Florida fishing: Mullet are moving; are sharks, snook, tarpon biting? Depends

Mullet mania is underway and fishing is mixed, to say the least.

If you ask one angler, the fishing has been great. That angler has been in the middle of the madness and hooked snook or sharks, tarpon or jacks. But for every one who gives you a report like that, there is another angler who says fishing has been difficult. That angler hasn't had bites from any of the usual predators. Or they have seen mullet and seen nothing biting.

Anyway, the mullet run is always hard to quantify and figure out every year. Sometimes it enhances fishing. Sometimes it's like fishing in a lottery. Either way, try to go now because if you do catch a fish, you'll remember the circumstances. And if you don't? well, just blame it on the outdoor writer being wrong again.

Florida fishing regulations and fishing season opening and closing dates:

• Flounder: Harvest closes Oct. 15 to Nov. 30. Size limit: 14 inches. Bag limit: 5 fish per person.

• Spotted seatrout: Harvest closes November and December in Volusia, Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin and Palm Beach counties. Harvest reopens Jan. 1.

• Snook: Harvest reopened Sept. 1. One fish bag limit, 28-32 inches, snook stamp required.

• Blueline tilefish: Harvest closed Sept. 1 in Atlantic state and federal waters. Season re-opens for harvest May 1, 2024.

• Golden tilefish: Harvest closed July 17. Harvest opens Jan. 1, 2024.

• Lobster: Regular season opened Aug. 6-March 31, 2024. No egg bearers, 3-inch minimum carapace length. Lobster stamp required.

• Alligator: Hunt season opened Aug. 15-Nov. 1. Permits required.

• Hogfish: Harvest closes from Nov. 1 to April 30.

• Grouper: Harvest opened May 1. Includes gag grouper, red grouper, black grouper, scamp, yellowfin grouper, yellowmouth, coney, graysby, red hind and rock hind. Harvest closes Jan. 1.

• Cobia: New bag and size limits for state waters. Bag limit: Two fish per vessel. Size limit: 36 inches fork length.

• Redfish: Harvest of redfish has been banned in the Indian River Lagoon and Mosquito Lagoon since Sept. 1, 2022. FWC will reevaluate in the future.

• Dolphin: Bag limit is 5 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 on May 1, 2022, for state waters.

• Bass: Bass at Headwaters Lake will soon become all catch-and-release.

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

FWC meeting in Jensen Beach

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will meet Oct. 4-5 at Hutchinson Shores Resort, 3793 NE Ocean Blvd., Jensen Beach. Meetings begin each day at 8:30 a.m. Among the items on the agenda will be final approval of snook regulations and stone crabs rules. The full agenda can be found here. For more information go to MyFWC.com.

Indian River County

Offshore: Sporty seas on and off the past few days have thinned out the effort going into bluewater to fish. There have been some snapper in 70-80 feet of water, some kingfish and trolled dolphin out deeper.

Inshore: The mullet run is underway at Sebastian Inlet. Incoming tides stack the fish up and predators are relentless throughout the tide cycle. Outgoing tides scatter the schools south down the beach where tarpon, sharks, jacks and snook are pounding the bait fish. Some anglers are lucky getting their lines bit.

Freshwater: Headwaters Lake has been improving weekly as day lengths grow shorter and temperatures get cooler. Use crank baits, spinnerbaits or swim baits to get the bite going.

St. Lucie County

Offshore: Sporty seas are in the forecast again for the weekend, probably because swells from Nigel will be able to reach the beach as it pushes north of the Bahamas shadow. Larger sportfishing vessels, like charter boats, will be able to get to the bluewater, but small boats better use caution if planning a trip. Dolphin are available along the rips in 200 feet.

Inshore: It's all about the mullet right now. Schools have been streaming south along the west side of the lagoon, according to Jayson Arman of That's R Man land-based fishing charters. He said on wade fishing trips, his clients have had shots at snook, trout, jacks and redfish while wade fishing near Walton Road, Little Mud Creek and Vitolo Family Park.

Surf: This region has been iffy with the shorebreak. Expect the weekend shorebreak to be on the rough side. Maybe some whiting will respond and there have been scattered reports of sand fleas returning, so look for them on uncrowded beaches.

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Martin County

Offshore: The early part of the week was a good time to get offshore. Lady Stuart party boat out of Hutchinson Island Marina reported a dolphin catch in 70 feet of water while fishing for snapper. The Wickstrom Reef is holding greater amberjack and gag grouper.

Inshore: Kristia Lovelock, 12, of Port St. Lucie caught and released a 30-inch snook caught on a live mullet at Stuart Causeway Sept. 14. Lovelock was fishing with her dad Kevin McCoy who had taken her fishing for her birthday. Congratulations Kristia. Snook have been hit and miss in many of their usual spots, according to many snook experts. Mullet have been up as far as Palm City, and will begin moving downriver soon.

Lake Okeechobee

There has been good fishing for bass in the western and northern parts of the lake. Gin clear algae-free water has been in that region offering easy sight fishing for many anglers. Wild shiners are working as are spinnerbaits.

Ed Killer is TCPalm's outdoors columnist. Email him your fishing report to ed.killer@tcpalm.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida fishing: Mullet are moving; are sharks, snook, tarpon biting?