September 27, 2009
The fishing action during the last week has been spectacular as the fall mullet run has pushed into the Indian River Lagoon system filling our waters with a massive supply of baitfish. The resulting feeding frenzies on the incoming tides down in the Sebastian Inlet area are absolutely awesome with a wide variety of predatory species feasting on the mullet, triggering multiple super slams for our charters. We will get to the individual Sebastian reports in a moment, let’s start north in Titusville though where the fishing has been equally impressive.
Our first report stars an old friend of mine, Pastor Larry Zimmerman, from the Villages/Wildwood, Florida area. Larry’s wife surprised him for his 69th birthday with a fishing charter on the Indian River. When I picked him up on Friday from his Cocoa Beach hotel, I asked him if he wanted quantity and variety which would take us south to Sebastian Inlet or monster trophy fish which would direct us north toward Titusville. Larry opted for the big fish. We started the charter hunting a school of tarpon which had been lurking in the Indian River over the past several weeks. The tarpon had moved out with the western wind but slot-sized redfish, gator trout and pesky alligators took their place. We shot north in search of bigger redfish and found some anxious to entertain us (pictured below is Larry with a 30 inch red plucked from this school). Finally we turned our attention to seeking the monster redfish. Pictured below is a 48 inch, 30 lb brute that is a birthday gift Larry will not soon forget.
Mark Keith from Pennsylvania fished with me earlier in the week. Since Mark booked back-to-back charters, having to decide between Sebastian and Titusville would not be an issue. On day one we headed to Titusville to tangle with the trophies. Again, starting the day stalking the Silver Kings, we were able to jump a half dozen or so ‘poons’. (Pictured below is Larry holding his very first tarpon which was caught using a small finger mullet.). Exchanging our smaller baits for something larger and our limper rods for something stiffer, we headed for the monster redfish hole. Pictured below is one awfully happy angler holding a 49 inch, 35 – 40 lb fish.
The second day with Mark Keith took us to the grass flats surrounding the Inlet. Both mullet and ‘greenies or shiners’ were abundant around the inlet. We opted to try both as bait. During the charter we caught 13 mango snapper – all longer than the 10 inch minimum, two grouper, two redfish, two jack Crevalle, one trout, one mutton snapper and a moonfish. We took a shot at least a dozen snook but could not seem to sink a hook into their jaws. Pictured below are the fish that went back to St. Augustine with Mark for a wonderful fish fry at his condo.
Another Sebastian Inlet adventure this week involved Capt. Roland and the Arbogast boys. These Melbourne residents were treated to the same kind of numbers and varieties as the previous report. Pictured below are David with his 16 inch mutton snapper and Daniel with his 7 lb trout.
Capt. Peter has been busy over the past several weeks with alligator charters through Native Sons Outfitters. Among the gators taken during these charters was an 11 foot beast bagged by Arianne Prevost of Satellite Beach and her fiancé, Capt. Robert Rohmann. This feat has attracted wide publicity among newspapers, television outlets including a national Fox News report and even a guest appearance on Good Morning America.. (Check back in a few days for information on this amazing accomplishment).
