach area, the dolphin bite remains good in 110 to 140 feet of water with southeast of the St. Lucie Inlet and the six- and eight-mile reefs being hot spots. Though trolling ballyhoo has been working best, drifting and flatlining pilchards is also producing results.
There are still blackfin tuna in the area. They have been hitting live baits. Best bet is to chum them up with greenies and/or small pilchards.
On the six- and eight-mile reefs, and even on some nearshore reefs, there has been a good lane snapper bite. Chicken rigs with squid has been working.
There have also been mangroves and muttons also along the six- and eight-mile reefs.
The Snook Nook will hold their 2021 Tent Sale from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Dec. 18. There will be lots of excellent deals for the holiday season.
Avoiding the sharks off of Jupiter, Capt. Bill Taylor took his clients up to the Loran Tower area off of Hobe Sound Wednesday.
Not only did they avoid the sharks, they scored with a fantastic lane snapper bite. In depths from 40 out to 100 feet, the lanes were hitting squid on lead heads and slide rigs.
Though not quite as plentiful they were also catching vermilion snapper.
Schools of small king mackerel were moving through the area. No giants, but lots of good "eating size" fish. They were flatlining for them.
One angler who was up that way, had been hitting the spot the past few days and doing extremely well on the kings.
Though there was a new moon on Saturday, there wasn't much action on the wahoo front off the Boynton Beach area the past few days.
On Saturday, Capt. Geno landed a 110-pound swordfish they saw basking on the surface in 1,000 feet of water.
Off of Lake Worth and down off Boca Raton, there has been fun catch and release action for sailfish. Kite fishing with live goggle eyes, power drifing with live pilchards and slow trolling pee wee ballyhoo, anglers are getting hooked up along the outer edges of the color changes in 150 to 200 feet of water.
Working depths of 75 to 120 feet, king mackerel up to 12 pounds are being caught on live pilchards and large live shrimp from Sloan's curve up to The Breakers off of Palm Beach.
Though the amberjack and gray triggerfish bite has dropped off this week, there are still a few fish being caught using sardines and squid chunks fished along the reef edges in 65 feet water.
Whether it's a monster or a minnow, if you've got a good fishing photo send it to us at eritz@pbpost.com
Inshore
The Spanish mackerel bite at Peck's Lake has been on fire the past few days. As far as bait goes, pretty much anything shiny will work and if you really want to get them frothing, chum with some dead glass minnows.
Underneath the schools of Spanish mackerel have also been a few sheepshead.
Working the docks and deeper holes along the St. Lucie River, there is still a decent snook bite. Live croakers, which the Snook Nook currently has, are working best.
In addition to hanging out under the schools of Spanish mackerel at Peck's Lake, sheepshead are being found around the bridges, docks and other structure along the St. Lucie River.
There have also been some black drum around the bridges, with the 10-cent and Roosevelt Bridges being especially good spots.
At the Jensen Causeway and along the Sailfish Flats, anglers are catching pompano while jigging and even using surf rigs.
On the surf, the pompano action remains hot from Fort Pierce down to Jupiter right now. Along the beaches in St. Lucie and Martin Counties the bite remains around 70 to 110 feet offshore so bring the long rods. Yellow crab- and E-Z Flea-flavored Fishbites are working well.
Working the bridges and rock piles in the Intracoastal Waterway in the Lantana/Boynton Beach area has been good for mangrove snapper, ladyfish, bluefish, snook, Spanish mackerel and even the occassional king mackerel up to five pounds. They are all hitting live shrimp or pilchards.
Using clams, crabs or sand fleas around bridge and dock pilings, as well as along seawalls, has been producing a nice sheepshead bite the past week.
For past reports and other fishing related information click here
Lake Okeechobee
The bass fishing has been extremely hit or miss the past week.
Capt. Larry Wright said they'll catch 30 one day and then only 12 the next.
Though shiners are working much better than anything artificial, if you're going to try an artificial a one-and-a-half ounce, creature-style bait that can punch through the grass is about the best bet. The lone hot spot has been Horse Island on the inside.
The spec fishing has been a bit hit or miss as well with the nighttime bite being better than day.
All fishing report information courtesy of Alec at the Snook Nook in Jensen Beach, Black Dog Fishing Charters, Capt. Bruce Cyr and Capt. Larry Wright.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: South Florida Weekly Fishing Report - Dec. 9, 2021
