By Captain Tom Van Horn
Up Coming Events and Seminars
Saturday July 21st , 10:00 to 12 Noon "Free Seminar" Class 6 of Fundamentals of Flats Fishing series , "Catching and Using Natural Baits on the Flats" instructed by Captains Tom Van Horn, Chris Myers, located in the Outback at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, 170 South Washington Ave., Apopka Florida, www.mosquitocreek.com.
Thursday July 26th - 6:30 P.m. to 8:30 p.m. "Free Seminars" "Summertime Inshore Tactics for Redfish and Sea Trout" instructed by Captains Tom Van Horn, Chris Myers, located in the Outback at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, 170 South Washington Ave., Apopka Florida, www.mosquitocreek.com.
This Week's Fishing Report
My angling adventures this past week carried me away from the central lagoon coast to an exotic location where I was privileged to attend the D.O.A. Outdoor Writers Conference held at the River Palms Cottages in Jensen Beach Florida. Hosted by Captain Mark Nichols and his DOA family, the event also included two days of fishing with members of the D.O.A. Pro Staff. This invitation only event provides an opportunity to rub shoulders with an exceptional group of outdoor journalist and industry experts while learning about and fished with D.O.A.'s newest product innovations.
The setting for the three day event was the River Palms Cottages in Jensen Beach. Staying at River Palms is just like stepping into a tropical paradise. This low-key resort presents the feel of a far away tropical island were the exotic flora and the lagoon beach draws all of the life's tension from your bones as soon as you step foot on the premises. The resorts owners have planted hundreds of exotic tropical fruit trees and shrubs on the property giving you the feeling of a coastal jungle paradise. Located just minutes from the St. Lucie Inlet the resort features a large outdoor pavilion, deep water access dock, swimming pool and white sandy beach. For those of you reading this report, there is no need to travel thousands of miles and spend thousands of dollars to escape to a tropical paradise, simply book a few days at the River Palms instead (http://www.riverpalmcottages.com).
River Palms Cottages
River Palms looking east
On my first day of fishing, I had the pleasure of spending the day with Captain John Irwin form Charleston South Carolina and Captain John Young as our guide. Our plan was to start out fishing for big trout just south of Fort Pierce on the IRL but only landed several smaller trout and mangrove snapper on a 3 inch DOA Golden Glow shrimp. Next we ventured back to the St Lucie River and I caught a nice 30 inch snook fishing the bridges on the old reliable brown dog (rootbeer Terror Eyz). Although the bite was slow and we didn't catch a lot, we had great fun and there were some larger snook caught by other boats.
Captain John Young with a St Lucie Inlet Sunrise
Captain John Young with a St Lucie Inlet Snook
On my second day I fished again with Captain John Young and we targeted the south jetty of the St Lucie Inlet, catching several smaller male snook before sunrise, again on the Golden Glow 3 inch DOA Shrimp. The remainder of the morning was the same old story you hear from snook fisherman, missed two big fish, one came unbutton at the boat and the other cut me off on a dock.
Although my escape was quite and enjoyable, strong easterly winds made fishing conditions tough, but with the support of the DOA Pro Staff Guides and some hardcore anglers, we still managed to catch quite a few snook over 30 pounds. The big females were holding up in the inlet near the "Hole in the Wall", as they fell victim to the big Terror Eyz in the rootbeer/gold glitter color bounced on the bottom during the falling tide. For me, I managed to catch four snook from 18 to 30 inched fishing docks, jetties and bridges.
In closing, I would like to also thank Hobie Kayaks, Minn-Kota, seagar fishing line and Eagle Claw, for co-sponsoring the event and my guide, Captains John Young() for putting me on fish despite the blustery conditions.
As always, if you need more information or have any questions, please contact me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
www.irl-fishing.com
407-416-1187
For all of your outdoor needs, check out www.mosquitocreek.com, it's where your adventure begins!
1 comment:
Oh yeah nice fish!
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