Inshore fishing remains red hot along the central east coast of Florida as charter after charter are catching memory-making hauls. Capt. Rocky has been unable to branch out of the stretch of the Indian River near Titusville because of the giant reds while Capt. Peter is smoking the reds, snook, tarpon and trout in the Banana River near Cocoa Beach and the Indian River near Melbourne Beach. We have numerous individual feats to report this month so sit back, read on and be prepared to be amazed.

Scott, the 13 year son of Gary Martin, had been dreaming of this day for many weeks, a day chasing big redfish on the shallow grassflats of the Indian River.  He had been following the recent reports of monster reds through our website and through a stream of emails exchanges with Capt. Rocky. His ‘day’ finally arrived last Thursday. Scott did not have to wait long once the boat was stealthily poled into position and staked down. On the first cast, with the first bait, the slick, calm water erupted with the unmistakable explosion from a big red and barely fifteen minutes into the day, Scott landed a 34 inch, 17 lb redfish. It was just the beginning of an amazing day. Thirty minutes later both Scoot and Gary were posing with similar sized fish from a double hook-up, the first of two doubles on the day. By noon the count was approaching double figures with the bigger fish measuring 32, 33, 34, 36, 40 and 42 inches (Scott had caught the two biggest). Action slowed down and a change of position and strategy followed. Good move, real good move because the next redfish will never be forgotten. Pictured below is Scott holding a 48 inch, estimated 40 lb. monster red which, we suspect, will revisit him in his dreams about for a long, long time.

John and Joe Jachino recently had a stellar day out on the water with Capt. Peter.  The trip started out early in the morning inside of mangrove lined creeks along the Indian River sight-fishing tarpon and snook.  The anglers landed multiple tarpon and snook while jumping off many others.  They also had shots at many snook over 20 pounds that seemed to have “lock-jaw” that morning.

After fishing the creeks and canals, it was decided to make a long run to fish the schools of redfish and trout in the Banana River.  Casting into groups of feeding redfish provided fun for the rest of the day.  John and Joe landed around 12 redfish from 25 to 35 inches as well as some solid trout.    Congratulations John and Joe on your Grand Slam!

 

After spending the last eight months in grad school in West Lafayette Indiana, Natalie van Hoose, a native of Cocoa Beach, was anxious to return to home for some restful days of relaxation which would include a fishing trip with her dad. She picked a rare day fishing in early June when the afternoon thundershowers arrived in the morning forcing the fishing to be postponed until the afternoon. It turned out to be a great thing for Nat, aka ‘the Champ’, because the redfish held off feeding until the clouds cleared and the waters calmed. Pictured below is Natalie holding one of the several big reds caught on the day. This fish measure 45 inches and weighed an estimated 30 pounds.

 

Allan and Anna spend two half on the water with Capt. Peter on their annual vacation to Florida.  The first day was spent fishing for redfish and trout in the Banana River Lagoon.  Fishing the grass flats near Cocoa Beach, the duo caught a bunch of redfish up to 33 inches and some nice trout for dinner.

On the second morning, the goal was to change things up by fishing deep into mangrove creeks and islands in search of snook and tarpon.  Sight-fishing the many schools of snook and laid up tarpon was a ton of fun for everyone – the fish were very cooperative and gave some incredible acrobatic fights.  Along with the snook and tarpon, the anglers caught some giant gar and redfish.  Once Allan and Anna had their fun with the tarpon and snook it was time to fish for some food.  Capt. Peter anchored over a pile of submerged rocks and the anglers caught close to a limit of 12 – 15 inch mangrove snapper for the grill.

 

Richard Fuller of Merritt Island and his good friend from Nashville, TN, Allan, along with Allan’s oldest daughter Kassandra, chartered Capt. Rocky last Saturday on the Indian River near Titusville. There were several wishes they had on this typical sunny Florida summer day including having Kassandra catch a redfish, having Allan catch a big, big redfish and being able to take home a bag of fresh trout fillets for an evening fish fry. The trio accomplished all three and had a great time doing so. Pictured below are Kassy and Allan with Kassy’s redfish 15 pound red, followed by all three anglers grouped around Allan’s 30 pounder.

 

The fishing near Cocoa Beach has been very good recently.  CR, Melvin, Dean, and Scott would agree with this after an afternoon of redfishing with Capt. Peter.  Many schools of redfish, varying in size, are up on the flats right now and actively feeding.  Only having a couple of hours to fish in between a work related convention in Orlando and some afternoon thunderstorms, these guys made the best of it and caught over 14 redfish up to 35 inches, a couple of nice trout, and a 40 pound stingray. 

Just about the time one thinks he has figured out the ways of a fish, it’ll change behavior patterns in order to confound the once over-confident angler. Such was the case on Thursday with Capt. Rocky as he guided the Mahaffeys of Atlanta (Todd, Todd, Jr. and friend Ford) on the Indian River near Titusville. Where there had been an abundance of super-aggressive redfish, big redfish, those turkeys suddenly went on a hunger strike and refused all offerings. The day started with great promise, two reds in the first thirty minutes and then went downhill. For hours, with tailing fish everywhere, the lock-jawed giants taunted the crew.  After frustration built to a high pitch, a careful search of cargo revealed source of our curse- a banana had been brought aboard. Okay, actually it was only Banana Boat Sunscreen but as soon as the bottle had been discarded the fishing turned red-hot. Over the final hour, the Mahaffey clan caught fish after fish including those pictured below. Warning to all would be wise anglers, do not tempt fishing fate by smuggling any kind of banana aboard your vessel!

 

 Matt Colello from Rockledge, recently relocated here from the northeast, wanted to learn to catch oversized redfish. Capt. Rocky guided Matt into the beautiful grassflats of the north Indian River lagoon in search of the bronzed giants last week and the big reds were more than willing take Matt to task. Pictured below is Matt holding several of his numerous teachers from the ‘charter school.’

Cocoa Beach businessmen Steve and Duane finally took a day off of work to do some fishing and relax on the water. However there would not be much relaxing on this day as Capt. Rocky guided the pair on the Banana River after redfish and trout. Finding slick calm conditions early, breeding trout went on a feeding frenzy and Steve and Duane boated over 25 gators before the winds began blow. This finally fired up the redfish and 6 of them found their way to the boat before the bait was exhausted. Pictured below is Duane with a monster trout and Steve holding a big redfish.