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.