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.

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.