StLucieInlet.com

First trip of the season.

Broke the inlet about 6:30 and headed NE for bait. Endless hornbellies! Greenies appeared on the surface for a while in some decent sized schools, but were skittish. It was 10 to 1 Hornbellies to Greenies, so with about 4 Greenies and 40 Hornbellies we headed north towards northern 6 mile reef. My son had his baby coming for the weekend so we had to be off the water around noon. Decided to ignore all the early Dolphin reports from the 500 foot area and save time and gas. Bait well pump ran but no water moved, probably a stuck check valve, so bucket recirc was the SOP for the day.

A light NW wind produced the only drift, so we drifted at just under 1 kt. nearly due east. Decided not to set anchor and drift fish. Marked a few fish in one spot but only had a few nibblers. Boarded by USCG for a safety inspection and got an attaboy from them. Moved to a second spot with marks in about 70 feet and picked up 1 decent Mangrove Snapper. We were drifting using 3-way rigs, a couple of cranks off the bottom, and about 12 to 15 foot of leader. Would drop down a free spool upon detecting any bites. The slow drift made this easy. Plenty of marks but few hits. The one Snapper we got hit once on the drift and then took the bait while in freespool.

Hit a 140 foot spot as we headed back south knowing the slow drift would let us work this sometimes unfishable spot. Picked up a keeper Black Seabass, one undersized, and a little shark. That's it.

Saw some nice Cobia on the cleaning table as we pulled out.



My son Adam brought his GoPro on board for the first time. This is his first video on the NoBull 1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLM0TnU1eqA

Nice catching Stu... Thanks for the report.