LOCAL FISHING REPORT

OFFSHORE

Off Jensen Beach, with relatively flat seas, it has been about bottom fishing.

Anglers fishing 6- and 8-mile reef are catching lane, mutton and mangrove snapper using pieces of shrimp or squid on chicken rigs.

The pelagic bite hasn’t been that great with the calm ocean, but should pick up as several cold fronts are predicted to move through in the next week.

Off Jupiter, there have been a few sailfish caught.

Though most are being taken in depths between 110 to 175 feet, the range can vary quite a bit.

In 200 to 250 feet, there have been some wahoo and blackfin tuna caught.

With the light seas and mostly slack current, the

snapper bite has been good in 150 to 200 feet of water. Off Boynton Beach, the

fishing has been slow with little action reported. A few charter boats have been catching black grouper up to 20 pounds along the inside edge, in 50 to 60 feet. They were using deep-diving plugs or skirted Benito strips trolled behind planers.

Triggerfish, porgies, cero mackerel and grunts, along with mangrove, yellowtail and lane snapper, were caught last week in 50 to 115 feet of water.

INSHORE

Along Jensen Beach beaches, it’s still all about pompano. With the calm seas and good water color, anglers are having a blast. Fish-bites combined with either clam strips or sand

fleas are still the best baits. The cast for fifinding them has been around 80 to 100 yards, which means long rods. Anglers may want to consider using black monofilament as it is visible to birds and can help avoid any entanglements.

The whiting and croaker bite has also been good and there have been some bluefish around.

In the St. Lucie and Indian Rivers, the tripletail have been biting. The key is structure. Dock or bridge pilings, buoys and the power poles spanning the river are all working.

For Spanish mackerel, Peck’s Lake is still the spot. Casting green jigs and

ripping them back as fast as they can, many anglers are catching their limit of 15 per day.

There has been a good trout bite on the east side of the river up near Herman’s Bay.

There has also been a good snook bite recently. Keep in mind, though, it’s just catch-and-release until Feb. 1 when the season reopens.

Along the Jupiter beaches, anglers are catching

Spanish mackerel, bluefish, bonefish, croaker and whiting.

The pompano bite at the Juno Pier has been good with anglers enjoying good

luck using Doc’s Goofy

Jigs as well as Fish-bites combined with sand fleas.

There have been a few snook caught from the jetty at the Jupiter Inlet using spoons and artificial

glass minnows. One angler reported hooking four in one hour.

At the Boynton Inlet , anglers have been catching

sheepshead up to 10 pounds using live crabs. Some small snapper and jacks were caught using live shrimp.

Along the flats from the Lake Worth Bridge to the Boynton Inlet, redfish have been hitting everything, including top-water lures. A few flounder, croakers,

black drum and sheepshead have been caught around Lantana Bridge.

LAKE OKEECHOBEE

On the lake, the bass bite has been good and the speckled perch bite has picked up.

Speckled perch are hitting on minnows and jigs.