Best Times & Seasons to Fish Jupiter, Florida (Full Guide)

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

The best times to fish in Jupiter, Florida is from April to October. The best fishing season is 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 Jupiter 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.

Jupiter is located on the Atlantic coast of Florida, just north of West Palm Beach. Fishing is a popular thing to do in almost any part of Florida, including Jupiter.

The area is home to unique bodies of water and plenty of fish. The main style of fishing available in the area is inshore fishing along the Loxahatchee River, or throughout the Indian River.

The Indian River runs along most of the Atlantic coast of Florida and is only separated from the ocean by a long, thin chain of islands.

The Indian and Loxahatchee Rivers connect on the north side of Jupiter, this is also where the Indian River ends. Fishing in the rivers offers great flats and lagoon-style fishing, with open water fishing in the middle and by the mouth.

Best Time to Fish Jupiter

When looking at a fishing calendar for Jupiter, you will notice that a lot of fish are available at a lot of times throughout the year.

This is because Jupiter is at the start of the Indian River, so it will be the warmest part of the river year-round. The offshore waters also stay warmer than the northern waters, making fish migrate away for much less time.

This makes it so that there are quite a few fish that are available year-round and have a large peak season. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t check the peak season of your target species.

When deciding on the best time to go, the peak season of your target species should be the biggest factor that you are thinking of.

Some of the species that are available most of the year are dorado, blue marlin, shark, and snapper. The season with the most fish available is the summer, in addition to the ones that are available year-round, snook, tarpon, and bonita are in season in the summer. 

Species of Jupiter (Best Times & Seasons)

Marlin

There are two species of marlin in Jupiter the blue and white marlin. The blue marlin’s season is much longer than the white marlins, but they are both available during the summer. Blue marlin can be caught throughout most of the year, with their peak season being April through October.

White marlin’s peak season is usually just in June, but they can be caught in May, July, and August as well. Marlin will usually be feeding a lot in the morning, the baitfish will be active and the marlin will be hungry.

Ballyhoo are the most popular marlin bait across all of Florida. Ballyhoo are a small, thin, silvery baitfish with a needle-like nose.

They sit at the surface and marlin feed on them. Trolling ballyhoo within a foot of the surface is the best way to catch as many marlin as possible. 

Marlin are open water, offshore fish. They can be found by looking for clouds of baitfish, patches of floating seaweed, and flocks of seagulls feeding on minnows at the surface. Marlin like to stay in open water, meaning that they generally aren’t feeding around wrecks or reefs.

Sharks

The peak season for sharks runs almost year-round, with the only months that aren’t good being April, June, and August.

There are a lot of different species of shark in the area, but this applies to almost all species. As for the time of day, the morning is a good time to target sharks, but night seems to work the best.

Sharks like to feed on big baitfish, so using big baitfish as bait would only make sense. You can do that or use big chunks of cut bait, anything that can get its smell out quickly.

For equipment, you will need a heavy rod with a heavy reel and line. You will also need a steel leader and a large hook.

Sharks can be found both inshore and offshore. While inshore, sharks can be found just outside of drop-offs in the surf, and even in flats areas too.

They can also be found in deeper water but will be harder to track down. As for the offshore sharks, they will usually stick around reefs and wrecks, feeding on the baitfish at these spots.

Cobia

Cobia can be caught year-round but become much more active from October through May. They can be caught at any time of day as well but are more active in the morning and the evening.

Crab, shrimp, and mullet are the most popular baits used for cobia. Bait will depend on where you are fishing.

All the baits listed will work in almost any situation, but shrimp and crab will work better in shallower water and mullet will work better in deeper water.

Cobia can be found in both inshore and offshore water. They tend to stick to areas with cover, so nearshore and offshore wrecks and reefs are great spots to find them. In the morning, they can also be found cruising around more open water looking for food.

Snook

Being available year-round, snook are one of the most popular and easy to fish for gamefish in Florida. Their peak season runs from May through August. The best time of day to catch snook is in the morning.

Snook generally like to feed on baitfish and shrimp. Some of the most effective baitfish to use are pinfish and mullet, but almost any will work. You can rig the baitfish and the shrimp the same, a live bait rig with plenty of weight to hold your bait in place.

Snook are usually found in inshore waters with plenty of structure and cover. They like to hide in their cover during the afternoon and will come out of it during the morning and evening.

During these times, they can be found in more open water, cruising around for food, but they will never travel too far away from cover.

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 Jupiter

These Jupiter-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
Snook Action Charters	Backcountry, Flats, Wreck, Inshore & Nearshore
Trick or Treat Sportfishing	Nearshore & Offshore
Lucky Chip Charters	Backcountry, Flats, Wreck, Inshore & Nearshore
Palm Beach River/Ocean Charters	Flats, Wreck, Inshore, Nearshore & Offshore
Latitude Sportfishing	Nearshore & Offshore
Hook’N Up Sport Fishing	Inshore, Offshore, Wreck & Reef
Dingo’s Fishing Adventures	Backcountry, Flats, Wreck, Inshore & Nearshore

Best Time of Day to Fish Jupiter

The best time of day to fish in Jupiter is either the morning or evening. During these times, fish will be much easier to find, and they will also move into shallower water. They will also be out in more open water because they won’t need to find cover from the hot sun.

Some deeper water species may even move into water that is reachable from shore or a pier, making shore fishing during these times popular.

During the morning and evening, you can expect there to be more fish in areas where you’ll be fishing and they will be much more willing to feed.

Fishing in the afternoon can be good, but with the hot sun, fish will most likely hide under cover until the water cools back down.

Tidal Impacts on Jupiter Fishing

Tides will have an impact on any kind of ocean fishing. The main things they will impact are oxygen levels, current, and water depth.

High tide brings in much more oxygen into the water, which gives fish energy to feed. High tide will also bring in more current, moving around different sources of food for the fish.

High tide will also add some depth to the water that is closer to shore, making fish able to swim in waters that are closer to shore. High tide will also make offshore fishing easier.

The current will die down when it is peak high tide, making it much easier to hold your bait in one spot. So, all in all, high tide is the best tide to fish.

Affect of Rain & Tropical Storms on Fishing in Jupiter

Tropical storms will have an impact on almost all of Florida, Jupiter is no exception. Tropical storms can make it impossible to fish, even if they aren’t directly hitting the area that you are fishing.

They can send lots of rain and high winds up the coastline, making it difficult to fish any spot out in the open.

Tropical storm season runs from June to November, but the most common time for them to happen is in the fall. You should always check the weather before you get on the water, some tropical storms can be very dangerous, and it’s not worth the risk.

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Night Fishing in Jupiter

Night fishing is a popular way to fish in some areas of Jupiter. The main places to night fish from shore are well-lit piers and the surf.

You will want to bring some lights, even if you’re on the pier, to make sure that you can see what you’re doing. If you’re on a boat, the more lights the better.

You need to make sure other boats can see you and that you can see what you are doing. Night fishing offers a lot of the same species as you would find in the day, with more deep-water fish moving in closer to shore.

Shark fishing is very popular at night, shark will move into shallower water at night to feed, making them easier to reach from shore.

Artificial light gives fish just enough light to see at night, extending their feeding hours and making it easier to catch them. You should try fishing in bays and inlets that are near the city to maximize your use of artificial light.

As for bait, you should try using oily and smelly fish. This will make it so the gamefish don’t need to rely on their eyesight when tracking down your bait, instead, they can track it by scent and vibrations in the water.

Shore & Surf Fishing in Jupiter

Fishing from shore can be just as productive as fishing from a boat. There are plenty of public spots you can fish from in Jupiter, mainly being beaches and piers.

Fishing from shore is made easy in Jupiter, you can rent tackle and purchase bait on some piers and fish all day if you like.

Some of the most common species caught from piers are snook, cobia, and mackerel. Medium-sized baitfish are go-to baits, these include pinfish, mullet, herring, and a few others.

You should have plenty of weight attached, depending on how deep you plan on fishing, this will keep your bait in front of the fish for a longer time.

As for fishing from the beach, you can catch all of the same species, but sometimes it can be easier to figure out than piers. With beach fishing, you don’t need to deal with being far away from the water, making landing big fish much easier.

can also sometimes see fish much more clearly and sight fish for them. The bait used at both places remains the same, baitfish and shrimp are great options and you should try to cast it just past the edge of a drop-off and slowly retrieve it.

Best Fishing Spots in Jupiter

Surf/Shore Fishing

Jupiter Beach Park

This park is located by the mouth of the Jupiter Inlet and Loxahatchee River. The park is within a small inlet that leads out to the Jupiter Inlet, this makes for a great place for cover for fish.

The park also extends out to the shore of the inlet and also has a beach facing out towards the ocean. All these things combine for a great fishing spot that offers snook, trout, snappers, sharks, and many more species of fish.

Coral Cove Park

Coral Cove Park is north of Jupiter, located on Jupiter Island. There are spots facing both the Indian River and the Ocean, both spots offering great fishing.

You can expect to catch a mixed bag at these spots, this part of the Indian River is wide and has lots of open water, attracting some deeper water species.

There is a coral reef as well, holding tons of fish. Some of the most popular ways to fish these spots are by using either baitfish and shrimp on a live bait rig or using a flashy lure to cover more water.

You can expect to get plenty of snook and trout in these spots with some snapper and cobia mixed in as well.

Inshore

Loxahatchee River

The Loxahatchee is a large river system that starts north of Jupiter and runs right by Jupiter as it dumps into the ocean. The river starts out thin, growing as it runs towards the ocean. There are plenty of great spots on this river including different islands, flats, and inlets to fish by.

The river offers all the usual inshore species, cobia, snook, trout, snapper, etc., but they are in there in large numbers. The mouth of the river can be very productive, but as you go further inshore, more structure and good spots start to pop up more frequently.

Indian River

The Indian River is a long river that runs along Florida’s Atlantic coast. This river holds tons of fish including snook, redfish, trout, cobia, and many more species.

The river offers great fishing that can either be close to shore or out in the deep currents that run through the middle of the river. You can also fish closer to the mouth and catch the fish that are migrating from the ocean into the Indian and Loxahatchee Rivers as well.

Offshore

Offshore fishing is one of the most popular ways to fish in Jupiter. 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.

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Best Seasons to Book a Charter

The best season to book a charter depends on three main things; weather, the peak season of your target species, and how busy the charters will be during this time.

When looking at the weather, it can be somewhat tame for most of the year, other than hurricane season, which happens in the fall.

You will almost always have a chance of having a storm, but they won’t be bad enough to derail your fishing plans. When looking at the peak season for your target species, you should also consider looking at other fishes’ peak season as well. This makes it so that you have a backup plan in case you can’t catch your target species.

Charters will be busy throughout the year, and extremely busy during summer and some parts of spring and winter. This shouldn’t steer you away from booking in the season you want to go.

You should try to book your trip as soon as you know what you want to do and that it is happening. This secures your spot on a charter that you like, the earlier the better as some anglers book trips almost a year out from the actual date.

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