Florida fishing report: Dolphin (mahi), snook, mutton snapper biting

Mutton snapper were biting before the cold front.

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Grouper season opens May 1.
Hogfish season opens May 1.
Snook season closes June 1.
Florida lobster mini-season opens July 26-27.
The dolphin (mahi) bag limit is five fish per day per angler.

Did we see the last cold front of the spring? Wanna bet on it?

Seriously, that was probably it for cold fronts in early 2023. It was capped at the end by one of the most intense lightning storms to sweep through the Treasure Coast in, well, a year?

But before it hit, the fishing was pretty darned good, judging from the Facebook posts. Mutton snapper was the main post. Fish to 18-20 pounds can be seen by the bluewater specialists who have a good mutton program down pat. Snook almost aren't worth even mentioning anymore since it seems every week they are the stars of social media. We have two kinds of snook around here — giants and a few that come home for dinner.

And remember when I said the seaweed was going to keep anyone from fishing the beaches? Well, I was wrong. I know: It doesn't happen often (ha!, I wish), but pompano fishing at the beach was the place to be for them.

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Florida fishing regulations and fishing season opening and closing dates:

Grouper: Harvest opens May 1. Includes gag grouper, red grouper, black grouper, scamp, yellowfin grouper, yellowmouth, coney, graysby, red hind and rock hind. Harvest closes Jan. 1, 2024.
Hogfish: Harvest opens May 1. Harvest closes from Nov. 1, 2023, to April 30, 2024.
Cobia: New bag and size limits for state waters. Bag limit: Two fish per vessel. Size limit: 36 inches fork length.
Snook: Harvest closes June 1. Reopens Sept. 1. One fish bag limit, 28-32 inches, snook stamp required.
Lobster: Season closed April 1. Two-day sport season (mini-season) opens July 26-27. Regular season opens Aug. 6.
Spotted seatrout:  Harvest opened Jan. 1 in Volusia, Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin and Palm Beach counties. Harvest closes November and December 2023.
Redfish: Harvest of redfish is banned in the Indian River Lagoon and Mosquito Lagoon beginning Sept. 1. FWC will re-evaluate later in the year.
Alligator: Hunt season opens Aug. 15-Nov. 1. Permits required.
Dolphin: Bag limit is five fish per day per angler. Vessel limit is 30 fish per day. Captain and crew may not be included in limit. These fishing regulations began May 1, 2022, for state waters.
Tilefish: Harvest opened Jan. 1.
Bass: Bass at Headwaters Lake will soon become all catch-and-release.

For complete fishing regulations in Florida go to MyFWC.com.

Indian River County

Offshore: Mutton snapper can be caught in 60-70 feet of water. Mangrove snapper and lane snapper are in the same zone along with triggerfish. Use fluorocarbon leaders 24-30 feet in length below the sinker to keep the fish from getting spooky. At The Pines, kingfish are there feeding on sardines and blue runners.

Inshore: Good snook fishing can be had at Sebastian Inlet State Park from either jetty. Live croaker, live mullet and live shrimp are the top three bait offerings. Other catches include redfish while drifting by boat in the middle of the inlet with live crabs. In Vero Beach, look for spotted seatrout around the spoil islands and mangrove shorelines with topwater plugs or jerk baits.

Freshwater: Bass fishing has been best at Headwaters Lake on wild shiners. Fish are taking baits around the outside edges of the beds. Fish the Stick Marsh for bluegill and shellcracker with live red worms.

St. Lucie County

Offshore: Fish the currents of the Gulf Stream to find bites from dolphin and blackfin tuna. Troll ballyhoo or use run-and-gun techniques to look for floating objects which may be holding fish. Often the temporary habitat of sargassum weed, pallets, trees, even abandoned rafts will produce catches of dolphin from 8 to 20 pounds. Sometimes even legal sized tripletail or skipjack tuna will swim in the area.

Inshore: Spotted seatrout can be caught on the grassflats off Bear Point, Jaycee Park, north of North Causeway and around St. Lucie Village. Use live pilchards if available. Snook are all over the place. They can be caught around the bridges, in Taylor Creek, the Turning Basin, along the inlet docks and around spoil islands.

Surf: So the surf specialists did pretty well last weekend on beach pompano and whiting. Fishbites and pieces of shrimp were key. Middle Cove Beach, Dollman and County Line (Glascock) in Martin County all produced fish, I'm told.

Martin County

Offshore: Capt. Rocky Carbia of the Safari I partyboat out of Pirates Cove Resort and Marina in Port Salerno said the mutton snapper fishing was fantastic over the weekend. His anglers caught several snapper in the 10-15 pound range. Oh Boy fishing's J.J. Klarmann and Gil Feldman also had mutton snapper catches of 15 to 20 pounds. Long leaders are key. Dead sardines and pinfish plugs are good baits.

Inshore: Snook are being caught on docks along Rocky Point, Sewall's Point, Sailfish Point, the bridges in the Indian River Lagoon and St. Lucie River and at Hole in the Wall. Live pilchards are doing the trick. For an actual challenge, however, try using artificial lures instead of live bait. That makes it a little tougher and it's good for the live bait population in the lagoon which feeds the snook when they're not biting your hook.

Lake Okeechobee

Bass fishing has been very good at the lake. Wild shiners will get bites from 2-5 pound bass. Many anglers are using spinnerbaits, stick worms and lipless crank baits to catch bass which have come off the beds. Bluegill and shellcracker fishing has been excellent on live crickets.

Ed Killer is the fishing writer for TCPalm. Send him your report at ed.killer@tcpalm.com.

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