On Friday, I had the privilege of fishing with fellow Salt Strong Insider Keir. The weather forecast could have been better, but we planned on making the best of the day. I aimed to find the fish to put Tania on fish on Saturday.

I got to the dock around 7:30 am to prepare everything for when Keir arrived. I loaded the boat and got it checked out. Keir arrived shortly after, and I helped him load his gear. We set out on our way. Keir had been waiting to catch a pompano, so I planned to take him to the last spot where I had caught pompano, hoping they would still be there.

We arrived at the first spot just outside Riverside Marina. We fished here for about thirty minutes with no luck. If I remember correctly, we didn’t even get a bite in this spot this morning. I was disappointed we didn’t find any pompano here, but my hopes for finding them weren’t lost yet.

At this point, we head back south to hit the turn basin. I knew we would catch a few big sail catfish, but my goal was to see if anything else would bite. Once we started to drift, it didn’t take long for us to double up on some decent-sized gafftopsail catfish. Now that we got the stink off the boat, I was hopeful we would catch some of the targeted species.

Next, we moved south of the South Causeway bridge to do a drift or two, depending on what we found. Unfortunately, our drifts didn’t produce much to speak of. The prize catch of these drifts was an 8lb gafftopsail catfish. I was slightly disappointed in the bite today, but not having fished much in the past few months, it’s to be expected, not knowing where the sheepshead or pompano would be. Also, I remind myself that slow days like this one help us appreciate the days when the bite is on fire.

Since the pompano were playing a better hide-and-seek game than I was, I decided to shift gears. We moved over to the Smithsonian Dock in hopes of finding some sheepshead. The dock was the popular spot, as there was one boat on the east side of the dock. We set up on the west side of the dock as the current was still incoming. We didn’t stay long as within ten to fifteen minutes, we had two fly fishermen on the shore, a jetski, and two kyaks show up to fish the dock.

While fishing with Keir, he mentioned he had not caught a trout, so we headed back to Thumb Point for trout. When we got there, I commented on how lifeless it seemed. Usually, I see tons of life with birds and bait jumping all over the place. We made one drift with a few bites, but nothing committed to taking our baits. Since there weren’t many signs of life, we only did one drift.

Since I have been striking out on putting Kier on fish, I hit a spot I don’t usually fish, but it has been known to hold sheepshead. Usually, when fishing this spot, we catch snapper and sheepshead if they are around. We started fishing with live shrimp, but Keir threw the power prawn after continuing to lose his bait. I, myself, was not having any bites. To my surprise, not long after throwing the power prawn, Keir caught a 14 in Sheepshead. We stayed here for the rest of our afternoon as Keir was catching fish. It wasn’t my day to catch much; even when I switched to the power prawn, the bite died off.

At 2:00 pm, we started to head back to the marina. On the way, we decided that since the tide had shifted, we would try a few more drifts south of the South Causeway bridge. With the current and wind going in the same direction, the drift was pretty quick, and we both hooked bottom a few times. On the last drift, Keir hooked into something big; we had to start up the boat to chase it down as it almost spooled him. After about five minutes of fighting, I questioned if he wasn’t just hooked on the bottom, but then the fish started to swim east and west. I was positive it was a shark or a big ray at that point.

It took about 15 minutes to get it to the boat to identify it as a large spotted eagle ray. Unfortunately, when it saw the boat, it decided it wasn’t done yet. We spent another five minutes trying to get it to the boat when it pulled us underneath the South Causeway bridge; at this point, Kier’s line broke. We are pretty sure the line rubbed on the bridge pillars.

We didn’t find fish in large quantities; however, we brought home two sheepsheads. I had a great time getting to know Keir and our time of fellowship on the boat. I am looking forward to fishing with him in the future.

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!