Florida Inshore Report
By: Capt. Bob Bushholz
7-11-02

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July and got to see plenty of fireworks. 
The rain cooperated in Jensen so everybody got a chance to let off some steam.

Fishing north of the Stuart Causeway has been the zone to be in locally
considering the water releases from the spillways and the Lake, which have
hampered the water quality in St. Lucie Inlet.  Between the coffee-like water
and the dredging that's producing "grease-balls", fishing is a challenge in
the Inlet (to say the least).  There are plenty of spawning snook hanging
around, but they're the only fish that seem to tolerate these conditions.  
If you do choose to target those snook, remember to take all precautions to
release them unharmed.  Crimping the barbs on your hooks and using circle
hooks goes a long way in protecting these "girls".  It's better to give the
"spawners" a break and try some other areas since there are plenty of
rod-bending species in the River this time of year.

Last week on Catch 22, I've been focusing on areas from the Stuart Causeway
north to Little Mud Creek.  Trout have been spotty in the morning, but we
managed to hook up with 9 trout to 23" until about 9:00 a.m. The water north
of the Jensen Causeway is stained, but still only slightly. A combination of
live shrimp on jigheads or DOA rootbeer and Glo shrimp have been working on
the west side of the Indian River and around the spoil islands just east of
the ICW channel.  Prior to 9:00 a.m, the east side of the Indian River, near
the entrance to the Power Plant, and a mile north at Little Mud Creek have
both been productive areas.  There's plenty of bait available to fill the
bait well, but nothing much has seem interested.  Just outside of Little Mud
Creek there are rolling tarpon in the 40 lb. range.  Last week my angler
jumped 2 on a DOA Terrorize and Gags Grabber mini-mambo.  Unfortunately
"jumping" doesn't necessarily mean a "catch", but on light tackle it sure is
fun watching those guys break water and chasing them around.  Gags
mini-mambos are ¼ oz. lipped lures that resemble glass minnows and from my
recent experience with them, I can say they definitely attract attention. 
Check them out at KQLures.com.  They come in a variety of some awesome types
and colors. 

My main focus last week was bottom fishing under bridges, the power line
towers and around channel markers.  Salt water stays below the infringing
fresh water so fishing deep is the place to be when the water conditions
deteriorate.  Bryan McDowell and Dad had a mixed bag of snook to 21", trout
to 3 lbs, sheephead and black margate and numerous lane and mutton snapper
which provided continuous action and some great photos. 

Another trip last week with Mike Hurt and family from West Palm Beach
produced a 5 lb. tripletail, 6.2 lb. flounder and plenty of snapper.  It's a
great time for those hard-fighting tripletail and to prove that, my other
charters for the week resulted in 9 tripletail, with the biggest one credited
to David Silverstein of Coral Springs. At this rate, I might just reach my
goal this year of 100 tripletail.  Only 59 to go!  Actually, David caught two
of them weighing 7 lb. and 22 lbs.  It took David (and a chasing pontoon
boat) about 15 minutes to land the "big one".   Both of his tripletail hit on
trollrites with live shrimp, 2/0 hook on 12 lb. test with 20 lb. mono leader.
 The trick is to keep these guys off the pilings, which can cut through the
mono leader in a heartbeat.  Once you get them clear of the pilings, watch
the action as they come to the surface sideways, break the water and slap
that strong body just to taunt the angler.  Once boated, the tripletail makes
great table fare, but remember, just keep enough for dinner.  Fresh fish is
always better than frozen and if you release what you're not going to eat
that day, they'll be there the next time you want some delicious "fresh"
fish.  Of the 9 tripletail landed last week, I'm proud to say the anglers
(from 5 different parties) released 4 of them. 

Some other bottom fish landed last week included 3 flounder to 6.2 lbs., 9
black drum to 6 lbs, 5 sheephead to 3 lbs. and lots of lane, mutton and
mangrove snappers.  Except for one flounder, destined to be stuffed with
crabmeat and topped with béarnaise sauce, all were gently released.  There
hasn't been anything really big to brag about, but there's been plenty of
action and lots of rod pullers.  The biggest surprise last week were the
schools of black tip sharks which we encountered 2 days in a row on the south
perimeter wall at Nettles Island.  These sharks were running about 10 lbs.
and are a blast to hook up on light tackle.  They weren't too picky about
what they were eating and chomped on some pieces of frozen shrimp on
trollrites.  In that 2-day period we caught, and released, 11 sharks.

I still haven't been able to run the shoreline of the beach for tarpon yet. 
Mother Nature seems to have a different plan this year and hopefully I'll be
able to get out in the next few weeks.  I had an 8:00 a.m. charter this
morning and he really wanted to search for those beach tarpon, but the sea
conditions were unfavorable to say the least.  Hope to get out there soon to
pick up some live greenies and sardines so I can chase down the "silver
rocket".   There are all kinds of fish roaming among the bait schools in 30
ft. of water.  Kingfish, bonita, cudas, with tarpon, snook and permit inside
close to shore.  Just remember, when you're fishing in close to shore, have
respect for the swimmers, surfers and surf fisherman. 

That's all for now and until next week, hope everybody gets a chance to wet a
line.

                                             Capt. Bob Bushholz

                                        http://www.catch22fish.com

                                               (772) 225-6436