Tangled up in Blue
Discovering why St.
Lucie County, Florida is an angler’s dream
By Dustin Catrett
A roseate spoonbill paid
little attention as we crept along the mangroves
less than a mile from where the ocean and river
converged. The cool incoming tide pushed against
my legs, as a definitive line of blue water
slowly flowed into the Indian River lagoon.
Casting into the current, my buddy Ed and I
slowly retrieved lures over a thick bed of
seagrass.
“Fish on!” he shouted,
as a scrappy blue-and-green striped fish wiggled
on the end of his line. It wasn’t the snook he
was expecting, or a redfish like the one I’d
caught earlier.
“Little mutton snapper,”
he said, tossing it back. “You never know what
you might catch around here.”
Moments later, my rod
also curved into an arc.
“What’ve you got?” Ed
asked.
“Snook!” I happily
replied, catching a glimpse of its dark lateral
line as it launched out of the water and into
the air.
“We’ve got a double
then,” he said, as his rod bowed for the second
time. Only it wasn’t a snook, redfish or snapper
at the end of his line; it was a huge spotted
seatrout. Referred to as “gators,” for their
large size, it was one of the largest seatrouts
I’d ever seen. Ed and I stared in awe as the
giant fish thrashed and churned saltwater just
feet from Ed’s rod tip. I quickly landed my
snook then released it, while Ed continued to
battle the big fish for several minutes before
managing to grab it with both hands.
“They don’t get much
bigger than this,” he beamed proudly, lifting
the massive fish up for a photo. We estimated
the seatrout to be more than 30” long, and after
admiring it for a few moments, Ed gently lowered
it back into the water where it swam away.
Made for anglers
Home to the current
International Game Fish Association (IGFA) world
record of the largest spotted seatrout caught
(it weighed more than 17 pounds), the
diverse
crystal blue waters of Fort Pierce, in St. Lucie
County, always deliver a spectacular fishing
experience each time Ed and I visit. Spotted
seatrout grow much larger here than in other
parts of the country, a benefit of the region’s
warm tropical climate and abundance of prey fish
commuting through the
Fort Pierce inlet from
the Atlantic Ocean. There are also redfish,
tarpon and all four types of snook, along with a
smorgasbord of other varieties such as lookdown,
flounder, bluefish, black drum, jack crevalle,
sheepshead, pompano, snapper and grouper to
catch, as the lagoon is an estuary for many
inshore and pelagic species alike.
For more than a hundred
years, Fort Pierce in St. Lucie County has been
a fishing town, and each year I’m pleasantly
surprised to find that all the local hotels,
tackle shops and restaurants still eagerly
accommodate anglers like us. There are plenty of
fishing piers,
boat launches and public
parks providing easy access to the water.
Kayaking around areas like Little Jim Island and
Bear Point, we’re always able to find a fish or
two to catch. Seventeen miles (give or take a
few) off the coast, the warm currents from the
nearby Gulfstream provide plenty of Bluewater
action each winter when the “Sailfish Capital of
the World,” just south of St. Lucie County,
experiences huge migrations of Atlantic sailfish
through its world famous “Sailfish Alley.”
All around alluring
Yesterday, Ed and I
found several private inshore and offshore
fishing charters in the area that cater to
anyone’s budget and schedule. We ended up
booking
an
offshore charter—aboard
The Last Mango—and had a blast winching
up grouper, snapper and amberjack from the
patchwork of reefs and wrecks along the ocean
floor. That evening, we recounted fish tales
over wine and dinner at Cobb’s Landing
overlooking the Fort Pierce City Marina. The
open-air, tiki-style restaurant cleaned,
prepared and served our very own catch in a
variety of delectable entrees. After a short
stroll to the Sailfish Brewery for craft beers,
it was back to our rooms to rest up for the
following day.
This morning, Ed and I
were eager to get to the lagoon to cast our
lines. After putting on my waders, I quietly
stepped into the calm serene water just after
sunrise. As the ocean slowly drank the river, it
reaffirmed to me why wade fishing during a
falling tide is the real treasure of the area.
Even without a boat or kayak, I can still
immerse myself within one of the most diverse
ecosystems on the planet; where dolphins,
manatees and birds of every color abound.
It’s one of few places
where the next cast could be another world
record, or result in catching a species I’ve
never seen before. And best of all, it’s knowing
as soon as the sun illuminates the warm blue
water, a few of life’s worries will wash away
with the tide.
Get
hooked on St. Lucie!