JANURARY 22, 2009
INSHORE - The weather conditions this week haven't been that great with a lot of wind and plenty of cold temps! I did get reports of scattered trout, catch and release snook and some redfish around the flats from Round Island south to the North Bridge. A soft plastic bait like a D.O.A. shrimp or a Cotee jig will get the job done. Remember, fish your bait slow -- with the water temps down the fish will move slower. Along the channel edges look for snapper, sheepshead and black drum. All of these fish have been feeding on live shrimp. The area bridges are giving up a lot of sandperch mixed with a few sheepshead, black drum and snapper. In the Ft. Pierce Inlet there is still a good number of spanish mackerel, bluefish and the croakers are starting to show up in better numbers. Again, a live shrimp has been hard to beat.
OFFSHORE - The sea conditions have not been good for most of the week and it has kept most anglers at home. But, the bigger boats that went reported scattered sailfish and dolphin starting in 95 feet of water. Most of the fish were caught on ballyhoo. I did get a report from the boat ONE ON about 2 blackfin tuna to 12 pounds and they were caught on a ballyhoo in 140 feet of water to the south of the Ft. Pierce Inlet. The kingfish bite has been steady around the 90 foot bar for anglers trolling strip baits or a spoon. When the sea calmed the bottom fishing on the near shore reefs was good for sheepshead, black drum, bluefish and a few sharks in the mix. Along the beaches there is plenty of spanish mackerel, bluefish and pompano and they have been feeding on live shrimp and sand flea's.
TEEN ANGLERS - This Sunday -- January 25th is the monthly inshore fishing tournament for the Treasure Coast Chapter of Teen Anglers. They will meet at Jaycee Park in Ft. Pierce at 6:30am and fish until noon. Trophies are awarded for 1st to 3rd place in the middle school division and also in the high school division. There is also a trophy for the biggest fish of the tournament. If you would like more info on joining Teen Anglers or being a boat volunteer just go to the website at www.teenanglers.org
BRAGGING BOARD - I got a call from Jesse Pfeiffer about a bass his 4 year old daughter -- Jessie Lee caught. They were fishing in a canal off of Kings Highway when she caught the fish. It is her biggest bass to date. I got an e-mail and picture from Paul Meding about a snook his son -- Trace got last week while fishing in the Indian River. Trace caught and released a 32 inch -- 12 pound snook! He was using a D.O.A. shrimp. Audrey Wilson caught a 5 pound Bermuda Chub while fishing in the Ft. Pierce Inlet. She was using a piece of frozen shrimp. Ed & Emily Hendricks were here fishing over the weekend and caught a bunch of fish in 20 feet of water just off the North Jetty. They had a mix of sheepshead, black drum and a few pompano. They were using live shrimp.
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.captjoward.com
Capt. Joe Ward
Capt. Joe's River Charters
