Saturday, Tania was feeling well enough to go fishing. It had been nearly seven weeks since the last time Tania was fishing with me. Since the weather was questionable, I woke up early to look at the weather and see if it was even feasible to go fishing. I figured there was no reason to wake Tania up if we couldn’t go fishing.

The weather was still questionable, but I woke Tania and headed out. We arrived at the dock at about 6:30 a.m. We were a little early as we couldn’t take the boats out until 7:00 a.m. But I like getting there early to ensure we get a good parking spot, and I can toss a bait before anyone arrives.

We loaded the boat and headed out of the marina by 7:20 a.m. I was torn about where I wanted to go. I didn’t want to travel too far and have us get stuck in a storm, but I wanted to ensure I put Tania on some fish. With an incoming tide, we started at the waste treatment plant wall. We have had decent luck at this spot, so I was hopeful.

Tania caught a 9¾ inch mangrove snapper within a few minutes at our first spot. I was sad that it was short, but I was hopeful that with our first fish being close to being put in the cooler, we could get some fish to come home. Unfortunately, I was mistaken. We fished this spot for about 30 minutes and caught four mangrove snappers, a yellowtail snapper, and a few lane snappers, but they were too short to bring home.

Next, I decided we would drift the channel south of the South Causeway bridge. While drifting, Tania used her favorite inshore jig, a 15g micro jig. Unfortunately, we cannot find the jigs anymore, but they work well. I started by dropping a 1/2oz football head jig with shrimp. We had lots of action, but once again, nothing to come home. Tania caught a few short mutton snappers, a porkfish, a small red grouper, and a catfish. While I caught a few lane snappers and lost something decent near the boat after a few-minute fight. I was frustrated as it didn’t break me off. It just spit the hook.

We made multiple drifts before we moved over to the turn basin. We made two drifts at the turn basin with very little luck. Tania caught a blue runner and a hardhead catfish, and I did not even get a bit. With the turn basin being unproductive, we decided to fish live shrimp at the Fort Pierce Yacht yard wall.

Like all the other spots today, this spot did not produce any fish to come home. We ended up catching a bunch of short snappers. I did hook up with something nice, but after a 30-second run, it broke me off. We also had a crab float past us, which I was able to catch in the net. I tossed that onto Tania’s hooks, and after 10 minutes, something decided to take it. Unfortunately, it took her into some structure and broke her off.

Since we were about out of shrimp and the current was still outgoing, we decided to finish the day, returning to drifting south of the South Causeway bridge. Tania continued using her favorite jig, and I switched to a 1/2oz jig with my buddy Adam from A&S Jigs. It didn’t take long for me to get hooked up. I started to get frustrated as I lost fish after fish, probably five in all. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t get a good hook set. As I was whining to Tania, I finally hooked a decent fish. The fish fought great and made several runs once it got close to the boat. When we finally got it to the boat, Tania got excited thinking we had a pompano, but then we both realized it was a spadefish. This was a new species of fish caught for us. We always see them while offshore but have never seen them in the river, let alone catching one. Tania caught a few more short snappers and another red grouper

We finished up our bait as the weather started closing in on us. We realized how high the tide was as we headed back to the dock. We have never seen the tide as high as it was today. The fixed docks at the marina were almost underwater.

Even though we didn’t bring any fish home today, Tania and I had a good day on the water. It was great spending time on the water fishing with my best friend! We pray all who made it out this weekend had safe and blessed trips. Hopefully, the storms didn’t put too big a damper on everyone’s trips. The foul weather appears to be sticking around this week, so please be safe if you are going fishing. May you all have tight lines and good times!

The Treasure Coast Chapter of Salt Strong now holds monthly meetings in Fort Pierce on the 4th Thursday of each month. These meetings are exclusive to inside members, who receive various perks, including 20% off tackle, access to Smart Fishing spots, and insider information on local trends. Monthly tournaments and guest speakers are also set to feature. To become an inside member, click the link below to receive a FREE pack of Slam Shady or a 10-Day Test-Drive of The Smart Fishing Spots App and The Salt Strong Insider Club. They ship you $35 worth of FREE Lures, an “Inshore Fishing Manifesto” Book (Physical copy), and decals – Yours to Keep Even If You Cancel!