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ED DRONDOSKI
Kadri Benton, left, and John Repass from White’s Tackle Shop provide fishing
advice and services for anglers.
than 5,000 local jobs.
The importance of these inlets was highlighted Feb. 24
when a 110-foot barge sank in the Fort Pierce Inlet, killing a
deckhand and preventing commercial and recreational boat
traffic from passing through. The aging barge was being
rushed into the closest port after it began taking on water
but fell apart as it entered the inlet. Fearing other boats may
strike the sunken vessel, the Coast Guard closed the inlet to
all boat traffic for several days and reopened it for several
weeks to boats with shallow drafts. The barge was salvaged
April 12 and 13 and the inlet reopened to normal traffic.
ST. LUCIE INLET
The written history of the St. Lucie Inlet dates from 1500.
Jonathan Dickinson’s crew passed through it in 1696, at the
Indian town of Santa Lucea. In 1844, before modern dredging,
Samuel Peck and settlers of the Indian River Armed Occupation
Colony wielded picks and shovels to make the first
recorded man-made opening.
Nowadays the inlet, which requires frequent dredging, is
known for its treacherous currents, its abundance of sport
fish and its 10-mile nearness to the Gulf Stream.
It and its environs make for excellent recreational opportunities.
Sailfish, mahi-mahi, king mackerel, snapper, wahoo and
cobia are favorite catches. Jon Repass, an avid fisherman who
works at White’s Tackle Shop in Fort Pierce, says snook fishing
is “phenomenal” there, as well as in the other two inlets.
Just south of the St. Lucie Inlet is St. Lucie Inlet Preserve
State Park, on a pristine barrier island accessible only by boat.
It offers quiet beaches for sunbathers, excellent surf fishing,
great snorkeling and scuba diving. Canoes and kayaks can
launch from the east end of Cove Road in Port Salerno, and
during the summer months, the beaches are an important
nesting area for loggerhead, leatherback and green turtles.
FORT PIERCE INLET
Under the leadership of visionary Edwin Binney, the Crayola
magnate, dredging and construction of the Fort Pierce
Inlet began in the 1920s. The federal government then began
a jetty project that was completed in 1935. During World War
II, Navy frogmen trained on what is still known as Dynamite
Point ― “The Cove” to the locals. The inlet is well protected, >>
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