I almost canceled my fishing trip today due to the forecasted winds. The marine forecast was calling for a 15-20kts E wind, but I was decided to see if it was fishable. I had planned to have a friend join me; however, he had to back out last night due to work. I was actually relieved my friend couldn’t make it with the winds. This took all the pressure off my shoulders to put my buddy on fish in bad conditions.

I arrived at the dock about 6:30am. I stopped and got a few dozen shrimp, which I don’t normally do on Fridays. I was thinking if the conditions weren’t too bad, I would try to fish the channel markers for Sheepshead.

The wind was blowing pretty hard when I left the marina. Since it was early, I ran over to the Fort Pierce Yacht yard to try for a Jack. I need some for more fish dip. It was pretty choppy when I got there, and I was being bounced all over the place. I didn’t stay long because the conditions weren’t conducive for fishing.

At this point I decided to head south. My goal was to try a few channel makers as I was heading to Bear Point. Unfortunately, the wind and current were too strong and the trolling motor couldn’t hold spot lock. At this point I just ran south.

When I left the channel to head to Bear Point, I tossed out a 3 ½ in Gold Digger paddle tail. I trolled all the way to Bear point without any hits. When I got close to the east bank of the river, I was pretty protected from the wind.

I ended up throwing the Moonwalk as I worked the east bank heading north. It was a slow bite today, and when I got my first hit, I set the hook as soon as the fish hit my bait. I was ticked off at myself, but what can you do. Shortly after my first hit I came up to a nice spot and got a second hit. This time I didn’t set the hook, but the fish just bumped my bait but didn’t take it. I casted back in the same area and this time I hooked the fish. It ended up being a baby snook. That was the last hit I had while working the shoreline north.

At this point it was 9:45am and I decided to change it up a bit, as I wanted to use the shrimp I bought. I ended up going to the area just south of Harbor Isle. I tired the trolling motor once again, but it would just not hold. So, I decide to set the trolling motor to as fast a speed as it would go and used it to slow my drift down so I could drift over a spot known for holding Sheepshead this time of year. The first drift I had several bites and caught a small Jack Crevalle. The second and third drift I basically just fed the fish.

At this point I headed over to the Smithsonian Dock and anchored up. It was quite interesting anchoring in the winds by myself, but I managed. I ended up going through the two-dozen shrimp pretty quickly even though I was cutting them in half. I caught a handful of 12 inch Mutton Snapper, probably ten Mutton Snapper between 8-10 inches, one 9 ¾ inch Mangrove Snapper, and I lost a few bigger fish.

At the end of the day, I had no fish to come home. It’s not often I don’t come home with fish, but it does happen from time to time. Even though it was a rough day, God blessed me. I caught fish and came home safely.

Tomorrow is forecasting to be as windy as today, so Tania and I canceled the boat to get some stuff down around the house. I pray all who choice to go fishing, have a safe and blessed trip with tight lines.