Windy conditions have held the upper hand all week along Florida's east central coast. Thus far, April weather patterns have carried into mid May making fishing conditions less then desirable. Additionally, the hot western flow and drought conditions have combined to create dangerous brush fire conditions with tragic results. If you plan to be out and about in the outdoors anytime over the next few weeks, please be vigilant and take extra precautions to prevent wildfires.
Left to Right, Brothers Robby, Allen, and Dave Robertson with Redfish for Supper.
My adventures this past week started last weekend when brothers Robby, Allen, and Dave Robertson joined me for a day on the water. The trio has fished together for years in a number of locations, and I was honored have them aboard Three Quarter Time for a day of fishing.
After studying the conditions and our options, I chose to launch early at Kennedy Point in Titusville to avoid encounters with tournament anglers fishing the Extreme Redfish Tour. Of course, we faced strong west winds, so my first stop was on the west shoreline about a mile south of the ramp. As the morning light began the wane and I polled in, the trio began working a Storm Chug Bug, three inch Rapala Skitterwalk, and a Mirodine, and the small sea trout and ladyfish were chewing. The bite was consistent in three feet of water, but as I polled in shallow looking for redfish it shut down.
When exploring for fish on a flat, it is important to poll in a diagonal direction, crisscrossing from the deep edge in shallow and then back out again until you locate the depth the fish are holding at. In this case, the action began to pick up once we returned to deeper water. Soon the west wind began to settle down, and I opted to give the east shore a shot, where we scored seven redfish and one respectable sea trout all caught on chunked ladyfish.
My next adventure was with repeat clients Don and April Christopher from the Jackson area as they celebrated their 33 wedding anniversary. Two years ago we fished together and we scored several sizable fish, but this was not to be the case this time. I spent the first several hours checking some of my favorite locations for big redfish, but the choppy conditions availed. So we decided to target sea trout instead and the action was fast and furious. The majority of the sea trout were dinks, but at one point we were seeing how many we could catch on consecutive cast, and the record was 8. All together, at least fifty sea trout were caught, and the hot bait was a 3" chartreuse RipTide Mullet on a ¼ ounce jig. If you are interested in some real fun, fish anywhere along the west flat in the north Indian River Lagoon between the Carbide Flat and the Scottsmore ramp just off of the deep edge where the flat drops off into 2 to 3 feet of water.
As always, if you need more information or have questions, please contact me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
Captain Tom Van Horn
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
http://www.irl-fishing.com
407-366-8085 landline
407-416-1187 on the water
866-790-8081 toll free
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