FEBURARY 2, 2008
INSHORE - The opening of snook season was good for some anglers and slow for others. Most of the slot size fish reported were caught around the bridges on a Red Tail Hawk by fishing it slow along the bottom. The next best bite came from the Ft. Pierce Inlet for the anglers that were fishing with pinfish or pigfish on the out going tide. Most of the fish reported were under the slot but there were several that were in the slot. The trout and redfish action has been a little on the slow side due to the water temps being down but, the fish that were caught came from Bear Point down to Middle Cove. Early in the morning before the south winds start has been the best time. The bait of choice seems to be a D.O.A. or a GULP! shrimp in the glow color. Again, fish it very slow. The best inshore action has been the bottom fishing around the bridges and along the edges of the channels of the Intercoastal. There has been plenty of sandperch, sheepshead, blck drum and snapper to keep you busy. Also in good numbers there has been spanish mackerel, jacks and ladyfish to stretch your line. A live shrimp has been your best bet. I have been getting mixed reports from the surf anglers about the pompano, whiting and spanish mackerel. There has been some what of a steady bite both on the north and south beaches. A sand flea or a live shrimp has been the way to go.
OFFSHORE - The offshore fishing has been up one day and down the next but, there has been a good number of dolphin in the 20 pound range being reported this week. Most of the dolphin came from boats that were fishing in 120 to 150 feet of water and trolling a ballyhoo. On Monday I had reports of several wahoo in the 30 to 50 pound range and they were caught in 75 to 125 feet of water to the south of the Ft. Pierce Inlet and again on a ballyhoo. If you are looking for kingfish you will need to try in 70 to 90 feet of water and slow troll a live bait like a blue runner or a mullet. Most of the kingfish that were reported were in the 12 to 25 pound range. The bottom fishing over the reefs in 30 to 60 feet of water has been producing a good number of snapper, seabass and a few keeper size grouper. The better grouper bite has been over the wrecks starting in 100 feet of water. Along the beaches there are still plenty of spanish mackerel, bluefish and jacks to keep you busy.
JUNIOR TEEN ANGLERS - The next from shore fishing tournament for the Junior Teen Anglers will be held on Saturday -- February 9th at Harbour Pointe Park in Ft. Pierce. The Junior's will fish from 9am until 11am then we will award trophies. If you would like for your child to fish with us you can call 772-201-5773 for more info or just log onto the web at www.teenanglers.org. Junior Teen Anglers is for the 5 to 11 age group.
BRAGGING BOARD - Bobby Ewald of St. Cloud calls Ft. Pierce home during the snook season. He started the season off with a nice 30 incher. Bobby also caught and released a good number of shorts and also released 2 that were over the slot. He was using both live shrimp and pinfish and he was fishing in the Ft. Pierce Inlet on the out going tide. Wayne Wilson reported a good catch of sheepshead and a few croaker on Tuesday. He was using live shrimp. Larry Reed is reporting a steady catch of sandperch while fishing the docks in the Ft. Pierce Inlet.
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.captjoeward.com.
Capt. Joe Ward
Capt. Joe's River Charters