Florida fishing guides, fishing reports, saltwater boat ramp maps: Indian River Anglers Get Bull Rushed

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Indian River Anglers Get Bull Rushed

July 14, 2008 - Running with the Bulls

Each year in Pamplona, Spain there is a famous festival which features crazed thrill-seekers running with snorting bulls through the narrow streets of the ancient city. Each summer, in the Indian River, we experience a similar adrenaline rush with our own brand of bulls – bull reds and bull sharks.

Yesterday, joining Capt. Peter and me were Rob and Rick, two veteran anglers from the Orlando area. They sought the thrill of tangling with the ill-tempered bull reds resident on the shallow flats of the river near Titusville. The redfish did not disappoint. Among the seven redfish fought and caught was a monster 51 inch, 38 pound bull which ran Rob up and down the river for an exhausting hour before finally being subdued. This fish, pictured below, ranks as one of the largest landed in our area this summer.

Along with bull reds, we also have bull sharks lurking in our waters. The photos below were taken last Friday in the Melbourne area of the Indian River while prefishing for an upcoming East Coast Fishing Report TV episode. All three Native Sons guides were involved during the trip in which we caught a half dozen bull sharks (shark in pictures), snook, jack carvel and other assorted species. Incidentally, the particular spot where we fished is one of the few in the IRL system where bull sharks are common enough to be targeted.

Also chartering with us last week were four air force reservists on leave – Will, Billy, Wendell and Dave. Fishing docks and drop-offs along the spoil islands in the Sebastian area with Capt. Roland, these four servicemen bagged a super grand slam consisting of snook, redfish, trout, grouper and snapper. The trophy fish from the trip was a nice 32 inch snook caught by Billy.

Our final report comes from a recent charter on the Banana River near Cocoa Beach with old friends John and Andre Le Grande of Merritt Island. This father and son fishing team spent an afternoon with me on a sight-fishing excursion for big redfish and gator trout. Pictured below are Andre with a trout and John with a redfish.