The sizzling summer fishing season has definitely arrived along the Central East Coast of Florida (near Orlando)as the temperatures are reaching the upper 80’s. However, believe it or not, more important to our fishing success than the warmer water temperatures is the summer wind pattern – westerly land breezes in the morning, calm conditions at noon and easterly sea breezes in the afternoon. You see, to an astute angler, the wind provides important clues to the location and activity of the fish. In other words, the wind can be your friend. A few cases in point …
On Wednesday, the Edwards Family from North Carolina joined us for a charter on the Banana River in Merritt Island (40 miles east of Orlando). Leaving the ramp mid-morning, we took our time to make sure we caught the right bait (the right type, size and color) and began fishing in the deeper water during the calm of the day. Several large trout (24 and 27 inches) which had been enjoying the cooler, calm deeper water joined us before we wore out our welcome. We decided to change venues in time for the advent of the afternoon sea breezes.
The action started slowly at the second spot with only two reds in the first hour or so but as the sea breezes accelerated, so did the feeding and it was almost non-stop for the last two hours. The final count for the half-day trip was 13 redfish to 32 inches and 3 spotted sea trout. (Pictured below are Ben Edwards with his big red and Ginna Edwards with one of the gator trout.)
Thursday found both Native Son captains fishing in Ft. Pierce (75 miles southeast of Orlando)with five members of the Cummins Family of Alexandria, VA (Mike the dad and his kids, Matt 17, Erin 13, and Daniel 12 along with nephew Troy 16). Arriving shortly after dawn, we stationed our crew on one of our favorite islands along the Indian River. The action was torrid early on with the west morning wind and an outgoing tide. We caught a number of nice snook and large trout and continued fishing until our bait supply was exhausted.
After cast netting another couple of dozen baits (not a quick or easy chore in the Ft. Pierce area), we decided to adjust our location to fish the start of the incoming tide and the mild eastern sea breezes. Once again the fish were willing. The final tally for the half-day trip was 6 snook to 31 inches, 8 trout to 25 inches, an enormous jack carvel, and one small Goliath grouper (several larger snook were live-released within several feet of the landing net.)
On Saturday Capt. Roland hosted Kim McCarthy and her dad, Bob, from Merritt Island/Cocoa Beach and fished the Melbourne area (55 miles southeast of Orlando) in the morning before making the long run to the Banana River in the afternoon. They had a ball catching five redfish to 30 inches and learning the subtleties of Indian River lagoon fishing. (Pictured below is Bob and one of his three redfish.)
Also on Saturday, Capt. Rocky took Lane Smith and his buddy Mike on an afternoon, half-day Banana River fishing trip (Merritt Island, 45 miles east of Orlando). After being quickly blown-off the first spot by four inconsiderate jet skiers, we made our way to a productive redfish ‘hole.’ Using the strong eastern wind we were able to stay a good distance from the fish and lob our baits a good country mile. The redfish, not detecting our presence, began to cooperate and five large bronzed beauties were landed in short order. Since we were wading and stayed at a distance using the wind to our advantage, the bite should have continued for some time. However, we once again encountered the inconsiderate. This time the culprits were three knuckleheads running the flats in an aluminum john boat. (They were well inside the Manatee restrictions.) The fish fled and the spot was spoiled.
We quietly left the area to the joy rider and traveled another five miles further south to a remote, semi-secluded location. After a careful stealthy approach, we once again found hungry fish and quickly caught a 30 inch redfish along with a rare Banana River snook. Unfortunately, our solitude did not last long. It was the same inconsiderate boater as before. This time not content just to run the flats, he yelled wildly, banged on his aluminum boat, spun circles and churned the water while cutting scares through the lush grass flat. Oh, by the way, he also spooked the fish to kingdom come. (Saturday fishing often presents us with a special set of challenges known as the weekend warriors, or, as sometimes dubbed, the goonagans.) Despite the rudeness, it was still a pretty good day with six redfish and one surprising snook.
