Kayak Fishing: Fort Pierce Mangroves

Happy Monday Spacefish!

I hope everyone is having a great Veteran’s Day Weekend! We had to be in school today due to losing days because of the hurricane a few weeks back (boooo!), but on a more positive note the football team in which I am the Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach (Melbourne Central Catholic), ended our regular season Friday with an 8-2 record after a wild shootout win, 51-44 vs True North Classical in Miami. That was a big win for the Hustlers, because we were both 1A, Top 10 teams, and we needed that win to help get us a good seed in the playoff bracket. We ended the regular season as the District Champs for 1A-6, and our offense is averaging 400+ yards per game, and 37 points per game. I find myself under pretty tough time constraints during football season, so bear with me a few more weeks as my reports will continue to be a little more skimpy than they are in the other times of the year.

Fishing Fort Pierce

So this is an area I have been interested in fishing for a little while now. I have heard that the area north of the Fort Pierce Inlet is a really cool spot to fish, the water quality and clarity is really good, and there are some mangrove islands that offer nice wind protection north of the causeway.

I launched from kayak launch of Little Jim Bait & Tackle located on the north causeway. There is a nice little kayak/canoe launch area, and a large public boat ramp just across the water. Both of these locations offer access to the mangrove islands north of the causeway, or you can head south and fish those mangroves closer to the inlet. I plan on making a return trip to hit the southern parts, but on this trip I went north.

I’d like to make a note about Little Jim’s – this is a really cool place with a lot of history. It has been here since World War II when it was a local watering hole for the Navy Seals that were training on North Hutchinson Island. You can read about it in more detail here – https://www.littlejimbaitandtackle.com/a-little-more-history#:~:text=Little%20Jim’s%20dates%20back%20to,and%20checkpoint%20at%20the%20bridge.

Finding Fish

I ended up spending 4-5 hours fishing the mangroves of Snapper Cut, and St. Lucie Cut. I kept things pretty simple. Topwater at daybreak which resulted in 0 landed fish, I transitioned to the subsurface stuff after that. I kept going back and forth between two tried & true presentations. The Vudu Shrimp, and the Clarity Lures “Chunk” in the Glassy colorway. The Chunk skips really well under the mangroves and results in a good number of Snook (mostly little ones) and two right at/just under the slot size. I also caught 2 little dinks, and about half a dozen mangrove Snapper on the 2.75 inch Vudu Shrimp in Cajun Pepper/Chartreuse. The key here was to get the bait as close to the mangroves without getting hung, and this little shrimp lure skips pretty well too.

The nice thing about this area is there are lots of mangroves to fish situated next to deeper water in these cuts. Which are going to hold fish. In addition to a high number of Snook and Snapper, I also caught a really big Jack, which I thought I got a picture of, but somehow screwed it up. I was videoing when I thought I paused, and was paused when I thought I was recording, smh!

St. Lucie Aquarium

So this is a great area to take the family. You have the inlet jetties that offer great shore fishing access, there are great places to take kids paddle fishing as well. But in addition to the fishing, there is a really cool aquarium here that I took the wife and kids to, and they really enjoyed it!

The St. Lucie County Aquarium is located along the south causeway, and has a cheap admission price. The aquarium really focuses on our local Indian River Lagoon estuary and habitat which is really cool. There are also great places to eat in the area. All in all, it’s a great place to take a day trip!

Conclusion

I really enjoyed fishing this area, and feel like I barely scratched the surface of the potential here. It is a bit of a drive just to go fishing, but when you factor in the aquarium, Little Jim’s, the Navy Seal museum – there are plenty of other attractions in the area to justify a day trip down to Fort Pierce.

I’d also like to give a special THANK YOU to all of our Veterans. We are blessed to have the lives we do, the nation we have, and the opportunities and freedom because of the brave men & women who made the choice to serve our nation through the armed forces. So if you are reading this and you either are currently serving, or have served our nation. I’d like to give you my special thanks!

Thank you all for taking the time to read, make sure you check out all of the good deals, and the awesome inventory of all things kayak fishing at Kayaks By Bo! Until next time!