From Capt. Charlie @ Fishing Center - Ft Pierce

Winter dropped some cold weather on us this past week. I knew when I got in the truck and it said 34 degrees and there was ice on the windshield....it was cold! Aside from cool nights, the weather couldn't be more spectacular lately. Calm winds and the days warming up has made it worthwhile to deal with the coolness of the mornings. It has been a fun week again for us!

Our trout has been in deeper cuts and channels this week. The pompano have been in the same areas. For artificial lures try a DOA shad tail on a 1/4 oz jig head. Fish them slowly along the bottom in the deeper cuts of the river. Snook season is open now and most of the action has been around the bridges and inlet. The incoming tides have been the most productive. Our redfish continue to come around the docks with live shrimp or a DOA shrimp. The mackerel have begun to show up around the inlets this week. It's a great time of year to get out fishing!

From The Crew @ Whites Tackle - Ft Pierce / Stuart

Inshore the snook bite has been good in the inlet on live bait on the outgoing tide pigfish and pinfish have been the bait of choice. 

The trout bite has been good to the south around Bear point with a few pompano around J.C. Park with as many jacks and ladyfish you can catch. 

Sebastian Inlet Report

                             

                             

02-02-17 THURSDAY: SNOOK, BLACK DRUM, SHEEPSHEAD, POMPANO AND REDS 

We have another glorious morning at the inlet. Winds are blowing out of the South at 4 mph, gusting to 6 and the water is calm. A modified NOAA forecast is calling for a moderate swell over the weekend of 3 - 5'. Hopefully, we will have a long wave interval so our boaters can get out and enjoy the weather.

Snook season opened with some nice fish that came over the rails for our jetty anglers and boaters alike. Live shrimp was the bait of choice. A few Reds and Black Drum were landed as well along with some Pompano. Tommy Turowski at the Sebastian Inlet Bait and Tackle Shop reported that good sized shrimp are running at night.

Our photos today are courtesy of Shaun Vasey of Palm Bay. Shaun and his wife Jessica fished the north side from 10:00 p.m. to midnight. They landed five C/R Snook and one slot Red using swim baits. They lost a few real nice Snook right at the rocks. All the Snook were released and they took the slot Red home with them! 
 Photo one features Jessica with a 32" Snook, her first slot fish.
 Photo two is of the 25" slot Red that Shaun landed and photo three is of a 40" C/R Snook that was also landed by Shaun.
 Photo four is courtesy of George Olmo. George was slaying the fish and landed lots of Sheepshead, Pompano and even a couple of Mangrove Snapper to round out the mix. He was using shrimp and sand fleas! 

From Capt. Charlie @ Fishing Center - Ft Pierce

While winter is still around the Treasure Coast and weekly cold fronts will continue to bring cool nights and lots of windy days to the area, fishing will still be good out on the water.  It has been a mild winter so far with the usual winds, rain and cooler nights.  Water temperatures can dictate where and how you might fish on any given day this month.  January was a much warmer month this year.  When the water is cold, fish the deeper cuts and drop offs of the river.  Sunny days will bring fish up in shallower waters to feed and the bite can really get hot out on the flats.

The trout bite picks up very nicely in February.  Last year proved to be another great year for big trout in the Fort Pierce area.  I anticipate that 2017 will be another big fish year around the area.  CAL jerk baits and Deadly Combos are exciting ways to trout fish with artificial lures, while live shrimp on popping corks are the ol’ standard way to trout fish out on the river.  Redfish can be found in shallow flats around mangroves and islands.  We had a fantastic winter bite in 2016 around the docks and mangroves for redfish.  On warm sunny days, the reds will sit around the mangroves and soak up the sun.  Finding some along the mangroves will bring some good rod bending action to anglers this month.  The new 2 3/4" DOA shrimp and CAL jerk baits can find some hungry reds hugging the mangrove lines when fished very slowly.  Docks are a great way to find plenty of fish waiting for something tasty to drift under them.

Sheepshead will be plentiful around the river and the larger fish will be coming into the river to breed.  They showed up early this year and January has been a great month for them.  Live or dead shrimp around bridges, docks and structure can provide lots of action in addition to some great tasting fish.  Sand perch and croakers should also be hanging around the inlet and bridges during February.  Pompano around the surf and on the deeper flats of the river can be taken on CAL grub tails, Doc’s Goofy Jigs and shrimp or clams.  Bluefish, mackerel and jacks will continue to haunt the baitfish around the jetties and turning basin.  Small, shiny lures will keep you busy.  There should be some flounder around the back sides of the jetties and on sand flats around the inlet area.

February is a transition month on the river.  It opens snook season again in this area.  Winter can be challenging when the cold arrives this year on the Treasure Coast.  We have enjoyed more normal winter weather and the fish bite has been good for us.  Winds will still be blowing and the water will begin to gradually rise in temperature.  Fishing your lures slowly will certainly give you more action on the river.  Fish tend to be sluggish in the colder water.  Working your lures or bait slower along the bottom will give the fish more time to react to it and will result in more bites for anglers.  Have fun this month and get out fishing!

From The Crew @ Whites Tackle - Ft Pierce / Stuart

Inshore snook season is open and it should be good the water is a little clear but live bait and white jigs will produce well on the out going tide with the water being a little dirtier. The trout bite has been good around midway road on the west side of the river for those people wading with live shrimp and soft baits. The flounder bite has been good in the inlet on the incoming tide with live shrimp with a few pompano mixed in. There where a few good reports of some nice pompano on the beach to the south around the power plant the incoming tide has been the best. 

Sebastian Inlet Report

                              

02-01-17 WEDNESDAY: SNOOK! 

SNOOK SEASON OPENS TODAY! The season will be open until May 31st. You must have a snook stamp on your fishing license if you land one in the slot of 28" - 32" and plan to keep it. The bag limit is one per person per day. Please abide by the FWC regulations, our resources are not unlimited.

What a beautiful day at the Sebastian Inlet. Winds are blowing out of the Southwest at 6 mph, gusting to 8 and the water is calm. Winds will become variable this afternoon but conditions will remain great for fishing, surf fishing and boating through the weekend. There are quite a few boats lined up along the south beach and that usually means that Pompano are biting, get out a wet a line!

Sarah at the Sebastian Inlet Bait and Tackle Shop took a stroll out to the north jetty this morning and reported that the Snook are cooperating on this "Chamber of Commerce" day. Anglers using live shrimp are landing slot and oversized Snook. One large Red was landed and released while she was out there too. 
 In honor of Snook Season opening, our first photo today is courtesy of Sebastian Inlet Park Ranger Ed Perry. Ranger Perry took this great shot of a C/R Snook during the closed season. 
 Photo two features Jessica Schiavo of Delhi, NY. She landed this 30" C/R Snook in the surf, Jessica was using live shrimp and also landed a Sheepshead. 
 Photo three features Dustin Fleckenstein with a Shark he landed using cut Bluefish on Sunday. Sharks have been very active on the south side! Dustin released the fish to fight another day.