January 25, 2008
INSHORE - The inshore bite has been on the slow side this week unless you are looking for bottom fish. The area bridges and in the Ft. Pierce Inlet have been producing good catches of sandperch, sheepshead, black drum and a few croakers. All are being caught on a small pieces of fresh dead shrimp. I am still getting reports of keeper size grouper from anglers trolling the channel edges along the Intercoastal and using big deep diving plugs. The trout action has been steady but nothing red hot. Most of the fish that were reported this week were caught in 3 to 5 feet of water on a live shrimp or a new penny colored GULP! shrimp. The catch and release snook action has been a little tough but a live pinfish fished around the North Bridge or in the Ft. Pierce Inlet on the tide changes has worked the best. There has been plenty of jacks, bluefish and spanish mackerel working the Inlet and in the Turning Basin.
OFFSHORE - The conditions have not been the best with most anglers staying home but, on Wednesday and Thursday the seas had laid down a good bit. I got reports of a few sailfish in 160 feet of water and they were to the north of the Ft. Pierce Inlet. Also, in that same area were a few small dolphin -- most 15 pounds or under. A rigged ballyhoo or mullet was the bait of choice. If you are looking for kingfish then try just inside the Offshore Bar in 70 to 80 feet of water. A live blue runner was the best bait to use but were hard to find. As the seas have laid down the bottom fishing has gotten a lot better with snapper, grouper and even a cobia being reported coming from around the reefs and wrecks . A live bait or a piece of cut bait were both working well. There are still plenty of spanish mackerel and bluefish along the local beaches.
TEEN ANGLERS - The January inshore tournament for Teen Anglers was canceled last Sunday due to the weather. It has been rescheduled for this coming Sunday -- the 27th. The Teen's will meet at Jaycee Park in Ft. Pierce at 6:30am. They will fish until noon and then we will award trophies. If you would like more info on Teen Anglers 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