Today, I was honored to take my friend Lee and three of his boys fishing. The weather was borderline with the seas and winds; however, the conditions were supposed to improve as the day progressed. We talked and decided to meet at the dock at 11:00 a.m. I picked up four dozen shrimp and some ice and was at the dock around 10:30 a.m. as I like to be early.

Windfinder was showing 11kt NW wind and seas 3.3ft at 8 seconds. The weather buoy was showing 4ft at 11 seconds. Armed with this information and after talking to Lee, we decided we would go out the inlet and see what it was like. If it wasn’t bad, we would run to the boils to see what we could find.

It was surprisingly flat when we made it out of the inlet around 11:15. With the west wind and the swells coming from the north; it was a decent ride to the boils. We had a couple of big waves, but for the most part, it was pretty smooth as we were running with the waves and the wind.  

When we got to the boils, the water was dirty, but I was hopeful to put my buddy and his sons on some fish. With the winds and the current and the winds, we drifted straight south, which isn’t ideal, but I hoped to make it work.

It didn’t take long before we put the first fish on the boat. Jeremiah landed a decent-sized croaker. Jeremiah seemed to have the lucky bait today because he landed his second shortly after the first fish. Not wanting to be left out, Gabriel hooked up with a blue runner, followed by a nice-sized bluefish.  

We remained at the boils for another thirty minutes, making multiple drifts and working the area hard. We were catching fish on every drift, but there was nothing to brag about. The most interesting fish caught at the boils was the ribbon fish my buddy Lee caught.

We would have continued to work the boils; however, the seas became more angry, and it was taking its toll on my guest, so I decided to run back into the river. It was flat when we returned to the inlet, so we drifted the rocks to see if we could pull up a decent fish or two. We had a few hits but only landed a nice spanish mackerel.

We only did one drift because two of the boys were still not feeling well, so we moved to calmer waters. I moved to the area south of the South Causeway bridge. With the wind and currents, we were drifting northwest. Once again, it was not an ideal drift, but it was productive. We caught countless short mutton snappers ranging from 8-14 inches.

Around 3:00 p.m., we ran out of bait, so we returned to the dock. It was great to end the day positively and everyone catching fish and having a good time. Tania and I send our best wishes to all fellow anglers, hoping your fishing adventures are safe, blessed, and full of tight lines and good times! Until next time, keep casting and chasing those dreams on the water.

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!