Fishing Report for Ft. Pierce, Florida
Capt. Joe Ward
January 5, 2005
Fort Pierce - Saltwater Fishing Report
January 6, 2005
INSHORE - There has been a good number of trout reported since the opening of the season on Jan. 1st. I had reports of trout to 8 pounds being caught around the Midway Road area. The anglers were using big, live shrimp and fished them in 4 to 6 feet of water.
The catch and release snook action remains good around the area's bridges and in the Inlets. Live mullet have been hard to beat. The snook bite has been good as long as the tide is moving. The redfish have been a little on the slow side but, the ones that did land a fish caught them around the docks on the South side of the South Bridge in Ft. Pierce and the area around Round Island in north Ft. Pierce.
All of the bridges along the Treasure Coast have been producing a lot of sand perch, croakers and sheepshead. Remember that the catwalks on the West side of the South Bridge in Ft. Pierce is closed due to the damage from the hurricanes.
The Turning Basin has been full of schools of weak fish, croakers and big schools of sail cats. Just look for the birds and you will find the fish.
The sheepshead have moved in and these hard to catch bait stealers are just about everywhere there is some kind of structure. I did get a few reports of flounder coming from the South Jetty in Ft. Pierce. These fish were caught on live shrimp.
OFFSHORE - The sea conditions have not been that great but are still fishable for the bigger boats and they have reported good catches. Not a lot of are being caught but the ones that have been caught are in the 15 to 25 pound range. The best depth seems to be 225 to 260 feet of water.
The sailfish reports have been scattered and the Pelican Yacht Club's 25th Invitational Sailfish Tournament started this week. These anglers will be looking for billfish up and down the coast. Good luck to all the anglers.
The kingfish bite has been good in 70 to 80 feet of water. If you can find a nice sized blue runner this is the best bait to use. You can also use a rigged ribbon fish.
The bottom fishing for snapper and grouper has been good when the sea conditions have allowed it. I had reports of snapper to 10 pounds and grouper to 18 pounds coming from the Offshore Bar in 90 feet of water out of the Ft. Pierce Inlet and along the Six Mile Reef out of the St. Lucie Inlet in Stuart.
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
More Fishing Reports:
