October can to be a transitional month for fishing spots and tactics as we enter the Fall. The mullet run should slowly die down in the river as they continue their migration South. While there are still mullet in the river, it sometimes helps to use live shrimp because they are easier for fish to catch with their big bellies.
The snook are slowly making their way back up the river as they hang around docks and bridges. The big keeper snook are mostly found deep where we use 1.5 or 2 oz First Light Jigs to “drag the bottom” with a down-current retrieve. Sunset and Sunrise are the best times of day with moving water. The 10 Cent Bridge is one of my favorite places to jig for big snook with its deep water and shadow lines.
October is also a great time of year to fish the flats for the occasional redfish, trout, or flounder. The Sailfish Flats and Bird Island Flats are showing more life as we made it through the summer without any Okeechobee runoff. This has also helped keep the fishing great back in the St. Lucie River. Lots of tarpon between the Roosevelt and 5 Fingers canal. And this area is where the mullet run seems to last the longest, which can draw more fish to it as they fill up for the winter.
Some schools of big jacks can be found near the Roosevelt Bridge for quick easy fun throwing topwater lures such as Storm Chug and MirroLure PopaDog. October tends to get windy, so I spend lots of time back in the St. Lucie Estuary using mostly artificials or fly-fishing. You can’t go wrong casting DOA CAL Jigs along the mangroves and docks. My favorite colors are the Greenie, Gold Rush, and Figi Chix.