JANUARY 8, 2009
INSHORE - The inshore fishing this week has been a good one. The fishing for snapper, sheepshead and spanish mackerel has been very good when fishing along the channel edges from just north of the North Bridge up to Round Island. Try a live shrimp and fish it on a 1/4 oz. Trol-rite. The sandperch bite has been good when fishing from the docks along the Ft. Pierce Inlet and from the catwalks of the area bridges. Use a small piece of shrimp on a #4 or #6 long shank hook and a small weight will work just fine. I have been getting good reports about a steady trout bite coming from the Midway Road area. I also got reports of a good trout bite to the north of Harbor Branch. The redfish have been in shallow water. Look around the mangroves, up around Jack island or try the west shore line just south of Harbor Branch. Use a D.O.A. shrimp or a GULP! shrimp in a light color. These have been producing the most fish.
OFFSHORE - There has been a lot of sailfish being reported the last part of the week. Look for them in 120 to 140 feet of water to the north of the Ft. Pierce Inlet. Look for scattered dolphin from the Sebastian Inlet down to the St. Lucie Inlet in 80 to 250 feet of water and they have been taking a ballyhoo -- both naked and skirted. The spanish mackerel are everywhere and hitting just about everything. The best offshore action has been from the snapper and grouper when fishing over the reefs and wrecks. Try fishing in 70 to 90 feet of water and use both live and cut baits. And, last but not least the kingfish have been providing good action for anglers fishing in 60 to 90 feet of water.
JUNIOR TEEN ANGLERS - The Treasure Coast Chapter of Junior Teen Anglers will have their from shore fishing tournament this Saturday -- January 10th at Harbour Pointe Park in Ft. Pierce. There will be trophies for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in the 5 to 8 and the 9 to 11 age groups. There will also be a trophy for the biggest fish of the tournament. If you would like more info on Junior Teen Anglers you can go to the web at www.teenanglers.org or you can call 772-201-5773.
BRAGGING BOARD - On Saturday I had Ralph Kamsch and his son Ronnie Leone fishing with me. They caught and released 2 redfish and 5 nice size sheepshead. Ronnie flew in on Friday, fished with his dad on Saturday and flew back to Maryland on Sunday. On Monday I had Morris Dorn and Tony Phillips on the boat with me. They caught a limit of snapper, several spanish, sheepshead and jacks and Tony caught a 5lb. spanish mackerel. Morris and Tony were visiting here from Greenwood, South Carolina. Junior Teen Angler -- DJ Markowski went on a family fishing trip to Octal, Costa Rica in November. On November 16th the highlight of the trip was when DJ caught a very nice roosterfish. He was using a 5lb. bonita as bait. DJ and his parents also had some very nice dolphin too. Wally Dressel and Larry Reed have been reporting a steady sandperch bite. Wayne Wilson reported a good snapper and sheepshead bite to the north in the river.
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
