It has been a while since our last fishing reports were posted as vacations and moving college-age children have crowded our schedules. There have been, however, a number of terrific recent fishing recent which need to be broadcast across the worldwide web so let’s get started.

Scott Martin celebrated his twelfth birthday in grand fashion this weekend with a spectacular performance in the tenth annual SISA ‘Red Eye’ Inshore Classic. Competing along with his dad, Gary Martin of Satellite Beach, and Capt. Rocky, Scott caught redfish after redfish on his way to a third place finish in the adult division of the tournament. It was one of those golden days where everything went perfect on the water. Launching just before dawn Team martin positioned themselves to fish a single school of upper and over-slot reds on the Banana River. Shortly after the sun rose the school of tailing reds began foraging along the grass flats. They were immediately introduced to live finger mullet bombing from the long casts of the three anglers. In the next two hours numerous fish were hooked and landed. There were three double hook-ups adding to the excitement of the extreme early morning adventure. Scott ended the fishing catching the last eight redfish in succession. Pictured below is Scott holding one of the bigger fish of the morning, a 15 pound red which waged a brutal war with the young fisherman. By the way, Team Martin also took second place adult red with a 7.25 pound fish and top junior angler honors.

Another great birthday fishing story comes from Capt. Roland. Taking a rare day off, Roland and a couple of his buddies ventured into the mouth of Sebastian Inlet recently in hunt of giant snook. The crystal clear waters of the incoming tide revealed where a good pod of snook were holding. Using live shiners netted from the shores of the inlet, Capt. Roland stalked, fought, caught and released the giant linesider pictured below. Another great birthday experience!

Todd Mahaffey and son Todd along with cousin A.J. from Louisiana joined Capt. Rocky for a day of fishing on the Banana River between Cocoa Beach and Merritt Island this past Wednesday. The weather was typical for summer with clear skies and glass-like water early giving way to increasing cloudiness, a threat of showers and a solid east wind in the afternoon. The charter began by chasing tarpon crashing schools of glass minnows along the deeper drop-offs of the grass flats. We were able to jump one ‘poon before they tired of our company. Numerous gafftopsail cats were hooked and boated during this initial phase of our trip. Turning our attention to redfish and trout we invaded the shallow grass flats mid-morning. Ten year old A.J. was the first to score with an enormous 42 inch beast which gave him quite an epic tussle. His ten year cousin Todd was not to be out-done though as he hooked and boated the next several reds along with a trout whose eyes were ‘bigger than his stomach.’ The Mahaffey clan had a grand time and took home two bags of redfish and trout fillets, one which went straight to Grills at the Port to be enjoyed later that evening. Pictured below are A.J. with his monster and Todd with the fattest 27 inch redfish seen in quite some time.

Alex, visiting from California, joined Capt. Rocky for a rare afternoon charter last Wednesday. Despite the strong southeastern breezes, there were several stretches of the Banana River between Merritt Island and Cocoa Beach assessable and fishable. Pictured below is Alex with his largest redfish on the day, a dandy 25 pound monster which fell for a four inch finger mullet.

The Keeling Family, Robert, Angel, Alexis and Seth, joined Capt. Rocky for a recent half day charter on the Banana River near Cocoa Beach. Launching just after daybreak, the full boat of anglers headed to a wide stretch of the BR just north of Pineda Causeway where massive schools of glass minnows have been holding. Feeding on the tiny bait fish were tarpon, trout, ladyfish and gaft-top sail-cats. The two hours of frenzied action turned the water surface into a sci-fi looking scene of multiple explosions as the glass minnows and the poggies being used for bait scattered for their lives. So many fish were caught during this timeframe it was impossible to keep count as there were many times were two and three fish were being fought simultaneously. Unfortunately, the action was so intense that we were not able snap any photos but for the Keelings the memories of that morning are firmly etched in their memories.

John Hughes from Orlando and his brother Gordon from Georgia fished with Capt. Rocky on a on the Banana River between Cocoa Beach and Merritt Island last Monday. Launching from Kelly Park the trio headed for the clear shallow waters known as Pineda Flats. Using a variety of live baits – poggies, mullet, croakers and small ladyfish – the bite was slow until late morning. However, once the fish turned on, they really turned on. Pictured below are John and Gordon with a double catch, one of several during the trip.

Natalie Van Hoose, daughter of Capt. Rocky, wanted introduce two of her international students, Edu from Saudi Arabia and Jin from South Korea, to authentic Florida experiences. She convinced her dad to take them on a fishing adventure on pristine waters of the Grant/Sebastian area. Edu and Jin were treated to a full experience on their half day charter which included manatees of the close kind, a too close encounter with a bull shark and playful dolphins. They also hooked numerous fish including a giant redfish and huge gator trout hilariously lost at the side of the boat. Among the many woos and awes where plenty of laughs and memories.

(Accounts and Photos from recent charters with Capt. Peter will be added to this report shortly.)