I had the day off on Tuesday, so I decided to go fishing. I reserved a boat and invited my friends Don and Lee to join me. Since Don was finishing his shift, we started our day a little later than usual. Lee arrived at my house around 6:45 am, and we made it to the dock by 7:15 am. After loading up the boat, we were ready to head out just as Don arrived.

We departed the dock around 7:35 am, and our first stop was to pick up pilchards from War Daddy Baits. Once we got our bait, we headed out of Fort Pierce Inlet. The conditions were a bit rougher than expected, but still manageable enough to make the run to the boils. I had heard reports of permit being caught along our beaches all week, so I was excited to see what the day had in store for us.

Around 8:15 am, we arrived at the boils, and there were already four other boats present. Unfortunately, the water was dirtier than I had hoped. Considering the murky conditions, I wasn’t very optimistic about catching a permit, but I set up for a drift anyway. With the northeast wind and currents, we drifted northwest. About five minutes into our drift, Lee hooked the first fish, a nice-sized blue runner. Not long after, Lee caught a catfish, which wasn’t a good sign. We completed our drift and I decided to make a run to the shallow reefs.

By 9:00 am, we reached the shallow reefs located about 7 miles southeast of Fort Pierce Inlet. It was a rough ride in the 22-ft Cobia due to the swell and chop, but we managed to reach our destination. Initially, we started by drifting over the reefs, but the winds and current were causing us to drift too fast. So, we decided to anchor up. While we had pilchards on both the surface and bottom, it was the shrimp that attracted all the bites. Despite the slow bite, we managed to put a few fish in the cooler. I landed a decent-sized black margate, Don caught a nice-sized sheepshead, and Lee, now known as the cat whisperer, caught another catfish and a 3-ft shark.

After spending a few hours moving from reef to reef in search of more fish, we decided to head back into the inlet. Since we had plenty of bait, we stopped at the inlet and started live-lining pilchards. We began at the northeast jetty rocks and drifted along the north side towards the west. Lee had two fish hooked, but unfortunately, the first one popped off, and the second one cut his line. Unfortunately, we didn’t land anything at this spot.

On our way back, we made a stop at the South Causeway bridge to give it a shot. We had many bites, but in the end, we only landed one fish to add to the cooler—a 10-inch lane snapper. I was jigging with Tania’s favorite jig about halfway through our drift along the bridge when I hooked up with something nice. However, shortly into the fight, it came off. When I brought my line in, I noticed that the lower hook and snap ring were all gone. It’s always disappointing to lose a big fish, but at least I knew it wasn’t my fault.

We decided to call it a day at 2:30 pm. Although we didn’t catch the permit we were after, we still managed to put a few fish in the cooler and overall, we had a great day! Tania and I pray that everyone who goes out for the rest of the week has a safe and blessed trip. May you all have tight lines and good times.

The Treasure Coast Chapter of Salt Strong is now holding monthly meetings in Fort Pierce. The meetings are being held on the 4^th Thursday of the month. The next meeting will be June 22^nd. These club meeting are for inside members only. If you would like to become an inside member here is what the membership includes: access to the in-person meetings as well as all the other perks such as 20% off all tackle, Smart Fishing spots, and insider information on trends in your area. We will also have guest speakers at our meetings and we will be holding monthly tournaments. Click the link below to get a FREE pack of slam shady or a 10-Day Test-Drive of The Smart Fishing Spots App and The Salt Strong Insider Club . . . And We’ll Ship You $35 Worth of FREE Lures, an “Inshore Fishing Manifesto” Book (Physical copy) & Decals – Yours to Keep Even If You Cancel!