Fishing Report for Ft. Pierce, Florida

May 27, 2005 INDIAN RIVER COUNTY - Inshore the Sebastian Inlet has been red hot for snook and redfish. There has been plenty of trout being reported in 3 to 5 feet of water and top water baits fished just after daylight has been the way to go. The snapper are starting to show up along the channel edges and live shrimp has been the bait of choice. Offshore there has been a lot of dolphin out of the Sebastian Inlet in 100 to 135 feet of water. The kingfish are in about 60 to 80 feet and feeding on live blue runners. The snapper and grouper bite has been the best at Bethel Shoals. ST. LUCIE COUNTY - Inshore the trout have been feeding in the early morning on top water baits. The snook fishing has been good after dark when fishing around the Turning Basin and around both the North and South Bridges. The tarpon are at Big Mud Creek but are still being very picky about what they will eat. A good number of pompano have been reported to the South in the river along with a good number of jacks and ladyfish. Offshore it has been all about the dolphins. They have been in 80 to 160 feet of water and taking naked ballyhoo. Most of the fish were in the high 20's and mid 30's. I did see one that went 49 pounds. The kingfish have been in 60 to 80 feet of water. A few sails were reported in 100 feet of water and were to the south of the Ft. Pierce Inlet. The snapper and grouper bite has been steady in 90 to 120 feet of water. MARTIN COUNTY - Inshore the reports of snook around the local bridges has been good. Along with the snook there has been croakers and big jacks. There has also been snook and tarpon in the North Fork of the St. Lucie River. The trout bite has been good between Sand Sprint Park and the St. Lucie Inlet. Live mullet has been the bait to use. Offshore you may want to try the Six and Eight Mile Reefs for snapper and grouper and a few cobia. The dolphin bite has been good in 130 to 180 feet of water out of the St. Lucie Inlet if you were trolling ballyhoo. There has been a lot of sailfish around for this time of year. OKEECHOBEE COUNTY - The bream and blue gills are still feeding in the Rim Canal. You can look for specks in the Kissimmee River and also in Lake Okeechobee. The bass fishing has continued to improve this week with bass to 5 pounds being weighed in. BRAGGING BOARD - Darrell Lankow caught two trout - 5.5 pounds and 6 pounds while fishing in the Stuart area between Sand Sprint Park and the St. Lucie Inlet on Monday afternoon. John Massarell caught a 39.6 pound dolphin on Sunday while fishing out of the Ft. Pierce Inlet. Frank Purcell caught a 41.13 pound dolphin on Saturday while fishing out of the Ft. Pierce Inlet. 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