Stuart Area

[Captain Kevin Drennan]

The past couple of weeks the fishing has varied from red hot to mediocre. One day last week we were catching bait in forty feet of water out of the St. Lucie inlet. There were plenty of threadfin herring and sardines in the area. We had just about filled the live well when we saw a sailfish tail walking behind a big sportfisher. Within a minute we saw several other boats with sailfish on. We quickly baited two lines and tossed them in. We soon hooked up to our first fish on spinning tackle and the chase was on. Keep in mind that there were at least fifty boats catching bait when the bite turned on. Even flats boats that came out to catch bait got in on the action. The hardest part was trying to keep your fsh away from someone else’s. Within two minutes of releasing the first fish , we had another on. We went three for five in an hour and a half. We would have stayed there all day but big Spanish mackerel moved in and were slashing the baits. We kept a couple of four pounders and moved out. It was one of those rare mornings that comes around once in a while and it was really a sight to see so many boats hooked up at the same time. We have been having a very good sail bite for this time of year. The dolphin bite has been fair to good with the fish being in eighty feet out. Cobia have been showing up in good numbers so be ready with a pitch bait or a cobia slayer lure to throw when you see them. Look for kings in sixty feet and some decent size grouper are being taken from the reefs. The Spanish mackerel bite is still south of the inlet. Look for the commercial fishermen to find them.
The snook bite at the bridges at night has been producing some big fish. Red tailed hawks have been the best bet. Bombers and wind cheaters have also caught some nice fish. The trout bite has been decent north of the Jensen Beach causeway. More later.
Captain Kevin Drennan