Big Drum And Reds

Big Reds This Past Week!
The fishing was little slower this past week, but there were some big "Slobberknockers' landed. We had schools of close to 200 fish to cast at all week. The fish were a little fussy. August, September and October are usually the best 3 months to catch big reds on top water plugs. If you would like a chance to catch a biggun' give me a call ato 407-405-0819! Check out the photos!
Tight Lines and Good Fishing!

Check out the August issue of Onshore-Offshore Magazine and see the feature article on Larry 'The Cable Guy'. Gander Mountain in Lake Mary, Bitter's Bait and Tackle, Skeeter Lagoons Bait and Tackle, The Fly Fisherman, Lele's Bait and Tackle and Captain Hook's all carry the mag.
09 Aug 2008 by Captain David Rogers

July Was Hot! August Is Here!
July was a great month. Between Black Drum and Redfish we boated a total of 362 fish in 21 trips! Well August is usually an even better month. I have 18 days booked but there are still days open. Just give me a call and we can go have some fun! Check out past reports for August back to 2005 and see what I mean about August! Hot weather and hot fishing!

Catch the 'Hawgwild Fishing Show' live every Saturday on WIXC 1060 Space Coast and WAMT 1190 from 6-8 am. The replay is every Sunday from 6-8 am on ESPN WHOO 1080 Olrando!

Tight Lines and Good Fishing!
01 Aug 2008 by Captain David Rogers

Captain David Rogers
AAA Hawgwild Saltwater Charters LLC
Host The 'Hawgwild Fishing Show'
ESPN WIXC 1060 /WAMT 1190 Saturdays 6-8am (407-273-1190) Live call-in
ESPN WHOO 1080 Sunday 6-8am/ replay - www.hawgwildradio.com
407-405-0819 Book Charters
www.aaahawgwildcharters.com

Small Baits Catch Tampa Bay Redfish

Wednesday August 13th, 2008

Redfish Revival!



For the past month, redfish seemed to have been acting like typical backsliders. They would be out of sorts for 3-5 charters and then every once in a while they would show up to be redeemed for their sins. The sin, of course, is that of not being easily caught. However, this past week we've seen the burgeoning promise of a full blown redfish revival in the Tampa Bay area.

It happens every fall that these fish will group up in large schools and eat like there's no tomorrow. And usually about his time of year we get semi-frequent previews to this autumn redfish gathering.

Late last week fishing charters in Tarpon Springs got a few glimpses of some very hot, but rather short, redfish bites. Mixed in with this were catches of spanish mackerel, small grouper, trout, and a snook or two. Bait in that area has begun to really come on strong and it has gotten larger. The bait hatchlings from the summer are growing up and they are everywhere around Anclote Key.

In St. Pete, where the "revival" has first sprung up, the bait is still very small. But the redfish, eager to regain favor with us fisherman, are willing consumers of the tiny offering. Over the last two days we've landed nearly 100 fish and they have ranged in size from 24" to 30". Fishing the small baits under a cork near mangrove islands has been the ticket.

Look for more redfish to join the revival as fall approaches. If everything shapes up nicely, we could have a full blown awakening.

Tampa Bay Fishing

Captain Clay Eavenson

813-300-2147

http://www.captainclay.com/

gofishing@captainclay.com

Tall Tales Of Great Charter Fishing

August 7, 2008 – A Long, Incredible Journey

It has been over two weeks since the last fishing report. Consequently, our note book is bursting with tall tales of great charters and our photo album is jammed with the evidence to prove it! Let’s get started, this time organizing our journey geographically by beginning in the New Smyrna Beach area of Volusia County and winding our way south to Sebastian Inlet at the end of Brevard County.

The Oak Hill area, just south of New Smyrna Beach and only 40 miles east of Orlando, sits on the northern rim of the famous Mosquito Lagoon. It is one of the most picturesque venues along the east coast of Florida and a special treat for Native Sons guides. Capt. Peter hosted Steve and Kim Stepp of Orlando for a relaxing day of fishing on this pristine body of water. Highlights of the charter included a dandy 28 inch gator trout (held by Kim in the picture below) and the spectacular Florida wildlife; rosette spoonbills, ospreys, manatees, dolphins and schools of cruising redfish.



Moving twenty miles south of Oak Hill we find Titusville and the headwaters of the Indian River Lagoon system. This area boasts of being the ‘redfish capital of the world’. It would be hard to argue with this mantra based upon our three most recent charters to Titusville. The first trip was guided by Capt Peter and included Nigel Malloch of West Palm Beach and Garrett Wegerif of Merritt Island. The two had a blast landing over 10 redfish, most weighing between 15 and 20 pounds, and huge gator trout. In fact the fishing was so good, most of the crew lost their shirts in the process - pictured in order below are Peter, Nigel, Garrett and finally Nigel and Garrett with an outstanding double.





Returning to Titusville the next day, Capt. Peter guided Jack Vitek from the Orlando area and Kyle Gold of Gainesville, Florida. In Peter’s words, “We sight-fished schools of redfish in less than 18 inches of clear water for the majority of the day and there were soo many fish around the boat, that there was almost always a redfish that you could see within casting distance. Once everyone's arms were sore from pulling on the bronze beauties, we cracked open some ice cold sodas, and called it a day.” The final tally was 8 redfish including the one held by Jack in the following picture:



The final trip to the Titusville area was a half day charter with two Native Sons guides, Capt. Rocky and Capt. Peter. The crew from South Carolina was a father and son team, Greg and Gregory Howard. Gregory is pictured below, first bending a rod on one of the hard charging redfish and then posing with a 14 pounder caught later in the morning.



With the action so hot in Titusville, it was hard to change locations on the Howards the next day. However, we took a gamble and traveled 25 miles south to the Banana River between Cocoa Beach and Merritt Island. This time, Greg and Gregory would be joined on the half day charter by Carmen, a good friend of the family. The final count was 10 redfish and 7 monster ladyfish. Pictured in order below are Carman with a 7 pound ladyfish, Gregory with a 19 spot redfish, Carman with his first redfish, a 17 pound beauty, and finally Greg with yet another big brute:







Traveling south again, our next report is yet another charter guided by Capt. Peter, this time in the Melbourne Beach area. Peter’s crew consisted of Aimee Shea and Kenny Vitek of Orlando along with Monica Pena of Naples, Florida. Using several different techniques including fishing docks, chumming deep potholes and wade-fishing free-lining live finger mullet, the group caught a number of different species - redfish, snook, trout, jacks and snapper. Pictured below are Peter and Monica with a redfish and Kenny and Aimee with a jack:





Our final stop is near Sebastian Inlet, 80 miles south of New Smyrna Beach where we started this journey. Good friends Kenny Vitek of Orlando and Capt. Peter had one of those special days on the waters hooking numerous Spanish mackerel, redfish, bull sharks, and many other hard fighting fish. One unusual experience during the charter will not soon be forgotten – finding a herd of sea turtles, at least an acre in size, foraging in the deep grass flats of the river. Even more unusual was the school of bull sharks, some exceeding eight feet in length, swimming among the giant orange and green colored turtles. An incredible sight!



(Kenny and one of the redfish caught near Sebastian Inlet).
Posted by Rocky Van Hoose on August 08, 2008 at 04:49:51 PM

Native Sons Fishing Guides
www.nativesonsfishing.com
Captain Rocky Van Hoose
321-986-9588
rvanhoose@cfl.rr.com
Captain Brad Jones
321-626-5072
jonesmelb7@bellsouth.net
Captain Peter Deeks, Jr.
intelligentfishing@gmail.com

Top Water Redfishing

TopWater Redfishing
Report Date: August 4, 2008

What makes inshore light tackle fishing so special? Is it the variety of species an angler can pursue? Is it the awesome scenery? Is it the anticipation of the one-on-one battle that every angler looks forward to? In my opinion what makes inshore light tackle fishing so awesome is the combination of all of the above mentioned factors plus every once in a while a little spice can be thrown in for an added bonus. Inshore fishing is always very consistent when live bait is used. Most inshore game fish love a piece of shrimp, crab, pinfish, pigfish, mullet, ladyfish or whitebait. But what I like to do from time to time is make a fish do something they normally would not do.



Dawn Crawley had her hands full after reeling in this BIG Redfish.

For instance on a few of my recent charters we have been stalking large Redfish using only TopWater lures. Now, when someone hears that a Redfish has been caught on a Topwater they usually don’t think much about it. But if you take a second and think about feeding patterns of Redfish you would understand that they are primarily scavengers or bottom feeders. To get a Redfish to hit a Topwater is a challenge in its self mainly because you take a predatory fish whose primary mission when searching for food is to find easy things to eat on the bottom and you turn him into a leaping and hard charging feeding machine when a Topwater approaches his territory. For those of you who have never experienced a Redfish explode on a Topwater it can only be compared to a Bass inhalation on steroids. The explosion of the bite is so furious that many of my clients fish for the strikes and not the actual fish.

On my last few Topwater trips my clients and I have left the dock before daylight. I like to try and get out just about 30 minutes before sunrise if possible because I have found that most fish aren’t nearly as shy about hitting a Topwater when the sun is low compared to when the sun is directly overhead. My favorite lures to throw early in the morning are large Walk-the-Dog style lures including Rapala SkitterWalks and Heddon ZaraSpooks. On July 29th I had the opportunity to take out a 12 year old up and coming fishermen Brandon Branch. This kid was amazing and could literally throw and retrieve every lure in my tackle box. He and I spent the early part of our morning targeting Reds and were rewarded with 12 explosions with 7 Reds landed. All of our fish were keepers between 22 and 26 inches with one being a bruiser at 29”. I am 100% sure that if an early morning thunderstorm didn’t roll in on top of us he and I could have caught another dozen, but that’s summertime fishing.


Brandon Branch is proudly showing off a nice Redfish that he worked to the boat using a Rapala SkitterWalk. This fish was also released to fight another day.

So if awesome explosions and hard charging fights is what gets your blood boiling, give Red Hot Fishing Charters a call today we are in t he fishing memories business.

Capt. Kyle Messier
(352) 634-4002
kylemessier@yahoo.com
WWW.REDHOTFISHINGCHARTERS.COM

Fly Fish Sarasota Flats For Tarpon

Capt. Rick Grassett’s Fishing Report for 7/28 through 8/10/2008

Anglers fishing with me on the Snook fin-Addict, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had good action with tarpon, trout, bluefish and Spanish mackerel the past couple of weeks. Tarpon action slowed along the beaches due to fewer tarpon and poor sight fishing conditions (rough water and lack of sunlight); however they moved inside around bridges and on the flats. The best action has been on deep grass flats along the west side of Sarasota Bay.

Fly angler Hugh Scott, from Atlanta, GA, fished a couple of days with me during the week of July 28th. We fished around bridges before dawn and found tarpon feeding on shadow lines. Hugh had several bites, hooked 3 fish and landed one about 15-pounds on a chartreuse Toad fly. We were actually able to sight fish to tarpon, ranging in size from 10 to 75-pounds, as they cruised and fed along shadow lines. He also had action with trout and bluefish on Ultra Hair Clouser flies and Enrico Puglisi flies near Buttonwood Harbor.

Fly angler Rick Happle, from Tampa, FL, fished the same areas with me on Thursday of that week. The tide was poor before dawn and tarpon didn’t feed very well. However, after daylight the tide began to move and we found tarpon crushing glass minnows that they had in a tight ball under a bridge. It was tough to “match the hatch” but after changing flies about 5 or 6 times, I finally tied on my Snook Minnow night snook fly (a.k.a. Grassett’s Grass Minnow). I warned Rick that the #4 Mustad 34007 hook probably wouldn’t hold a big tarpon. Despite long odds, Rick hooked and fought a tarpon of about 60-pounds through numerous jumps while running a gauntlet of crab trap gloats and bridge pilings. After about 30-minutes, we had her alongside the boat. Great job! Rick also caught and released several trout on Ultra Hair Clouser flies near Buttonwood Harbor.

Fly anglers Carl Bettinger, from Albuquerque, NM, and Dave Mayers, from MO, fished with me on two different trips during the week of Aug. 4th. They had action with trout, bluefish, Spanish mackerel, jacks and ladyfish on Ultra hair Clouser flies from the Middleground flat to Buttonwood Harbor. We found tarpon busting ladyfish as they fed on the surface one morning but they were up and down too quickly to get on them.

Bill Colton, from Longboat Key, FL, his son, Bill, and son-in-law, Paul, had similar action using spinning tackle with CAL jigs and DOA Deadly Combos. Later in the week Allen, Angie & Tori Anaya, from Albuquerque, NM, fished Sarasota Bay with me. They had steady action with trout, bluefish, ladyfish and jacks on DOA Deadly Combos and CAL jigs near Buttonwood Harbor.

Fly angler Braton Machleit, from TN, fished for the 1st time in saltwater with me on Friday. He started the day off with a 10-pound or more juvenile tarpon caught from under a dock on a Grassett’s Snook Minnow fly. The fish banged its head under a boat lift when it jumped, but Braton successfully fought the fish out from under the dock. We fished deep grass flats later in the morning near Buttonwood Harbor where he caught and released ladyfish and trout on Ultra Hair Clouser flies. Saturday’s trip was plagued with thunderstorms and wind. We had a few shots at feeding tarpon before dawn and spent the rest of the trip running away from rain and lightning before cutting the trip short just before a big downpour.

Next week’s tides are favorable for tarpon and snook before dawn and fishing deep grass flats for trout, bluefish and more. Fishing action usually slows by late morning unless it is overcast, so start and finish early for the best action.

Tight Lines,

Capt. Rick Grassett
Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.
FFF Certified Fly Casting Instructor
(941) 923-7799
E-mail snookfin@aol.com
www.flyfishingflorida.net and www.snookfin-addict.com



Rick Happle, from Tampa, FL, caught and released this 60-pound tarpon on a Grassett's Snook Minnow fly while fishing Sarasota Bay with Capt. Rick Grassett.



Tori and Angie Anaya, from Albuquerque, NM, with a nice trout that Tori caught on a DOA Deadly Combo while fishing near Buttonwood Harbor in Sarasota Bay with Capt. Rick Grassett.



Braton Machleit, from TN, caught and released this nice trout on an Ultra Hair Clouser fly while fishing near Buttonwood Harbor in Sarasota Bay with Capt. Rick Grassett.