INSHORE - With snook season closed a lot of anglers are targeting trout and redfish with pretty good reports coming in. The hot spots this week for the trout was at Bear Point and all the way down to Blind Creek. Try using a live pigfish and fish in 3 to 5 feet of water. For the redfish the area around Jack Island and the docks around St. Lucie Village have been a good for slot size fish. Fish a small jerk bait in light colors -- this has been the favorite for the reds. The bite along the channel edges for snapper has been really good with fish to 2 pounds. Also, the usual catches of jacks, ladyfish and a few small grouper. I have been getting a few reports of tarpon showing up along the Intercoastal.
OFFSHORE - There has been plenty of kingfish reported in 25 to 70 feet of water and they have been feeding on live baits if you were lucky enough to find any before Friday and Saturday when the bait did move back in. Most of the fish have been from 9 to 25 pounds. On Friday there was fish weighed in for the FLW Kingfish Series that went as high as 47 pounds. There was numerous fish in the 30 to 34 pound range. On Saturday it seemed that most of the fish were from 22 to 41 pounds. I had one FLW angler tell me that he didn't know that Ft. Pierce had so many 20 pound fish. One of the boats staying with us at the Dockside Inn & Resort did finish in the top 5. Congratulations to Randy Griffin and his crew on the M&M boat. The dolphin bite has been and the fish have been scattered from 90 to 600 feet of water. On Friday and Saturday the wind had pushed the fish in a little closer and they were getting nice fish in as close as 80 foot. The dolphin have been taking both live and dead baits but the top bait was a yellow and green skirted ballyhoo. Most of the fish that were brought into the docks were between 15 and 38 pounds. Also, a good number of sailfish hook ups were reported in 100 feet of water. The bottom fishing for snapper, grouper and aj's has been steady since the seas laid down. Try fishing at the near shore reefs and wrecks with live baits. There have been a few reports of schools of big tarpon and jacks along the beaches.
If you would like to report a catch, call me at 772-201-5770 or e-mail me at cward11605@aol.com. You can also reach me on the web at www.captjoeward.com.
Capt. Joe Ward
Capt. Joe's River Charters
