[Capt. Joe Ward]

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

INSHORE - We had good reports of trout and redfish over the weekend and before the winds started blowing and trout season closed on November 1st. The trout were around Herman's Bay and feeding on soft plastic baits like a D.O.A. Terroreyz or a live finger mullet. Remember that the trout are catch and release only. Look around the docks along Indian River Drive for the redfish. A small crab or a jumbo live shrimp will be your best bet. The snook fishing remains good along the docks in the Ft. Pierce Inlet and a live shrimp has been hard to beat. I did have reports of some small tarpon that were also working in the Ft. Pierce Inlet and in the Turning Basin and they were feeding on live mullet when they did eat. Around the area bridges you can look for snapper, black drum and plenty of jacks and they all are feeding on live shrimp.

OFFSHORE - Again, before the wind started blowing from the NE and the sea conditions got bad I did have good reports from the weekend about the dolphin bite. There was a good number of dolphin to 15 pounds coming from 180 to 200 feet of water and they were taking ballyhoo. There was also a good cobia bite around both the 10 & 12A Buoys. Most of the fish were caught on Red Tail Hawks. The kingfish action was still steady in 60 to 80 feet of water, The bottom fishing for snapper, grouper and aj's has been good and they were taking live baits. And as always there are plenty of bonita and cuda's to take your bait.

BRAGGING BOARD - I got an e-mail and picture from Greg May about a trip he took offshore on Sunday. He reported that they came upon a school of cobia at the 10-A Buoy and they had 6 hits and landed 2. Greg had Adam & Mike Ball on the boat and they landed a 20 pounder and a 16 pounder.

If you want to report a catch you can e-mail me at cward11605@aol.com or call me at 772-201-5770. You can also visit me on the web at www.captjoeward.com

Capt. Joe Ward
Capt. Joe's River Charters