Summer has arrived on the Treasure Coast. Expect hot days ahead! It is a time to get out early or late in the day and avoid the afternoon heat. Winds will be calmer and water temperatures will be in the mid-eighties to the nineties most days throughout the summer. June is always one of my favorite months to enjoy the fishing in the area.
Look for snook in deeper water like bridges, inlets, and sea walls. Live bait or DOA Terror Eyz are great ways to fish for snook. Don’t forget that the season is closed, so handle the fish carefully and get them released quickly. Night fishing will also be one of the best times to snook fish. Look for tarpon along the beaches, inlets and channels. Live and cut bait or DOA Terror Eyz are some of the popular choices for tarpon.
Snook, redfish, trout, and tarpon will be the big targets in early summer. Redfish will be hanging around mangroves, grass flats and docks. DOA shrimp or CAL shad tails are the perfect lures to target reds. Most of the redfish will be slot sized fish. Trout will be feeding on the grass flats both early and late in the day. The DOA Deadly Combo is a great way to search out the sea trout on the flats. Top water lures are the best choices for trout at first light and switching to DOA paddle tails once the sun rises high.
Bridges will be producing snapper, drum, and sheepshead during July. Live or dead shrimp will be hard for them to resist. There will be larger snapper in the river around structure and along channel edges. Watch the tides and fish the slower sides of them for best results. Whiting will continue to be in the surf with the occasional bluefish and Spanish mackerel. Watch for the glass minnow schools to flood into the river and you will find lots of action surrounding these small baitfish! Jacks, Spanish mackerel, and bonito are a few of the fish that love to feast on the glass minnows.
I like channel edges for a variety of species as the water temps get into the upper eighties. Incoming tides will bring in cooler water and that’s a good time to fish! Try Harbor Branch, Queen’s Cove and Bear Point for some good action. Lobster season will be the most anticipated event in August. Look for afternoon thunderstorms and plan your fishing for early mornings or late evenings for best results.
Enjoy summertime fishing and remember, as always, fishing is not just another hobby……it’s an ADVENTURE!
Good Fishing,
Captain Charlie Conner