With Saturday’s forecast promising a perfect fishing day, with gentle winds and calm 1-2ft seas, Tania and I were filled with anticipation. We were especially thrilled to have our friends Anthony and Sabrina join us on this special occasion-their anniversary. With reports of permits being caught, we eagerly planned to head to the Boils, setting our sights on snook and permit.

Anthony and Sabrina asked to arrive at the dock at 9:00 a.m., so Tania and I arrived at 8:30 a.m. to load the boat and be ready when our guests arrived. Once Anthony and Sabrina arrived, we loaded up and headed out. As we were departing the dock, I said a quick prayer for a blessing of protection, to have our eyes opened to see God’s beautiful creations, and if it is His will, let us have a bountiful catch.

It didn’t take us long to get to the Boils with the flat seas. When we arrived, I was surprised at how few boats were fishing there. I told everyone this might be a bad sign, as I expected the area to be full. However, I was hopeful with high tide at 10:00 a.m., as Tania and I seem to do best at high tide.

A sudden commotion caught our attention as we were pulling up to the boils. I turned the boat around to investigate, and to our surprise, we found ourselves amidst a large school of 10+ pound jacks—probably 40 or more. However, they were swimming rapidly and disappeared before we could catch one. I was hoping to get Anthony hooked up on one!

Once everything settled down, we continued to the boils. We set up for our first drift near the buoy on the boils’ east side, hoping to find some permit. Unfortunately, our first two drifts didn’t produce any fish, so we decided to move to the west side of the boils, where all the other boats were fishing, to see if we could get into any action.

Shortly after we started the drift, Tania hooked up and landed a decent bonefish. While Tania was fighting her fish, Anthony hooked up with a ladyfish, which self-released at the boat. We did several more drifts, and the action was much slower than I had hoped. We caught a bunch of ladyfish, and Sabrina caught a short mutton snapper. At one point, everyone but me got a good laugh when one of the ladyfish gave me a love tap between my legs, bringing me to my knees.

At about 1:00 pm, I decided to try our luck at the buoy for some lane snapper, but even they weren’t biting. After fifteen minutes at the buoy and only catching a single black margate, I was ready to throw in the towel and call it a day. It was pretty hot, the wind picked up, and the bite was slow, but Tania convinced me to do a few more drifts near the buoy again.

Unfortunately, the final drift didn’t produce the fish we had hoped for. Today just wasn’t our day to get our targeted species. Even though we didn’t catch many fish, Anthony and Sabrina were happy to be on the boat and were excited to see all the fish, dolphins, and turtles we saw.

Tania and I send our best wishes to all fellow anglers. May your fishing adventures be safe, blessed, and filled with 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 hosts monthly meetings in Fort Pierce on the 4th Thursday of each month. These meetings offer a range of benefits to members, including a 20% discount on tackle, access to Smart Fishing spots, and insider information on local trends. Additionally, there will be monthly tournaments and guest speakers featured. To learn more about Salt Strong, click the links below for a FREE pack of Slam Shady or a 30-day test drive.