January can offer some of the best redfish action of the year. Between the arrival of cold fronts, typically every five days or so, the temperatures climb and the winds subside sending hordes of ravenous reds onto the shallow grass flats to forge for food. Since food on the flats is significantly scarcer during the winter months, our redfish will aggressively attack most bait with abandon. This leads to big numbers of big fish on our charters. The only catch, pardon the pun, is timing the cold fronts. The following is a sampling of January charters.
David and his son, Christian, recently had a fun fishing trip with Capt. Peter in the Indian River near Titusville. During this trip the anglers were able to experience some great wintertime fishing, both back in mangrove creeks and up on the shallow flats. The anglers started the morning off fishing back behind mangrove islands inside deeper creeks. In these creeks, David and Christian caught at least 15 trout up to 23inches, redfish, and black drum. Once the sun warmed the water a bit, it was sightfishing time. Both David and Christian were able to land some good redfish by sight-casting to them. One of the highlights of the trip was as David was pulling big “bull-red” from a school, Christian hooked up with a red from a different school that was passing by – as seen in the photo, the double was sized just right!
‘This is a big fish! This is a big fish! This is a big fish!” It was all Jim from Delaware could yell as his drag smoked and rod arched over underneath the power of a giant redfish screaming across the shallow grass flats. Jim along with his new fishing buddy Al Iodice of New Hampshire had already fought and boated over a dozen big redfish on the spectacular morning of fishing in the Indian River Lagoon near Titusville, Florida, most weighing between 10 and 15 pounds. However, the beast now being battled was an all-together different class of ‘big’. Before the sudden chaos could completely grip the situation, Capt. Rocky Van Hoose quickly released the hydraulic Power Pole, grabbed his graphic push pole, manned the poling platform and began chasing down the big red beast. Thirty minutes later, after thirty more shouts by Jim and thirty laps spun around the flats boat by Al with landing net in hand and thirty minutes of hard pushing by the captain while interspersing blurbs of instructions and bursts laughter, the 30 pound, big bronzed beauty was finally aboard. Afterwards, with arms aching, an adrenalin-drained Jim could be heard muttering, “That was a big fish.” (Pictured below are Jim and Al smiling broadly with one really ‘big fish’.)
William Willard escaped the Maryland cold, to enjoy some Florida sun and sightfishing with Capt. Peter. Most of the trip was spent casting to schools of tailing redfish. William was able to experience redfishing at its finest, landing close to a dozen reds. William was also able to experience some good trout fishing during the day back inside mangrove creeks and islands. Casting live shrimp to schooling trout is always a blast.
“The Jacuzzi will feel mighty good tonight,” said Dave Caplan, Jr. from Merritt Island after a day of battling hard-charging redfish. Fishing with his dad, Dave, Sr. from the Baltimore area, the Caplan boys had a blast with Capt. Rocky as they fished the clear, shallow waters of the Indian River Lagoon in Titusville, Florida. The action was nearly continuous throughout the morning as hungry reds invaded the grass flats to forage before the arrival of yet another cold front. The Caplans caught 12-15 redfish and one super-aggressive trout. The biggest red weighed about 20 pound while the others were not much smaller. Junior had good reason for achy muscles. And, fortunately, there was a warm Jacuzzi waiting for him when he got home.
Good friend Bobby Clayton had his new son-in-law Patrick in town over the holidays and wanted to introduce him to the joys of fishing. Now Patrick had done little if any fishing in his life and certainly not tangled with anything like the bronzed brutes of the flats known as the redfish. Fishing on a weather-perfect Saturday, the Clayton clan opted for a late morning, gentlemanly-like launch from Kennedy Point Park in Titusville. Unfortunately, nearly every local fisherman had similar thoughts towards spending the holiday and made it to the lush fishing grounds much earlier. Despite the chaotic conditions left in the wake of the Titusville armada, Patrick was, in fact, baptized by fire into the angling fraternity. Pictured below are Patrick and his very first fish … what a way to be introduced to fishing.
Fishing along the central east coast of Florida has been fantastic, when the weather has allowed us to venture forth. It seems that for every good day weather-wise we’ll have a bad day, a day when the temperatures are historically low and the winds are more fitting for the North Pole. In other words, out of twelve days, we’re fortunate to have six which are fishable. Nevertheless, when we have been able to fish the inshore reaches of the Indian River lagoon system, it has been very, very good. Here are reports from the six good days of fishing before Christmas.
The Gotkowski family fished a gorgeous late December day with Capt. Roland in the north Indian River near Titusville, Florida. The native Chicagoans were here to drink in the sun and warmth while seeing the sights. After doing some bird and dolphin watching the trio was ready for some fishing. The redfish started moving into the shallows to feed just before noon and the Gotkowskis were waiting to greet them. A double hook-up was scored by mom and dad right off the bat with both fish well over the slot limit and nearing 20 pounds. Twelve year old Michael Gotkowski, who just had hand surgery and only had the use of one hand, was the next to hook up. He worked the reel, mom worked the rod and dad keeled over laughing. It had to be one of the funniest displays of fishing I have ever seen. After a long battle the biggest fish of the day was finally landed, photographed and released. The fish weighed approximately 25 lbs. Afterwards Bob commented, “This experience was just like the fishing shows we’ve watched on TV, except our fish were bigger.”
The day started poorly for Capt. Rocky. Arriving at the ramp predawn for his routine cast netting duties, Rocky discovered his new Yamaha engine would not start. A paniced call to Capt. Peter, trying to take a much coveted day off, solved the problem as he and his boat were pressed into emergency service. Clients for the charter were Titusville residents Dave and his son Max. Since the early morning was quite chilly, the fishing began in a deep water canal connected to the Indian River Lagoon. The canal was packed with trout trying to stay warm in the unseasonably cold weather. Over the next two hours Dave and Max exhausted our two dozen large live shrimp along with another two dozen frozen shrimp which is normally kept in reserve. They pulled in well over 20 trout from 15 to 24 inches along with two rat reds and one nice black drum. By mid-morning the water on the flats had warmed to the point where larger redfish, trout and drum could forage for food. Eventually their tails could be spotted everywhere on the super slick water. Switching baits to live finger mullet, the father and son duo went on to add another half dozen solid reds to their totals – final tally was 25 trout, 8 reds and 1 black drum, not bad for a half-day charter, especially one which had started so problematically.
Fishing the tightly packed schools of redfish in the crystal clear water is always a wonderful experience. These conditions happen regularly on the warming trends post-cold fronts. Capt. Peter had one of these beautiful days last week was with C.R. and Gidget Hall, and Gidget’s parents, Mike and Susan on the Indian River Lagoon. The morning started off fishing for trout and black drum in deeper holes along mangroves. These deeper areas are where most fish seek warmth during the colder days. Casting live shrimp along the mangroves, the anglers caught 30 trout up to 22 inches, black drum, and redfish. Once the sun warmed the flats, Capt. Peter moved out to the shallow flats and polled after schools of redfish. The redfish schools were tightly packed and tailing heavily as they fed through the grass beds, with some of the schools in excess of 50 fish. These schools of redfish provided great sight-fishing and were very cooperative. Accurate casts by the anglers awarded them with over a 12 redfish landed with multiple double hook-ups, and some really awesome takes.
It was the best of times and the worst of times for two good friends. Robert, who is home on leave from the Air Force, and Josh originally wanted a fun day of redfishing with Capt. Roland. However Robert, who found out on the morning of the trip that the surf was up, changed his plans. It turned out to be a bad decision as he experienced what could have been fatal accident by getting sucked under the Sebastian Inlet jetty. On the hand, Josh, who stuck with the plan, was happy he chose to fish. Now the fishing started very slow with a howling north wind and cold temperatures which were not rising very fast. However by one thirty in the afternoon the water had warmed and so did the fishing as redfish tails started popping up. Josh was quick to take advantage of them. Over the next hour he boated five reds from 10 to 20 lbs. And Robert? He was left just shaking his head and dressing his wounds. Literally.
The Grawel family chartered with Capt. Roland on a cool blustery day for some canal fishing. The fishing was very slow early in the morning but with constant moving they finally found the honey hole where fish had stacked-up to keep warm. For the next two hours the bites were constant with a mixed bag of species. Redfish, black drum, sheepshead, and trout all made their way boat side. They also lost a hand full of larger fish that made it back into the stumps before the Grawels could pry them out. The family left with the comments” We’ll be back”.
Regular customer Mike Rimkus and his boys from Denver spent Christmas Eve day on a half- day fishing charter with Capt. Roland. The trip had been scheduled the trip for mid morning to allow the water to warm in the shallows and by the time the Rimkuses got there it was just right. Tailing fish were spotted immediately and the game was on. However, unfortunately for them a bass boat was tearing up the area with his trolling motor scattering the fish out of the area. (This is not a good tactic if you want to actually CATCH fish.) The fortunate part of the trip was after 30 minutes Mr. Bass Boat gave up and left. This allowed the fish to settle down and after another 30 minutes, the catching started. All the boys caught reds and Josh, the oldest making his first trip here, landed the biggest of the day measuring just over 34 inches.
It has been a while since we’ve posted a new fishing report and this has not been due to any lack of activity or success on the water. The following charters have taken place since Thanksgiving, between the arrivals and departures of our typical Florida cold fronts which cycle through the region every five or six days. The only oddity to this late fall/early winter has been the severity of low temperatures this early into our cold season. There have been some downright cold days, the likes of which we haven’t experienced in early December in a long, long time. However, when the fronts exit and the days warm the fishing has been red hot as our fish invade the flats to feed and add fat for the next cycle of cold days which lay ahead.
The warming weather trends that follow the cold fronts have been offering some fantastic shallow water fishing. As the shallow waters warm, large redfish, trout, and black drum swarm the flats in search of food and warmth. Once the waters reach a certain temperature the fish become increasingly active which offers great sight-fishing. On one of these sunny days, Jonah Compton spent the day sight-fishing with Capt. Peter in the Indian River near Titusville. Standing on the casting platform while Capt. Peter polled the boat quietly through the grassbeds, Jonah gently casted live shrimp in front of school after school of hungry redfish and tailing black drum. The fish were continually tailing and feeding throughout the day. Six redfish and six black drum were successfully sight-fished and landed, with a couple very big boys getting off near the boat. There’s nothing more fun than watching a couple dozen near fifty inch redfish tail and feed around your bait.
It was an atypical day weather-wise for Nate White from Daytona Beach and his good friend Mike Foots of Orlando along with his father Roger from New York this past weekend as they chartered Capt, Rocky on the Indian River near Titusville. What made the day so unusual was a rare thick fog which hung over the river for most of the morning creating a surreal backdrop for the expected half-day of sight-fishing hordes of tailing redfish and black drum on the shallow grass flats. Perhaps it was the fog or maybe the chilly morning temperatures but the fish did were disinclined to stick their tails out of the water much nor venture out of the 12-18 inch shallows where they were holding while awaiting the delayed sunshine. However, the crew, on this day, adapted to the conditions and jumped out of the boat in order to wade back to the spooky fish. And they were amply rewarded for their courage as each of them caught multiple reds amidst the close encounter experience. We are not sure of the final tally but feel 12-15 reds would be a safe guess with several in the slot and most over-sized. By the way, it really is an adrenaline rush to have a 15 pound redfish blast a finger mullet some twenty feet in front of you in mere 12 inches of water. Pictured below are Nate, Roger and Mike holding one of their numerous grand memories of the day.
Nick, Jill, and their son Dylan from Michigan came to download and escape the snow by exploring central Florida. After doing the crowds of Disney World in Orlando, they were ready for some quiet time while relaxing on the water with Capt. Roland. Unfortunately for them their fishing charter was anything but quiet and relaxing. The morning started out cold but quickly warmed up. With perfect conditions, the shallow grass flats of the north Indian River were filled with redfish tails. The captain quickly positioned them near the closest school of feeding fish and started fishing The reds were big and aggressive.. Ten redfish were landed on the half-day charter between 13 and 20 lbs. The trio commented afterwards that this will be the highlight of their Florida trip.
Another report from Capt. Peter this week comes from a trip he had with Vitali and his friend both visiting from Canada. Fishing the same general area in the north part of the Indian River Lagoon, the two vacationers experienced some of the Space Coast’s finest fishing. All morning long there were schools of redfish and black drum tailing across the shallow grassflats, with many single fish scattered in between. The day started out fantastic as the anglers had a school of monster redfish 20 feet in front of the boat and tailing heavily within minutes of coming off of a plane. Within the first half hour of fishing both of the anglers sight-fishing redfish over 40 inches, with Vitali’s reaching 50 inches. The rest of the day was spent casting to fish after fish.
One of our great joys during the Christmas holidays is our grown children return to east central Florida for visits. Natalie van Hoose, our eldest daughter who is teaching and attending graduate school at Purdue University, left the snow and grey skies of northern Indiana, to return home this past week. Now Natalie is an avid fisherman with considerable accomplishments on the water and yesterday added to her angling feats as she caught a number of giant redfish which were cruising the shallow flats on a glorious December morning of blue bird skies, modest temperatures and slick, calm seas. Two feats were particularly noteworthy on a day filled with noteworthy things; Natalie scored a pair of double hook-ups and catches involving 20-25 pound reds. What an all-round joyous day yesterday turned out to be!
Thanksgiving weekend could not have started any better for good friends Allan Brady and Richard Fuller as they were blessed with a near perfect day on the water. The late fall weather featured bright blue skies, mild temperatures and calm winds. And the fish fed voraciously on any live finger mullet offered. Guided by Capt. Rocky, they lost count of the fish caught on the half-day charter but a conservative estimate would be eight reds, two in the upper slot and six well over-sized, and ten trout, all in the 18 to 24 inch range. In addition to those boated, there were a number of other big fish fought and lost during the four hour feeding frenzy including one 20 plus pounder which came unbuttoned just before being netted. Indeed, it was a near perfect day of fishing which gave these buddies another good reason for which to be thankful this weekend.
Fishing on the day a front pushes through this area can be a challenge, especially if the steady decline in the barometer and temperatures are accompanied by heavy overcast skies and occasional drizzles. Such were the conditions presented to David Gehrke from Denver, his son Kevin and father-in-law Hans the day after Thanksgiving. Guided by Capt. Rocky on a stretch of the Indian River between Vero Beach and Ft. Pierce, the trio started their charter by wade fishing from the shores of a small spoil island where three hunger snook exploded on baits within the first ten minutes. After several other hits, and one caught gator trout, during the insuring hour, the party began changing tactics and venues in search of snook willing to cooperate. The final totals for the charter included ten or so trout, several ladyfish, jack and bluefish but the snook, as occasionally happens, remained elusive. However, it was a great day despite the weather and inhospitable snookers.
Luis and Libby from Bethesda, Maryland, in the area for a business conference, decided the weather was too nice to spend all day listening to presentations and opted to charter Capt. Rocky for a half day charter instead. Fishing the Indian River out of Titusville the duo had the good fortune of a pre-winter feeding frenzy by large gator trout but the bad fortune of catching the redfish in a rare, new moon, lock-jaw mode. Despite having redfish waking, tailing and holding around the boat all day, and offering them a smorgasbord of live and cut mullet, fresh ladyfish strips and jumbo live shrimp, only two had the good graces to dine with their out-of-town guests. However, the trout absolutely lit up the flats in huge numbers as Luis and Libby boated at least 25, all 20 inches or longer. One other interesting aspect to the eight hour adventure was the time spent sight-fishing a wad of large black drum which have recently invaded the shallow water grass flats. Pictured below are Luis holding a 10 pound red and Libby holding one of many five pound plus trout caught on the day.
Karen Kleinschmidt, originally from Merritt Island, and two close friends from Woodstock, Georgia, Bobby and Becky Harris, recently joined Capt. Rocky for an afternoon of watching the Canaveral Airshow and fishing on the Banana River. The Blue Angels put on quite a performance over Cocoa Beach and the adjacent river while providing some spectacular sights for those watching from the unique vantage point of a boat. And after the show some of our areas finest redfish and trout did likewise. Pictured below are Karen and one of her two reds followed by Bobby holding the largest trout of the dozen or so caught on the day.
Gorgeous orange and yellow colors danced in eastern sky and a slick calm reached out to greet Jonathon Dodd of Merritt Island as he and Capt. Rocky launched from Kennedy Point Park in Titusville for a recent morning of fishing on the Indian River Lagoon. Jonathon caught his first redfish shortly after staking down in an expanse of swallow grass flats and islands dotting the eastern shoreline of the river. And redfish two, three, four and so forth soon followed. He also caught a number of spotted sea trout during the day, taking a couple home for a fine fish fry later that evening. Pictured below is Jonathon with his very first redfish.
Fishing in the backwaters of the Indian River Lagoon system from Titusville to Ft. Pierce has returned to classic fall patterns. We begin dodging cold fronts with drops in temperatures and stiff winds as the weather approaches and bask in the Indian summer-like conditions between. The fish respond to the cooler temperatures and begin to feed more actively in order to add the body fat necessary to carry them through the leaner winter months. In short, it is a great time to fishing our local waters so long as the weather permits.
Earlier this week, Paul Tully of Cocoa beach joined Capt. Rocky for a half-day charter on the Indian River Lagoon near Titusville, Florida. Fishing migrating schools of mullet on the shallow grass flats adjacent to NASA property, Paul’s former employer, the backdrop for natural Florida fishing could not have been more spectacular. It was fish after fish after fish throughout the morning. Admittedly the precise tally was lost due to the constant action but we estimate Paul boated 10 reds, 20 large trout and one locationally-challenge barracuda. Among the pictures posted below is Paul with the biggest redfish of the day, a 35 pound beast wrestled from a school of giant reds and black drum tailing their way down the shoreline.
While on their vacation from Canada, Steve and Rob, spent an entire day of fun with Capt. Peter. After a morning of airboating and looking for alligators and other wildlife in the St. Johns River marsh in Capt. Peter’s airboat, the duo decided to finish off the day with an afternoon fishing trip. With only a couple of hours to fish, they quickly dropped the airboat off and picked up the flats boat on the way to the Banana River. Fishing back into the 1,000 islands near Cocoa Beach, Steve and Rob didn’t have to wait long between bites. The anglers quickly pulled a couple of redfish out of each school before moving on to another school. Nine redfish were brought into the boat for a quick photo and release before calling it a day. Pictured are Steve and Rob showing off two of their fish. Another day in Paradise!
Roy, Reid and Rick spent a day fishing with Capt. Peter in the Banana River. The goal for the day was to target only the big fish for good photos. Due to the windy conditions Capt. Peter fished grass flats and sandbars in areas sheltered from the wind. The large redfish were thick in these areas and were actively feeding in the current that the wind was driving over the sandbars and flats. Being experienced anglers, Roy, Reid and Rick, kept the noise down while landing their fish which allowed them to quickly put a hook into another big redfish after releasing one. The trio had steady action throughout the trip and landed 15 redfish and a 28 inch gator trout. Roy, Reid, and Rick show off some of their many golden fish including a nice double.
Mike, Josh, Randy, and Mark from Sacramento, CA were in town for business and decided to take a half day fishing trip with Capt. Roland before flying out. The decision turned out to be a great idea. After catching some trout and catfish early they moved to chasing the reds and black drum that have been schooling on the flats during mid day. After finding the schools they hooked and landed this nice 20 lb black drum from the school of approx. 60 fish. They then shifted to the reds which were there in big numbers also. These were much more nervous than the blacks and did not allow many shots, but they boys had a great time chasing and stalking them.
New York Yankees, Tim, Jenn and son Tyler, crewed a recent afternoon charter with Capt. Rocky Van Hoose aboard the ‘Flat Broke’. Despite a sluggish bite, probably due to the fall full moon, the trio boated five redfish and 12 trout along the picturesque shoreline of the Indian River Lagoon near Titusville, Florida. While leaving the shallow flats at sunset, a massive school of huge reds and black drum was spotted waking and finning in deeper water. And even though none of them were hooked, the mere spectacle of these monsters left an indelible impression on the threesome. Pictured below are Jenn and Ty holding a pair of bronzed trophies.
Stephanie Turner has been out with Capt. Roland two other times with her boys, Hayden 7 years old and Carson 5 yrs old. She has always been the good mother and let the boys catch all the fish. This time mama said” I want to catch some fish.” When the school of giant redfish started tailing 200 yards from the boat Stephanie told the boys to sit down and she went to work. This 38 inch redfish fought fro 20 minutes on light tackle before posing for a few pictures and a quick release. She later said it was the biggest fish she had ever caught. Good job Stephanie.
Jason and Gary Pardini, bass tournament anglers from California, joined Capt. Peter for a full day of chasing redfish around the Banana River Lagoon. The weather was less than perfect with 15mph winds and constant rain, but that didn’t keep the Pardini boys from enjoying their trip. By hiding from the wind behind mangrove islands, Capt. Peter was able to poll his boat into calmer waters and position the anglers close to the fish. Casting artificials around submerged rock piles and grass beds produced some nice redfish and trout in the morning before the wind really picked up. Once the wind started howling, live and cut mullet became the key to success throughout the rest of the day. The two anglers landed 12 redfish and 5 trout and had good time fishing – rain and all. Gary and Jason show off two of their redfish.
Old friends, Pastor Richard Fuller of Orlando and Capt. Rocky Van Hoose, recently took a morning off to do a little fishing and fellowshipping on the Indian River near Titusville. A spectacular orange full moonset immediately proceeded a gorgeous sunrise which slowly gave way to an ideal fall morning with comfortable temperatures, bright blue skies and slick calm seas. Perhaps the fish gave pause to enjoy the glorious early morning too as the bite started slowly. However, as soon as the sun reach high, the redfish and trout began to wake, tail and fin as they forged for food. And several found Richard’s offering and were greeted with a face-to-face introduction before being returned to the sanctuary of shallow grass flats along the shoreline of the lagoon. Pictured below is the Pastor laying his hands on one of new friends.
The “Fall Mullet Run” is here! Trout, redfish, and snook are now actively feeding throughout the day as the Indian and Banana River Lagoons are becoming filled with migrating silver and striped mullet. These mullet are favorite food among gamefish. The migrating schools of mullet are easily to locate as they prefer to move across the surface of the water over shallow grassflats, and fin and splash along their way. It is not uncommon to see an acre of tightly packed mullet nervously swarm certain areas as game-fish pick them off.
Jim and Jake Lusk from Virginia on a recent Orlando vacation with family chartered Capt. Rocky for a three quarter day fishing adventure in the north Indian River Lagoon near Titusville. The weather was absolutely picture postcard perfect with blue skies, mild temperatures and calm seas. Using a variety of fishing techniques including wade-fishing, sight-fishing and fly-fishing, the skilled father and son duo caught and released six reds and seven trout. Pictured below are father Jim with his big red estimated at 30 pounds and a pair of photos of son Jake with two other bronzed beauties.
Darren and Toby Scoles, a father and son from Colorado, experienced the mullet first hand with Capt. Peter. It was a beautiful day with a slight, cool breeze and cloudless sky. Being ice-fishermen, these guys knew how to be quiet and stealthy while fishing. This stealth allowed Capt. Peter to quietly poll his boat close to the fish, and stay on the fish all day. Capt. Peter kept the anglers near large schools of mullet, and fished both schooling redfish and scattered redfish and trout. Toby had the upper hand this trip landing most of the fish, with the joint efforts resulting in 9 redfish (most over 30 inches), and five solid trout. Pictured is Toby with one of his redfish.
Daniel Murphy from Orlando and his two fishing buddies from Woodstock, Georgia, Chad and Jason, aka ‘The Rookie,’ booked Capt. Rocky for a half-day charter last Friday on the Indian River Lagoon out of Kennedy Point Park in Titusville. These three fishing animals had spent the night rescuing Jason’s broken motorcycle from St. Augustine and, as a result, had little or no sleep upon arriving at the ramp. Unfortunately for them, the redfish and trout did not allow any time to doze on the water. Fishing in the morning was outstanding as the trio landed six reds and three trout in blustery conditions due to the approach of our first cold front or the fall. Pictured below are Daniel, Chad and the ‘Rook’.
Dave and Andy from Denver, Colorado chartered Capt. Roland for a half day fishing in the beautiful Banana River. They enjoyed constant action throughout the afternoon tallying 7 reds and 2 trout including this nice double.
The Bloomfields from Orlando, Larry, Karen and Sam, chartered Capt. Rocky recently for a fishing trip on the Indian River Lagoon near Titusville. River fishing was a new adventure for the trio of anglers and our shallow-water, finned friends did not disappoint them. Fishing the following day after the arrival of our first cold front of the season, the weather was absolutely, drop-dead gorgeous … and so was the fishing as the trio boated eight solid redfish and two fine trout on their half-day charter. Pictured below are the Bloomfields with broad smiles and big fish.
Capt. Peter guided CR, Gidget, and Jim to a nice day of trout and redfish fishing in the Banana River. Fishing near Cocoa Beach and the 1,000 islands, they fished schools of redfish and trout up on the shallow grassflats. Early in the morning, the redfish schools were actively tailing in the calm water near large schools of mullet. By casting live mullet at the tailing redfish, the anglers had steady action all morning long. When the water warmed, the fish went into their afternoon pattern, and the anglers keyed in on sandbars under two to three feet of water. Fishing these sandbars with live and cut mullet produced some really nice redfish and the largest trout. The final tally for the day was 12 beautiful redfish, and 5 trout up to 27 inches. Gidget shows off her biggest red of the day.
Mike Arbogast and son David from Melbourne spent the day in Cocoa Beach fishing with Capt. Roland. The weather was sunny but very windy most of the day. The duo caught ladyfish, jacks,trout, and redfish. The highlight of the trip was also a double hook up with these 2 reds. They commented afterwards it was the most reds they had ever caught in a single day.
James Kennell and his buddy, and fellow chiropractor, Chad, both from West Texas, took a few hours from their recent convention in Orlando to do a little shallow water fishing in the Indian River Lagoon with Capt. Rocky Van Hoose. Launching from Kennedy Point Park and heading east into the rising the two doctors were blessed by one of the better fishing days as the strong east winds which had been hammering the area for weeks finally abated. The high winds left the water rather muddy and churned which hampering sight-fishing but not the fish catching. Barely ten minutes into the fishing, Dr. Kennell hooked a monster redfish which quickly broke both line and heart. Ironically James hooked the broken line later in the day when returning to the same area to round out the charter. The Texas duo managed to hook and catch six fine reds on the day and we won’t mention of the ones that got away. Pictured below are the pair of docs with their respective trophies on the paradoxal day.
The first wave of the fall mullet run has pushed into the rivers and along the beaches of the space coast. This massive amount of baitfish starting to flood through the area has the redfish, tarpon, and trout feeding heavily. This action will continue for another month or so as the mullet continue to push through our area. The best and most reliable fishing has been for redfish up on the flats. In the early hours of the morning, live finger mullet has been working best. The redfish are more schooled up and are shallower as well during the first few hours of daylight. Once the sun warms the flats, the larger redfish have been dropping off the flats, and holding in deeper potholes. The fish in the potholes have been readily eating cut mullet or dark colored jerkbaits.
John and his son Joe joined Capt. Peter for a day of redfishing in the Banana River. They started the morning off chasing two schools of 30 to 35 inch redfish. Each of the schools had between 20-50 redfish, and were fairly easy to fish due to their constant tailing and actively feeding along the flat. Pictured is Joe with the first fish of the morning, that he sight casted within one of the schools.
Once the anglers had their fun sightfishing the tightly packed schools of redfish, fishing heavy concentrations of non-schooling fish in the deep water took up the rest of the morning. The anglers caught over 12 redfish and a solid trout during the trip with multiple double hookups. Pictured is one of the doubles.
Scott Martin of Satellite Beach, fresh off a spectacular performance in an inshore redfish tournament the week before, decided to test his angling skills in another tournament the following weekend. This was a catch, photo and release junior only tourney with prizes going to the longest fish, the most fish of any kind, and several other odd categories. Capt. Rocky took Scott back to the Banana River where he had had success with tarpon, a particularly long fish, and several other species. Scott was able to hooked six poons and land the one pictured the below. (This was his very first tarpon). He also caught seven trout, a giant ladyfish and a number of other fish for a grand total of thirty on the morning. Scott’s tarpon was easily the most spectacular catch for the tournament and he received several good prizes as a result. And his overall fish total finished second on the day.
The Lee family made the trip to Florida from California for fishing/alligator hunting with Capt. Peter. The primary goal of the fishing trip was to target shallow water redfish. By sightfishing in the clear water on the flats and fishing sandbars with live mullet, the anglers quickly landed seven redfish. The fishing only lasted for three hours so the Lee’s could get back to the resort for a quick nap before their alligator hunting trip that night. Most of the redfish were in the 33 inch range, with two making the slot limit. After 10am, the redfish moved up very shallow and were actively tailing and cruising. This has been the pattern as of late, with the fish being deeper earlier in the morning.
Kurt and Chris from Denver, CO were down working beachside in the Sebastian area and could help taking a day off to go fishing with Capt. Roland. The ocean had been exceptionally calm so they insisted on going just off shore for whatever was biting. It was a good decision as the Bonita have moved in to a few hundred yards of the beach and are more than willing to provide some great light tackle action. Bonita, little members of the tuna family, hit hard and can rip a 100 yards of line off the spool in a matter of seconds. The duo caught seven in a couple of hours of fishing along with three small sharks. The rest of the half day charter was spent ‘inside’ the Inlet and around the grass flats. Snook was the primary target but a couple of great tasting flounder turned up instead. Pictured below are Kurt and Chris holding ‘tiny’ tunas.
Curtis and Kim Landry of Indialantic had been watching the surf from their condo on the beach and wanted to do the same thing. So back at it again and the bonito did not disappoint them either. Both hook and landed some nice fish. The big surprise on this half-day charter was a nice triggerfish that decided to join the action.. It was another beautiful day on the water.
Bill Pesci fished with Capt. Peter for a couple of days in the Banana River. Bill recently moved to the central Florida area, and had a week to fish prior to going back to school. Trying to avoid the heat, Capt. Peter opted to fish from sunset till early evening one day, and early morning the next.
On the first trip, the anglers fished a shallow flat that the redfish move up on to feed later in the day. The anglers fished cut-bait, and intercepted the single redfish as they finned along and foraged through the grass as the sun setted. After landing a handful of redfish, Capt. Peter took the anglers to some select docks that have lights that shine into the water that attract redfish and trout at night. Bill and his father, Bill, had steady trout action for the rest of the night. The trout school up heavily under some lights during this time of year. Under some of the lights, you can see dozens of the spotted seatrout laying up on the surface, ready and willing to take live bait, artificial, or fly. Most of the trout are smaller (12-16 inches) but a handful of 20-24 inch trout are caught almost every trip.
On the second trip, the goal was to sightfish redfish all morning. The morning started off by fishing a school of 50 redfish in 12 inches of water, Bill scored this beautiful fish (pictured) out of the school. After playing with the school of redfish for a while, they moved to a flat where Capt. Peter push poled Bill along mangrove shorelines in very shallow water, 7’’, sight-casting to patrolling redfish.
With the rising water, the redfish along the shorelines and in the mangroves are feeding heavily, and will readily take a bait or artificial. Sight-casting to aggressive redfish in shallow water is a ton of fun!
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.)
Summer weather has firmly established itself along the Space and treasure Coasts out side of Orlando – calm, warm seas in the morning giving way to gentle easterly sea breezes and even warmer condition later in the day with the threat of daily thundershowers in the afternoons. Redfish feed shallow in the calm mornings and move off to the deeper drop-offs and potholes later in the day. And now that normal patterns have finally returned to the area, the fishing caught fire as well. We start our individual reports with a spectacular catch.
Some fellows are born great fisherman and other have the honor thrust upon them. We are not sure which applies to Larry Zimmerman from the Villages near Ocala, Florida but his feats on the water the last two years are becoming legendary. Celebrating his 49th anniversary, and staying on Cocoa Beach last week, Larry joined Capt. Rocky on the Banana River for some laid-back fishing. Redfish were the target de jour and they did not disappoint. While catching nine of bronzed beasts on the half day charter, a giant appeared to turn the day from really good to the stuff of which legends are made. Pictured below are Larry and an unbelievable 58 inch redfish. The monster took a four inch pogy in only two feet of water and spent the next hour and half towing Larry, the guide and 17 foot, 6 inch flats boat up and down the flats. Six times Capt. Rocky had to raise the PowerPole and chase the brute in order to keep enough line on the reels but in the end, it was Larry Zimmerman who emerged the victor thus securing his place among the greats in local fishing lore.
The second day of Larry’s two day charter package was also a titanic success. Changing venues from the Banana River near Cocoa Beach, Larry and Rocky headed for the clear grass flats of the Indian River near Titusville. This time using live and cut mullet, the action started almost immediately with another monster redfish. Instead of chasing the fish from the boat, this time Larry opted to wade after the fish in the shallows. Pictured below is Larry with another trophy redfish. After live releasing the first monster it took less than fifteen minutes for the next one to join the fray. This fish was able to strip the reel bare so quickly that no adjustment could be made. There were other redfish caught on the day along with several fine trout. The end of the half day charter was spent chasing and sight-fishing waking black drum along the grass flats.
The tarpon bite has slowed a little in the past week, mainly due to the lack of rain. However, Brent was able to bring a beautiful fish boat-side on a trip with Capt. Peter for a quick photo before release. Brent was invited on this fishing trip (his first saltwater excursion) by Bill Pesci, and the targets for the day were tarpon and snook. The anglers sight-fished schools of tarpon early in the morning, and were able to get bites on live mullet. When the tarpon bite slowed, Capt. Peter switched over to sight-fishing for snook under docks on the Indian River. Live pogies worked best on the snook, as they turned down everything else. Pictured is Brent with his first tarpon.
Due to the slow tarpon bite, Capt. Peter has been fishing schools of redfish in the Banana River. These schools are in shallow water and make for excellent sight-fishing. These schools of reds have been between 15 to 50 fish in number, and are ranging in size from 25” to 35”.
On Monday of the days this week, Capt. Peter had a trio of fishing fanatics from Georgia aboard his boat. The first couple of hours was spent sight-fishing some larger schools of reds. The anglers got to fish over eight different schools of redfish in the crystal clear water. At one point, there was three different schools within casting range around the boat. When the wind picked up a little and the schools of redfish laid down for the afternoon, Capt. Peter moved into some mangrove coves that produced good numbers of upper to over-slot redfish for the remainder of the trip. Pictured are Jeff and Jake’s double hitter and one of the nice upper slot fish.
Returning the scene of the crime only two days later, Capt. Rocky guided Kim from Titusville and Shawn, his son from Orlando on another half day redfish safari. Despite the overwhelming presence of the reds in the same waters several days before, for some reason, they had completely vacated the area. After searching in shallow, medium and deeper waters it became apparent that no redfish would be spotted on this charter. However, there were still trout and a dozen or more were caught on the day using live shrimp and large poggies cast-netted from several migrating schools in the area. Other fish caught included ladyfish, bluefish and gafftopsail catfish which had been following the poggy schools.
Mike and Devin Hinton from Ohio, along with her cousin Aaron Hubbard from Tampa, Florida spent a glorious day of fishing with Capt. Rocky in the Banana River last week. Launching from Ballard Park in Eau Galle, the foursome were making the long trek to the Cocoa Beach/Merritt Island areas when they spotted massive schools of glass minnows being trashed by birds and schools of predatory fish. Over the next hour, trout, ladyfish (later used for redfish as cut bait) and gafftopsail catfish came to boat one after another. Fearing the once ample supply of live poggies would be exhausted in the middle of the river, Capt. Rocky cranked the engine and headed for the shallows in search of redfish and trout. Devin scored first with a fine 26 inch trout (see picture) and Mike boated the first redfish which measured just over the slot. Several redfish and one miss on a huge redfish later the crew decided to concentrate on the bigger, memory-making monsters with the remaining baits. Good decision! Pictured below are Mike and Devin holding a heavy 42 inch brute requiring a group effort to subdue and cousin Aaron with his 41 inch beast which anchored the day … and what a wonderful day it was!
On another trip fishing the schools of redfish in the Banana River, Capt. Peter was joined by Bill Flack and his grandson, Andrew. The purpose of the trip was to fish many different flats and islands within the Banana, and experience the unique types of fishing and scenery. Bill and Andrew landed a sizeable trout and redfish, with most of the reds being over the slot limit. Pictured are Bill with his biggest red to date – a healthy 15lber – and Andrew with a nice over slot red.
Chuck and Mason Theurer recently fished two days with Capt. Peter – with one of the days being spent fishing in the FLFA Junior tournament. The tournament was Mason’s first fishing competition. With Mason on the bow of the boat the whole day, Capt. Peter pushed poled after schools of redfish for the most of the morning. Mason did a fantastic job casting to fish, and landed a handful of redfish…including the largest redfish in the tournament at 33 inches, and the second largest fish in the event. Mason also made some casts count, when schools of trout and ladyfish started crashing schools of glass minnows on the surface, where he quickly landed both species. Mason’s dad, Chuck, took video of most of the tournament, and caught some really awesome footage (the first cast to a tailing school of 50 redfish in 1 foot of clear, glassy water will get your heart pumping every time).
The second trip, was spent chasing schools of redfish early in the morning, and then fishing shallow water docks later on. The schools of reds were cooperative in the morning, with Capt. Peter fishing two schools (one school had a couple of dozen 26” fish, and the other school was much larger with at least 50 fish ranging from 25” – 35”). Both chuck and mason were on the bow this time, and they sight-fished the entire day. They left the schools to sigh-fish some shallow water docks near Cocoa Beach around 10am, and were able to entice a couple fat redfish into biting. The docks tend not to hold schooling fish, but singles here and there. This is a different style of fishing than that of chasing schools, but is equally as fun. Pictured are Mason posing with his biggest tournament redfish and Mason with a fish that came off of a dock.
