Jack Chamblin of Merritt Island has been on a mission ovewr the past year or so to introduce his sons and grandsons to the wonderful world of our local bull reds. And each of his grandsons have caught big, bragging-sized reds. This time it was Sean, his youngest son’s turn on the Banana River with Capt. Rocky. The charter started mid-morning amidst the calmest, slickest part of the day and the fish were super spooky in the bright sun and clear water. The scarce fish were extremely sluggish as if waiting for conditions to change before starting to feed. Then the sea breeze finally kicked-in and that’s when history was made as Jack hooked a huge redfish not more than a half mile from his own dock. The monster stripped line time and again and had to be ‘chased down’ repeatedly in order to put line back on the Shimano Sustain 4000 reel as the battle royal raged for nearly an hour testing the considerable skill of aged angler. As the beast was finally subdued and lying in the net, no one could believe their eyes – the redfish measured 53 inches and weighed 46.9 pounds. It has to be one of the largest redfish ever caught in the Banana River. Now when the Chamblin clan gathers to brag on tales of by-gone bulls, there is no doubt who will own ultimate bragging rights – the 80 year old patriarch, Jack, for a fish passing into angling lore!
Capt. Peter guided client Derek Szczepaniak to a pending world record snook this past week. Fishing the Vero Beach/Ft. Pierce stretch of the Indian River, Peter has been putting his clients on some monster snook for the past several weeks, but none bigger than the one Derek caught. The big linesider measured 98 centimeter, eclipsing the current IGFA ‘All Tackle Length’ world record by six centimeters. For a full account of the catch see the write-up in Florida Today @ the following link - http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20120401/SPORTS05/304010013/First-snook-might-world-record?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Sports|s&nclick_check=1
Fishing the Indian River Lagoon system during the winter months can be simply spectacular. In addition to our redfish and trout, we’ll welcome schools of huge black drum to the flats (see photos below). These monsters can weigh up to sixty pounds while forming tightly packed schools as they maraud the shallows foraging for food while spawning during the winter months. Black drum are usually sight-fished in the crystal clear cooler waters of the river. Our large ‘gator’ trout also spawn during the winter months and can be found in the shallowest, bright sandy sections of the flats in groups of two to six fish. These pods of trout are typically comprised of a larger female accompanied by several smaller males and range in size from 19 to 30 inches. They are super abundant during the winter too. The only downside to winter fishing is dodging the arrival of cold front and we’ll get five good fishing days along with two weather-issue days during a typical winter week.
This beautiful fall weather and great fishing is making for some fantastic days on the water! Schools of redfish and seatrout are schooling up on the flats throughout the area. Our clients have been catching some of the biggest trout that we have seen in a while, as well as steady action from redfish. Sightfishing and live-baiting with mullet has been a lot of fun as the waters are starting to clear up and the fish are actively feeding throughout the day.
The snook and trout fishing in Ft. Pierce is on fire right now. Capt. Peter has split his time over the last two weeks between the Banana River near Cocoa Beach and the Indian River in Ft. Pierce. The water in Vero Beach and Ft. Pierce is very clear and is providing great sightfishing. The early mornings are spent casting to tailing trout in redfish along the shallows or rolling tarpon in along the channel. Once it’s bright enough to see through the water its game on for sightfishing snook and trout! The big snook and trout are holding along sandbars and grassflats, and are eating baits well. Ten trout over 20 inches were caught in one morning in less than two hours with four of them going 27’’, 28’’, 29’’, and 30’’. Some of the snook caught have even gone over the 40’’ mark. There has also been good numbers of mangrove snapper and flounder near the Ft. Pierce Inlet. These fish have been providing quick action and good dinners.
Tony and Maria were invited on a fishing trip by CR Hall while visiting beautiful Florida. Little did they know it would be a trip that will be talked about for a lifetime! The morning started off fishing for the big “over-slot” bull redfish. Capt. Peter positioned the boat up on the grassflats where schools of redfish were feeding on the edge of sandbars. Casting big baits to big fish in shallow water never gets old – especially when they are as aggressive as they were on this trip. Sore muscles, full cameras, and CR’s passion for grilled redfish helped make the decision the finish off the day targeting keeper sized redfish and trout. After boating 14 redfish, some gator trout, and a nice mess of fish in the cooler they called it a day – and this is where the trip went from fun to memorable. . .
About two miles from Kiwanis Island Park, driving back to the boat ramp, everyone was watching as a seaplane took off across the rough water and eventually headed into the sky. As soon as it became airborne, all eyes came off the place except for CR – who gave a quick elbow to Peter after about 20 seconds after liftoff. Just then Peter looked to see the plane falling nose-first into the water which became a massive explosion of water and plane parts. Everyone emptied their pockets of cell phones and belongings as the boat raced to the crash site, visualizing a very bad scene and hoping for the best. Arriving on the scene, there were pieces of the plane floating about and a wrecked plane slowly sinking…just then a person popped up out of the water (the pilot – no passengers) and asked for a ride! With only a banged up knee, and some bruises he was plucked from the water and carried to shore where paramedics, firemen, and police officers were already there waiting. It was an amazing relief that the pilot was in such good shape!
View the final shuttle launch upfront and personal aboard one of our flats boats motored as close as possible to the launch pads.
July 8, 2011 – Launch Time – 11:40 AM
Mission: STS-135 to the International Space Station
Vehicle: Space shuttle Atlantis
Launch Complex: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center
Boast will leave the ramp at 8 am and fish the shallow flats of the Banana River for redfish and trout until it is time to reposition for the launch. Each boat will accommodate up to four people.
Rate for fishing and launch is $350 per boat. Soft drinks and water are provided along with all permits, licenses and fishing tackle and bait.
(If the launch is canceled before the day of the launch, we will still do the fishing trip and it will be a great adventure in and of itself. Rate will be the same).
Capt. Peter Deeks, Jr. and Capt. Robert Rohmann continued their assault upon central Florida inshore tournaments last weekend with an impressive performance at the 2011 Strikezone Central Florida Shootout. The duo took 1st place overall, 1st place redfish and 3rd place trout.
The tarpon have just shown up inside the Indian River Lagoon. Capt. Peter and Justin Stumpfhauser spent an afternoon sightfishing schools of them this past week. They were able to get five to eat, with Justin landing his first – Congrats Justin! The fish were not rolling much, but were holding near the surface in tightly packed schools. Most of these tarpon have been laying-up on the surface, and readily responding to a well placed bait. Fishing for these smaller fish (up to 50 pounds) is a ton of fun, and is done on calm waters in a peaceful atmosphere – unlike fishing in passes or off of the beaches.
Several schools of the giant redfish, 45 to 52 inches and weighing 30 to 40 lbs, have returned to the shallow flats for the summer and fall. Thus far we’ve caught at least one of these monsters on each of our most recent fishing charters including the one pictured below and being held by Doug and Ginna Edwards of Raleigh, North Carolina. For the record, Ginna was the angler who bested this beast which measured a true 48 inches and, with its enormous girth, weighed a guestimated 40 pounds.
