Cobia are being caught just east of the St. Lucie Inlet along the sand pile. The bite is best early morning before sunrise. Your set up should consist of a medium heavy rod fitted with 40lbs to 60lbs braid, followed with 4 ft. of 60lbs fluorocarbon leader tied to a 7 O circle hook. You can bait the rook with live greenies or dead cut bait strip. Also fish the different water column but attaching an 1 once egg sinker on one of the rods and leave the other on the surface. Have fun and catch them up. Remember they need to be 33 inches to keep.

Red fishing has been hot this past week; Carrie managed to reel in this 40 inch Red Fish on one of the shallow Martin County Artificial reefs off the St. Lucie Inlet this past Sunday. Using the head of large finger mullet as bait, we used 4 feet of 60 lbs leader to a 4 O Mustad Circle Hook and a one ounce sinker above the swivel.

We headed out early in the morning specifically to target this beautiful fish, which means it's time to bring out the heavy tackle. These are big fish and you cannot target them with anything less; the fish will end up taking your line and rigs straight into the wreck. Our tackle consisted of a Penn International 80 reel, matching rod with 100lb monofilament, five feet of 200lb mono and a tuna hook. For bait you can either use a large Bonita or Barracuda head (fresh is preferred). Our trip took us to one of the shallow (50 to 60 ft. depth) artificial reefs just off St. Lucie inlet. Once we located the wreck we dropped the bait in the water (no weight) and slowly let line out; about 40 ft. ensuring not to get too close to the wreck but just above it. The reason being, once they hit the bait their instinct is to go right back into the wreck and you cannot let this happen. Now comes the fun part...once we see the rod bent over we put the boat in gear and with the rod in it's holder we dragged the fish away from the wreck and then we crank on the reel using your left hand to assist in pulling the line in, just like the guys on Wicked Tuna!

The snook fishing around the St. Lucie Inlet has been living up to it's reputation. We took out some first timers last week and were able to hook them up to some great fish. Live bait being the main ingredient to a successful fishing trip. White bait can be found near the beaches using your cast net and larger size scaled sardines are found in 30 to 40 feet of water just south of the St. Lucie inlet. Just look for all the boats stacked near each other and cast a #8 Sabiki rig. We fished the first two hours of the incoming tide on the inside of the south jetty and then moved to the Hole in the Wall for the next few hours. We used 30 lbs fluorocarbon leader with a 4/0 circle hook and drifted along the mangroves.

Even with the thunderstorms in our area we still managed to catch a few snook on Friday and Saturday. The bait can still be found north of the St. Lucie Inlet, but when storms move in and the swells build up you will not be able to get close enough to shore to throw your net safely. During these time, take a run up the North Fork River near mile maker 8, the bait can be seen balled up on the surface and throwing a net will fill up your live well. Snook can be found near the Port St. Lucie inlet, south jetty. It's best to anchor on the inside during the outgoing tide. You can also find some Snook migrating through Hole in the Wall during the outgoing and income tides. We are fishing with tackle in the 15-20 lbs test, 20 or 30 fluorocarbon leader depending on water clarity, and a Mustad 3/0 circle hook. If you must fish with artificial baits, we've had success with the Monster 3X shrimp and DOA Terroreyz, see pictures.

We headed off early in the morning in search of greenies north of the St. Lucie Inlet, about 2.5 miles. We followed the pelicans, as we always do, and we were relieved once we saw them diving into the shallow waters. Pay close attention to what the tide is doing, the depth of the water, waves and wind, as you can very easily get distracted and end up on the beach, these greenies are in about 2 to 3 feet of water at times and you will need to chase them down to shore to get them. After filling the bait well, we headed off to the Sand Pile off the St. Lucie Inlet and drifted along the west side. After a few cut-offs due to sharks, my guest Kaycee caught and released her first Cobia. The wind kicked up and we decided to head inshore and with the tide changing to incoming, there were a few spots I wanted to hit. We started just south of the St. Lucie inlet and Kaycee, showing off lady luck, caught and released her first snook. With the incoming tide, we fished the entire south side of the inlet, where 2 more snook were caught and yes Kaycee caught one of them, the other was caught by Justin, her boyfriend. In all we had a wonderful time given the tough wind conditions that occurred later in the day. And yes, Kaycee out fished the Boys today....