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Stuart Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

The Sailfish Capital: where the St. Lucie meets the Indian River and the Gulf Stream swings close enough to raise January kites.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 4:18 PM
Air / High
77 / 81 F
Wind
N 6 mph

Sources: NOAA tides 8722357, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Stuart lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. Today brings clear skies, wind N around 6 mph, steady pressure near 1016 hPa and a high of 81. Tides: high 9:13 AM and 9:26 PM, low 3:54 AM and 4:18 PM: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 78 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:57 AM-11:57 AM and 10:23 PM-12:23 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Redfish (red drum)Excellent

Spring and early summer put redfish on grass flats, shorelines and oyster bars; on the Gulf, fish below spawning age stay inside the bays (TPWD). Sight-cast to tailing and cruising fish or drift live shrimp under a popping cork.

Speckled troutExcellent

Spring brings seatrout back over shallow seagrass, and the spawning season (April to September in Louisiana and South Carolina) keeps them feeding. Popping corks with live shrimp, free-shrimping on the drift and casting to working birds are the main tools.

BluefishExcellent

Warming water pushes the schools north along the coast. Casting spoons and poppers into bait and chunking menhaden are the usual approaches; use a wire or heavy leader every time.

Tomorrow: Similar at 81 F with a rain chance. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Florida requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $17.00 for residents, and salt water needs its own licence here. What a Florida licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing redfish (red drum) here? Check the size and bag limits with FWC before you keep anything. The season dates for Florida, read off the agency, are on the Florida seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

Tides

NOAA station 8722357 (Stuart, St. Lucie River). Fish the moving water either side of each change.

Fri
LOW3:54 AM0.5 ft
HIGH9:13 AM1.2 ft
LOW4:18 PM0.6 ft
HIGH9:26 PM1.1 ft
Sat
LOW4:35 AM0.3 ft
HIGH10:00 AM1.2 ft
LOW5:02 PM0.5 ft
HIGH10:09 PM1.2 ft

Stuart tide chart: the week and the month β†’

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp77 F
High / Low81 / 64 F
WindN 6-12 mph
Pressure1016.2 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain21% cloud, 12%
Sunrise / Sunset07:25 / 18:44
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~78 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Stuart this week

The best day on Stuart this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” good at 4/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:57 AM-11:57 AM and 10:23 PM-12:23 AM
Minor period
4:17 AM-5:17 AM
Sun
07:25 to 18:44
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 13 mph
Rain chance
12%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Stuart: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Redfish (red drum) illustration

Redfish (red drum)

Best: late-summer and fall bull run; inshore all year

Red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), called redfish across the South, is a bronze inshore drum with a black spot near the tail, fished on grass flats, oyster bars, marsh creeks and beaches from the Chesapeake around Florida to Texas. Spring and early summer put redfish on grass flats, shorelines and oyster bars; on the Gulf, fish below spawning age stay inside the bays (TPWD). Sight-cast to tailing and cruising fish or drift live shrimp under a popping cork.

Speckled trout illustration

Speckled trout

Shallow bays spring and summer; deeper water in winter

Speckled trout is the anglers' name for the spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus), a spotted member of the drum family that lives in shallow bays and estuaries from the Chesapeake to Texas. Spring brings seatrout back over shallow seagrass, and the spawning season (April to September in Louisiana and South Carolina) keeps them feeding. Popping corks with live shrimp, free-shrimping on the drift and casting to working birds are the main tools.

Bluefish illustration

Bluefish

Peak harvest: May-Oct, most in Jul-Aug (NOAA)

Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) are sharp-toothed schooling predators that move up and down the Atlantic coast with the seasons and feed in surface blitzes on menhaden, silversides and squid. Warming water pushes the schools north along the coast. Casting spoons and poppers into bait and chunking menhaden are the usual approaches; use a wire or heavy leader every time.

When to come: the Stuart calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Redfish (red drum)
Speckled trout
Bluefish
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 78 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~78 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Stuart today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 81 F, wind to 12 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 81 F, wind to 12 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 82 F, wind to 15 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Florida requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Florida license. Snook seasonal + permit; sailfish release culture universal: check FWC.

Access

Sandsprit Park, Stuart Causeway ramps, Manatee Pocket fleet; Bathtub Reef beach access.

About this water

The St. Lucie Inlet town, Martin County, FL. Sailfish Capital of the World.

Fishing Stuart: the full guide

Capital credentials

Stuart claimed 'Sailfish Capital of the World' in the 1930s and defends it every winter: the Gulf Stream's edge swings within a few miles of St. Lucie Inlet, and December-February's cold fronts stack sails along the color change: kite fleets raise double digits on the good days. The town's offshore pedigree runs a century deep.

The crossroads estuary

Inside, the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon cross at the inlet: snook stack the crossroads' docks and bridge shadows (a night-tide institution), tarpon roll the river bends in summer, and the lagoon's flats north hold reds and trout when the water allows. The inlet itself funnels everything: moving tide beats time of day.

The water-quality watch

Stuart's fishery lives with Lake Okeechobee's discharge politics: releases stain the estuary and push fish to the inlet and beaches. Watch the discharge schedule like the tide chart: clean-water stretches turn the crossroads world-class fast: the fishery's resilience is the town's ongoing fight and pride.

Working Stuart

Sandsprit Park and the Stuart Causeway ramps serve the estuary and inlet run: the beaches (Bathtub Reef to Jensen) fish pompano and snook in the troughs: and the offshore fleet sails from Manatee Pocket: half-day sails in winter, dolphin-and-wahoo summers. The inlet's shoals shift constantly: local knowledge or generous tide margins.

Common questions

When is sailfish season off Stuart?

December-February, behind the cold fronts: north winds stack them on the color change and the kite fleets fly. Half-day winter sails here out-raise most full days anywhere.

What is the Crossroads at Stuart?

The junction where the St. Lucie River, Indian River Lagoon and inlet meet: a snook-and-tarpon interchange of docks, shadows and current. Night tides are its office hours.

Is fishing good at Stuart right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Fort Pierce18 miLake Okeechobee38 miSebastian Inlet47 miLake Istokpoga62 miLake Kissimmee80 miLake Tohopekaliga98 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Tide predictions
NOAA CO-OPS 8722357 β€” Stuart, St. Lucie River
Harmonic predictions, datum MLLW, local time. 12 high and low events returned for today and the next two days. A prediction, not a measured water level: wind and surge move the real thing.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 27.2000, -80.2500 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.