On Friday, I met up with the President of the Salt Strong Space Coast Chapter and the VP of the Salt Strong Treasure Coast Chapter and took them fishing in my area. We all arrived at the dock around 6:15 a.m. and got ready to load the boat.

The morning was a bit wet and chilly, but the wind was lighter than the forecast called for. The day was coming together. We all took our gear to the dock in preparation for the arrival of our boat. Once all our gear was ready, we started talking and getting to know one another better.  

As we were talking, I grabbed my rod and tossed it out. Dennis and Wayne took the hint, and we all wet our lines while waiting for our boat to arrive at the dock. I started by throwing the Moonwalker, Dennis was throwing the Skinny Lipper, and Wayne was throwing the Fred Slam Shady 2.0. I had a couple of hits but did not catch anything. Dennis had a bad start to his day by hooking up with something large and then getting broken off and losing his lure. At the same time, Wayne started the day off with the first catch and landed himself a nice jack crevalle.

Our boat pulled up to the dock shortly after Wayne’s catch. We loaded up and set out. With the forecasted NW winds, I decided to hug the west bank and fish south. We set out of the marina at about 7:00 a.m. Once out of the marina, we found the wind to be south, southwest, not northwest.

We started working the first dock south of the marina. I was still throwing the Moonwalker, Wayne continued throwing the Fred, and Dennis changed to the Bomber. Dennis seemed to have picked the right bait, as the jack crevalle liked it. The fish were not interested in the top water, so I changed to the slam shady color jerk bait on a donkey rig.

We continued to work the docks south with little luck. Dennis caught two jacks, and Wayne laned a black grouper. With an incoming tide, I decided to change it up and try Taylor Creek. While we were headed to the channel to go north, Wayne trolled the Fred, and I trolled a slam shady. About halfway to the channel, Wayne hooked up. I hooked up while he was winding in but quickly lost my fish. After a short fight, Wayne landed a ladyfish.

After Wayne released his fish and we got ready to continue north, we saw a massive commotion in front of us. I thought it was a massive school of spanish mackerel as that is what it looked like; however, it was the largest school of ladyfish I had ever seen. We spent the next 30 minutes catching ladyfish to our hearts’ content.

Once the bite turned off, we continued north to Taylor Creek. Even though it was an incoming tide, the current was still flowing out. Most of the docks were underwater due to the outflow fighting the incoming tide. With all the debris floating out of Taylor Creek, it was unfishable, so we had to change our plans.

At this point, I made the call to go to Tucker Cove. I wanted to put some snook on the boat. We worked our way west for a few hours with little success, but Dennis landed a snook floating shrimp under a cork popper. Finally, we got a targeted species on the boat, but only one.

I suggested heading back towards the marina at about noon as I had to return to the dock by 1:00 p.m. I suggested we drift in the open area south of the South Causeway bridge. Once under the bridge, I put the engine into neutral to see how the winds and currents would take us. Once I determined our drift, we set up to jig.

Our first drift didn’t go as expected; however, Wayne hooked up with a decent fighting fish. It turned out to be a 15-inch mutton snapper. We continued the drift a little bit further before I reset our drift.

The following drift would be our last, as we ran out of bait and time. This last drift proved to be successful for me. All day, I watched Dennis and Wayne catch fish, and I only caught fish when we ran into the school of ladyfish. Halfway through the drift, I hooked up with something, and my drag started screaming. After a few minutes of fighting and walking around the boat, I landed a decent-sized jack crevalle. For me, it was a great way to end the day!

After we released the Jack, we situated all the gear and headed back to the dock. We arrived shortly after 1:00 p.m.; however, since we did not bring any fish home, I had enough time to get home and clean up to be on time for Tania’s appointment.

Even though the bite was slow today, We had a great time of fellowship. We discussed how we ran our chapters and our plans for the future. We all were excited to watch the local chapters grow!

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!