Stuart, Florida Inshore Report: 08-26-02 -- Locals Fishing Forum

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Date Posted: 12:12:27 08/26/02 Mon
Author: Capt. Bob Bushholz
Author Host/IP: cache-rk07.proxy.aol.com / 152.163.189.71
Subject: Stuart, Florida Inshore Report: 08-26-02

It will be short and sweet this week with only a few charters. Early morning trout north near Walton Road were hitting DOA shrimp, while several tarpon in the 30 lb. range were spotted rolling on the east side at Little Mud Creek. Unfortunately the tarpon weren�t interested in the baits presented and rolled off to �tease� another day.

The tripletail run is almost history until the water and the weather cools down � maybe January or February if we don�t have too severe of a winter this year. I�m still happy with the �71� number this year and will always shoot for the �100� mark. The channel markers are holding plenty of lane and mangrove snapper along with a few goliath and gag grouper.

It�s that time again. Snook season opens September 1st (which also happens to be Labor Day weekend) and means the traffic will be heavy. The regulations remain the same (26�-34� slot with a max of 2 per person). Be sure you have a snook stamp on your fishing license because I heard the Marine Patrol expect to �terrorize� anyone abusing the rules. With the mullet run in full swing, surf and inlet anglers have a great shot in the early morning. Nighttime, around area bridges and lighted docks, will produce snook ready to ambush their prey. The best bet on bait will be DOA glo shrimp. There will also be plenty of trout and ladyfish that will appear around those lighted docks, so expect plenty of action.

Last night I ran a re-con trip, fishing a few docks on the east side of the Indian River, releasing trout to 3 lbs. and 2 short snook. Moving under the Jensen Beach Bridge produced three snook to 12 lbs., gently released, and some good-sized black drum (also released).

I have been hearing lots of reports about huge tarpon in the surf, so with Sunday off I decided to run outside along the beach scouting for some tarpon action. After getting a live well full of greenies I ran from the St. Lucie Inlet to the Power Plant without spotting anything rolling other than many, many dolphin (porpoise). Every time you approached a bait pod that was getting pressure (and hoping for Mr. Tarpon), all of a sudden Flipper showed up and that was the end of the wishful thinking. We checked out the Power Plant �boils� and there wasn�t anybody home there either.

After a really nice cruise on beautifully blue water I decided to head back to the St. Lucie Inlet to drift the greenies caught earlier on Sabiki rigs. Although having a blast hooking into jack crevalle in the 20-lb. range, it just wasn�t the tarpon I was wishing for. Within 45 minutes we boated and released 7 jacks with the largest pushing 25 lbs. These guys are excellent sport fish and sure to test your tackle. Before finally calling it quits at the crossroads to head home, I offered the rest of the live greenies to a nearby boat. They had witnessed the tremendous �jack attack� we had experienced and gladly accepted the baits. As I was writing this report, Dr. Clark called (the nearby boat) to say that right after we left (of course) they hooked into a 100+ tarpon and fought it for about 10 minutes before it broke off (or was cut off by a boat passing a little too close) as well as hooking, boating and releasing two large jack crevalle, 18 and 25-lb. class. Dr. Clark said it �made their day� and was extremely gracious. I hope to see him out and about soon and maybe this time I�ll have the �big silver� hooked up.

September 1st is my first scheduled snook trip, departing at 7:00 p.m. Sure hope to start off the season with a �bang�! Even though the snook seem to know the calendar better than we do, I think my summer re-con trips will prove to have been worth the effort.

Capt. Bob Bushholz

http://www.catch22fish.com

(772) 225-6436

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