The sizzling summer fishing season has definitely arrived along the Central East Coast of Florida (near Orlando)as the temperatures are reaching the upper 80’s. However, believe it or not, more important to our fishing success than the warmer water temperatures is the summer wind pattern – westerly land breezes in the morning, calm conditions at noon and easterly sea breezes in the afternoon. You see, to an astute angler, the wind provides important clues to the location and activity of the fish. In other words, the wind can be your friend. A few cases in point …
On Wednesday, the Edwards Family from North Carolina joined us for a charter on the Banana River in Merritt Island (40 miles east of Orlando). Leaving the ramp mid-morning, we took our time to make sure we caught the right bait (the right type, size and color) and began fishing in the deeper water during the calm of the day. Several large trout (24 and 27 inches) which had been enjoying the cooler, calm deeper water joined us before we wore out our welcome. We decided to change venues in time for the advent of the afternoon sea breezes.
The action started slowly at the second spot with only two reds in the first hour or so but as the sea breezes accelerated, so did the feeding and it was almost non-stop for the last two hours. The final count for the half-day trip was 13 redfish to 32 inches and 3 spotted sea trout. (Pictured below are Ben Edwards with his big red and Ginna Edwards with one of the gator trout.)
Thursday found both Native Son captains fishing in Ft. Pierce (75 miles southeast of Orlando)with five members of the Cummins Family of Alexandria, VA (Mike the dad and his kids, Matt 17, Erin 13, and Daniel 12 along with nephew Troy 16). Arriving shortly after dawn, we stationed our crew on one of our favorite islands along the Indian River. The action was torrid early on with the west morning wind and an outgoing tide. We caught a number of nice snook and large trout and continued fishing until our bait supply was exhausted.
After cast netting another couple of dozen baits (not a quick or easy chore in the Ft. Pierce area), we decided to adjust our location to fish the start of the incoming tide and the mild eastern sea breezes. Once again the fish were willing. The final tally for the half-day trip was 6 snook to 31 inches, 8 trout to 25 inches, an enormous jack carvel, and one small Goliath grouper (several larger snook were live-released within several feet of the landing net.)
On Saturday Capt. Roland hosted Kim McCarthy and her dad, Bob, from Merritt Island/Cocoa Beach and fished the Melbourne area (55 miles southeast of Orlando) in the morning before making the long run to the Banana River in the afternoon. They had a ball catching five redfish to 30 inches and learning the subtleties of Indian River lagoon fishing. (Pictured below is Bob and one of his three redfish.)
Also on Saturday, Capt. Rocky took Lane Smith and his buddy Mike on an afternoon, half-day Banana River fishing trip (Merritt Island, 45 miles east of Orlando). After being quickly blown-off the first spot by four inconsiderate jet skiers, we made our way to a productive redfish ‘hole.’ Using the strong eastern wind we were able to stay a good distance from the fish and lob our baits a good country mile. The redfish, not detecting our presence, began to cooperate and five large bronzed beauties were landed in short order. Since we were wading and stayed at a distance using the wind to our advantage, the bite should have continued for some time. However, we once again encountered the inconsiderate. This time the culprits were three knuckleheads running the flats in an aluminum john boat. (They were well inside the Manatee restrictions.) The fish fled and the spot was spoiled.
We quietly left the area to the joy rider and traveled another five miles further south to a remote, semi-secluded location. After a careful stealthy approach, we once again found hungry fish and quickly caught a 30 inch redfish along with a rare Banana River snook. Unfortunately, our solitude did not last long. It was the same inconsiderate boater as before. This time not content just to run the flats, he yelled wildly, banged on his aluminum boat, spun circles and churned the water while cutting scares through the lush grass flat. Oh, by the way, he also spooked the fish to kingdom come. (Saturday fishing often presents us with a special set of challenges known as the weekend warriors, or, as sometimes dubbed, the goonagans.) Despite the rudeness, it was still a pretty good day with six redfish and one surprising snook.
Not sure if Bob Dylan was much of an angler, but his famous lyrics, “the times, they are a changing, certainly have applied to the fishing along the central east coast of Florida (greater Orlando area) over the past two weeks. The wicked winds of spring have finally blown themselves into an abyss, probably located someplace east of Mimms, and summer is now king. And his majesty has brought to his realm warmer temperatures, balmy conditions, and afternoon thunderstorms.
The fishing patterns are a changing too. We are doing more early morning fishing, noon napping and afternoon running, running away from the storms, that is. Vast schools of eight to ten inch mullet are concentrating the pelagic species along the shorelines and mid-flats and the fishing has been fantastic at times and lethargic at others.
Dr. Rick Baney and his son Jack, aka Capt. Jack, fished with Capt. Roland last Saturday in the Grant/Sebastian area (65 miles southeast of Orlando). After catching several large trout, they shifted from the shoreline and what had previously been a hyper-productive redfish spot to the islands in the middle of river. Several more trout and four snook were added to their totals. Pictured below is Capt. Jack with one of his snook and gator trout.
The following Monday, Antiny and Willie joined Capt. Roland in the same waters. They caught one redfish and six trout in a morning charter. The largest trout measured 25 inches as did the red. The pace of fishing was steady but one could sense the fishing pattern was beginning to change.
This past Wednesday all three Native Son guides were in the Grant/Sebastian area (55 miles southeast of Orlando) as part of a large corporate charter/tournament and we scorched the other teams by catching fish after fish after fish. Dale and Matt, from Daytona Beach, the crew of Capt. Rocky, drove home with three first place finishes for redfish, trout and sail cat and $1200 cash. This father and son duo emptied the bait well twice catching large redfish, gator trout, snook, bluefish, jacks and one silly sail cat (which, believe it or not, was one of the targeted species of the tournament). In addition to what was caught, the big ones got away including four monster snook doing their best freight train imitations, two bull sharks and one acrobatic tarpon. Not bad for a four hour cruise. (The angler below is Ed, part of the team fishing with Capt. Roland).
The next day the bluefish invaded the area and greeted Gary and Scott, his son, along with Uncle Ray from Crimson Tide Country. Despite many cutoffs from the toothy blues, we landed three redfish (largest was 32 inches) and three trout (largest 26 inches). We had a great time fishing and trading Bear Bryant stories. (Pictured below are Scott and two of his fish from the trip.)
When the times are a changing, it is time for the locations and tactics of the anglers to be a changing too. Cooler, deeper water is starting to become more important and slower, stealthier approaches are more productive. In addition to our year-round favorites of redfish and trout, we are spotting and targeting more snook and tarpon, the boys of summer. All in all, we welcome the change. Afterall, anytime is a great time to be a fisherman.
There is some controversy among serious guides concerning the relative merits of participating in fishing tournaments. Some guides feel they put undue pressure on the fish population while doing damage to grass flats while others feel that those who oppose are simply jealous and afraid of the competition. Now without commenting on either argument, we are of the opinion that, if good conservation is practiced, they can be most beneficial. We feel the competition pushes us to new and sharper fishing skills, provides a great source of fun and fellowship with other anglers, and can be, at times, quite profitable. Frankly, we love tournaments and participate frequently at several different levels.
Our professional redfish team, consisting of Rocky Van Hoose and Peter Deeks, Jr. compete against world-class fields in the FLW Redfish Series and the IFA Redfish Tour (both are nationally televised circuits). In addition, they are regular monthly participants in the Titusville chapter of the Xtreme Redfish Series. This team should qualify for the championship classics of all three tours and you can follow their progress on a separate website www.nativesonsprofishing.com
The other Native Sons fishing team, consisting of Roland Jones and Don Patterson, compete in the Treasure Coast Flats Circuit and are doing quite well. In their most recent event, these two took first place redfish, first place trout and first place slam. They earned over $1500 for the day. Currently they are ranked in the top four in three different TCFC classifications. Their escapades can be followed at www.tcfcircuit.com
This past week three of the Native Son Guides were invited to participate in the annual Bradco Roofing Supply corporate tournament hosted by Harry Goodes Outdoor Store in Melbourne. There were 30 of the best local guides, each paired with two Bradco folks for the half day event. All the teams with Native Sons guides did well but the one captained by Rocky Van Hoose, Dale and Matt from Daytona Beach, did outstanding, winning three of the six different classifications including longest redfish (33 inches) and longest trout (29 inches). Along with great memories and bragging rights for the year, these two Bradco customers drove back to Daytona Beach with over $1,200 of prize money.
In conclusion, let us encourage you to consider participating in the local open inshore tournaments. It is a great way to hone skills and meet a good bunch of fellow anglers. Many of the local events are relatively inexpensive to enter and donate much of the proceeds to charity. Many have both adult and children/youth divisions and most allow participants to hire guides (hint, hint, we love to be a part of them). Think about it; a great day of fishing, sharpened skills, good fellowship with fellow fishermen and maybe, just maybe, a little extra profit as well.
We have been dogged by consistently strong east winds for the past month or so and have been queried by a number of clients, and potential clients, as to the effects of inclement weather on the enjoyment of the fishing trips. Obviously, if the weather is hazardous to health – such as thunderstorms, lightning, hail, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes or locust plagues – we do not venture forth. But we can often make great memories (with great fishing) in windy conditions by strategically choosing sheltered launch ramps and fishing locations among the many spoil and barrier islands in our area. Several recent trips prove our point.
Yesterday we had strong eastern winds (15-20 mph with gusts to 25 mph) and I had the pleasure to fish with Malcolm Smith of Reading, Pennsylvania. This was a ‘seasoned’ angler who swore that a little bump in transition (boat ride from spot to spot) would be fine. We launched at Kelly Park in Merritt Island (45 miles east of Orlando) and headed to the ‘western wall’ of the Thousand Island area of Cocoa Beach (Banana River). Two fine trout greeted us in the first 15 minutes of fishing (the largest was 28 inches and weighed seven pounds). We shifted locations across the river to a good eastern wind spot and picked up our first redfish (26 inches) and a number of other mid-20 inch trout. After the action slowed, we shifted again to another eastern wind spot and picked up an additional seven redfish and a few more trout over the next hour. The action was intense as we had a number of ‘double’ hook-ups testing the skill of the crew. Our totals for the day were eight reds and over a dozen trout (lost count) and one great day of fishing … despite the wind.
Another prime example was our day in Grant (65 miles southeast of Orlando) last week with the ‘Young Guns’ from Melbourne, Fl – Steve Young and his two sons Austin and Chase. Again the winds were howling but Capt. Roland’s 22 ft. Pathfinder neutralized its effects. We are not sure of the exact fish count for the day once again but eight redfish, twelve trout, and a snook would be a pretty fair guessimate (identical totals to the story above).
Both of the younger of the ‘Young Guns’ had great catches. Austin, age 15, caught his first inshore slam and we’ve included a picture of him holding a one of his trouts, a fat 28 inch fish, and one picture of his snook and his brother … uh, the snook is the one in the photo with the dark line down its side. Austin also caught a half-crazed bluefish, but we won’t embarass him by mentioning it further. (see below for photos)
Chase Young, age 10, had a ball catching redfish and trout and we’ve included a picture of him holding a redfish. Interestingly enough, if you would have asked these guys whether or not they noticed the weather, I think you would have merely gotten a puzzled glance as if to say, ‘What weather?’
