JULY 17, 2008
INSHORE - Not much change in fishing patterns this time of year. Fish early or late and save the middle of the day for a nap. Still, the best action is the trout, jacks and ladyfish and they all are hitting on top water baits at first light. Try Bear Point or the flats just north of Harbor Branch. I had god reports of redfish this week with some of them coming from around Jack Island area and some coming from the docks along South Indian River Drive. At both places the fish are being very picky. The best results are coming from small live crabs. The catch and release snook action has been good in the Ft. Pierce Inlet for anglers using greenie's fished on the bottom at the tide changes. The snapper were scattered over the weekend with a few here and a few there Most were caught along the channel edges on a small live shrimp -- that is if you were lucky enough to find some.
OFFSHORE - The word this week has been sailfish. The boats at our docks reported from 5 to 12 hook ups per trip. And, they were taking both live baits and ballyhoo. Try the area just east of 12 buoy in 90 to 125 feet of water. There were good reports of cobia to 50 pounds coming in over the weekend and this week. Most of the fish were coming from 30 to 80 feet of water and a live bait was the way to go. I have had a lot of kingfish come in over the weekend and also this week. Try the area from south of Ocean Village down to the Boils at the power plant in 30 to 40 feet of water. Slow troll a live bait for your best results. The good news was that we have a good number of dolphin come into the docks over the weekend. They were caught anywhere from 80 feet out to 250 feet. All of the fish were caught on ballyhoo. The bottom fishing has been off again this week due to the cold bottom temps. The reports on the internet are of 52 to 57 degrees making grouper and snapper fishing nonexistent.
CENTRAL FLORIDA OFFSHORE FISHING CLUB - The CFOFC held their monthly offshore tournament this past weekend at the Dockside Inn. Club members reported a variety of catches but non as unusual as the blue marlin that Eddie Merritt caught in 80 feet of water. He was using a ballyhoo for bait. Guy Harrell was sure he set a new club record with the 42.3 pound kingfish he caught in 26 feet of water to the north of the Ft. Pierce Inlet. Jarrod Naberhaus celebrated his 13th birthday by catching a 7.6 pound dolphin in 100 feet of water on a ballyhoo. Robert McDonald caught a 13.7 pound dolphin in 102 feet of water and they had another in 80 foot. Alan Wilcox had 2 dolphin that were caught in 120 feet of water. The clubs next offshore tournament will be held on August 2nd.
1st place - Guy Harrell - Reel Party - 42.3 pound kingfish
2nd place - Julian Rioseco - Dread Knot - 18.2 pound cobia
3rd place - Craig Toth - Afternoon Delight - 13.7 pound kingfish
4th place - Robert McDonald - Gitty Up - 13.7 pound dolphin
5th place - Jarrod Naberhaus - 7.6 pound dolphin
6th place - Alan Wilcox - Swamp thing - 6.7 pound dolphin
BRAGGING BOARD - On Saturday Rob Ward caught a 30 pound cobia while fishing with greenie's in 50 feet of water to the southeast of the Ft. Pierce Inlet. Danny Maness was 0 for 2 on sailfish. Also, on Saturday Troy Brown fishing on the For Sure caught a 32 pound cobia while fishing in that same area. He was also using live greenie's. All three had several kingfish. I got an e-mail from Mike Drown stating that he went out of the Sebastian Inlet on July 9th in 100 feet of water and caught 2 - 10 pound dolphin and 1 - 30 pound bull. They were caught on a ballyhoo with a blue/silver topper. They also caught 2 bonita, 2 cuda's and a small shark and all were released.
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