FORECASTS FISHING

ST. LUCIE COUNTY OFFSHORE

Capt. Bo Samuel

Pullin Drag Charters

(772) 971-6661 facebook.com/Pullin-Drag-Charters catainbofishing@gmail.com

Summer fishing is here! June brings significantly better weather with plentiful fish and bait making it one of my favorite months to gather those salty groceries. Good weather equals more time on the water, but winds can still kick up occasionally and afternoon thunderstorms are routine here on the Treasure Coast. Early morning trips and night fishing are “cool” options to make the most of our summertime fishing opportunities.

Bottom fishing continues to be a great strategy especially for the “meat hunters” out there. Area reef zones have been on fire with many species of snapper and grouper being reported. Monster muttons are being caught on the reef around 70-90 feet of water using live threadfin herrings or frozen sardines. These big muttons are true saltwater trophies for anglers of all ages.

Grouper live at various levels of the water column so most times you can be successful in just about any depth. Two key factors are fishing around and over structure like ledges, outcroppings, and artificial reefs and using the right bait. I prefer live croakers, pilchards, pinfish, or grunts. If

I can find schools of bait outside the inlet then I’m good to go but if not, I call Dave’s Live Bait. Dave is a great local who operates in the Fort Pierce Inlet and/or Stan Blum boat ramp and his bait are always healthy and lively. You can call him at (772) 519-2104 to place an order...tell him Pullin Drag sent you!

Schools of mahi will be found offshore anywhere from 70-150 feet of water. While mahi are always here, their numbers increase in the summer. I expect to see big dolphin caught this month, along with some prize wahoo and sails. Slow trolling around weed lines, floating debris, schools of bait fish, and under feeding birds will give a superior chance of reeling in some nice fish. These fish will chew just about anything they see from live bait to cut bait to lures. I find that pilchards and threadfins produce some great action on mahi, kings, sails, and blackfins.

Keep an eye out while trolling for sailfish free-jumping to find a school in the area. Nothing beats the excitement of a sailfish capture for any angler on board but remember to safely release from the side of the boat as recommended. Sailfish tire easily and should be revived after a long fight.

The first week of June is National Fishing and Boating Week so jump on board and see for yourself why we live in a fishing paradise. If you visit my home base of Little Jim Bait & Tackle, we can plan your custom charter trip for fishing, family, friends, and fun! I hope you make fishing a part of your summer because dinner’s in the bag when you fish with Pullin Drag!

ST. LUCIE COUNTY INSHORE

Capt. Adam White

St. Lucie Flats Fishing Charters (609) 820-6257 www.stlucieflatsfishing.com

Summerhas 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-80s to the 90s most days. June is always one of my favorite months to enjoy fishing in the area.

Look for snook in deeper water like bridges, inlets and sea walls. Live bait or Z-Man swim baits are great ways to fish for snook. Don’t forget that the season is closed, so

ST. LUCIE COUNTY DEEP SEA

Capt. Scotty Gold

Miss Fort Pierce Fishing (772) 766-0191 fortpiercefishing.com

AsJune is upon us, so is prime time for mutton and mangrove snappers. They are eating fiercely to get ready to spawn. They will be found from 30-to-120 feet of water. They will be caught anchored or drifting long leaders 15-to-25 feet of 30-to-50-pound mono line on a 5/0 or 6/0 hook baited with fresh cut plugs or strips.

June is a good month for groupers in 60-to-180 feet of water. Use plenty of weight to get to the bottom. Fish around structure or wrecks. Live bait handle the fish carefully and get them released quickly. Night fishing will also be one of the best times to snook fish. I have found once you get away from the bridges small profile baits like a Thumper Shrimp or 2.75 D.O.A. work well in dock lights. Look for tarpon along the beaches, inlets and channels. Live and cut bait or D.O.A. TerrorEyz are some of the popular choices for tarpon. will work the best.

The bait schools should be plentiful in the 30-to-40-foot depths just outside the inlet. Working a Yo-Zuri hydro pencil around those schools is a great way to get into some hard fighting bonito. They are not considered great table fare, but they are one heck of a fighter on light tackle. King mackerel will also hang around those bait pods and can provide a morning full of fun. Slow trolling a live bait on #5 wire is a great way to target kings when we are in the mode to smoke some fish.

We will await notification if there will be a red snapper season in federal waters.

The Miss Fort Pierce will continue to sail daily and nightly for snapper. Check our website www.fortpiercefishing.com for our schedule and to make reservations. We are also available for private charters.

Good fishing, we look forward to meeting you on board.

Sebastian Inshore

Capt. Gus Brugger

Pattern Setter Charters

(772) 360-6787 www.WelcomeToSebastian.com

Hopefullythe windy conditions that limited anglers’ efforts to fish Sebastian Inlet and the ocean this spring will give way to calm stable conditions in early summer. If that occurs, the opportunities for small boat anglers will be expanded to include the near shore Atlantic. Small boat anglers who take advantage of calm days to venture outside the inlet can pursue species that are normally out of their reach, including; king mackerel, bonito, cobia, large migratory tarpon and giant jack crevalle. From the ocean to the backcountry, mornings in June will generally provide great weather conditions to pursue whatever you want to.

NEAR SHORE ATLANTIC – Be sure to have some 6-to-10-inch mullet in your livewell and some Sabiki rigs in your tackle box when you head outside Sebastian Inlet. Having live bait to slow troll or pitch at large migrating tarpon, smoker kingfish, jack crevalle, cobia, dolphin, and even sailfish is highly recommended when fishing the nearshore waters. Concentrating your efforts around schools of bait, areas of bottom structure, or cruising or feeding schools of fish you encounter will increase your chances of putting a fish weighing in the double or even triple digits on the end of your line.

SEBASTIAN RIVER – The top of the list in the Sebastian River in early summer is tarpon. There are tarpon throughout the Sebastian River, but the larger fish seem to frequent the entire north fork and the lower south fork after the first of June. MirrOllure suspending plugs, D.O.A. TerrorEyz jigs, YoZuri 3D minnows and flies are all good artificials for both snook and tarpon. Live mullet are the best live bait.

SEBASTIAN INLET – Due to the fact that the jetties of Sebastian Inlet have become home to numerous large goliath grouper. I feel that it is prudent that I discourage anglers from overdoing the catch and release snook fishing this summer. Between the goliaths and the bull sharks, not many of the undersized and oversized snook let go by fishermen around the north jetty this spring survived to fight another day according to my sources. Try targeting snook west of the A1A bridge where they have a better chance of not being devoured before they make it back to the bottom. Big redfish should be available at the inlet and can be caught on live bait and artificials day and night.

INDIAN RIVER LAGOON –Early morning will provide the best shot at shallow water trout and reds. With open water grass beds still near non-existent, try to find where the bait fish are and there should be some predators nearby. Top-water plugs are a great way to find scattered fish on the flats in the early morning. After the sun is up, a D.O.A. jerkbait or suspending plug may draw more strikes. Snook of all sizes will be laid up tight to docks and mangroves getting out of the sun during the day, pitch a D.O.A. shrimp into the cover on stout tackle and hold on. Tarpon can also be found in the lagoon in June, look for smaller tarpon in the backwaters and larger ones in some of the deeper open water areas.

Capt.

Big

June is finally here, my favorite month of the year for fishing. The good weather gets us more days offshore, combined with more consistent water quality. Warm clean water equals more consistent fishing. Remember though, when the water gets warm and clear, fish get picky.

Last year we only saw a mild thermocline, but we did have a couple of days fishing the beach reefs, although it passed quickly. Other than that, we should have some good kingfish on the 80-to-90 foot reefs, bigger fish will be hitting live bait. Strip baits trolled behind a seawitch and 3 1/2 drone spoon works well also.

For those trolling offshore there should be some schooly dolphin some even into the 80- and 90-foot reefs. They’re always a nice addition to the box. When you’re anchored up and a school swims up, this is when it’s good to have a couple light spinners ready with a #4 or #5 Mustad short shank with a 30-pound fluorocarbon leader. Have some chopped up pieces of squid ready to throw to keep their interest as well as to stick on the hook to capitalize on the opportunity.

Light fluorocarbon leaders and live bait will produce more bites. Fortunately, live bait should be more readily present both inside and outside the inlet. We’ll see good catches of mutton snapper, mangrove snapper and kingfish.

Bottom fishing should be good on the reefs in 80-to-90-foot range. Clear water is going to require light leaders and live bait to entice a bite there as well. As always, the evergrowing shark problem will be something to deal with. If there’s any upside to the abundance of sharks, it’s that they’ve had cobia traveling with them. There’s a thin line between fishing heavy enough line to horse the fish in before the sharks eat them yet light enough to get the fish to bite. I’m hoping some group, individual or fishing club will put together a shark tournament. One tournament of 100 boats would start putting the uneven balance back where it should be. Meat from the shark could be donated to local food banks. Believe me, people that are saying this is a sign of a heathy eco system do not see what’s really happening out there.

As always support your local tackle shops, be courteous to your fellow anglers, one day you might need their help, be nice to your law enforcement including our FWC. They’re just doing their job.

Kayak Fishing Forecast

Brian Nelli

Pushin’ Water Kayak Charters (772) 201-5899

Brian@tckayakfishing.com www.tckayakfishing.com

INSHORE: Snook should be on the mind if you are looking for some good catch and release action this month. In and around Jupiter, Palm Beach and St. Lucie inlets are great places to fish in the kayak. There are multiple launch locations and the inlets are large enough to be safe. Try fishing live pilchards or mullet on the bottom and top. Fishing the spillways when they are open around heavy rains can produce a bunch of snook. June is the beginning of the rainy season and these fish attraction devices should not be over looked. A D.O.A. TerrorEyz is a favorite, but don’t forget to bring a colorful oneto-two once buck tail to throw in the wash.

OFFSHORE: Fishing offshore in June means calm seas and hot sun. Blackfin tuna will become more consistent on the jig. Use 100 gram Catch Fishing vertical jigs in pink and silver to pull up these fish in 200-300 foot of water. Trolling 20ft Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows are also a great way to pick off a few. The sun will start to heat up the water quick this time of year. Getting out at the crack of daylight is your best bet to get on the bite. Live goggle eyes and blue runners are always the go to bait for sailfish, mahi, kingfish, wahoo and tuna.

Check us out Pushin’ Water Kayak Charters on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube for all the latest adventures my clients and I get into. See you on the water!

From The Shore

Chris Beachwalker Sharp

(772) 320 8611 beachwalkerfish@gmail.com

June is all about fishing the beach for tarpon and snook. The snook move out to the beaches and make it easy to catch right from shore. But where to go and what to use? Inlets that meet beaches are the number one place to go to start. Snook will stack up at the mouth of inlets and will move with the tide. So, any moving water will hold fish. Remember snook fishing is closed so catch and release only.

What to use? First look at what bait is in the water. If small baits, throw a five-inch paddle tail in black clear or silver flakes. Bigger mullet. I use the Yo-Zuri crystal minnow and have caught many snook on black and silver, but if you like to throw soft rubber baits, then throw big ones.

My choice of beaches are ones that have structure--Walton Rocks Beach, Bathtub Beach, Hobe Sound Beach and House of Refuge stretch of beaches. Go early, before first light or later in the evening beat the heat and you will get numbers and big ones too.

Tarpon fishing has been hot since March. But where to go during summer? First choice is going to be spillways. They love to eat and feed and roll there all day and they’re easy to see —some are small and some are big. Now to get them to eat that is hard but with a little effort you can get them to eat.

First look at the water. Greenies, shrimp, mullet? Try live or use artificial but sometimes you have to get creative. The trick I use is to get a popping cork, tie on about 4 feet of 50 pound leader and tie on a white 5 inch paddle tail or grub, throw it out and let it drift in front of them until they pop and let them take it. Being patient, you’re going to catch more. Along the beaches, look for the at first light then nighttime being best.

Until next time, tight lines everyone!