INSHORE - The inshore fishing has been good even with all the wind we have had. The trout fishing remains steady in 3 to 5 feet of water. The best spots have been around Round Island and Queen's Cove. A soft plastic bait early in the morning has been producing the most fish and you will need to switch to a live shrimp as the sun gets up. The snook fishing has been steady if you were fishing around the local bridges at night and on the tide changes. There has also been a few slot size snook coming from the Turning Basin early in the morning. Also, a few anglers have been drifting along the docks in the Ft. Pierce Inlet and have been getting a good number of under sized snook. Most all of these fish have been caught on a live bait. The anglers fishing from the catwalks of the South Bridge have been reporting good catch of snapper, sheepshead and croakers. Most of the fish were caught on a small live shrimp. Look for plenty of spanish mackerel, jacks and bluefish all over the river.
OFFSHORE - The wind and sea conditions have been a problem this week for the smaller boats. The reports from the bigger boats have been about dolphin in 100 to 900 feet of water and they were taking a skirted ballyhoo in the green and yellow color. Most of these fish were 25 pounds or under. The kingfish bite remains steady when fishing in 25 to 70 feet of water. Most of the fish caught last Friday and Saturday were under 45 pounds and caught on a live blue runner. I did have a couple of reports about cobia in 90 feet of water and they were being caught on chartreuse jigs. Also, in that same area the bottom fishing for snapper and grouper was steady until last Saturday. Most of the snapper were 8 pounds or under and the grouper were 20 pounds or under. We did have a couple of wahoo come into the docks last Saturday and they were caught at Bethel Shoals. Still plenty of spanish mackerel, jacks and bluefish along the beaches. I did get one report of good permit action at the Boils. A small live crab is the bait of choice.
TEEN ANGLERS - The local chapter of Teen Anglers will hold their last inshore tournament of the school year next Sunday -- April 29th at Jaycee Park in Ft. Pierce. The Teens' will fish from 6:45am until noon. After the tournament the top five middle school and top five high school Teen Anglers will be announced and they will have a fish off on May 6th to determine the Teen Angler of the Year. If you would like more info on Teen Anglers just go to the website at www.teenanglers.org .
BRAGGING BOARD - Alan Hall and his crew caught 15 dolphin last Saturday while fishing aboard the VooDoo Lady. Most of the dolphin were 22 pounds or under and were caught in 900 feet of water. Wally Schultz and his crew on the Giddy Up caught 3 kingfish that were 22 pounds or under and a 21 pound wahoo last Saturday while fishing near Bethel Shoals. Tony Brown and family caught 2 kings under 31 pounds and a cobia that was 27 pounds while fishing along the Offshore Bar in 90 feet of water.
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