After a long hiatus from fishing due to prior commitments, Tania and I finally made it back on the water. The weather was a bit questionable, with the forecast calling for rain and the winds picking up, but we both were excited to be back on the water. With the scouting I had done on Friday, I had a game plan formulated and was excited to catch some fish.

We were the first to arrive at the dock at around 6:15 a.m. It was cold and misting, so we sat in the car until the dockhands arrived to get us our boat. We didn’t have to wait long, but we were not in a hurry as we had arrived early. We loaded the boat and got underway shortly after 7:00 a.m.

I planned to start the day off where I caught the pompano the day before. With it being manatee season, it took us a while to get to our first spot, as from the marina to the north of North Bridge, it’s a slow zone. Our friend, Mike, was already fishing the spot when we arrived. He told us he had only caught ladyfish since he had been there, but the bite died after the dolphins arrived.

Unfortunately, the dolphins were already there when we arrived, so I didn’t expect to get any bites, but we stuck around for a bite. About 15 minutes after we arrived, I hooked up with a spotted eagle ray. I immediately knew it was a ray as it jumped shortly after I hooked it. I fought the ray for about five minutes before I was able to land it. The ray was not very large, but it did put up one heck of a fight.

We didn’t spend much longer here as we were not any bites. As we moved back south, it looked like it would rain. The skies opened up on us when we got to the turn basin. I slowed down with the rain and saw many marks on the sonar so we could see what was below us.

As soon as Tania dropped her jig, she had a fish on. With the way she was fighting, I thought she had something nice, so I grabbed the net. Unfortunately, it ended up being a decent size sail catfish. It didn’t take long for us to double up on catfish. I was surprised by how large of a school of catfish we ran across. And because of my rule that after catching two catfish in an area, we moved to try our luck south of South Causeway Bridge.

Luckily, as we transitioned to the south, the rain subsided. We ended up making three drifts south of the South Causeway bridge. This area was the only fruitful spot of the day for us. We caught two short black grouper, several short mutton snapper, a few short mangrove snapper, a lane snapper, a sheepshead and a grunt. On our third drift, our buddy Mike called us and told us he saw pompano skipping across the flats and suggested I make the run to where they were.

Tania and I ran to the flats where our friend saw the pompano; unfortunately, the dolphins showed up before we arrived, and the fish disappeared. We tried the spot for about 15 minutes before we moved to our final spot of the day.  

By this point of the day, the wind started to pick up, and the river started getting quite a bit of chop, so we decided we would make the Smithsonian dock our last spot of the day. With the current becoming slack, we ended up fishing the east side of the dock. After we had been there about 15 minutes, our friend Perry and his wife arrived and started fishing on the west side of the dock. Tania and I had a few good hits but did not land any fish, while our friend Perry started catching Sheepshead. We were a little frustrated we weren’t catching, and our friend was; however, we were happy our friend was catching Sheepshead.

After another ten minutes without a bite, we decided to head back in. We still had some shrimp, so we asked Perry if he wanted them. He did and asked if we had some ice. We transferred about two dozen shrimp and 20 lbs of ice before returning to the dock.

Even though we didn’t catch many fish to come home, we still had a good day on the water. 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!