This week off Palm Beach the Gulf Stream is close and running hard north, the way it should be in late August. Boats are finding blue water inside of five miles and the drift fishing has been productive with almost no running. Inshore, the Intracoastal is warm and the day bite has thinned out, but the inlet after dark has been excellent.
What’s Hitting
Mahi are scattered along the offshore weedlines and under debris in 250 to 800 feet — mostly schoolies with a gaffer or two under the better patches. Mutton snapper and mangrove snapper are on the deep reef edge at night. Kingfish are on the bait pods along the reef line. Blackfin tuna are early and late on the deep drop. Tarpon are in the Palm Beach Inlet and along the beach on the night outgoing, and snook are on the inlet rock and the bridge lights after dark. A few bonito and small blackfin are keeping the light tackle honest.
Where to Find Them
Look for grass and color changes in 300 to 700 feet — that is where the mahi have been. For bottom fish, the deep reef edge in 100 to 160 feet from the Palm Beach Inlet north toward Jupiter has been steady. The inlet itself and the adjacent beach hold tarpon on the outgoing after dark. The Blue Heron Bridge and the Lake Worth bridge lights hold snook and small tarpon. The Boynton Inlet area is worth working on the moving tide.
Tides & Conditions
Moderate tides this week off the waxing moon, with the strongest inlet flow on the evening outgo — that is the tarpon window. Ocean temps mid 80s, inshore upper 80s. Morning seas two to three feet with a light east wind, building through the afternoon. The north-setting current is strong, so set up drifts well south of where you want to end. Storms build over the interior and push east in the late afternoon most days.
Tackle & Tactics
Keep two spinners rigged for mahi — 4000-size, 30-pound braid, 40-pound fluorocarbon, and a live pilchard or ballyhoo chunk ready to throw the moment you see a fish. Hold one hooked fish in the water to keep the school up. Muttons at night want a long 30-pound leader, a whole ballyhoo and minimum weight. Kings need light wire and a stinger. Inlet tarpon: a 6000-size spinner, 50- to 60-pound braid, 80-pound fluorocarbon, and a live mullet or a big swimbait drifted with the outgoing current.
Local Intel This Week
Phil Foster Park at Riviera Beach is the workhorse ramp for the inlet and the Blue Heron Bridge, and the Sportsman’s Park and Currie Park ramps serve Lake Worth. The Jupiter ramp at Burt Reynolds Park handles the north end. Shore anglers are catching snook, snapper and small tarpon from the Blue Heron Bridge catwalk and Juno Beach Pier. Fish are concentrating on current edges — the inlet, the reef line, the offshore color change. Check current FWC and federal South Atlantic regulations and seasons before keeping any fish.
This Week’s Tip
On a hard-running inlet outgoing, do not anchor. Drift it. Start well inside, let the current carry the boat out through the mouth with a live bait swimming naturally in the flow, then idle back and do it again. Anchored baits in that much current look wrong, and drifting covers three times the water.
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