Stuart Area Offshore and Inshore

It has been a tough couple of weeks trying to get offshore due to the high winds and rough seas. The dolphin and sailfish bite was red hot for the larger vessels that were able to get out. Then several days ago, the west wind kicked in which calmed the ocean waves but scattered the fish. They are still being caught but they are much harder to find. The bait situation offshore is not good so we have been using finger mullet that we net in the river. Just outside the inlet there are Spanish mackerel and blue fish which we have been catching with spoons and shiny lures. The pompano bite is getting a little better every day as the water temperature begins to drop. We had several the other day near the St. Lucie Inlet on shrimp tipped jigs along with more lady fish than you would ever want to catch. We saw some big black drum caught at the Roosevelt Bridge on the way back in the other day, by anglers fishing from the catwalk. The north fork of the St. Lucie River is loaded with menhaden and finger mullet and large schools of jacks are pounding them daily. The next week we are looking forward to the pompano bite taking off. More later.