The monthly calendar may have changed but the red-hot redfish action has not. February started the same way January ended with a great day on the Indian River Lagoon chasing tailing redfish for the guests of Native Sons Fishing guides. The following are accounts of individual angling performances over the last week.
February began with a bang for Andrew and Rebecca Partridge from Dallas, TX who had a blast on their half-day charter with Capt. Rocky. This father and daughter duo enjoyed a gorgeous winter morning on the Indian River near Titusville, FL with temperatures touching the mid-70s, a far cry from the massive snow and ice storm ripping through their hometown. After some dolphin and manatee watching the pair proceeded to stalk tailing redfish on the flats. Rebecca caught first red on the first cast at the first stop in the first fifteen seconds of fishing. She then nailed a spotted trout with her second cast and hooked into another redfish on her third cast. Andrew eventually joined the fray with a fat upper slot redfish and a beautiful 24 inch trout on back to back casts. He also caught the last and the largest redfish, a 45 inch, 30 pound beast. What a way to spend a winter day!
Lee Harp from Wichita, KS and his Uncle Ken from Orlando helped draw the curtain yesterday on one the best months of redfishing in recent memory. The weather was absolutely perfect with balmy temperatures, slick, calm water and bright sunny skies. The redfish took advantage of the spring-like conditions and flooded the flats in search of food. They were served live finger mullet by the Harps and aggressively attached the baits. The final tally on the half-day charter reached doubled digits and featured a pair of double hook-ups of 20 pound plus fish. The largest fish of the day was caught by Lee and weighed nearly 30 pounds.
Fishing with Dr. Pat Holden and his son Dr. Carlos Holden was a real paradox, pardon the pun. The two docs caught the day after the arrival of our last cold front and were greeted by a low barometer and cool north breezes. This combined to make the fish a bit scare and a tad sluggish. Nevertheless, the Holdens were patient and nailed a couple of very impressive redfish including a monster caught by Carlos and an unbelievably beautiful, 59 spot specimen by Pat. We suspect both fish will be long remembered by the ‘pair of docs’.
John, Joe, and Jack fished the flats of the Banana River with Capt. Peter. The cooler temperatures had the fish seeking warmth. During the morning, the best fishing came from deeper creeks and canals. Once the sun warmed the flats, schools of redfish and black drum moved up on the shallows to feed. Sight-fishing a school of sunning redfish produced this beautiful fish for Joe.
