Redfish fishing in The Treasure Coast

In The Treasure Coast, redfish peak August–April and are around year-round, spawning in September–October, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. January: In the rivers and the deep lagoon holes. Indian River Lagoon reds are catch-and-release — check MyFWC.

1. JanuaryPeakIn the rivers and the deep lagoon holes. Indian River Lagoon reds are catch-and-release — check MyFWC.
2. FebruaryPeakSnook opens; pompano in the surf; kings and cobia nearshore. Snook harvest opens the 1st at the inlets and bridges; pompano run the beach; kings and cobia on the reef and wrecks.
3. MarchPeakThe spring runs: pompano, Spanish, the first tarpon in the inlets. Spanish flood the inlets on the bait; pompano still on the beach; tarpon show at Jupiter and Sebastian on the night tides.
4. AprilPeak
5. MayAroundInlet snook peak before the closure; tarpon on the beaches. The big spring snook stack in the inlets — harvest closes the 31st. Tarpon along the beaches and in the inlets at dawn and dusk.
6. JuneAroundBeach snook at first light; snapper on the reef; lagoon trout early. Snook in the surf trough at dawn; snapper on the nearshore reef and the bridges; lagoon flats at first light only.
7. JulyAroundSummer: snook on the beach and inlets, snapper on structure. Dawn on the beach for snook, then the reef and bridges for snapper; the lagoon is a night fishery under the dock lights.
8. AugustPeakThe mullet begin to gather; snook stack at the inlets. Snook on the inlet outgoing at night; the first mullet schools on the beach late in the month bring tarpon and jacks.
9. SeptemberSpawningSchools in the southern lagoon and spawners at the inlets.
10. OctoberSpawningPeak mullet run; reds and trout in the lagoon; flounder at the inlets. Follow the mullet down the beach; reds and trout feed on the lagoon flats as the water cools; flounder stage on the inlet sand.
11. NovemberPeakFlounder run through the inlets; trout on the flats; pompano return. The Sebastian and Fort Pierce flounder run on the outgoing; trout thick on the lagoon grass; pompano back in the surf.
12. DecemberPeakSnook closes mid-month; sheepshead, drum and pompano take over. Last snook harvest to the 14th; sheepshead and drum on the bridges, pompano on the beach, trout in the deeper lagoon holes.

The inlets and the Intracoastal behind them, the southern Indian River Lagoon's grass flats and spoil islands, the St. Lucie and Loxahatchee rivers, the beaches, and a reef line that comes within a mile of the sand from Jupiter south.

Fish Scouter charts 349 dock / pilings, 260 grass flat, 217 mangrove shoreline, 22 bridge, 7 pass / inlet spots in the Palm Beach & the Treasure Coast map area — the kinds redfish hold on.

• Live shrimpUnder a popping cork or free-lined, hooked under the horn on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook; on a jig head for the bottom. The universal inshore bait.
• PinfishHooked through the back ahead of the dorsal on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook; the small ones free-lined, the big ones on a fish-finder rig.
• Finger mulletLip-hooked on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook and free-lined, or on a fish-finder rig in the surf. Cut mullet on the bottom for redfish and drum.
• Blue crabsWhole and small for permit and tarpon; halved or quartered on the bottom for black drum, redfish and cobia.
• CroakersHooked through the back on a 2/0 to 3/0 circle hook, free-lined or on a Carolina rig — big trout and redfish can't leave them alone.

• Leader20–30 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook1/0–3/0
• Jig head1/8–3/8 oz
• Braid10–20 lb

Feeds in 58–90°F water, best at 65–82°F.

All about redfish · Palm Beach & the Treasure Coast, the whole year