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.