Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Barramundi, A Unique Fishing Experience

Cocoa Beach, Merritt Island Fishing Report, SEPTEMBER 2008

Barramundi in Central Florida

Capt. Ron with barramundi

The barramundi is a cousin of our beloved snook, and pound for pound I guarantee you the fight is as good or better. Why do I mention this, because last week I got to visit Osceola Outback Adventures near St. Cloud to experience some barramundi fishing on my own. Besides me the anglers were my grandson Robert, Capt. Tom Carver, Capt. Tom Van Horn, Charlie McCullough and Mark Blyth. We had not been out of the car a minute before Capt. Van Horn had hooked the first fish.

girl and boy with barramundi

From then on it seemed like somebody had one on all the time. Before the day was over we had landed over 50 fish in the 9 to 12 pound range. If you ever get a chance to try it, don’t miss it!

jumping barramundi

Capt. Byron Hennecy, operator of Osceola Outback Adventures explained that these fish will hit about anytime of the day. In fact he says, “When the water temperature heats up, they seemed to get more active.” We didn’t even start our adventure until around 2:00 in the afternoon - no need to get up before breakfast and start out early. When chasing these barramundi you can sleep in and start at your leisure.

Another unique characteristic about the fish is their willingness to bite on almost anything. We caught them on topwater, jerk baits, paddle tail plastics, and more. Even the color doesn’t seem to matter, although our guide Joey said he has his best success on a yellow squiggly tail plastic rigged on a silver jig head. In my mind it didn’t seem to matter.

If you would like to try your skills on these hard hitting, hard fighting and high jumping barramundi you can contact Capt. Hennecy at 407-908-3216 or email him at byron@osceolaoutback.com. In the meantime check out his website at www.osceolaoutback.com.

Capt. Ron Presley
www.inshorefishingadventures.com
presleyr@bellsouth.net

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