Best Times & Seasons to Fish Vero Beach (A Complete Guide)

Only a short drive from Miami & West Palm Beach, Vero Beach also offers amazing fishing that is nearly unrivaled in American waters. Knowing the best seasons to fish in Vero Beach will make your trip one to remember.

While Vero Beach boasts great fishing all year round, the best times to fish is from April to October. The best season for Vero Beach fishing is the summer into early fall, though there are still great species to be caught in the winter, as the water stays relatively warm all year round. 

Species	Best Season to Fish in Vero Beach Waters
Barracuda	Year-round very good fishing. May & June are only down seasons.
Grouper	May through December are best for grouper fishing.
Sailfish	September through November & January through March are the best months.
Swordfish	August through November are the peak months for fishing.
Mahi Mahi	Spring & Fall are the best seasons for Mahi Mahi fishing.
Tarpon	May-July are the best months.

Located on the Atlantic coast of Florida, Vero Beach has quickly grown to be a great destination for anglers looking to experience Florida. With flats, brackish water, and offshore fishing, the Vero Beach area offers tons of different spots to catch fish.

Part of Vero Beach’s coast is taken up by the Indian River, which is a salt and brackish water river that is separated from the ocean by a long chain of islands. There are multiple channels that connect the river to the ocean, making it so more fish can make their way into the river. The Indian River is just one of many different areas that you can fish in this area, all of them provide great fishing.

Best Time to Fish Vero Beach

If you are wondering when you should plan your trip, you should take into consideration what species you’d like to fish for. Being on the Atlantic, Vero Beach sees different species with different migration patterns than other parts of Florida. The time of the year that offers the most species is the summer.

Marlin, barracuda, dolphin, and a few other species all have good fishing over the summer. The only downside of a summer trip is how busy the area will be and how warm the weather will be. If you’re looking to avoid those things, a spring trip can be just as good as a summer trip, if not better.

Species of Vero Beach (Best Times & Seasons)

Marlin

Marlin are a very popular fish to target when fishing in most parts of Florida. They put up a great fight and can be huge. Their season runs from  March through October, but their peak season is usually from April through August. The best time of day to fish for marlin is in the morning when more baitfish are active.

Ballyhoo are the single most popular bait for marlin. Ballyhoo are found near the surface in open, offshore water. Trolling ballyhoo only a few feet under the surface is the most popular way to fish for marlin, but there are times when casting can work too.

Marlin are open water offshore fish, meaning that they don’t relate to a specific structure, and are more worried about the current in the area. Marlin are commonly found by watching them feed on the surface, or by finding a flock of seagulls feeding on baitfish.

Shark

Shark are available year-round, but their peak season runs from July to September. Shark are migratory fish, meaning that when the water starts to cool down, you won’t be able to find many in the area. As for the time of day, night fishing is very popular for shark fishing, especially from the surf. Shark will move into shallower areas to feed at night, and are more aggressive at night.

Shark are meat-eaters, they will only bite on something that they think is worth their time. Chunks of different kinds of fish, or even other animals, will be your best option. You will want to make sure that the bait is fresh, bloody, and smelly. Shark hunt by scent, so it’s important to have a bait that will appeal to that.

Shark can be found all over the place. While surf fishing, they’re generally found on the deep sides of a dropoff, but can be found shallower at times. If you are planning on fishing for them from a boat, they can be found in flats areas, deepwater reefs and wrecks, and virtually anywhere else.

Dorado (Mahi-Mahi)

Like marlin, dorado are open water, offshore fish. They also like to feed near the surface as well. Their season is open year-round, and the fishing can be great year-round too. Their peak season runs from December through April. The best time of day to fish for dorado is in the morning when the ballyhoo are feeding at the top of the water. This attracts dorado and they will feed up until the afternoon.

Dorado can be caught using a few different kinds of bait, the most popular being ballyhoo and ballyhoo imitation baits. You shouldn’t need a whole lot of weight, just enough to be able to reach them with your cast. 

Dorado can be found in the open waters of the ocean and are generally in deep water. They feed on the surface, so you can find them by looking for splashing on the surface or by looking for flocks of seagulls that are feeding on ballyhoo on the surface.

Snook

Snook are a very popular fish in Florida, especially for anglers fishing from shore. Their peak season runs from December to March, with summer being the worst time to fish for them. Fishing for them in the morning or evening is the most effective way to catch them because the sun won’t be as strong as it is in the afternoon.

Snook like to feed on a variety of small baitfish, including pinfish and croakers. They will also feed on shrimp as well, but if you want bigger fish, you should use bigger bait. The rig for them is straightforward, a hook, weight, and bait. You should let the weight sit on the bottom and have enough line between the weight and hook to let your bait swim around a bit.

Snook can usually be found near structure. Some structure to look for while fishing for snook includes docks, shallow reefs, and trees. Snook don’t like to be directly in the sun, so any shady area should be a good spot.

I recommend this Penn Pursuit Spinning Rod & Reel combo (available on Amazon) for inshore and nearshore fishing. It can handle everything from redfish to snapper and king mackerel. The Penn Battalion Series Spinning Rod and the Penn Battle Spinning Reel are fantastic if you want to create your combo.

Recommended Fishing Charters in Vero Beach

These Vero Beach-based charters have earned great reviews from anglers and will offer you a tremendous service. The captains are knowledgeable, friendly, and are sure to put you on fish. By clicking the links below, you will be taken to the charter’s respective profile on Fishing Booker where you can read reviews, learn more about the charter, view photos, and book online at the best rate.

Recommended Fishing Charters	Type of Fishing Offered
Hook’d Up Charters	Inshore & Offshore
Night Tide Charters	Inshore & River
O’fishly Hooked Charters	Flats, Nearshore & Inshore
Apex Predator Sportfishing	Nearshore, Inshore & Offshore
Southern Thunder Charters – Inshore	Nearshore, Inshore & Offshore

Best Time of Day to Fish Vero Beach

The best time of day to fish in Vero Beach is in the morning. This is when most fish are the most active, and you can find plenty of fish roaming around looking for food. This is because of the low sun, which makes the water cooler and makes it harder for baitfish to see their predators.

The same applies to evening fishing as well. Night fishing has grown in popularity and can be better than any other time of day at times. Night fishing is much more dependent on tides than day fishing, and you should look for areas with plenty of artificial light. One of the most popular species to fish for at night is sharks.

Tidal Impacts on Vero Beach Fishing

Tides can have a huge impact on how your day of fishing goes. Tides are lunar phases that affect the oceans all around the world, making the water recede or rise. The best tide for fishing is high tide. The water gains more current, is more oxygenated and brings food to the fish.

High tide also makes fishing easier from both shore and on a boat. From shore, it is much easier to reach the fish during high tide, the fish will move much closer to shore than normal during high tide. And if you’re on a boat during high tide, it can be easier to make it to some spots that would otherwise be too shallow.

The times around high tide also have good fishing, but high tide is the single best tide. Low tide can make things difficult, pushing fish further from shore and giving them less oxygen are the two main causes of bad fishing during low tide.

Affect of Rain & Tropical Storms on Fishing in Vero Beach

Tropical storm season in Florida is in the fall and can have a big effect on your fishing trip. Tropical storms can send high power winds and rains through the area, making fish scatter and move to deeper water. If you can even make it out on the water, this can make it extremely hard to find fish.

Most of the time, you won’t want to go out during a storm, waves can get rough and fish aren’t worth the trouble. If there is a tropical storm nearby, most of the time it would also make the fishing bad in surrounding areas, but with Vero Beach, the area is protected from some of this by the chain of islands just of the coast. This makes fishing possible, but as always, safety is the most important thing while out on the water.

Night Fishing in Vero Beach

In Vero Beach, there are plenty of options available for night fishing. Some of the most popular ones include well-lit piers that are open all night and the beaches. While fishing at these spots, you will be able to catch all of the fish you’d normally catch during the day, and then some.

There is the possibility of deepwater fish moving in closer to shore, within a range from a pier. This happens because of tides and artificial light. If high tide happens to be at night, you might be in for a great night of fishing. And if there’s also artificial light there, even better.

Artificial light gives fish the ability to hunt at night, providing them with enough light to see food. Even though they can see, it still is a good idea to use a bait that they can track by scent.

For a complete breakdown of the best time to fish near Port St. Lucie, please check out this helpful article.

Shore & Surf Fishing in Vero Beach

Vero Beach has plenty of options for fishing from the surf. Most of these options are either beaches or piers, but there are some spots that have small jetties or platforms to fish from. These spots are scattered all along the coasts of both Vero Beach and the surrounding islands.

When fishing from the surf, you should use a long, surf rod with a heavy reel and somewhat heavy line. As with most ocean fishing, you’ll never know what you’ll pull up next, so it’s good to be prepared. As for bait, shrimp and baitfish are staples.

You should rig them a foot or two underneath weight and you can either let it sit on the bottom, or slowly jig the bait back to you. You should aim past the shelf of a dropoff, most gamefish will sit in spots like this, waiting for a baitfish or shrimp to swim by. 

Best Fishing Spots in Vero Beach

Surf/Shore Fishing

Round Island Beach Park

This park is located on the Atlantic side of South Beach, which is a thin island right off the coast of Vero Beach. The park offers great fishing from a fishing pavilion and surf fishing. The area has a very unique waterway, made up of different saltwater ponds, inlets, and streams.

In most of the areas, you can find trout, snapper, and snook. When they are in season, tarpon are also known to go into this area, most of the area is relatively shallow, which attracts inshore species. On the beach, you can expect to catch a wider variety of species, but it may be harder to track down the fish as there isn’t nearly as much structure.

Jones’ Pier

This pier is located further north on South Beach, and is on the Indian River. The Indian River holds a lot of fish, including, snook, snapper, trout, and some redfish. Fishing a saltwater river is very similar to fishing a freshwater river, you should look for structure and deep spots in the river.

Most fish will be around structure, but some will be roaming in the deeper, open water as well. The best time of year to fish this spot is in the summer. More fish will be in the river as it warms up, and they will usually stay there until late fall when the water starts to cool down again. 

For a complete breakdown to the best time to fish Staurt, please check out this helpful guide. For a complete breakdown to the best time to fish Cocoa Beach, please check out this helpful guide. For a complete breakdown to the best time to fish Smyrna, please check out this helpful guide.

Inshore

Indian River(Northern stretch)

The northern stretch of the Indian River is quite a bit different than the south stretch. The northern stretch has a lot of backwater and flats fishing. This makes it a hotspot for tarpon and redfish. This area is like a lagoon in some spots, branching out into the island with small inlets that have grassy flats and tons of fish.

This area is especially good in the summer but can be productive year-round for certain inshore species. There is also plenty of snook and trout in this area, they can be caught year-round and seem to like the area because of how much structure there is.

Indian River(Southern stretch and mouth)

This area of the Indian River is much wider than the northern stretch. There is also a larger channel that connects it to the Atlantic, which can be considered as a mouth of the river. This allows more fish to migrate into the area, including jack crevalle, tarpon, shark, and a few other species.

This migration varies but usually happens in the early summer. This area also gets much deeper than the northern part of the river, meaning that there may be some deeper water species in here occasionally. There are a few flats in the area as well, most being near the small chain of islands in the middle of the river, or near South Beach. Where ever you decide to fish on the Indian River, you can expect to catch tons of fish.

Offshore

Offshore fishing is one of the most popular ways to fish in Vero Beach. Offshore fishing offers the biggest fish in the area and you can catch a wider variety of species. Some of the species you can find offshore include marlin, sailfish, tuna, dorado, and barracuda. If you are planning on going offshore, your charter will take care of the bait, tackle, and finding spots, giving you a relaxing day on the water.

For a complete breakdown of the best time to fish Jupiter, please check out this helpful article.

Best Seasons to Book a Charter

The best season to book a charter also depends on what species you will be targeting, the weather, and how busy it will be during the time that you will be down there. As mentioned before, summer and spring offer great fishing, but summer and some parts of spring will be busy for charters in the area.

A time of the year often overlooked is the winter. Some of the species available in the winter are amberjack, dolphin, snook, and wahoo. This time of year is mainly busy in a tourism aspect, not so much for charters though. The weather in the winter is still great, and you can have a great trip without worrying about many storms.