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Fishing Report for Ft. Pierce, Florida
Capt. Joe Ward
May 11, 2004
Fort Pierce - Saltwater Fishing Report
May 12, 2004
INSHORE - The inshore fishing has been a little on the slow side this week due to all of the wind we have had. The snook bite around the local bridges remains steady when using live baits like mullet, greenies or pinfish and the best bite has been after dark. The Ft. Pierce and St. Lucie Inlets have been productive on the tide changes for the anglers fishing with large live shrimp. At the South Jetty in Ft. Pierce the reports have been for snook in the 28 to 32 inch range. Most of the snook were caught on large shrimp.
The trout action has been steady but not red hot. Your best bet is to use a live shrimp and fish it under a popping cork at places like Bear Point, Middle Cove, Harbor Branch or the Moorings in Vero Beach. I did get a couple of reports about some nice sized redfish along the dock at St. Lucie Village. The redfish were hitting small mullet. The flounder bite has slowed with only a handful of flounder coming from the Jetty and from the flats just south of the South Bridge in Ft. Pierce. I have had good reports of pompano being caught on the South Jetty during the early morning hours. Small live shrimp and sand fleas have been the baits of choice. Still plenty of black drum around the bridges and down Stuart's way it has been croakers, black drum and sheepshead around the local bridges.
OFFSHORE - Dolphin, dolphin and more dolphin. The dolphin bite has been very good with catches being reported from 70 to 250 feet of water. Most of the fish reported were in the 12 to 30 pound range. On Saturday the Lucky 21 - captained by T.J. Garrard with crew members Carlin Bennett, Robby Tarbes and Paul Daniels brought a 39.1 pounder into the docks which took 1st place in a private tournament that was held at the Dockside-Harborlight Resort in Ft. Pierce. The fish was caught in 245 feet of water just southeast of the Ft. Pierce Inlet. This was the biggest dolphin that T.J. Garrard and crew had caught but just the day before he weighed in a 32 pounder which at that time was the biggest dolphin he had ever caught. All of the boats in the tournament had good catches of dolphin. The event was hosted by Mike Prendergast.
I got an e-mail from Frank Eckles stating that he went out of the Jupiter Inlet on Friday morning with one other angler aboard and they hooked 5 dolphin, landed 4 decent fish from 11 to 15 pounds. The depths were 160, 195 and 225 feet of water and they were just a little north of the Inlet. Frank said that a green and yellow skirted ballyhoo got most of the action and a green and yellow feather in the prop wash was next.
The kingfish have been all over the Offshore Bar in 90 feet of water out of Ft. Pierce and along the Six Mile Reef out of the St. Lucie Inlet. They have also been al along the beaches and a live blue runner has been the most productive with a ribbonfish coming in second. Several kings in the high twenty's were weighed in on Friday and Saturday and one in the low thirty's on Saturday.
The snapper and grouper bite remains steady in 70 to 90 feet of water with these fish taking live sardines or greenies. Several snapper in the 8 to 12 pound range were reported and the grouper were in the 15 to 25 pound range. The spanish mackerel, bluefish and big jacks are still cruising along the beaches.
If you would like to report a catch, call me at 772-201-5770 or e-mail me at [email protected]. You can also contact me on the web at www.captjoeward.com
Capt. Joe Ward
Inshore Fishing Guide
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