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| February 25, 2010 - Fish, Fish Everywhere |
As spring tries to push ole man winter into the recent past there are hungry fish emerging everywhere in the Indian River Lagoon from Titusville to Sebastian Inlet. Capt. Peter and I have been having a blast fishing the east side of the river up north as a massive school of huge black drum continues to entertain along with big redfish, our normal residents. And Capt. Roland has been catching big numbers of a variety of slot-sized fish along the west side of the river from Melbourne south to Grant. Here are summaries of our most recent trips.
Tuesday the weather was perfect with near calm winds and mid 70 degree temperatures. I had the day free to scout fish for upcoming charters and grabbed a couple of dozen hand-picked shrimp from Capt. Roy Allen’s Bait Shop before continuing north. Since there were several boats already staked on my intended flats I headed even further north in search of solitude and tranquil waters. My tack could not have been better suited for the day. Staking down amidst numerous tailing drum, I abandoned ship for the serenity of wading amongst the schools. Over the next two hours the two dozen shrimp disappeared as huge drum after huge drum was hooked, fought and released. The smallest fish weighed 20 pounds with several twice that size. Add a couple of communal redfish to the constant parade and you’ll understand why my arms ached at the end of the afternoon. By the way, I estimate that this school of big drum has fanned out across five miles of shoreline. It was a perfect day of fishing with a perfect day of weather to enjoy it.
Capt. Peter had a similar experience several days before with locals Chuck and his son Mason in some of the same waters. They hooked a number of the big drum in the morning before switching over to the long rods to throw a few flies at the beast. Peter estimated seeing 1500 fish on the day with reds running to 30 pounds and the drum ranging to 50 pounds. Peter was so preoccupied on the poling platform that the only photo snapped from the charter was of a 30 pound sting ray caught by Mason on a fly.
I was also on the water at the same time since my charter canceled the night before and wound up spending part of the day protecting Peter’s crew from two other boats curious about how he was catching so many fish. At one point the two boats had poled and trolled to within a boat length or two of Peter to watch. When not having to protect Peter flank, I stalked several of the big redfish lurking nearby. It was a great day of fishing all around and I felt sorry for the party that had been scheduled but declined to participate.
During this same stretch of time Capt. Roland took three charters into the Indian River from Melbourne to Grant. His Saturday crew consisted of Vince and Aubrei Blumberg down from Michigan for the third straight year. This time around 12 year old Aubrei bested her father catching a dozen fish to his six. The biggest fish was a 32 inch redfish which brought a huge grin to Aubrei face and archived by Vince’s camera. The Blumbergs are already looking forward to next year.
On a rare Sunday charter for Roland, the Kalb family joined him in the Grant area for a fabulous day of fishing. The gorgeous sunny skies and mid-70 degree temperatures fueled an intense feeding frenzy in which the Kalbs landed an estimated 25 fish consisting of upper slot reds, black drum, sheephead and trout. The action was so hot that at one point during the feed Capt. Roland had to stop the fishing so he could finish unhooking and releasing fish already boated. Everybody in the family of five caught fish except for mom who was too busy taking pictures to pick up a rod. The two photos below were shot by her, by the way.
On Tuesday Gary Greenough from Arizona and Dwight Entwistle from Indian Harbor Beach chartered Roland in the same waters. The skies started out overcast and there were a few sprinkles before the weather cleared and the serious fishing began. Using shrimp on light tackle Dwight and Gary caught an estimated 15 fish including numerous reds, black drum and trout on their half day charter. The couple wound up taking the following red and drum home for a fish fry later that evening.
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| Jan. 31, 2010 – Winter Fishing – The Good, Bad and |
Fishing over the past several days reminds me of the title from an old Clint Eastwood western – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly- as we have had some great fishing charters, some not so great charters and some downright ugly weather were we dared not venture forth, discretion being the better part of valor. Let’s lead off with a really, really good report.
We start our fishing reports for the past week with a great charter to Titusville on Friday with Fred and his son Reid. The occasion was Reid’s 13th birthday and this skilled fishing duo wanted to celebrate by doing some shallow water, sight-fishing, Mosquito Lagoon-style redfish hunting. The day was picture perfect with calm, slick waters, bright blue Florida skies and downright balmy temperatures. The conditions were so favorable that we stripped down to short sleeves, short pants and bare feet in order jump into the river to stalk our prey while wading across the lush grass flats. We quickly spotted a large school of large black drum lollygagging and tailing in the shallows. Approaching the school on foot, we lobbed large, free-lined shrimp into their midst and it did not take long for the black drum to find our offerings. Reid caught several nice drum from the school while his dad did his best to keep the school intact by graciously missing hook-set after hook-set. After standing in the middle of several hundred thumping drums we decided to leave the premises to find a large redfish or two. Two hours later we wondered why we ever ‘left fish to find fish’ and marched back to the drum line to finish off the half-day charter. While herding the drum down the flat once again, Fred suddenly spotted an enormous red tail waving to us about 60 yards down range. Staking down with the stealthy Power Pole, we bombed a large finger mullet into beast’s general direction. Within minutes the hungry brute to found the silver mullet and the birthday boy got to spend the next twenty minutes hanging on for dear life. Pictured below is Reid with our best black drum and redfish of the day.
Now journeying back to the previous Saturday, we’ll continue the reports in a chronological manner. Capt. Peter gives us the following account of his charter on that day. ‘The fluctuating temperatures and strong winds this week have the redfish, trout, and black drum on both the flats and drop-offs. Lately we've been splitting the day between pitching shrimp under deep-water docks, and sight fishing the flats.
A great trip I had this week was with a trio of diehard angles. The weather conditions were less than favorable, but we worked hard and picked our way through the little-guys to some good fish. The "Illinois Deer Commander" bested the younger guys this trip, with a 25" trout and a 26.5" redfish on the flats. We also caught black drum and sheepshead around the deep water docks.’
A nasty-ugly cold front pushed through area on Sunday and Monday, churning the rivers and sending the fish fleeing for any kind of safe haven. Such starts the pattern during our winter months; a front blows out fishing for a day or two, recovery slowly begins the day after and continues to improve until a glorious climax is reached the day before the next front arrives. The cycle usually last five or six days before repeating itself until spring finally arrives in mid-February or early March.. We’ll demonstrate with the following accounts.
Fishing Tuesday, the day after the front arrived, Capt. Peter braved the elements with a charter on the Banana River. Battling a stiff, cold northwest wind and wigged-out, lock-jawed fish, Peter’s hail and hardy crew still managed a redfish and several trout along with a few small black drum and sheepshead. Sometimes, no matter how skilled the captain and crew, the fish will make catching tougher than a two dollar steak from IHOP. This was one of those times. And if there were metals awarded to pluck and grit over the water, Peter’s crew from Tuesday surely earned them.
On Wednesday I pre-fished the Banana River for charters the next days to try add to Peter’s information passed along from the day before. Even though the weather was a bit warmer than Tuesday, the bait was found still shivering at the far ends of the canals on Cocoa Beach. This gave me a clue as to how any success for the day would unfold – fish would be found, if any could be found, along the sandy shorelines and in the sandy potholes near the deeper troughs. Three redfish were landed with the largest being a 17 lb sow caught in the warmest part of the day and the warmest segment of the river. Interestingly, the usually super aggressive reds were slow and sluggish in chasing and chomping my live finger mullets.
The weather Thursday turned even warmer, actually hitting the low 70s, and the wind softened from the day before. We had the pleasure of fishing with Lee and Angie Harp from Wichita along with Lee’s Uncle Ken (aka Fred and Ralph). Since Capt. Roland had pre-fished the Grant area on the prior day and marked numerous redfish and large trout patrolling the clear shallows of the Indian River, we headed south. As in previous trips with Lee and Angie, it was the gal in the pink hat that had most of the luck. Angie caught the first two redfish and handed the third off to Uncle Fred to the finish the fight. We also landed a bewildered trout before the winds blew us back to the ramp. Angie’s pink hat was so crucial to our success on the day we are posting two pictures so readers will have a better understanding of which kind of pink hat works the best.
Friday was our aforementioned special trip to Titusville which brings us to yesterday and the arrival of our next cold front. Dodging the effects of the weather system, Capt. Roland and Capt. Peter combined on a two-boat charter with old friends from Colorado, the Rimkus clan. They fished the Indian River in the Grant area under grey, threatening skies and high northwest winds. Before the afternoon thunderstorms arrived, the Capt. Roland’s crew, in the larger 22 foot Pathfinder, caught a couple redfish, 18 inch black drum and sheepshead on shrimp on the flats north of Jorgensen Park. Capt. Peter’s crew, in his new 19 foot Hewes Bayfisher, sought protected shelter in the historic Honest John Canals and had a blast catching an assortment of fish in near-continuous action. Their tally for the day included 13 rat reds, a drum full of black drums, mangrove snapper, and several huge sheepsheads. Even though the winds created havoc on the more exposed open waters of the river, a great time was had by parties on both boats.
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| Jan. 5, 2010 - Winter Windows of Opportunity |
Contrary to popular belief, we do have winter in Florida. Admittedly it bears little resemblance to the winter most everywhere else but it is winter nonetheless with lower temperatures and stiff north winds. The big differences in our winter are severity and length. We may have a cold front push through the area and plunge the temperatures into the forties on Monday only to return to seventies by several days later. And this kind of drop in temperatures affects our fish population.
Throughout most of the year our game fish live comfortably on and around the lush, shallow grass flats that blanket our inshore waters. However, when the temperatures plunge the fish seek shelter and warmth in deeper holes and backwater canals. The migration for the fish often occurs rapidly which test the skill of local guides.
Capt. Roland recently guided the Reed family from Denver, Colorado (son Darious, daughter Kia and dad Paul) on a very cold morning with early morning temperatures in the mid 30s. He took them into the legendary Honest Johns Canals near Sebastian Inlet. They caught three reds to 33 inches, three black drum, six sheephead, one bluefish and a rare two foot eel. (Pictured below are Darious with his big redfish and Kia with a nice Black Drum).
The following day the temperatures improved and the fish cleared out of the canals to forage on shallow grass flats. Capt. Roland took the Turner clan from Orlando on a short charter in search of prey. Among the fish they found was a school of big jacks marauding near the mouth of Sebastian Inlet. Pictured below is Bryson Turner and Capt. Roland with one of the bigger jacks caught on the charter.
Another charter over the holidays featured Chuck and Larry his father-in-law from Orlando. They timed their fishing perfectly weather-wise and enjoyed almost balmy conditions with comfortable temperatures and lots of bright Florida sunshine. I guided them to redfish heaven in the pristine waters of the Indian River near Titusville, Florida. After searching for a bit, we found several nice schools of redfish taking advantage of the warm water over the flats to feed. Pictured below are Chuck and Larry holding two trophies from the day.
Capt. Peter has also been busy over the last several weeks. He is our lead hunting outfitter so duck hunting has consumed much of his attention but he did guide a couple of charters as well. Pictured below are several of his fishing clients holding their catch.
The cold north wind blew Vince and Tony Blumberg down from Chicago. Even though the weather was on the chilly side for Capt. Roland, the Blumbergs thought it was a lark and fished in shorts, T-shirts and cowboy hats. Since this crew had fished the Grant area several times prior they opted to change the venue to the Banana River near Cocoa Beach for variation. It turned out to be a good choice as Vince and Tony caught redfish, trout, stingrays (an oddity) and catfish.
Capt. Roland had a very special charter with father and son duo of Roger and Cory. Cory was home on leave from serving at Ft. Hood where he witnessed the recent terrorist attack. Needless to say, he was due for some wind-down time. They fished the Melbourne Beach stretch of the Indian River on a knock-down gorgeous day. The fishing was a bit slow but they did manage to catch redfish and jacks. Pictured below is Cory holding one of the jacks.
Our final fishing report comes from another father and his children charter. Rusty from Huntsville, Alabama spent a morning fishing with daughter Jenny (age four) and Rockett (aged two). Granted, these kiddos are awful young for a fishing charter but their grandfather insisted. (Did I mention that I am the granddad here?). We had a blast zipping down the river, fishing, exploring a pirate island and eating a picnic furnished by grandma. Pictured below are Jenny and Rusty holding her very first fish and the three enjoying grandma’s vittles on one of the spoil islands in the Indian River.
Wintertime fishing along the central east coast can present some challenges. There are days where the weather does not permit us to leave port but there are many other days where the fishing is the stuff of which life-long memories are made.
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| October 25, 2009 - Fall Fishing Weather – Fantasti |
Fall weather plays a big role in the fishing fortunes along the central east coast of Florida. Over the past two weeks we have greeted our first cold fronts to the area and even though the cooler temperatures were a welcomed relief, the accompanying high winds created challenges for our charters. The cold front also re-ignited the briefly stalled fall mullet run and the resulting feeding frenzies were fun as long as we could safely venture out.
Coffey and his son Buck along with son-in-law Travis drove over from Haines City to go fishing with Captain Roland and myself. Originally from this area, Coffey was well acquainted with the effects of the annual mullet run action so we were full of anticipation as we launched from Sebastian Inlet. However, the cold front from the previous day sent the barometer plummeting and lock-jawed the feeding fish. Captain Roland and I were eventually successful in coaxing some action by switching from finger mullet to ‘greenies’ and flooding the holes with crippled bait as chum. Pictured below are Coffey and Travis each holding snook caught on the day.
The Moura family, Albert, Debbie and their son Justin, blew in from Bermuda for a week of vacation in Disney Orlando plus a day of fishing on the Indian River Lagoon near Sebastian. Inlet. Capt. Roland guided them on one of the more blustery days in recent memory; inshore waves were 2-3 feet fueled by a stiff 25 mph north wind. Roland did guide them into some fishable waters however where they caught a nice redfish and huge ladyfish while hooking and losing a few other game fish. Even though their Mickey Mousse ponchos were shredded by the high winds, the Mouras had a great time and are looking forward to a return fishing trip in the area.
The Rimkus clan joined Capt. Roland again in the Sebastian area for a day of fishing followed by an evening of alligator hunting that night with Capt. Peter. The fishing was good with snook, redfish, and marauding schools of hard charging jack Cravelles. Pictured is seven year old Jacob with his first snook and Michael with one of the reds. By the way, later that night Michael took his first gator which was a nice 8 1/2 footer.
Our final fishing account in this report is a special one involving Steve and Dena Prater from Haines City, Florida. This charter was provided for the Praters by the Dream Foundation aka Make a Wish Foundation. The weather was ideal as we launched from Sebastian Inlet and remained so through-out the day. We had a blast catching and releasing some 15-20 gamefish including snook, redfish, trout, bluefish and jack Cravelles. Pictured below are Dena with a 12 lb snook and Steve with a redfish and a jack.
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| October 7, 2009 – Fantastic Fall Mullet Run Action |
The fall mullet migration continues along our coast and the game fish are absolutely gorging themselves as a result. The fantastic fishing action is spread pretty much everywhere now, especially around Sebastian Inlet and Port Canaveral. Read on for reports of individual charters from last week.
Our first report features Chris DeMasi and Ashley from Virginia Beach, Virginia. This cute couple came to Florida on a job assignment and decided to take advantage of the fall mullet run near Sebastian Inlet. Both Chris and Ashley caught their first feisty snook and hard charging jack Cravelles. They also caught some of the largest spotted trout landed this year in the Indian River Lagoon system including a pair of 30 plus inch, 10 pound monsters along with six other trophies over 20 inches. Redfish, bluefish and lunch waterside at Captain Hiram’s rounded out their fintastic adventure.
Our old friend Mike Rimkus from Colorado returned to the area with a crew intent of some serious fishing and alligator hunting. Their first day on the water was spent stalking giant snook riverside near the mouth of Sebastian Inlet. Both of Mike’s sons caught great fish with Jacob nailing the snook and Michael the monster 32 inch trout. Also fishing with the Rimkuses on day one was their next door neighbor, Jonathon, who caught the giant snook pictured below. The crew managed other species on their charter with Capt. Rolland including flounder, bluefish, jacks and grouper.
The Rimkus crew left the saltwater and headed for sweat-water to spend an evening stalking alligators in the swamps of the nearby St. John’s River with Capt. Peter. They bagged three big gators on the evening before exhausting Peter’s inventory of tags. The gators went seven, eight and nine feet in length.
The following morning the crew returned to Capt. Roland’s boat to venture forth in search of beachside tarpon. Leaving the Inlet mid-morning, Roland located an incredible school of huge tarpon terrorizing the migrating mullet. Stealthily approaching the tarpon pod, they got within ten feet of the 100 plus pound giants. The tarpon were so close they knocked scattering mullet into the side of the boat several times. Two of the tarpon were jumped before quickly spitting the hook. After the trip, Mike said "It was the best trip (I’ve) ever had even though we didn't land a single one.” Such are things of which life-long memories are made.
We move north to Port Canaveral for our next report. It was my privilege to spend an evening with Capt. Nate Fowler of Laguna Charters and our mutual friend Dr. Bobby Clayton chasing snook under the lights of the cruise ship piers. Once darkness settled in, the mullet schools began swirling thick around the spotlights and became an irresistible temptation for the giant line-siders. We were pitching an assortment of Yozuri and Rapala lures into the terrified mullet schools when Capt. Nate nailed the pictured 31 ½ inch brute shown below.
Our final report comes from the third annual Fishing Chicks tournament held in Sebastian over the weekend. Capt. Roland, his daughter Jessica, and I had a blast fishing a ten mile shallow-water stretch of the Indian River in the tournament. Team Native Sons won the trout division with a 29 5/8 inch monster which weighed 8.10 pounds. Jessica finished the AT&T Florida Flatsfishing Association season as Lady Angler of the Year and second place overall trout. All three of us will be competing in the championships for FLFA circuit in two weeks.
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| September 27, 2009 - Sensational September Fishing |
September 27, 2009
The fishing action during the last week has been spectacular as the fall mullet run has pushed into the Indian River Lagoon system filling our waters with a massive supply of baitfish. The resulting feeding frenzies on the incoming tides down in the Sebastian Inlet area are absolutely awesome with a wide variety of predatory species feasting on the mullet, triggering multiple super slams for our charters. We will get to the individual Sebastian reports in a moment, let’s start north in Titusville though where the fishing has been equally impressive.
Our first report stars an old friend of mine, Pastor Larry Zimmerman, from the Villages/Wildwood, Florida area. Larry’s wife surprised him for his 69th birthday with a fishing charter on the Indian River. When I picked him up on Friday from his Cocoa Beach hotel, I asked him if he wanted quantity and variety which would take us south to Sebastian Inlet or monster trophy fish which would direct us north toward Titusville. Larry opted for the big fish. We started the charter hunting a school of tarpon which had been lurking in the Indian River over the past several weeks. The tarpon had moved out with the western wind but slot-sized redfish, gator trout and pesky alligators took their place. We shot north in search of bigger redfish and found some anxious to entertain us (pictured below is Larry with a 30 inch red plucked from this school). Finally we turned our attention to seeking the monster redfish. Pictured below is a 48 inch, 30 lb brute that is a birthday gift Larry will not soon forget.
Mark Keith from Pennsylvania fished with me earlier in the week. Since Mark booked back-to-back charters, having to decide between Sebastian and Titusville would not be an issue. On day one we headed to Titusville to tangle with the trophies. Again, starting the day stalking the Silver Kings, we were able to jump a half dozen or so ‘poons’. (Pictured below is Larry holding his very first tarpon which was caught using a small finger mullet.). Exchanging our smaller baits for something larger and our limper rods for something stiffer, we headed for the monster redfish hole. Pictured below is one awfully happy angler holding a 49 inch, 35 – 40 lb fish.
The second day with Mark Keith took us to the grass flats surrounding the Inlet. Both mullet and ‘greenies or shiners’ were abundant around the inlet. We opted to try both as bait. During the charter we caught 13 mango snapper - all longer than the 10 inch minimum, two grouper, two redfish, two jack Crevalle, one trout, one mutton snapper and a moonfish. We took a shot at least a dozen snook but could not seem to sink a hook into their jaws. Pictured below are the fish that went back to St. Augustine with Mark for a wonderful fish fry at his condo.
Another Sebastian Inlet adventure this week involved Capt. Roland and the Arbogast boys. These Melbourne residents were treated to the same kind of numbers and varieties as the previous report. Pictured below are David with his 16 inch mutton snapper and Daniel with his 7 lb trout.
Capt. Peter has been busy over the past several weeks with alligator charters through Native Sons Outfitters. Among the gators taken during these charters was an 11 foot beast bagged by Arianne Prevost of Satellite Beach and her fiancé, Capt. Robert Rohmann. This feat has attracted wide publicity among newspapers, television outlets including a national Fox News report and even a guest appearance on Good Morning America.. (Check back in a few days for information on this amazing accomplishment).
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