You can’t catch fish if you don’t know where they are. Since the ecological system of the lagoon is changing, some new tactics are required.
As with any fishing, when you find the bait, you find fish. Look for bait first. This year there’s been mullet, pinfish and schools of glass minnows. If you don’t see any bait, find another area with bait. Always look for birds and especially diving birds, which are actively feeding on bait. When you find the bait, keep an eye out in that area for actively feeding fish. If there’s bait but no feeding fish, find another area with bait.
Look for ambush points. Docks, piers, mangroves, sea walls, bridges and docked boats are all areas where fish can stay hidden in the shade waiting for the bait to come by. Sea walls and sandbars are perfect for predator fish since they can trap baitfish.
There is still some grass north of Fort Pierce, but it is hard to find. Patches of grass are found on the west side around Harbor Branch in big and little Pecks. On the east side, there is some grass in Starvation Bay and south of Fort Piece around Bear Point. Trout love grass, and these few areas still hold trout. Surprisingly, there have been good numbers of trout caught this summer, though most of the trout have been smaller. The lack of grass south of Fort Pierce has scattered the trout, but I’ve been catching large trout consistently on the west side in the shallow water between the sandbar and shore on jigs and topwater lures.
Find the current breaks. When the tide is moving, predator fish will stay around the edge of the current so they don’t have to work as hard to find food. Sometimes big snook go deep under bridges and behind pilings. Other times they stay around feeder creeks and shallow islands near the faster current.
Find Fish By Tides
You’ve got to know the tides. The predators pull back from shallow areas on low tide. In general, they will be in deeper holes, troughs, shallow break lines and around deep piers. On high tide, you find the fish in the mangroves and cruising the shorelines.
If you are not on the fish, keep moving. To find fish, use fast search lures like jigs and crankbaits that cover a large area. Keep moving and fan cast areas until you find the fish. Remember that if the tide is wrong (dead low or high) the fish might be there, but they won’t bite.
Richard Matteson is staff writer for the Stuart Rod and Reel Club. Contact him at (336) 414-3440.