Stuart fishing report for the week of September 24, 2026. This is the week I circle on the calendar every September. The equinox is behind us, the full moon lands on Saturday, and the combination is giving us the biggest tides of the year right in the middle of the mullet run. The water is high, the current at the inlet is strong, and the snook know exactly what that means.
What’s Hitting
This week on the water it is snook, snook, and more snook. The fish are stacked on the St. Lucie Inlet rocks and spread along the Hutchinson Island beaches wherever the mullet pods are thickest. Tarpon are still rolling at first light inside the Crossroads and along the beach, jacks are crashing bait in the surf, and redfish are pushing up into flooded shoreline grass on the high tides along the St. Lucie. A few Spanish mackerel and bluefish have joined the party behind the bait, and the first pompano reports are trickling in from the beaches north of the inlet.
Where to Find Them
The inlet on the outgoing tide is still the main event. Work the north jetty and the south-side rocks as the water starts to fall, then follow the fish out to the beach as the tide drops. On the beach, drive the island, look for the nervous water and diving birds, and set up on the down-current end of each mullet school. Inside, the Crossroads, the Sewall’s Point flats, and the Roosevelt Bridge fenders all have snook working bait on the moving tide. The high tides are flooding the mangrove edges on the North and South Forks, and that is where the redfish are.
Tides & Conditions
King tides are the headline. With the full moon on Saturday and the equinox just past, expect water over the low spots at Sandsprit and along Indian River Drive at the top of the tide, and a hard, fast outgoing at the inlet. The best windows are the first two hours of the fall. Water temps are sliding into the low 80s, mornings are calm, and the east wind builds after lunch. Keep an eye on the tropics this time of year and check the marine forecast before running the inlet.
Tackle & Tactics
Live finger mullet on a 5/0 circle hook is the whole program. Free-line them in the inlet current or drift them along the beach just outside the trough. For artificials, a 5-inch paddle tail on a 3/8-ounce jig head, a bucktail with a trailer, or a walking topwater at dawn all work. Go 40-pound fluorocarbon for snook and 60-pound if you are targeting tarpon. With this much current, you may need to add weight to get down in the inlet.
Local Intel This Week
Sandsprit Park is the fastest ramp to the inlet, and the Stuart Causeway and Leighton Park ramps work well for fishing inside. Shore anglers are doing well at the House of Refuge, Bathtub Reef Beach, and the Jensen Beach Causeway. Fish are concentrated at the inlet mouth on the outgoing tide and along the beach wherever the mullet are. Parking at the ramps fills early on weekends during the run. Snook season is open on the Atlantic coast, but check current FWC regulations, slot sizes, and seasons before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
On a king tide, the fish do not have to work as hard to ambush bait, so they spread out. Instead of fighting the crowd at the inlet at the peak of the outgoing, fish the last hour of the flood along the flooded mangrove edges inside. You will often have the fish to yourself.
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