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Fishing Report for Ft. Pierce, Florida
Capt. Joe Ward
August 25, 2004
Fort Pierce - Saltwater Fishing Report
August 26, 2004
INSHORE - We are still having a lot of fresh water runoff and that has made the water conditions in the Indian River tough. There are still fish to be caught but it is just a little harder than usual. A steady trout bite has been reported all week with the best action coming from the pockets of clear water -- you just have to ride and look for them. Pigfish and greenies have been the live baits of choice and a D.O.A. Glow Shrimp or a Zara Pup are two good artificial baits to use.
The catch and release snook action around the Spillways has been the hottest thing going on inshore with snook to 25 pounds and a lot of small tarpon being reported hitting topwater plugs or live mullet. The snook action in both the Ft. Pierce and St. Lucie Inlets has been sporadic with no steady bite just one fish here and one there. Remember that snook season opens on September 1st so until then try to handle the fish as little as possible as return them to the water A.S.A.P. The only redfish reported this week came from the dock lines along South Indian River drive. The reds were caught on live shrimp early in the morning.
The snapper have been active along the Intercoastal around all the area's bridges all week with most of the anglers using live shrimp. In the Inlet's the snapper have been feeding on greenies and finger mullet on the incoming tide. Still a handful of flounder being reported from the South Jetty and the catwalks of the South Bridge in Ft. Pierce and from around the channel markers south of the powerlines of the Nuclear Power Plant. And, talking about channel markers you might want to try the ones south of the Jensen Beach Causeway. I had reports of several tripletail from 10 to 12 pounds coming from those markers.
OFFSHORE - Most of the offshore action seems to be bonita and cuda's which seem to be everywhere and keeping anglers busy. But there has been some good fish mixed in with them. Plenty of kingfish were reported to the south of the Ft. Pierce Inlet in 30 to 50 feet of water. Try slow trolling a big live bait like a blue runner or a mullet.
If it is dolphin you are looking for then you are going to have to work a little harder with only a few fish being reported this week and most of these fish were caught between 250 and 500 feet of water. While you are out deep you might want to try for a wahoo. I had several fish from 30 to 50 pounds range come in on Tuesday.
On Saturday a good number of cobia showed up along the North Beach out of Ft. Pierce in about 50 feet of water. You just had to be in the right place at the right time. Most of the sailfish action was coming from south of the St. Lucie Inlet and just off the Loran Towers.
Bottom fishing has also been tough with the current and water temperatures not the best. But, the charter boats that knew how to deal with these conditions are still catching their limits of snapper and a few grouper. I did have reports of big amberjacks on the area's wrecks, but again plenty of cuda's. There is still plenty of big tarpon along the beaches.
I got several e-mails this week - Frank Eckles from Tequesta found a weed line in about 750 feet of water off Hobe Sound and chummed up a school of small dolphin and kept an 8 pounder. Debbie Liebl and Bud Dawson hooked two cobia, 12 & 18 pounders on Friday out of the Ft. Pierce Inlet and on Sunday off Ocean Village Bud hooked up on a100 pound tarpon and they had several bonita. Eric Parkin, age 10, caught his first sail, a 6 foot 6 incher on Sunday. He was trolling a ballyhoo in 90 feet of water east of the Power Plant. Eric landed the fish without any help. Paul Polvinale from Okeechobee sent an e-mail about last Friday when he and he fishing partner, John Wandrum got 4 dolphin -- 5 to 7 pounds in 60 to 65 feet of water while fishing with live greenies out of the Ft. Pierce Inlet. They also caught a few seabass.
If you would like to report a catch, call me at 772-201-5770 or e-mail me at [email protected]. You can also reach me on the web at www.captjoeward.com
Capt. Joe Ward
Capt. Joe's River Charters
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