June 18, 2010 - Fisherman's Paradise
Ah, summertime fishing along the Space and Treasure Coasts is so much fun! Quality, quantity and variety … everywhere … a true fisherman’s paradise.
Our first individual report features Capt. Peter along with his good friends Bob and Robert Rohmann of Satellite Beach. Taking advantage of the slick calm offshore seas, the trio slipped out Sebastian Inlet earlier this week to do a little tarpon and shark fishing. They did catch several of the large poons and black tip sharks roaming just offshore which would have made for a fine trip on any other day ... however 'fine' went to 'fantastic' when a rare beachside SAILFISH was spotted, stalked, stuck, landed and released. Pictured below are Bob and Capt. Peter with this beautiful billfish.
Capt. Roland, with dreams of leaping billfish dancing through his head, took fellow captain Chuck Lloyd and son Charlie out the inlet on the next day. Pulling along side of the first massive bait pod Oceanside, they found three rolling tarpon feeding just in front of their boat. Still without live bait, they tried tossing plugs to the huge silver kings before parting company. Returning to catching bait, the trio next discovered other competition within the pods, toothy competition from sharks and Bonita. Pictured below is Capt. Chuck with one of the two sharks caught by his young son Charlie.
Our next report moves from offshore/nearshore action to the Indian River in Titusville. This is a favorite stretch of water for Native Sons guides and clients during the summer months. After months of murky water and few fish we can finally report big numbers of reds, trout and drum residing in the now clear, shallow, grassy flats. Capt. Rocky was up there three times this week with each of his charters scoring well into double digits. The smallest red of the week was 24 inches while the largest measured a hefty 42. The fish are aggressively eating anything thrown to them, except, of course, for foul tasting sprigs of broccoli. We’ll have more reports from Titusville in a special follow-up segment.
Traveling south down the Indian River Lagoon system from Titusville to Merritt Island, our next report comes from this past Monday. Capt. Rocky guided good friend Joe Schneider, his nephew Tom and his son Joseph Schmitz from Denver, Colorado. Launching from Kiwanis Park in Merritt Island, the foursome fished the Sykes Creek stretch of the Banana River in order to stay close to home because of a lousy weather forecast. The rain held off long enough for the crew to catch nine redfish and a rare Merritt Island snook. Most of the fish measured well over the 27 inch slot limited. Since finger mullet have been almost impossible to find, poggies were used as the bait for the charter. Pictured below are Tom and ‘Little’ Joe with one of their bigger reds followed by a photo of Joe holding his snook.
We stay in the Banana River of Merritt Island for our next report. Mike Foytek from Orlando teamed with Capt. Rocky to form Team Got Milk for the recent Riverside Café Inshore Fishing Classic held in Vero Beach. Making the long run back to the Banana River in Merritt Island, Team Got Milk weighed a solid redfish (5.99 lbs) and trout (4.89 lbs) to finish fourth and fifth respectively. Ironically, their two fish ‘slam’ wound up being bumped out of first place by Native Sons’ Capt. Peter and Capt. Robert Rohmann who regularly fish the Florida Flatsfishing Association circuit. Team Got Milk also caught several redfish just over-sized on the day. Pictured below is Mike holding twin 31 inch redfish which were released back into the wild.
Heading south again, we travel to the Melbourne Beach stretch of the Indian River for our next stop. This time the guide is Capt. Roland and his client is Prof. Ralph Cummings who returned to the area for a visit and some fishing. Launching from Front Street Ramp in Melbourne, the charter started with an intent to sight-fish snook on the flats. And although the big linesiders were there every time a bait was cast near them a more aggressive gator trout bolted in and ate it. After several trout over 25 inches were landed and released the duo decided to switch to targets to schooling black drum. Several drums were beaten before the charter concluded by chasing tarpon in one of the creek tributaries to the IR. The picture below is Prof. Ralph holding a nice 40 inch fish caught using 10lb test spinning tackle. It was a great end to a fun trip.
Our final report concerns a charter which covered over 200 miles on the day – a Native Sons record incidentally. The trip involved Capt. Rocky and his good friend Tom Seaman of Melbourne. Fishing the Strike Zone Inshore Tournament last Saturday, the duo decided to target the giant trout of Ft. Pierce to start the day. After spending and hour and half unsuccessfully stalking the big trout at dawn, the team opted to radically alter strategies and locations by making a long run to Merritt Island. The strategy worked as Tom pulled four redfish, one with four spots, and a big black drum off a dock on the Indian River (Tom and the drum are pictured below). Rushing back to Grant to weigh the fish added another 40 miles to the odometer. The day ended with Tom and Rocky chasing tarpon up Crane Creek … from predawn in Ballard Park of Eua Galle to Ft. Pierce to Merritt Island to Grant to Crane Creek in Melbourne/Palm Bay, that’s a long day of fishing … that’s a fantastic day of fishing!
Native Sons Fishing Guides
Captain Rocky Van Hoose
321-986-9588
rvanhoose@cfl.rr.com
Captain Brad Jones
321-626-5072
jonesmelb7@bellsouth.net
Posted by Rocky Van Hoose on June 19, 2010 at 01:17:16 PM
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