Typically the two weeks prior to Christmas in central east Florida (near Orlando) are not the hottest of the year – either in terms of angling action or in terms of picture postcard weather. However, this year it has been anything but typical as we have been doubly blessed with an extension of the meteorological phenomenon known as Indian Summer along with some phenomenal fishing.
On Thursday, Capt. Peter and I were fortunate enough to have along Andy the cameraman from East Coast Fishing (local TV fishing show to be launched early next year). The weather was perfect with clear blue skies and glassy calm water. The fishing could not have been any better either. (We’ll keep most of the details of the action on the day under wraps, as they say in the television business, until the show debuts… a hint though – there were a pair of huge black drum mugging for the camera)
Speaking of TV, there is a new online website, called FishbuzzTV and it is really cool! Recently we had aboard Jon Brett, producer and director, to film a short video segment for the site in Titusville (35 miles east of Orlando). The clips have finally been edited, polished, and posted. We invite you to visit the site and watch the action (http://fishbuzz.tv/index.html?req=1&station=guide&video=fishbuzz/guide/deeks) – aside from the two two-legged camera hogs shown in the first minute or so, we think you’ll really enjoy it.
Last Friday we hosted Matt O’Hern, a sportswriter for the Hometown News. He was along to write a short feature article for this community-based, weekly publication. The article was part of the paper distributed this week in Titusville and will appear in the Merritt Island (40 miles east of Orlando)and Rockledge editions next week. It is also provided online (http://www.myhometownnews.net/index.php?id=36073).
Finally, last Tuesday Capt. Roland and I teamed with Capt. Gary Giles of Melbourne to guide the commander and chief of the Coastal Angler Magazine, Rodney Smith. We are not sure of future articles or accolades from the trip but the day sure was successful from a fishing standpoint. Besides several nice pompano, we caught large numbers of trout and ladyfish in the Indian River between Melbourne and Grant (55 miles southeast of Orlando).
Christmas arrived early for a handful of very fortunate anglers this week. Not only are we continuing to enjoy exceptionally fine weather – a White Christmas would only be in our dreams – but the fishing continues to be excellent as well.
Mike Nix of Monett, Missouri must have been very good this past year, because Santa gifted him with a great fishing trip on the Indian River near Titusville on Monday (35 miles east of Orlando). The final count for the day included five fine reds and four ‘gator’ trout. We were particularly pleased to find the large trout returning to the flats because they have been rather scarce recently. Perhaps this is a sign of things to come. In the picture below, notice the blue sky and glass-like surface of the water. Can you envision the vicious explosions of big fish on baits under these dream-like conditions? Let me assure you, for an avid angler, it’s better than visions of sugarplums dancing in your head!
Now this next fishing account is one that almost defies reduction to pen and paper. At times, the Wednesday fishing trip more resembled a chaotic scene from Whoville than the peaceful setting of the abovementioned winter wonderland. Imagine four seasoned guides aboard a single bay boat, appropriately dubbed the Lip Rip, each vying for optimum casting position to a large school of pompano, trout and ladyfish. Since we were catching fish on nearly every cast, it’s a wonder nobody poked an eye out! Pictured below, each holding a delicious pompano, are Roland Jones, Gary Giles and Rodney Smith. And I, aptly dressed in my kerchief and cap, hid behind the camera.
Our Thursday charter included more ingredients than a Claxton Fruitcake. Local fishing expert Scott Sigmon teamed with Capt. Roland for an unusual fishing adventure in the canals of Satellite Beach (50 miles southeast of Orlando). Fishing shrimp under a small popping cork, the duo caught snook, trout, sheephead, black drum, moonfish, ladyfish, pinfish, catfish and nearly a naughty porpoise. The only thing missing on this trip was a quart of eggnog. Pictured below is Scott with one of the three different kinds of drums caught on the day.
Finally, I had the good fortune yesterday of guiding good friend and sportswriter Matt O’Hern of Merritt Island. We had planned to fish a full afternoon on the flats of the Indian River just north of NASA Causeway (35 miles east of Orlando). However, a cold front pushed through the area during the outing and cut our day short. (Matt suggested the abrupt ending to the trip had something to do with some sort of family fishing curse, perhaps placed upon the O’Herns by the Grinch or a Ghost from Christmas Past.) However, despite the untimely arrival of the inclement weather, we were still blessed with trout and redfish as evidenced in the following picture.
Our motto at Native Sons Fishing Charters is to provide “A Fishing Trip you’ll never forget.” This past week our crede became our experience for three charters as the balmy, unseasnable temperatures of our Indian Summer set the stage for some of the most memorable fishing drama of the year.
The lead story for the week starred a guide from the west coast, Capt. “Red” Ed Brennan and Cynthia, his close friend and favorite fishing partner. Their directive to Capt. Rocky was simply “we want to battle big redfish.” The next few paragraphs are descriptive narratives of the trip from Capt. Red Ed’s report to his own clients, family and friends.
While visiting family on the East coast for the holiday, Cynthia and I decided to fish the infamous Mosquito Lagoon for MONSTER Redfish with Captain Rocky Van Hoose, and we had an EPIC adventure! After securing enough Redfish candy, live Finger Mullet for bait, we were on the hunt. Conditions were anything but perfect as not only was it windy but it was also mostly cloudy which, as you know, only makes site fishing that more difficult. Of course, that wasn’t going to stop us! After catching more Catfish then we could count, we finally had a bite that could have only been what we were hunting for, Cynthia hooked and boated the nice 30 inch Redfish pictured below.
Now most folks would be happy to CATCH a Redfish that size but we were there for the real MONSTERS. Shortly after re-baiting we weren’t disappointed as the rod I was holding was slammed by what felt like a Volkswagen and the fight was on! After an awesome twenty minute fight we put the 42 inch Redfish, in the boat for a few pictures before we released him for someone else to enjoy!! If you haven’t fought one of these MONSTERS it will test all your angling skills and definitely tire you out, especially on light tackle.
Again after re-baiting, it was Cynthia’s turn to fight a MONSTER! If my fish hit like a Volkswagen, the fish that hit Cynthia’s rod was like a Freight Train! She did a masterful job fighting the fish but eventually it wore her out and she had to hand the rod to me for a short rest. In all my years of CATCHING Redfish, I have never seen or felt a fish fight like this! Every time we would get him close to the boat he would just scream line off the reel and it was like starting the fight all over again! This fish was well over 50 inches! It was EPIC!!! The sun was starting to set and we were beginning to wonder and joke if we would get this MONSTER in the boat for a few pictures before it got dark. Cynthia did take the rod back and fought the fish like a professional but after at least an hour and twenty minutes the MONSTER came unbuttoned and swam away. We had just lost a potential state record Redfish, but it was an experience that the three of us will never forget!!!
The second memory making trip occurred aboard Capt. Roland’s boat, the “Lip Rip” in Sebastian Inlet. Dr. Cronin of Melbourne Beach and his neighbor Jerry ventured into the inlet in search of breeder redfish and monster snook. They battled several large fish including the redfish held by Dr. Cronin in the picture below. This was actually the second Sebastian drift charter for the good doctor during the holiday week as he and Charlie, his son-in-law, chartered Capt. Roland several evenings before when they caught other large redfish and snook.
The final unforgettable trip in this report was also guided by Capt. Roland. Two anglers from San Antonia, Mike and Chuck, along with their sons, fished the Grant area and were entertained by the usual cast of characters; redfish, snook and trout. The thing that made this trip so memorable though was a cameo appearance of a fourth species – GROUPER. Grouper is a rare find in the Indian River but recently Roland has been able to locate several pods of this highly sought-after species. Pictured below are Mike and his son posing with one to the four large grouper fought on the day.
The phrases are frustrating, if not all too familiar this time of year; “Oh what a difference a day can make” or “Should have been here yesterday.” Don’t take it personally, the fickle weather has everything to do with it!
The weather of late fall can play cruel tricks on fishing guides – fishing red hot one day and stone cold the next. We offer four examples to support our claim. The first occurred two weeks ago as three seasoned fishermen from South Carolina made their way to Sebastian, arriving with well-founded images of huge snook, redfish and tarpon filling their dreams. The action through the inlet and the adjoining flats had been red hot Thursday through Saturday. However, a slow moving, severe front settled in on Sunday afternoon and shut down the ‘bite’ by evening. Monday was not much better as the stout 35 mph winds and driving rain made fishing near impossible. In Saturday night pre-fishing, we had caught three breeder reds and one over-slot snook and Sunday we could not have dynamited a fish out of the inlet. Friday morning had featured 30 trout to 29 inches and a dozen reds to 27 while Monday barely darkened the fishbox.
Example two came last Monday at the expense of Capt. Roland. Capt. Don and I had rocked Titusville the previous Saturday, catching a total of 26 redfish between the two boats in half-day charters. It was one of those golden days featuring multiple triple and double hook-ups. Naturally, Capt. Roland wanted his clients on Monday to join the fantastic action and brought them north to the same flats. However, a low pressure system settled over the river Sunday night and the fish flat refused to cooperate … how frustrating!
Capt. Roland also gave us example three this past Thursday night after witnessing a solid ‘bounce-back’ action during the middle of the week Pre-fishing Sebastian Inlet on Wednesday night, the good captain caught three breeder reds and one large snook in four successive drifts and, once again, optimism ran high for the next night. However, our first cold front arrived Thursday evening sending air temperatures plunging 35 degrees, dropping the barometric pressure 20 points in an hour and kicking north winds to 30 mph. The results of the fishing trip sagged to one redfish, two bluefish and a couple of break-offs … from frustrating to infuriating!
Finally, I was fooled on Friday giving us the fourth example. After Roland’s frustration in Titusville on Monday, pre-fishing was scheduled for Thursday in preparation for the charter on the following day. The flats were electric with a bazillion finger mullet and feeding fish everywhere. Seven redfish and one gator trout were caught quickly with the largest red measuring 50 inches. Expectations soared for the Friday charter. However, the same Siberian express that froze Roland Thursday night chilled the action for me on Friday. Despite having two veteran anglers onboard and covering nearly ten miles of flats, shorelines and deeper potholes, we found only one redfish. It was as if NASA had exploded a rocket over the river, driving all signs of life into outer space … enough to drive the sanest guide mad. (See below from a terrible pic of a terrific fish from the pre-fish – picture taken with an old disposable camera stored onboard for emergency purposes).
The moral of this sorry saga is simple: “if the fishing is bad and your guide has gone mad, don’t take it personally. If you could’ve seen it yesterday, you’d know what a difference a day can make!”
The torrid bite of the fall mullet run continues in the Indian River of Brevard County from north to south … and even though late autumn is now bringing us windier and cooler days, the action is still blowing white hot. In the midst of it all, the guides of Native Sons are leading the charge!
Capt. Roland has been concentrating over the past month on the breeder redfish, snook and tarpon stacked in Sebastian Inlet in south Brevard County. When the winds and waves permit, he has been joining the feeding frenzy of the outgoing tides in the inlet by drifting live pinfish, mullet and croakers. Most of the action has been east of the bridge, through the mouth of the inlet, and out to ‘Monster Hole.’ This annual feeding feast should continue through Thanksgiving weekend. (A word of warning; these inlet drift trips are reserved for “the few, the proud and the brave” … those faint of heart need not apply.)
Capt. Rocky has been enjoying the hot action triggered by the massive schools of migrating mullet in northern Brevard County near the Titusville area. The key to successful trips has been locating the mullet school being pounded by hungry fish and presenting them with the right bait (finger mullet). It is not uncommon to find redfish, trout, tarpon, snook, ladyfish, jacks and even bluefish all feeding in the same location and at the same time.
Aaron and Chandler were the fortunate ones to be a part of a two boat “charter war” between Capt. Rocky and Capt. Don off NASA flats this morning. Both boats produced impressive fish with the ‘Flat Broke’ (Capt. Rocky’s boat) edging the ‘Is and Boy’ (Capt. Don’s vessel) 17 to 9 on redfish, including the largest fish of the day, a monster 50 incher. Capt. Don won the trout contest by a 3 to 2 count. He also boated a couple of difficult species for style points – a blowfish, horseshoe crab and a live, natural sponge. The Flat Broke had two triple hitters and one double hitter in the four hour Battle Royale. In all fairness to Capt. Don, somebody may have stealthily snuck a couple of bananas into his ice chest placing a partial curse on his charter. (Pictured below, from left to right, Capt. Don, Chandler, and Aaron.)
Pictured below is Toby Boian from Bristol, Tennessee and one of his six redfish. Toby also caught several fine trout and a ladyfish the size of a baseball bat during his charter earlier this week.
Also spending a day on the Indian River near Titusville with Capt. Rocky was Christian Oyler, one of our servicemen home on a short leave from the Navy. Christian took back to the USS Nimitz tall tales of epic sea battles with redfish after redfish after redfish. All were caught on light spinning tackle in clear, shallow water. The largest redfish was a real torpedo weighing close to 25 pounds. (Note the size of Christian’s smile in the picture below).
Finally, anchoring this weeks fishing report, is another chap named Christian, who, along with his father Marco and good friend John, were also guided by Capt. Rocky. These bravehearts hailing from California had a grand time catching a number of redfish and spotted trout on their half-day charter in Titusville waters. Christian, pictured below, wanted to make sure that it was recorded in the captain’s log that he caught four of the six redfish on the day, including the largest fish.
Congratulations to Captains Peter Deeks, Roland Jones and Don Patterson for outstanding performances in the inaugural Treasure Coast Flats Circuit finals held this past weekend in Sebastian, Florida. Peter won the TCFC ‘Fish-Off’, the championship among the top 25 finalists, with the heaviest inshore slam of redfish, snook and trout. Roland and Don finished the year first and second respectively in the trout classification from among 200 of the top area guides and tournament anglers. (Pictured below are Peter Deeks, Jr. flanked by Capt. Don Patterson and Capt. Roland Jones)
There is no better time of the year to fish then this time … for the fall mullet run has started and it has brought some of the best fishing of the year to our area. From Titusville in the north to Ft. Pierce in the south, whether in the in-shore lagoon of the Indian River or along the ocean coastline, this annual migration of massive schools of the favorite baitfish has once again triggered a feeding frenzy for our redfish, snook, tarpon, trout jacks, bluefish and ladyfish. Slams (catches of at least three different species) are common and the quality of the fish being caught has been outstanding. The following reports are submitted as prima facie evidence.
Slam One – Capt. Peter hosted Howell and Gene Riggs from Birmingham for four half-day charters split over a two day period. Fishing the “edges” of the day (early morning and late afternoons) they started on Monday with a school of over 100 juvenile tarpon in the Indian River near Melbourne – five of the ‘silver kings’ were hooked and two landed. After a siesta to escape the heat of the day, they resumed their pursuit near the southern reaches of Merritt Island and proceeded to catch six trout from 18 to 30 inches and one upper slot redfish.
Slam Two – The Tuesday portion of the fishing adventure took the Riggs to the pristine waters of the Indian River in the Ft. Pierce area for different adversaries feasting on the mullet run, Despite having to dodge several bands of thunderstorms, the crew caught big numbers of snook, trout, large bluefish and ladyfish. (Pictured below are Howell and one his trophy trout)
Slam Three – Yesterday it was my pleasure to guide Randy and Dennis Higginbotham, new residents of Cocoa Beach, on a redfish safari to Titusville. Again, the mullet were thick and the predators plentiful. We caught seven redfish with four approaching 20 pounds and twice we experienced ‘double hook-ups’ causing great excitement aboard the Flat Broke. In addition to the redfish, we battled a 25 pound tarpon (near boat-side ‘live release’), a large sneaky snook and pesky jacks. (Pictured below are several photos of Randy, Dennis, and their redfish.)
The mullet run will last for another couple of weeks and should produce a number of ‘memory making fishing trips’. If you’ve been waiting for the best time to book a fishing charter in central Florida, there is no better time than this time of year … you might even say that catching fish this time of year is a ‘slam dunk’!
Charter fishing has slowed down a bit as it always does in late summer (August and September) but the tournament action for Native Sons guides certainly has not. So instead of our regular ‘fishing report,’ we provide the following ‘tournament update’:
Last weekend, three of the Native Sons group participated in the TCF Circuit/Sebastian Inlet Sportfishing Association ‘Red-Eye’ Classic Inshore Tournament along with 100 other local guides and anglers. Capt. Peter garnered the most publicity of the day by snagging first place in trout classification with a whopping 31 incher (crushing the competition in that category) and the heaviest slam of redfish, snook and trout. Capt. Roland and Capt. Don also did well weighing impressive stringers of redfish, snook and trout and earning valuable TCF Circuit points.
The grueling two day “Red-Eye Classic” was the seventh of eight sanctioned events in the 2007 Treasure Coast Flats Circuit. Currently Capt. Don leads the entire 200 angler field as top overall with Capt. Roland ranking a solid fifth. Capt. Peter is also in the top 15 overall despite having only fished only two of the seven events. In the TCF Circuit’s trout classification Capt. Don ranks first and has a slight lead over Capt. Roland with one tournament left. Capt. Roland is also currently ranked fourth in the redfish classification. Again, there are approximately 200 guides and anglers active in this circuit. (Results for the final two TCF Circuit, including the Championship, can be found at the following website – http://www.tcfcircuit.com/rankings).
Last month, Capt. Rocky participated in the IFA Redfish Tour Tournament in Englewood, Florida (Charlotte Harbor/Boca Grande Pass area). He teamed with Jim Suomi and finished fifth in the 100 boat field comprised of professional redfish anglers. This finish, coupled with two other strong IFA showings, qualifies the Native Sons Profession Redfish team for the nationally televised IFA championship to be held in Panama City, Florida during the first weekend in November. (Results for the upcoming IFA Redfish Tour Championship can be found at http://www.redfishtour.com).
Finally, Capt. Peter and Capt. Rocky fished the seventh of eight Xtreme Redfish Series events held in Titusville two weeks ago. The top ten finish in this event assures the team of an invitation to the Xtreme Redfish Championship Classic in mid-November as well as kept them atop the standings for the central east coast division ‘Team of the Year.’ (Results for the final two Xtreme Redfish Series events can be found at http://www.xtremefishingseries.com).
Okay, it’s been hot in central Florida over the past several weeks, the hottest I can remember, and I do not mean just the temperatures – the fishing has been scorching hot too! Since we have already dealt with how to beat the heat in a past fishing report, let’s focus on the adventuresome and fortunate anglers who have recently braved the summer sun with Native Sons guides during the last several days.
First, there was a group from Louisville, Kentucky consisting of Craig and Julie, his fiancée, along with brother-in-law Troy who fished with Capt. Rocky on the NASA flats Monday morning. Even though the group had only 2 and ½ hours to fish before needing to rush to Orlando in order to catch their flight home they had a blast chasing redfish, petting manatees and generally just enjoying the beauty of God’s creation. Pictured below are Julie holding her big redfish and Julie greeting a manatee.
Second, Tyra and Cliff, a father and daughter team from Orlando, fished with Capt. Peter in the same waters several days later and connected with 8 redfish weighing up to 18 pounds. They were sight-fishing the bronzed brutes from a number of large schools roaming the shallow, clear water in the morning hours. Pictured below are Tyra and Cliff with two redfish caught simultaneously.
Also fishing the NASA flats in Titusville with Capt. Peter were Kenny and Jack Vitek of Orlando. This was one of those special trips where the anglers were able to cast to large tailing redfish in calm, glass-like conditions. They caught 7 reds up to 20 pounds and probably saw close to 300 fish on the day. They also caught 75 plus schooling trout up to 18 inches, 2 jacks, and several ladyfish by throwing jigs into ‘potholes’ in crystal clear 5ft. water. By the way, this was a half-day charter which ended at noon. Pictured below are Kenny and Capt. Peter with one of their redfish – note the calm, glassy water in the background.
Finally, Capt. Roland, in an obvious moment of temporary insanity, agreed to take five teenage boys on a charter to Ft. Pierce last Friday morning. The boys (Chris Brennan, Chris Hubbard, Jeff Fitzgerald, Jordan Clark and Josh Jones) had a blast wading, swimming and frolicking along the spoil islands of the Intercoastal Waterway. They also caught 2 snook, 8 trout, 1 redfish, and one decent mango snapper between the horse-playing. Basically, it was, as one described it, ‘a kook free for all.’ Pictured below is Chris Brennan with his 32 inch snook.
It has been a while since our last fishing report and my notebook is bulging with information. Scanning the pages, we find the following brief descriptions:
Friday, July 20th – Capt. Roland and Capt. Peter prefished ‘near-shore’ off Satellite Beach for tarpon and kingfish.- several pods of rolling poons sighted and three silver kings landed with the largest weighing over 100 pounds – some of the action video-taped for future posting.
Saturday, July 21st – Capt. Roland guides Haney Family from California on ‘near-shore’ trip off Satellite Beach – five large sharks hooked and landed in the first hour – horrendous thunderstorm spotted on radar and trip cut short – digital camera broke and pictures lost.
Monday, July 23rd -25th – Capt Rocky dry-docked Flat Broke for fiberglass repairs and engine work.
Thursday, July 26th – Capt. Rocky and Capt. Peter guide Preston Howard on ‘psycho’ Ft. Pierce trip – numerous trout, snook, jacks, ladyfish, and snapper caught – one monster snook spooled Shimano Sustain 4000 reel with 15 lb. test braided line – Preston pictured below with one of the jacks.
Monday, July 30th – Capt. Rocky with family from San Antonio on the Banana River – three redfish caught and several others missed – bite much slower than the day before – boat fiberglass experienced issues.
Tuesday, July 31st – Flat Broke returned to repairman – repairs would require two more days
Wednesday, Aug. 1st – Capt. Peter took video crew for major national project to Titusville – caught several tarpon on fly and chased monster redfish – many filmed and landed – posing below is Peter with a redfish.
Thursday, Aug. 2nd – Capt. Peter guided group of Mobile, AL based attorneys back to Titusville – redfish turned on around 9:00 am and eight redfish hooked and landed – several over 20 pounds.
Friday, Aug. 3rd – Capt. Rocky with Giles and Blake Rainwater, a father and son team from Melbourne – fished the Titusville area, launching from Kennedy Point Park – targeted the same schools of redfish along NASA flats – morning frustrating but the fish finally began to move and feed in the early afternoon – pictured below are Blake and Giles holding one of their trophies, a 40 inch fish weighing close to 20 pounds.
Saturday, Aug. 4th – Capt. Rocky had one of those special trips – everything seemed to go right – crew consisted of another local father and son team of Jeff and Zack Loeb (his birthday) and Sam, Zack’s good buddy – fished the Melbourne/Grant area on half day trip – caught eleven fish including eight our targeted species, spotted sea trout –pictured below is Zack with one of his many fish followed by Sam with the largest trout of the day, a 30 inch, eight pound trophy – all trout were over 20 inches!
Saturday, Aug. 4th – Capt. Roland chartered in the Sebastian/Grant area – caught a number of nice trout and two snook before the afternoon rainstorm terminated fun – digital camera still broken.
Posted in Reports | Comments Off on August 6, 2007 – Cleaning Out Notebook
