August 10,'07
It has been some time since my last report. I went on a two week fishing vacation with my wife to Stuart. We had a great time catching snook, tarpon, trout, flounder, grouper, snapper, kingfish, little tunny, tripletail and more. The best lure we used was the 1/4ounce DOA shrimp in silver holographic. On one day alone, we used it to catch eight different species.Since returning, I have been busy fishing nearly every day. Last Wednesday, I fished the creeks flowing into the Indian River with Capt. Ron Presley. We targeted rolling tarpon and had plenty of shots. I got six bites using a DOA shrimp and Baitbusters but got none to the boat.The next day, I fished the Indian River in Titusville catching two tarpon and tons of ladyfish and trout all on the holographic shrimp. Look for spoil islands holding glass minnows and small pilchards for some fast and furious trout and ladyfish action. A few pompano may also be hanging around the same islands.Friday, Andrew from Deland and his brother Matt from Iowa joined me on the Indian River. We looked for tarpon first, but saw none. Moving onto the flats, we saw both tailing singles and some schools of redfish close to the shore. Matt landed his first redfish and lost another within the first hour. The fish measured 43". The reds quit tailing and we moved out from shore catching some trout on a Deadly Combo. We saw several more nice reds during the afternoon but got only one more to the boat.Saturday, I fished Scott from Miami and we hit the creeks around Melbourne. We saw tarpon in each place we went but never convinced one to bite. A jack was our only fish of the day.Monday, my wife and I went to the Sebastian River to look for tarpon. It should be prime tarpon season there but all we found was a bunch of dirty stained water being dumped into the river from the marsh. Dredge equipment was also in the center of the best fishing spot. We saw only a handful of tarpon getting shots at none. We caught several trout and snapper at the railroad bridge before trying some canals off the Indian River finding only more dirty water and no fish.Tuesday, I took brothers Bert and Gerald from Texas out of port Canaveral. I had heard the area was on fire Monday. We drove for miles only to discover all the bait pods had vanished. We did find a large school of jacks and Gerald landed one on a DOA shrimp. After that, the normally voracious feeders ignored everything we threw at them.Seeing no bait and no other fish, we decided to head back to the dock around 11. Minutes before reaching the dock, we found a single bait pod. I netted some menhaden and we went back out to 35 feet and put them behind the boat. For the next two hours, every bait we put out got hit. The brothers landed seven or eight kingfish from 15-25 pounds, a few sharks, a little tunny which nearly took all the line on the reel, and a barracuda. We lost at least that many fish that we never saw.The following day, I fished with Bert and Gerald again. This time we went inshore to the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon. The brothers combined for a grand slam catching tarpon, snook, redfish, and trout. We saw quite a few redfish on the shallow flats tailing and feeding despite a water temperature of 95 degrees.The summer heat often seems to effect anglers more than it does the fish. I consistently see redfish, trout, and tarpon feeding in very shallow waters during the hottest part of the day. The reds are beginning to focus heavily on mullet and a large jerkbait or a Baitbuster carefully placed in their path will draw strikes. Hot water means a low dissolved oxygen content and fish that are to be released must be fought and released quickly.Mark your calendar for Saturday, September 29. Mosquito Creek Outdoors in Apopka will be hosting a fishing clinic for ladies only including seminars, lunch, and wine tasting. Men, if you want wished your wife knew more about fishing, this is the place to send them. There is no fee to attend but pre-registration is required. Visit http://mosquitocreekoutdoors.com/products.asp?dept=903 for more details.
Captain Chris Myers
321-229-2848
