After working over the holiday weekend, I had a rare Thursday off. Seizing the opportunity, I secured a boat and reached out to my friend and fellow Salt Strong Insider, Mike, to join me for a day of fishing and fellowship.

Mike and I were searching for pompano with the cold front that came through. We usually do the best fishing for pompano in the river at high tide. Knowing the high tide was 11:15 a.m. I told Mike to meet me at the dock at about 8:30 a.m.

I arrived shortly before Mike and got the boat set up and loaded. When Mike showed up, he just had to load his gear, and we were off. Our first spot was the sea wall along the east side of the river just south of the South Causeway Bridge to see if we could get a snook to bite. After 30 minutes of no action, we transitioned over to searching for pompano.

Mike started jigging with a goofy jig tipped with fish bites, and I started with a goofy jig tipped with shrimp. With the current conditions, we drifted south of the South Causeway bridge almost directly south. The first drift did not produce any bites. The first drift produced a decent-sized gafftopsail catfish. On light tackle, these fish are a blast to catch. I know people say they are good at eating; however, I have a hard time getting over all the slimness they have and how it just clings to my leader.

After a few drifts and only catching short snapper, a couple of short black groupers, and jacks, it was apparent the pompano were not where we were fishing. I decided to run us back to Thumb Point, but while we were heading there, we noticed four boats in the flats just south of Harbor Isle, so we decided we would drift over there and see what they were catching.

We only did one drift in this area. The drift produced a bonnethead, a few jack crevalle, and a few ladyfish. Since we didn’t catch the targeted species and with the east wind picking up, I decided to run to the northeast corner near Hook Point and started working the shoreline south towards Bear Point.

The pelicans were diving on all the birds, so I was hopeful we would catch something. Unfortunately, besides a baby barracuda and a few bites, this area was slow. I was highly disappointed we didn’t catch anything. It was nearly noon, and I had to return to the dock by 1:00 p.m., so we headed north toward the marina.

The water looked much cleaner than when we started, so we thought we would take another drift before heading back to the dock. Once again, the drift failed to produce any pompano; however, we managed to land a decent spanish mackerel, which promptly went into the cooler.

Even though we didn’t catch the fish we were targeting, it was great going fishing with Mike. We got to talk a lot about Salt Strong and our upcoming tournament, as Mike is our new tournament coordinator. I look forward to seeing how Mike adds to our already great monthly tournaments.

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!