Fishing Report for Ft. Pierce, Florida

February 3, 2005 INSHORE - The inshore fishing this past week has been hard with the cold water temperatures and plenty of wind to go along with it. I have been getting a few reports of trout to 6 pounds coming from the Midway Road area and along the flats to the south of Harbor Branch. The best bait has been a live shrimp. I got a couple of reports of redfish coming from the Queen's Cove canal's and from the local bridges. Most of the redfish have been caught on live shrimp. Snook season is finally here with some nice fish being reported coming from around the Turning Basin and the area's bridges. The Roosevelt Bridge in Stuart seems to be hot spot down their way according to the reports I have been getting. Again, shrimp has been the most productive bait to use both at the Turning Basin in Ft. Pierce and the Roosevelt Bridge in Stuart. The pompano bite has been scattered with most of the fish reported coming from 3 to 5 feet of water and caught on sand fleas. Start fishing around the bridges in the Jensen Beach area as this has been a good spot. There are still plenty of sheepshead around just about any structure you can find. The afternoon bite has been better than any early bite. There are still some croakers and weakfish being caught the Jennings Cove area and a small live shrimp has been the way to go. TEEN ANGLERS - Once again the monthly inshore fishing tournament has been rescheduled. It will be this Sunday -- February 6th at Jaycee Park. Teen's should be there are at 6:45am and ready to fish. OFFSHORE - The sea conditions have been rough with only the bigger boats fishing. I did get reports of some small sailfish to the south of the St. Lucie Inlet and they were in 130 feet of water. The dolphin that were reported were caught in 110 to 140 feet of water. All of them were caught on a skirted ballyhoo with the purple and black or a red and black skirt being the most productive. The kingfish have been scattered from 70 to 90 feet of water. Most of the fish have been in the 20 pound range. I did get a couple of reports of cobia along the Eight Mile Reef out of the St. Lucie Inlet and a few wahoo in about 200 feet of water. Also, there were reports of blackfin's coming form about 185 feet of water and the most productive bait has been a split tailed mullet or a horse ballyhoo and fast troll it. Along the beaches look for the birds and you will find the spanish mackerel and the big jacks. Try using light tacklt and you will have fun. If you would like to report a catch, call me at 772-201-5770 or e-mail me at [email protected]. You cna also reach me on the web at www.captjoeward.com. Capt. Joe Ward Capt. Joe's River Charters