Stuart fishing report for the week of September 10, 2026. This is the week the mullet run stopped being a rumor and became the whole story. Every morning this week the finger mullet have been pouring south along the beach in black ribbons, and everything that eats a mullet has followed them into the Crossroads. I have been on the water at first light three days running and have yet to see a slow one.
What’s Hitting
What’s hot right now is snook, and they are fat. Season has been open since the first of the month on the Atlantic side, and the fish are feeding heavily on the mullet schools pushing through the inlet on the outgoing tide. Tarpon are rolling in the surf and along the Sailfish Point beach, jacks are blowing up bait pods at the Crossroads every morning, and the redfish along the St. Lucie shorelines are taking advantage of the same buffet.
Offshore, the reef between 60 and 90 feet has been producing mutton snapper and a steady pick of kingfish. Mahi are scattered on the weedlines but this is not the week to burn fuel looking for them when the beach is this good.
Where to Find Them
Start at the inlet on the falling tide. The north jetty at the St. Lucie Inlet and the rocks along the south side hold snook staged against the current waiting for mullet to wash out. Along the beach, the tarpon and jacks are following the bait pods, so drive Hutchinson Island and look for birds and nervous water rather than committing to one spot. The House of Refuge rocks and the beach just north of the inlet were the two most consistent stretches this week.
Inside, the Crossroads and the flats off Sewall’s Point have snook and jacks working bait at dawn, and the docks along the Manatee Pocket are worth a few casts once the sun gets up.
Tides & Conditions
A new moon arrives this weekend, which means strong spring tides through the inlet and hard outgoing water in the afternoons. Big tide swings push more mullet through the inlet and set up the classic outgoing-tide snook feed. Mornings have been calm with a light southwest breeze, then a building east wind in the afternoon with the usual chance of a storm. Water temps are still in the mid-80s and clarity along the beach has been good except right after the afternoon rain.
Tackle & Tactics
Live finger mullet on a 5/0 circle hook is all you need for the snook and tarpon this week, either free-lined in the current or under a float along the beach. For artificials, a 5-inch paddle tail swimbait or a large flair-hawk style jig fished on 40-pound fluorocarbon leader handles the inlet fish. Along the beach, a topwater walking bait at first light will draw jacks and the occasional tarpon. Bump up to 60-pound leader if you are targeting tarpon on purpose, and use a 7-foot medium-heavy spinning rod with 30-pound braid.
Local Intel This Week
Sandsprit Park has the busiest ramp in town and gets you to the inlet in ten minutes. Leighton Park on the South Fork of the St. Lucie and the Stuart Causeway ramp are quieter alternatives if you are fishing inside. Shore anglers have been doing well at the House of Refuge and the beach access at Bathtub Reef Beach. Fish are concentrating at the inlet mouth on the outgoing tide and along the beach wherever the mullet pods are thickest. Snook season is open on the Atlantic coast, but check current FWC regulations, slot sizes, and seasons before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
Do not cast into the middle of the mullet school. Work the edges and the back of the bait pod, where the predators sit waiting for a straggler. A bait that looks separated from the crowd gets eaten three times as often as one buried in it. The same goes for artificials — a paddle tail worked slowly just behind and below the school looks like the injured mullet every snook is hunting for.
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