St. Lucie Inlet Offshore Report

[Captain Kevin Drennan]

Summer is in full swing and so are the summer fishing patterns. Some days are great while on others you cannot find any fish. One day last week we were in schools of peanut dolphin. We had hundreds around the boat an had fun watching them chase Spanish mackerel lures we were throwing at them. On another trip out of the St. Lucie inlet, we had acres of greenies so thick you could walk on them. Bonita and barracuda were pounding them into the air. Other trips there was no bait anywhere except the number 14 buoy up by Fort Pierce. The dolphin bite has been very sporadic and spread out. The depth ranged from 80 ft. out to 350 ft. The kings are hitting close in from 30 ft. to 100ft. they are both north and south of the inlet. The bonita are everywhere so have plenty of extra bait. Some nice cobia have been caught in close cruising through the schools of bait. The sailfish bite continues to be excellent for this time of year. Each day we are hearing several being caught. Some as close as 70 ft. Snook are still holding on the rocks at the inlet along with some nice sized snapper. We caught a 4 lb. mangrove there yesterday. There are some nice tarpon along the beach south of the inlet down to Pecks Lake. Trout and snook are still biting well in the Indian River up by the power plant. Finger mullet, topwater, and jerk baits are all working effectively. There are some tarpon being caught at the crossroads early before the boat traffic. The crossroads is where the Indian and St. Lucie rivers cross before the inlet. There are tarpon in the north fork of the St. Lucie but fishing it is difficult due to the water releases from Lake O’. More later.