FEBRARY 29, 2008
There has been a lot of wind to contend with this week and then came the cold temps! And, then came more wind making the inshore and offshore fishing tuff. Hopefully this cold front will pass on thru and the weather will be better for the weekend.
INSHORE - Before the water temps dropped the trout bite was on with fish from 1 to 3 pounds all over the river in 3 to 4 feet of water and they were feeding on everything live and artificial. The bigger trout seemed to come from the deeper water and most were caught on artificial baits like a Mirro Lure, Gulp! shrimp or a D.O.A. bait buster in the root beer color. But, with the water temps colder the back is on the slow side. As the water temps drop the anglers that are throwing jigs will have the best results. Try places like local bridges at night and the docks in the Ft. Pierce Inlet. There are still plenty of sandperch, black drum, sheepshead, spanish mackerel and bluefish around the local bridges. Try a live shrimp or a piece of fresh dead shrimp.
OFFSHORE - Same story as above -- before the front moved in there was a good dolphin bite reported in 90 to 110 feet of water for anglers trolling ballyhoo. I did have reports of several wahoo in the 20 pound range in that same area. The sailfish bite has slowed some with only a handful of fish reported and most were coming from the south of the Ft. Pierce Inlet. The bottom fishing over the wrecks and reefs for snapper, grouper and amber jacks should continue to improve along with the weather. Look along the beaches for spanish mackerel, jacks, bluefish, whiting and pompano.
TEEN ANGLERS - The next regular monthly inshore fishing tournament for the local chapter of Teen Anglers will be held on Sunday -- March 16th. The Teen's will leave from Jaycee Park at 6:45am and fish until noon. If you would like more info on Teen Anglers for the 12 to 18 age group or Junior Teen Anglers for the 5 to 11 age group just go to the web at www.teenanglers.org.
If you would like to report a catch you can e-mail me at cward11605@aol.com or you can 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