06-13-2003, 01:31 AM
The early morning trout bite has been hot until 9 a.m. on both sides of the Indian River. The past few days I have witnessed an increase in baitfish both close to shore and along the ICW channel. Trout are running to 4 lbs. hitting topwater lures and DOA rubber baits with equal enthusiasm. Live shrimp on bobbers, drifting far behind are a definite bonus.
I’ve seen some tarpon rolling near the power lines and south of the Stuart Causeway, but have personally not really targeted them yet. Most of my charters during the past few weeks were comprised of 4-6 anglers, making it impossible to fish live mullet or greenies. Snook season has just recently closed and I elect not to harass these spawning linesiders.
Area bridges have seen a resurrection of black drum. The quarter bridge and Jensen Causeway bridge are holding drum to 12 lbs., along with mangrove snapper, small snook, jacks, lookdowns, Goliath grouper and an occasional tarpon. All fish in this area are deep and the best bet is to use shrimp on trollrite, or DOA CAL lures with ¼ oz. chartreuse heads. The channel markers are hot and cold. Some awesome flounder were caught the past few weeks (up to 6 lbs.) This morning we boated two tripletail (10 and 14 lbs.) which mark 52 for the year. The “little guy” was released, the “big guy” was taken home for dinner.
I’d have to say the really big news is the St. Lucie Inlet. The crossroads are being dredged, shutting off that area, but inside the rocks today bait schools were busting all over the place. Jacks, sheepshead, black margate and lots of nice sized mangrove snapper were hitting live shrimp on trollrites. It’s great to see the inlet alive again after two months of shutdown due to the algae bloom. I’ve been avoiding the inlet the past couple of months, but it looks like it’s time to return. Barring some excessive releases from the canals, the action should continue.
Again, remember to crimp those barbs or use circle hooks on live baits if you plan to catch and release (especially the snook during the spawn). Catch a few then go to plan “B”. It’s “better” for the spawning snook and “better” for the population when the season opens again September 1.
Capt. Bob Bushholz
http://www.catch22fish.com
(772) 225-6436
I’ve seen some tarpon rolling near the power lines and south of the Stuart Causeway, but have personally not really targeted them yet. Most of my charters during the past few weeks were comprised of 4-6 anglers, making it impossible to fish live mullet or greenies. Snook season has just recently closed and I elect not to harass these spawning linesiders.
Area bridges have seen a resurrection of black drum. The quarter bridge and Jensen Causeway bridge are holding drum to 12 lbs., along with mangrove snapper, small snook, jacks, lookdowns, Goliath grouper and an occasional tarpon. All fish in this area are deep and the best bet is to use shrimp on trollrite, or DOA CAL lures with ¼ oz. chartreuse heads. The channel markers are hot and cold. Some awesome flounder were caught the past few weeks (up to 6 lbs.) This morning we boated two tripletail (10 and 14 lbs.) which mark 52 for the year. The “little guy” was released, the “big guy” was taken home for dinner.
I’d have to say the really big news is the St. Lucie Inlet. The crossroads are being dredged, shutting off that area, but inside the rocks today bait schools were busting all over the place. Jacks, sheepshead, black margate and lots of nice sized mangrove snapper were hitting live shrimp on trollrites. It’s great to see the inlet alive again after two months of shutdown due to the algae bloom. I’ve been avoiding the inlet the past couple of months, but it looks like it’s time to return. Barring some excessive releases from the canals, the action should continue.
Again, remember to crimp those barbs or use circle hooks on live baits if you plan to catch and release (especially the snook during the spawn). Catch a few then go to plan “B”. It’s “better” for the spawning snook and “better” for the population when the season opens again September 1.
Capt. Bob Bushholz
http://www.catch22fish.com
(772) 225-6436