Ft. Pierce Inshore - Offshore Report

APRIL 9, 2010 INSHORE - The trout bite has been good all this week at places like Harbor Branch, Queen's Cove and the Moorings flats. Try a live shrimp under a popping cork and fish it in 3 to 5 feet of water and the bite has been the best on the falling tide. I am getting reports of redfish around Jack Island in very shallow water. They have been taking gold spoons and live shrimp. The catch and release snook action has remained steady in the Ft. Pierce Inlet after dark and the top baits seemed to be mullet and shrimp. The bluefish and spanish mackerel bite is slowing down but the best bite is still in the Ft. Pierce Inlet while trolling spoons. There is still a good sheepshead bite around the bridges and also just about any dock. They have been taking shrimp and crabs. OFFSHORE - The offshore reports are slow coming this week. The few dolphin that were reported came from 500 feet of water and were caught on a ballyhoo. Several cobia were caught over the reefs in 90 feet of water on live baits. The kingfish bite has been good in 50 to 80 feet of water to the south of the Ft. Pierce Inlet. Most of the fish were caught on spoons or strip baits. The bottom fishing for snapper, sea bass and triggerfish has been good over the reefs in 30 to 50 feet of water. Try using shrimp, clams or squid. JUNIOR TEEN ANGLERS - Last Saturday was the Junior Teen Anglers from shore tournament. There was a small turn out due to the Easter weekend. If you would like more info on Junior Teen Anglers for the 5 to 11 age group or for Teen Anglers for the 12 to 18 age group you can call 772-201-5773 or go to the website at www.teenanglers.org In the 5 to 8 age group 1st place - Trevor Walk - Northport K-8 - Port St. Lucie 2nd place - Kaitlyn Ward - White City Elementary - Ft. Pierce 3rd place - Michael Rochedieu - St. Annastasia - Ft. Pierce In the 9 to 11 age group 1st place Taylor Roop - F.K. Sweet Elementary - Ft. Pierce 2nd place - Thomas Roop - F.K. Sweet Elementary - Ft. Pierce 3rd place - Joseph Esgro - Lakeview Elementary - St. Cloud Biggest fish of the tournament trophy went to Kaitlyn Ward. Other than her trophy she received a rice paper print of a fish that Jeff Walk - Trevor's dad had made and framed. BRAGGING BOARD - On Saturday I had Al & Carlene Keesler on the boat and they had a great day. They caught 5 nice trout and about 30 sheepshead -- they released all but 10. Carlene did catch the biggest trout. We were fishing to the south in the river and using live shrimp. On Wednesday I had Judith & Mike Peery on the boat. They had a great catch of trout with Judith catching the biggest one -- a 6 pounder. On Thursday Gwen & Pat were back up from Ft. Lauderdale for Gwen's birthday. They also had a great catch of trout with Gwen catching a 4 pounder. Happy Birthday Gwen! On both of these trips we were fishing up around Harbor Branch and the Mooring's and using a live shrimp. If you would like to report a catch you can e-mail me at [email protected] or call me at 772-201-5770. You can also reach me on the web at www.captjoeward.com Capt. Joe Ward Capt. Joe's River Charters