November 30, 2007
INSHORE - The inshore fishing has not been red hot this week but there has been plenty of fish to keep you busy. Jacks and ladyfish are everywhere and hitting just about every kind of bait you throw at them. Around the bridges you can look for a lot of sandperch and snapper and also a few sheepshead and black drum. I did have good luck with the flounder while fishing around the North Bridge and using live shrimp. Also, there has been some flounder reported around the Ft. Pierce Inlet with a finger mullet or a live shrimp working the best. The redfish bite has been steady on the high tide at places like Round Island and Queen's Cove. Slow fish a plastic bait or a live shrimp. I have been getting reports about a fair pompano bite to the south of the power lines. Most of the fish are in 3 to 5 feet of water and feeding on sand fleas or small live shrimp. The snook action is still on the slow side but there have been some keeper fish reported. They are coming form the Ft. Pierce Inlet on the out going tide and a live bait has been the bet choice.
OFFSHORE - Most of the boats are reporting some action but, for the most part the bite has been slow. Most of the sailfish action has been in 100 to 120 feet of water to the south of the Ft. Pierce Inlet. Look for the kingfish on the Offshore Bar along with plenty of small sharks and cuda's. The only dolphin reported to me this week was on Thursday and was caught in 160 feet of water on a pink/white skirted ballyhoo. The bite was to the north of the Ft. Pierce Inlet. The bottom fishing for snapper, grouper, seabass and the other bottom fish has been steady around the Northeast Grounds on both live and cut baits.
JUNIOR TEEN ANGLERS - The next from shore Junior Teen Angler tournament will be held on Saturday -- December 8th at Harbour Pointe Park in Ft. Pierce. The Junior's will fish from 9 to 11am and then will be awarded trophies and goody bags. If your child is between the ages of 5 and 11 and you would like for them to join Junior Teen Anglers you can call 772-201-5773 or go to the web at www.teenanglers.org for more info.
DOCK FISHING TOURNAMENT - The first dock fishing tournament at the Dockside Inn & Resort was a big hit with the guest there. The night snook tournament was won by Ed Hendricks. Ed caught and released a 4lb 5oz pound snook. The day dock tournament was won by Emily Hendricks. Emily had numerous catches but her biggest fish was a 2lb. 7oz. Bermuda Chub. Dennis and Cookie Ingram took 1st place in the combined total fish caught. They caught and released a total of 14 fish. The kids tournament was won by Tyler Delaney with a 1lb 8oz. spot. The sister and brother team of Helen and Robert Kinchen took 2nd and 3rd places. All the kids received a new rod and reel combo as well as other fishing gear. The guest were treated to a BBQ sponsored by the resort. The next dock tournament will be held in January and the resort will announce the date soon.
If you would like to report a catch you can e-mail me at cward11605@aol.com or call me at 772-201-5770. You can also reach me on the web at www.captjoeward.com.
Capt. Joe Ward
Capt. Joe's River Charters