Fishing Report for Indian River & St. Lucie River - Offshore

Capt. Kevin Drennan
February 12, 2006
Stuart - Saltwater Fishing Report

The cold weather is once again upon us, so it is a good time to talk about the fishing in the past two weeks. Off shore the sailfish bite has been a bit spotty. Some days there were several caught and other days almost none were caught. The dolphin bite has been a bit better but widespread. Some boats would come in with a bunch while others would get nothing. That is because there have not been many weed lines to hold them. What scattered weed there was, held plenty of small baits which the dolphin feed on. They were spread out from 120ft. to 250 ft. Bait was plentiful just outside the St. Lucie Inlet in 30 to 40 ft. of water. It was a mix of threadfins and pilchards and you could load up your bait well in 20 minutes. There have been some nice grouper caught in the 6 mile reef area along with some snapper. Some Cobia have been caught in the same area and we should see more of them in the coming months. This week several wahoo were caught on trolled ballyhoo while fishing for other species. The Spanish mackerel are still holding in large numbers south of the inlet. They provide a great time when fishing with light tackle. Bring the kids out and watch them have fun.

The best news is about the return of clean water to the St. Lucie River. Since the Lake O” discharges have stopped, the water clarity has brought several species back in the river. Small tarpon in the north fork along with snook, trout and an occasional redfish. The other day we caught all of them in a 2 hour period using plastic baits. Pompano can be caught in the Hell’s Gate area after the tide changes. Trout are being caught up and down the Indian River on live shrimp and plastics. The bridges are holding some nice croaker and an occasional snook. Bluefish are roaming the surf. Any shiny lure quickly retrieved will do the trick. More later.

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