INSHORE - The inshore fishing has been good this past week if you could stay out of the wind. The trout bite has been steady at places like Bear Point, Little Mud Creek and at the Midway Road area to the South and to the North it has been at Harbour Branch, Round Island and The Mooring's flats. Try in 3 to 5 feet of water and use rootbeer colored soft plastic baits. The snook fishing has been good for the angler who are putting in their time. Try the Turning Basin or the docks along the Ft. Pierce Inlet. Try using a pinfish or a small croaker. Also, a large live shrimp will do the job. A Flair Hawk has been working well in the Turning Basin and around the North Bridge. If you are going to fish around the bridges there has been plenty of sheepshead, black drum and a few croakers. The ladyfish and jacks have been all over the river and just waiting to give you a good fight. The spanish mackerel bite has been steady for angler drifting the Ft. Pierce Inlet.
OFFSHORE - The offshore fishing has been hard this past week with the sea conditions not being that good for the smaller boats. The bigger boats have reported some scattered dolphin in 120 to 140 feet of water and were caught on naked ballyhoo. The kingfish bite has been strong when fishing around the 70 to 90 foot mark near the Offshore Bar. A live bait has been the way to go. Look for cobia around the 50 foot mark. Most of the fish have been with the rays but a few were caught free swimming. A Cobia Slayer from Gulfstream Lures has been hard to beat. The bottom fishing reports from the head boats have been good. They have been fishing from 30 to 50 feet of water and catching snapper, grouper, black sea bass and small cobia. The beaches have been loaded with spanish mackerel and bluefish.
TEEN ANGLERS - This Sunday is the regular scheduled monthly inshore tournament for the local chapter of Teen Anglers. The Teen's will fish from 7am until noon. They will be awarded trophies and fishing gear in the high school and middle school divisions. If you would like to be a boat volunteer or just want more info on Teen Anglers just go to the web at www.teenanglers.org.
If you would like to report a catch you can 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