Fishing Report for Ft. Pierce, Florida

November 24, 2004 INSHORE - The inshore action has been good thru the weekend with the weather cooperating. There were plenty of catch and release trout all along the Treasure Coast. Some of the hot spots this week were the Mooring Flats, Pete Stone Creek, the area around Midway Road and just to the south of the Jensen Beach Causeway on the East side of the river. Live shrimp or a dark colored soft plastic bait was the way to go. The snook bite has also been good on the tide change around the local bridges and Inlets. Try a live pinfish, finger mullet or a Red Tail Hawk. Most of the snook reported were on the smaller side but in the slot limit. There is still a very strong redfish bite along the Treasure Coast. The fish have been around docks and bridges. A big live shrimp or a finger mullet has been hard to beat. The snapper bite has slowed down some along the channel edges mostly due to the cooler water temps. The snapper that were caught were feeding on live shrimp. The croakers are starting to show up in good numbers. There were good catches reported coming from the St. Lucie River and around the Roosevelt and Palm City Bridges. The spanish mackerel and bluefish have been active around the Inlets and are working their way inshore. OFFSHORE - The offshore conditions were better this weekend but the fishing was a little slow for most anglers. We did get reports of some small sailfish being released between the Ft. Pierce and St. Lucie Inlets. The sails were caught in about 95 feet of water. The dolphin that were reported were mostly small -- under 15 pounds and were caught in about 135 to 165 feet of water. Most of the fish were caught on skirted ballyhoo to the south of the Ft. Pierce Inlet. I did get a few reports of good snook and redfish action at the Boils of the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant but you had to be there at the right time. One day the bite was in the morning and the next it was in the afternoon. One thing for sure a live pinfish or mullet are by far doing the best job. TEEN ANGLERS - Last Sunday the Teen Anglers had a perfect day for fishing. There were 31 Teens that fished and 44 fish weighed in. For the Middle School Division Luis Hernandez of Northport Middle School took 1st place. 2nd place was Brian Pace also of Northport and 3rd was Laura Hood of Lincoln Park. In the High School Division Chad Painter of Westwood High School took 1st place and also biggest fish of the tournament. 2nd was Richard Salamak of Centennial High and 3rd was Justin Rader of Ft. Pierce Central. The teens received trophies and fishing gear for their efforts. The next tournament will be December 5th at Jaycee Park in Ft. Pierce. For more info on Teen Anglers go to the website at www.teenanglers.com. 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