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John's Journal... Entry 157, Day 5

ENDLESS INSHORE FISHING

St. Lucie Estuary -- Fishing For The Rest Of The Year

EDITOR'S NOTE: Captain Ed Zyak of Jensen Beach, Florida, chose the St. Lucie Estuary on central Florida's Atlantic Coast to set up his Local Color Guide Service for two reasons. One, he's lived and fished in this region all his life. Two, he can produce speckled trout, redfish, flounder, tarpon and snook year-round. This area homes a phenomenal fishery, and if you like variety, you must consider fishing there. But rather than tell you about my experience fishing the St. Lucie Estuary, let's let Captain Zyak tell you his story.

QUESTION: Tell me about fishing the St. Lucie area in September and October.
ANSWER: During September and October, our region will experience another tremendous bait run. Millions of tons of bait will pour into the estuary at this time of year. Also, the water is starting to cool down, and the redfish really go on a heavy feeding spree. We can do a lot of sight fishing for reds in the flats. You can see them tailing and working the flats, and you can cast to them pretty easily. The trout also will be more active at this time than they were in the summer months. With the huge amount of bait coming into the area, the trout will move in and go on a feeding spree.

My favorite area to fish at this time of the year is the Indian River Lagoon between Jensen Beach and Fort Pierce, Florida. The fish usually will hold on some type of structure in this region. I'll fish a DOA Glow Shrimp on light tackle with braided line 90 percent of the time because I can make a long cast. The shrimp land so lightly on the water, they don't spook the reds I'm trying to catch. I've learned that when redfish are in shallow water and you throw a heavy lead-headed jig, the noise the jig makes when it hits the water often will spook the reds you're trying to catch. However, because the DOA shrimp is a rubber bait, it lands lighter on the water and doesn't spook the fish. I try to cast the shrimp ahead of the fish and move the fish right in front of the fish's nose. When the reds see the shrimp, they usually inhale it. Since the redfish root along the bottom and have their heads down, you generally have to get that shrimp right in front of their noses for them to eat the bait.

The redfish we try to catch usually will weigh from 7 to 10 pounds and will swim in 1 foot or less of water. We have to sneak up on the fish with the trolling motor so we don't spook them. Many times we park the boat, put on wading shoes and wade to the fish so we can approach them even quieter. When we wade to the fish, we use a shuffle step along the bottom. There are plenty of stingrays in our area, so you want to make sure you don't step on the stingrays as you approach the fish. But wading is an excellent method of catching speckled trout and redfish in this part of the coast. Early in the morning, you have a chance to catch speckled trout and redfish in shallow water. Once the sun comes up, the trout will leave the shallows, but the redfish will remain there. Once you've caught all the redfish you want to catch, you can get back into the boat and go after trout, tarpon or snook. When the sun comes up and we leave the shallows, I like to fish docks. The docks will hold large schools of baitfish, and we usually can catch trout, snook and redfish under the docks.

When I go out to fish in the morning -- regardless of the time of year -- I usually have five different game plans. My five game plans for the fall are:

1) Fish with top-water baits in shallow water at first light for snook, redfish and trout.
2) Stay in shallow water as the sun comes up, and sight fish for redfish.
3) Move out to deeper water next, and fish for trout.
4) Fall back to deeper water, and deep jig for tarpon.
5) Fish docks, or move to deeper water to find schools of baitfish and fish for trout during high tide.

QUESTION: What can you expect when fishing the St. Lucie Estuary during November and December?
ANSWER: As we head into the winter, there's still plenty of bait in the rivers. On a warm day, the specks, reds and snook may be in 1 foot of water, and if a cold front blows through, they may move out to 4 feet of water. Temperature is critical at this time of year. Whereas most fishermen live by their depth finders, we live by our temperature gauges. During November and December, the temperature can drop 8 degrees from one afternoon to the next morning. The shallow-water fish may move to deeper water and more toward the channels. Because I'm out on the water everyday, I generally know where the fish will go and where they'll be when those temperature changes occur.

QUESTION: What are the most dependable fish, regardless of the time of year?
ANSWER: We can catch trout, snook and tarpon at any time of year. However, the redfish are not as dependable as these other species. We just don't have a tremendous population of redfish in this area.

QUESTION: What are the seasonal fish in this region?
ANSWER: Spanish mackerel, pompano and permit are our seasonal fish. The Spanish mackerel and the pompano are easiest to catch during the winter months. They show up in the late fall, remain here throughout the winter and then begin to leave during the spring. The permit are generally in this area during the summertime. You can catch them on the beaches and occasionally inside the passes.

For more information, call Captain Ed Zyak with Local Color Guide Service at (772) 485-FISH or e-mail him at localcolorgs@aol.com. Mrs. Peters' SmokeHouse is located at 1500 North East Dixie Hwy, Jensen Beach, Florida. For more information, call (772) 334-2184. You can reach DOA Lures by calling 877-DOA-LURE or going to the Web site www.doalures.com Learn more about Minn Kota trolling motors by going to www.johnsonoutdoors.com or calling 800-227-6433.

 

 

Check back each day this week for more ENDLESS INSHORE FISHING ...

Day 1 - Fishing St. Lucie in January and February
Day 2 - Fishing St. Lucie Estuary in March and April
Day 3 - Fishing St. Lucie Estuary in May and June
Day 4 - July and August Fishing in the Estuary
Day 5 - St. Lucie Estuary - Fishing For The Rest Of The Year


John's Journal