Good fishing on the Banana River near Cocoa Beach
Water temperatures are above 80 and all species of fish are chewing in the Cocoa Beach area. Recent fishing trips have produced redfish, trout, sheepshead, snook, snapper and more.
Anglers Cliff and Ed scored on trout, jacks and snappers before chasing rolling tarpon to no avail. The pesky tarpon were feeding on small baits on the surface but refused everything Cliff and Ed offered them.
The next day Jim and Tommy fished the Banana river and added a golden memory to their fishing chronicles. Each angler had caught quite a few fish during the day, but nothing to brag about. Trout, snapper, pinfish and jacks provides some fishing fun, but the real fun was yet to come.
As the fishing day neared its end Jim hooked into something big. The drag on his 2500 series reel was screaming and the pole was bending. The big fish was hooked between two Banana River docks giving the fish plenty of opportunities to escape the landing net. Jim worked the fish our from under the first dock only to have it swim under the second. The 10 pound Liquid Braid fishing line was rubbing on the barnacle encrusted pilings and I quickly moved the boat forward to change the angler of attack. Jim fought the fish out from under the second dock and it passed in front of the boat returning to dock number 1 and then out through the end of the dock with pilings on both sides of the line.
We could see the Liquid Braid rubbing again on the barnacles. Thinking quickly, Jim laid down on the bow of the boat as I moved it closer to the dock. He stuck the rod between the pilings and out the front of the dock to remove the possibility of further abrasion to the line. Using the trolling motor I continued to move the boat along side the dock (in reverse I might add) as Jim laid on the bow facing the back of the boat. When we got close enough I instructed Jim to grab the rod with his left hand in front of the pilings while holding on to the rod with his right hand. Once he had the rod firmly with the left hand he released the right hand and grabbed the rod again, clear of the pilings. What we now knew was a nice redfish, was swimming in open water. Jim lifted his head and guided the big red into the landing net.
With all this going on we had little time to see Tommy aiding in our struggle. He was pushing the boat off docks, shouting encouragement to Jim and commenting, “That’s a big fish.” All the team work paid off and Jim had a true memory of fishing on the Banana River near Cocoa Beach.
Personally, I still can’t believe the Liquid Braid held up to all that abuse. It was a combination of good tackle, good fish fighting techniques and maybe a little bit of pure luck but Jim landed the biggest redfish of his life.
The next day I had the great fortune to take my grandson and his friend out, again on the Banana River. Live shrimp and popping corks was the tackle of the day. My advice about taking kids fishing has always been to just be sure they catch something and popping corks with shrimp are a sure way to do it. They had a blast catching pinfish, snappers, catfish, jacks, sheepshead and trout. It could not have been a better day for hooking some future anglers on the sport.
Jessie's Sheepshead
Robert and Jessie Double on Trout
Robert says, "It's his!"
That’s what it’s all about. Good fishin’.
Captain Ron Presley
www.inshorefishingadventures.com
presleyr@bellsouth.net
You can purchase my book, Secrets from Florida’s Master Anglers on the Snook Foundations website with proceeds going to the foundation.
http://www.snookfoundation.org/support/147-secrets-from-floridas-master-anglers.html
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