AUGUST 7, 2008
INSHORE - The inshore fishing this week has still been on the slow side with the only action coming from the trout and redfish at daylight. Find the schools of bait like the glass minnows on the flats and the fish will be there. Try a small top water bait or a small live bait. This has worked well up until about 8am. During the last morning and early afternoon the only reports have been of snapper, sheepshead and black drum along the channel edges and they have been taking live shrimp. I did get reports of some nice size flounder coming from the sand bars around the Ft. Pierce Inlet and to the south of the South bridge. Most of these fish were caught on a live shrimp. Also, a few flounder have been caught at the Ft. Pierce Jetty this week. After dark the catch and release snook around the Ft. Pierce Inlet and the local bridges has been good for anglers using live baits.
OFFSHORE - The offshore fishing this time of year is slow except for the bonita, cuda's and small kingfish. These fish have been in 30 to 50 feet of water to the south of the Ft. Pierce Inlet. The bite has been the best just before dark and they have been feeding on live baits. I am still getting a few reports about the sailfish in 100 feet of water. We had one boat jump 3 on Saturday. There were also a few nice wahoo reported in 250 feet of water and they took a ballyhoo with a black/red skirt. The wahoo were in the 25 to 35 pound range. The only dolphin I had reported came from 800 to 1200 feet of water. There was only a few and none were over 10 pounds. As the water warms up the bottom fishing has improved for snapper, grouper and seabass when fishing over the reefs and wrecks. Also, look for a cobia to pop up in that same area.
CENTRAL FLORIDA OFFSHORE FISHING CLUB - The CFOFC held their monthly offshore fishing tournament out of the Dockside Inn on August 2nd. It seems that kingfish was the fish of the day. Some were caught on live baits and some on dead and in depths from 20 to 75 feet.
1st place - Hal Kersey - Reel Party - 38.5 king
2nd place - David Stone - Bad Habits II - 23.1 king
3rd place - Al Wilcox - Swamp Thing - 18.6 king
4th place - Bob McDonald - Gitty Up - 14.0 king
5th place - Brad Perez - Stock Options - 10.4 king
6th place - Shane Craig - Dread Naught - 8.9 king
7th place - Kim Harrell - Fish Tales - 7.9
8th place - Craig Toth - Afternoon Delight - 7.2 king
The next offshore tournament for the CFOFC is scheduled for September 13th.
BRAGGING BOARD - Ricky Eisen-- age 10 bested his personal best last Saturday when he caught 2 kings. One went 36.8 and the other was 34.6. He caught them both on live baits and was fishing in about 30 feet of water to the south of the Ft. Pierce Inlet. His dad Jesse Pfeiffer said that the fish swam up to the boat without much of a fight.
If you would like to report a catch you can e-mail me at cward11606@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
