January 12, 2021
By Florida Sportsman
Recent fishing reports from the East Central region.
Dino Drum
Florida Sportsman Follower: @countryncoastal
Will Batten with his dinosaur.
The eye popping, jaw dropping site of a 40+ pound black drum come into view next to your boat is one you won't soon forget. Will Batten's, Orlando, description of the fish summed it up pretty well, “we caught this Dinosaur off of a bridge piling in New Smyrna Beach the day before the cold front. The big 39 inch black drum weighed about 40 pounds. We'd mark them on the fish finder by the piling and pitch half a crab out as bait.”
Click here to read the full report and others like it.
First Saltwater Catch
Florida Sportsman Follower: @captbrianpounds
Jenna Satterfield caught a modest first fish.
Jenna Satterfield, Clermont, is on cloud nine, literally it seems, after catching her first saltwater fish while fishing docks in New Smyrna Beach with Capt Brian Pounds. She caught the snook on a D.O.A. 4”cal.
Click here to read the full report and others like it.
Hammering the Reds
Florida Sportsman Follower: @salt.and.savagery.fishing
Kira Campbell is chomping at the bit to get out on her next fishing trip.
New angler, Kira Campbell of Jacksonville, laid down the hammer on some big Melbourne Beach reds and is officially hooked. “The bite was red hot, which was refreshing coming off a slow week due to horrible winds, a full moon, and a major cold snap that all negativity effected the conditions.” the Captain recalls. This is her second charter with Captain Brandon Campbell (no relation). “The last time I had Kira on the boat she hammered her first 3 snook, this time it was her first 3 reds. We had 7 or 8 of these big reds in the boat within an hour or so of being on the water. Larger mojarra was the bait of choice.”
Click here to read the full report and others like it.
Personal Best Triple
Florida Sportsman Follower: @j_w3lls
A live shrimp seals the deal, no surprise there.
It's a week of personal bests! A live shrimp seals the deal, no surprise there. Justin Wells, 26, travelled up the coast from Palm Beach Gardens to Sebastian. While poling around in Sebastian, he ran into this big'un. “He was swimming really slow, about 15 yards off our boat. My brother got the first cast at it with a Gulp shrimp and he wasn't interested, so I put a live shrimp on his nose. He followed it down, slurped it up, and it was game on. It was my personal best 13 pounds and 27 inches.”
Click here to read the full report and others like it.
Big Sheepshead and Snook
Florida Sportsman member: Remo
The sheepshead are back. The water in some areas was real dirty and I was barely able to sight fish. I was pitching the Baby Vudu Shrimp under docks resulted in four and all were released for future meetings. The last one that came off of the last dock. I drifted past the dock, saw a shadow, made the cast, but nothing. It followed my shrimp all the way to the boat. With the leader at the rod tip, I dropped the tip to the water and the sheepie went down and ate the Baby Vudu on the drop. I saw a big Sheepshead and made a quick cast towards it. A snook hit it instead and worked its way around a piling. I flipped the bail, let her run, and worked the rod around the piling. She made her way out to open water where there were four kayakers. She loved the audience and gave them quite a show with two good jumps. My measuring stick is 31 inches and without a tail pinch she was past the end. She swam away hard and fast.
Click here for the full forum report.
Slam-ish
Florida Sportsman member: Fishseeker
I headed to Cocoa Beach for a change of weather. The trout bite in the islands seemed better than last trip and certainly better than the Rio Grande or Conejos. After an afternoon paddling for trout and reds, the combination of moon and tides lured me to Sebastian to get my fix. I found myself all alone on the rocks inside the bridge where I hooked several and landed three, a few of which were some big girls.
Click here for the full forum report.
Awesome Species Day
Florida Sportsman member: poncedorado
I took the kayak out again after Christmas, working the backwaters near Ponce Inlet. I managed a little black drum, a redfish, a few trout, a nice flounder, and a couple snooklets. Shrimp under a popping cork was the flavor of the day.
Click here for the full forum report.
Casting and Blasting
Florida Sportsman member: duckmanJR
I have been concentrating on duck hunting for three weeks now, but with some really warm weather I got out to do a little fishing at a time when I seldom do. Sunday we decided to do a "cast and blast." My son was able to connect on a mottled duck while I missed mine and he got this nice redfish.
Click here for the full forum report.
Tripletail Action
Florida Sportsman member: Jarhead Jack
I'm getting some limit catches of tripletail south of the inlet on live shrimp.
Click here for the full forum report.
Flounder Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: micklej2
I took a fishing buddy of mine to Sebastian Inlet Friday targeting flounder. I caught three undersized and he caught three keepers and one five pounder. Lots of flounder were caught, although most were undersized. Many regulars said that it was a slow day.
Click here for the full forum report.
Hitting the Backwaters
Florida Sportsman member: ShoNuffNoah
Paul and I both started out with a pair of hardhead catfish in backwater off a government cut in New Smyrna Beach. He later pulled up a slot black drum. We hit a few other spots. Then I got lucky and got a oversize trout. She swam away strong! We scouted out a few new areas resulting in some small snapper. Another small channel of government cut produced a 22+ inch trout, which was also released.
Click here for the full forum report.
Fishing in the East Central
Florida Sportsman member: Capt Michael Savedow and Jarhead Jack
Most of my time now-a-days is spent in the back creeks, channels and holes in Edgewater backcountry, fishing live shrimp, small lures, live finger mullet or pigfish. There's always a chance at a few good fish including reds, trout, snook, mangrove snapper, black drum, and hammerhead sharks. Light tackle always makes it more fun.
Click here for the Jarhead Jack report.
Click here for the Capt Michael Savedow report.
Backcountry Summers
Florida Sportsman member: Capt Michael Savedow
A wide variety of fish catching here in the Indian River and north Mosquito Lagoon backcountry. Landing seatrout, redfish, snook, black drum, mangrove snapper, whiting, jack crevalle, ladyfish, and always some surprise catches on many trips, like sharks, pompano, tarpon, and more. We're usually catching ten to fifteen or more different species on most backcountry mixed bag trips. The back water area is full of life in the summer months, with surface striking fish in the morning hitting baitfish and shrimp, white water attacks making for fun sight fishing and catching. Loads of baitfish schools everywhere including mullet, pilchards, and menhaden are a summer fixture of food for game fish, dolphins, and birds. Water temperatures have reached the normal lower 80 degree levels, so careful handling of CPR ( catch photo release ) fish is needed as higher water temperatures means lower oxygen levels. Lots of teenage size “rolling” Tarpon are a frequent sight in our back waters, they are notorious for being super picky on biting a bait, but this 20 pound, 39” silver king had to have Alex from South Carolina's live shrimp and stayed attached through the fight for a very quick photo before release.
Click here for the full forum report.
Inshore Reports
Florida Sportsman member: JTFD, Flec & Capt Michael Savedow
Snook, redfish, pompano, mangrove snapper, black drum, ladyfish, jack and trout hae all been reported lately in the East Central area. To find out how and where, check out the links below.
Click here for JTFD's forum report.
Click here for Flec's forum report.
Click here for Capt Michael Savedow's forum report.
Snook as Stone Crab Bait
Florida Sportsman member: jmsnookman
I took my buddy Brian and his sister Sally who was visiting from New York. The snook bite was slow, but we had some success. I could not turn an overslot snook with 15 pound braid on my Stradic CI4 4000. The fish did a slalom course thru some pilings, so I jumped out of the boat and took chase. I got lucky, snapped a few photos and released her. I landed a 31 1/2" table model shortly after. We also battled a couple jacks. FYI, stone crabs love a fresh snook carcass. I pulled the crab trap off my dock and it was loaded with 14 stone crabs and a few blues. There were some large claws, with a few colossals among the mix.
Click here for the full forum report.
Snook in the Mangroves
Florida Sportsman member: JTFD
Hey everyone Matt has been hammering some nice snook in the mangroves lately check out his video report in the link below.
Click here for the full forum report.
Big Snook, Light Tackle
Florida Sportsman member: jmsnookman
Luck was on my side in Sebastian this morning. I caught this monster on my Stradic CI4 3000 with 10 pound braid and 20 pound flourocarbon leader.
Click here for 3/26 forum report.
Killer Snookin'
Florida Sportsman members: JTFD & DuckmanJR
Inshore fishing might be your best bet this weekend. Apparently, the snook bite is on fire, if you can find them. "Best snook fishing I've had in a while!" says forum member JTFD. DuckmanJR has also found a few fish and suggests to "Get out early and stay on the move looking for fish, you will find some."
Click here to see the 3/19 forum report.
Click here to see the 3/19 forum report.
Good Trout and Red Bite
Florida Sportsman members: SLW UroCane
I've been wading the shorelines of the causeways, trying to stay out of the wind. I've been throwing a 1/8 oz jighead with 3" white Gulp minnow grub and a few others. Nothing huge, but it's been productive. I've landed about 20 trout, five to six reds, and one (baby!) snook. I made for a "week-long wade slam".
Click here to see the full forum report.
Windy Slam
Florida Sportsman members: Flec
I put down the eight pound trout outfit and went with my 15 pound larger Spook rig with 30lb leader and boy did I need it! On my second cast, I was tight to the mangroves and Mr. Big was waiting. After an awesome battle with this fish and the Saturday morning wind, I had my biggest snook to date. He was a fat 34" and easily bottomed out my 15 pound scale. I am sure he was a 20 pound fish. I finished the day with five snook, six trout, one redfish, and one mangrove snapper.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Tarpon Insanity
Florida Sportsman member: SaltyRoots
I didn't get as many opportunities to fish this year, but managed to capitalize on the chances I got. All fishing was done off my 12' BOTE Rackham that I launch through the surf. I cast net whatever bait I can get, usually mullet or pogies. I slow troll around the edges of the bait pods and sight cast occasionally with HOGY soft plastics. I typically use 50lb Yozuri Flourocarbon leader and a 3/0 Owner MUTU Light Hook.
Click here to see the full forum report.
1K Silver Slam
Florida Sportsman member: straygecko
I hooked on another mullet and tossed it to another likely spot just under the mangroves and bam - line cut instantly. I baited my second pole and went for the same spot and bam - line cut again. I tie a couple of hooks on and this time put the mullet out a foot from the mangroves. Bam - game on. It was a good fight keeping the fish out of the mangroves with one run into the mangroves and pulled him back out. Finally got this bad boy to the boat. My first snook!
Click here to see the full forum report.
Slams in Sebastian
Florida Sportsman member: duckmanJR
Forum member duckmanJR has proved he's a seriously dedicated angler, who takes every opportunity to get out on the water as much as he can to get on some fish. He's recently been getting some slams on his inshore voyages in the Sebastian area. Check out his most recent reports below.
Click here to see the 10/1 forum report.
Click here to see the 9/27 forum report.
Surf Fishing the Mullet Run
Florida Sportsman member: The Fit Adventure
We had some live shrimp out soaking on the bottom. At the same time, I was casting a gator spoon whenever the schools of mullet passed by. These were mostly finger mullet and most of the schools were close to shore. A lot of the pods were being followed by tarpon that were exploding out of the water and rolling right behind the schools. On my second hookup, I landed a small snook. On the shrimp we caught some jacks, margate and sheepshead.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Dirty Water Fishin'
Florida Sportsman member: duckmanJR
Forum member duckmanJR has been out since the storm. "The water is very high, dirty and tannin stained. The fish are way back in the cover." He still managed to get some fish to bite. On his even more recent trip, he commented, "The water is getting higher and dirtier. The fish are way back under the mangroves, but have found a few."
Click here to see the full forum report.
Sebastian Snookin'
Florida Sportsman member: jmsnookman
Dave, Brian, and I boxed our limit of snook by 7:15am. Dave hooked the first fish. As soon as his first cast hit the water, it was game on from there. We started the morning on fire, going five for five on snook. The fish won most of the battles as the morning progressed, but we had an absolute blast.
Click here to see the full forum report.
One Fish, Two Fish, Redfish, Redfish, Redfish
Florida Sportsman member: straygecko
Forum member straygecko has been getting out on the water a lot to get on the reds, with great success. Read his reports to get yourself on some East Central redfish during the mullet run! "While looking for finger mullet, I found a shoreline stacked so thick with big mullet, you could walk on water. The run is under way."
Click here to see the 9/4 forum report.
Click here to see the 9/3 forum report.
Click here to see the 8/31 forum report.
1,000 Islands Report
Florida Sportsman member: straygecko
So it's frozen mullet chunks again this week. I cruised up to an old favorite spot and tossed a chunk up to the mangrove line. Almost immediately the line starts going tight. After reeling it up, I see it's game on with an over slot red.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Personal Best Trout
Florida Sportsman member: gettinwet
My son managed to pitch a gold/orange Unfair Lures topwater in the right spot and started walking the dog. When this fish exploded on it, the swirl was like six feet wide, then I heard the drag screaming. I figured it was another nice red, but much to our surprise it was my son's personal best trout. It had been in the tannin stained water so long that it was actually a bright gold color on the top. I had never seen a trout that color, but it was stunningly beautiful.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Cocoa Beach Sheepshead Surprise
Florida Sportsman member: straygecko
I set out two poles with frozen mullet chunks. One pole bent over and I had a barn door stingray on. I was getting it near the boat when the second pole bent over. I stuck the first pole in a rod holder, grabbed the second and had a big redfish on. Alas, my leader was a bit chafed up and I was working it too hard and the redfish broke off. After, there was a couple of fish that nibbled the bait off the hook, then finally a nice 26" redfish.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Week of Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: duckmanJR
Florida Sportsman forum member, duckmanJR, reports tough fishing over the week, but at least the targeted species all came out to play with his artificials. Check out his recent reports for details.
Click here to see the third forum report.
Click here to see the second forum report.
Click here to see the first forum report.
Surf Fishing Surprise
Florida Sportsman member: The Fit Adventure
I did some surf fishing at Patrick Air Force Base this weekend. I was going after some sharks, but that was slow going. We got the lighter rigs out and caught a mixed bag of margate, black drum, cats, whiting, and a suprise mangrove snapper. I know the mangos are in spawning season, but I didn't expect them to be out in the surf too. The bait of the day was live shrimp and fish bites.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Drums and Cats on the Flats
Florida Sportsman member: SpaceCoast Slayer
As we pole up to the area, we see mullet pods getting hammered. I tied on a topwater and slung it into the madness and see a big wake behind my plug. A monster sailcat eats it. It was starting to look like it was just sailcats eating the mullet. A few casts later, I get another hard hit and figured it was another cat, as it wasn't fighting much. To my surprise, it was a stout red who put on the turbos once he saw my kayak. After a quick little tussle, he was brought on board for a photo-op and prompt release.
Click here for full forum report.
Banana River Big Trout
Florida Sportsman member: Familyfisher
About that time, a school of bait went absolutely crazy behind us and we all turned to look at what was going on. That's when it happened. Something tried to take the rod out of my hands! When I recovered and set the hook I said to the boys, "I told you I was going to drag a big red off that point!" Then I got a look at the fish. No red, lots of spots though. I knew then that it was the biggest trout I've ever hooked up with. We were only fishing in about 18 inches of water. I've never had a trout pull drag before other than a short burst or two. This was was pulling it good! After a couple of minutes, I finally got the fish tired out enough that Jake could net it for me. My personal best, 26+ inches and, though I had no scale, I'm calling it at least five pounds. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
Click here to read the full forum report
Patrick AFB Surf Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: The Fit Adventure
I did some surf fishing at Patrick Air Force Base earlier this week. I got out late, around mid-morning. Most of the fish were caught during the incoming. No monsters, but I did catch a mixed bag of sheepshead, margate, black drum, ladyfish, a nurse shark and a 21" red that had about a 7-8" sardine in its gullet. The bait of choice was live shrimp and some fish bites.
Click here to read the full forum report
Finicky Fish
Florida Sportsman member: duckmanJR
Today was windy as can be. At the first spot, I lost a really nice snook in the mangroves. It never gave me a chance. I was able to get a smaller version on the topwater though. I got really lucky to find some bait and predators. They wanted the chug bug really popping across the surface and the strikes were explosive.
Click here to read the full forum report
Sebastian Inlet Super Snook
Florida Sportsman member: jmsnookman
Dave executed this catch perfectly. From a well placed cast, to pressuring the fish to the limits of his tackle, somehow managing to keep this fish out of structure as it screamed drag along the shoreline. An absolute beast at 43 inches!
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Sebastian Monster Mackerel
Florida Sportsman member: Wavewalker
Had fun catching big jacks a few mangroves and this monster spanish mackerel. It was almost 30" long.
Click here to read the full forum report
Monster Momma Snook
Florida Sportsman member: duckmanJR
She lights it up, melting eight pound mono off my 2500 Diawa like butter in a hot skillet. I'm on the troller hard, trying to not get spooled. She is so fat she can only her her head kinda out of the water and flops back in.
Click here to read the full forum report
Sebastian Snook and Reds
Florida Sportsman member: duckmanJR
The last two days have had less wind in the morning. It was almost dead still on Monday, but those big girl snook seem less aggressive without the chop. The snook are still around though.
Click here to read the full forum report
Spring Edgewater Backcountry Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: Capt Michael Savedow
All the migrating fish are passing through, schooling jacks, ladyfish, and bluefish, have joined the resident trout, redfish, snook, drum, and sheepshead. There's been a good, steady trout bite with notable ones along the way like local resident Linda's best on her trip with her friends, this one had to have our live shrimp.
Click here to read the full forum report
Big Ole' Snook
Florida Sportsman member: beachside321
As I'm about ready to call it and head home, something grabs my freelined mullet off the back and starts screaming drag.
Click here to read the full forum report
Schooling Black Drum
Florida Sportsman member: SpaceCoast Slayer
I paddled up to my next area and was greeted by literally hundreds of tails breaking a mirrored, slick, calm surface. Massive school of drum just hoover vacuuming the bottom. Gulp shrimps casted into the school didn't last long on the bottom before they were inhaled.
Click here to read the full forum report
Redfish and Black Drum
Florida Sportsman member: SpaceCoast Slayer
I started to pole to the east down the edge of a drop and I see a big red torpedo cruising down the edge heading west. It was only about five feet off my port side and I flipped a gulp shrimp in front of it and thought, "Nah, he is too close, he will spook." But he stopped dead, tipped on my gulp and inhaled it.
Click here to read the full forum report
Paddleboard Tarpon
Florida Sportsman member: QuiksilverIHB
These large tarpon take forum member QuiksilverIHB for a sleigh ride on his stand-up paddleboard.
Click here to read the full forum report
Drum and Bass
Florida Sportsman member: SpaceCoast Slayer
They were fired up, floating at the surface, with backs and tails exposed. They were pretty easy marks, we kept 'em bent all morning throwing gulp shrimp and gulp crabs.
Click here to read the full forum report
Sebastian Super Slam
Florida Sportsman member: Flec
We got a few trout early along with some jacks and ladies. Once the cool water rose a few degrees, the small snook started hitting. We tried a new area in the afternoon and it paid off.
Click here to read the full forum report
Full Moon Red and Black Drum
Florida Sportsman member: SpaceCoast Slayer
As we approached we could hear the sweet sound of croaking drum underneath us. We both put out two rods each, one with a mullet chunk and one with a halved crab. Within five minutes my mullet rod doubled over and it was on.
Click here to read the full forum report
Topwater Snookin'
Florida Sportsman member: SpaceCoast Slayer
Launched the yak around four, armed with one rod rigged with a topwater. Didn't take long to start getting blowups. Wound up with four snook total and also had five or six of them miss the plug, including one of about 20lbs, who came completely out of the water after it.
Click here to read the full forum report
Massive School of Black Drum
Florida Sportsman member: SpaceCoast Slayer
Way in the distance I start to see a few tails. Then a few more. Then a few more turned into about 100. I thought for sure I was on a school of bull reds, so I fired in a gulp shrimp and got the hookup and landed... a black drum. Yup, it was a massive school of drum, but they were fired up tailing hard.
Click here to read the full forum report
Snook on Topwater
Florida Sportsman member: SpaceCoast Slayer
I went out for a quick one this afternoon on a snook hunt to try and take advantage of the approaching front. I put the yak in at first and got a little guy right off the bat, but I seriously underestimated the wind, as it was basically un-kayakable.
Click here to read the full forum report
1,000 Islands Inshore Mixed Bag
Florida Sportsman member: jmsnookman
We broke out the light tackle and pitched shrimp and Berkley gulp jigs tight to the mangroves. We had a blast catching and releasing black drum, trout, and redfish. Final tally was seven black drum, four slot trout, and one redfish; pretty good for two hours on the water.
Click here to read the full forum report
Titusville Shrimping
Florida Sportsman member: Alleni
We got our full pull last night by Rail Road Bridge. Started off slow, maybe one gallon the first two hours. the wind died down and the current switch and it started going off. Filled the other four gallons in less than 30 minutes. Probably could have filled another bucket or two. All good sized too.
Click here to read the full forum report
Mosquito Lagoon Trout and Reds
Florida Sportsman member: PaulBoat
After a couple days in the Bahamas, this father and son decided to continue their fishing back in the States in Mosquito Lagoon. Reds and trout were on the menu and their guide and angler did not disappoint.
Click here to read the full forum report
Windy Weekend Drum
Florida Sportsman member: SpaceCoast Slayer
Kyle and his nephew Chris wanted to catch a couple drum, so we all jumped on Kyle's skiff to go see if they were home. We launched at 8 under a stiff south wind. Live sand fleas on a 3/0 circle hook was the ticket. We caught a mess of em and had several double hookups.
Click here to read the full forum report
Indian River Lagoon Drum
Florida Sportsman member: SpaceCoast Slayer
Same tactic as last trip, slow rolling gulp shrimp and crabs on the bottom of a hole where they stack up. Had two cutoffs on rocks and also got cut off on a manatee. Had a bunch of pulled hooks in the middle of the fights too. Switched to a 3/0 circle and gulp crab and the hookup ratio improved.
Click here to read the full forum report
Flats Fishing Black Drum
Florida Sportsman member: SpaceCoast Slayer
I put on a gulp shrimp and dragged it excruciatingly slow across the bottom of this deep hole. Get thumped.. It's a catfish. I thought to myself, "It's gonna be one of THOSE days." Whipped it out again and got another thump, but this one had some weight to it.
Click here to read the full forum report
Kayak Fishing Black Drum
Florida Sportsman member: SpaceCoast Slayer
I was throwing gulp shrimps and Michael was tossing a regular plastic shrimp. He actually got more hits on that than I did on gulp, but all his fish kept pulling off during the fight. We couldn't get them to even look at a fly, even though they were on top high riding with backs and tails exposed all fired up.
Click here to read the full forum report
Sebastian Backcountry Snook
Florida Sportsman member: jmsnookman
I had been itching to get back on the water since my last trip two weeks ago. Good news! The big snook are still in the backcountry. I was only three casts in this morning when this 43" beast exploded on my bait.
Click here to read the full forum report
Black Drum Saves a Slow Day
Florida Sportsman member: SpaceCoast Slayer
About halfway to the launch I bump into a literal acre of black drum. I have never seen a school this big in my life, there were thousands. The drumming was outrageous it was all you could hear. Two guys who were well behind me caught up and I hollered at 'em to come over. We sat there for two hours and had a ball.
Click here to read the full forum report
Snook-a-Palooza
Florida Sportsman member: jmsnookman
The snook were chewing this morning! The fish were amped up in the cooler water, punishing baits, screaming 15 lb braid off my stradic CI4, exploding out of the water, shaking their gills, trying to throw the hook before splashing back into water and ripping more drag.
Click here for full forum report.
Sebastian Inshore Mixed Bag
Florida Sportsman member: duckmanJR
Senior forum member and avid angler
duckmanJR has been having great success lately. Despite murky waters, he has been reeling in massive numbers of redfish, snook, trout, jacks and more! He celebrated his one hundredth day fishing with a gorgeous 32" snook! Keep it up!
Click here for full forum report.
Port Canaveral Inlet Variety
Florida Sportsman member: CFMonster
Caught nearly a dozen pounder jack crevalle, one 20" speckled trout, one 20" redfish, one 27" snook, and an 18" snook. Free lined / unweighted mullet often caught the attention of the birds, but caught the trout, red, smaller snook and some jacks. I had a 1/8th oz chartreuse jig head and caught the snook, several jacks, couple small blacktips, and hooked a small tarpon.
Click here for full forum report.
Playalinda Beach Pompano
Florida Sportsman member: Epalm88
I caught this nice pompano at the beach before the hurricane. From the pictures of the aftermath, it looks like it will be a while before I can get back out there in the prime time of the year.
Click here for full forum report.
East Central Slammin'
Florida Sportsman member: duckmanjr
I think I see a red up really shallow. I make a slow approach and notice one of those tiny shorebirds standing nearby and when it takes off, it scares the red....dang it! I toss out in the direction that the fish spooked and boom.
Click here for full forum report.
Father and Son Fun
Florida Sportsman member: Permitted
Well turns out my redfish spot is kind of a hot spot for tarpon. So I took him back to the proving grounds to test his skills! Long story short he ended up catching his first tarpon and a couple more, also his biggest redfish to date.
Click here for full forum report.
Making it Happen
Florida Sportsman member: KingCatch
The wind was blowing from the west around 15 mph. I just got up on the leeward bank and started poling down the flat. I ended up catching a few redfish and scouting some area that eventually led me to a little tarpon hole, catching a little guy to end the day.
Click here for full forum report.
Sebastian Snook
Florida Sportsman member: jmsnookman
First time fishing in two weeks and I'm not sure what was better, the spectacular sunrise or the snook bite. Fished solo on Saturday and literally came home with sore forearms from battling overslot snook and bruiser jack crevalles.
Click here for full forum report.
Sebastian Action
Florida Sportsman member: beachside321
Launched at Wabasso at 6:45 and had a short ride to the first spot. After some prospecting we found some bait that was getting busted. Picked up a decent red that I watched make a wake from 20 feet away to crash my bone super spook.
Click here for full forum report.
Sebastian Monster
Florida Sportsman member: jmsnookman
My drag was screaming and the battle was on. The fish peeled off close to 100 yards of line before Ronnie started the big motor and took chase in the boat. As the battle wore on, I kept thinking my 20 pound fluorocarbon leader would give way. Ronnie's excellent boat maneuvering was key in keeping the fish from getting into a narrow side canal and I was lucky to stop several runs just shy of the shoreline.
Click here for full forum report.
Pompano and Friends
Florida Sportsman member: Larrypompanoman
I haven't posted in a while because I haven't had a lot of fishing time. I have had seminars and charters but today I had great success in New Smyrna and caught BIG fish, pompano, whiting and redfish.
Click here for full forum report.
Mosquito Reds
Florida Sportsman member: beachside321
By 6:55am we found a big group of tailing fish. Made the most of them until they settled down by about 8am and we had to work for them. Conditions were still great for sight fishing until about 11:30am when the wind picked up and cloud cover moved in.
Click here for full forum report.
Skinny Water Sight Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: SpaceCoast Slayer
The water is crystal clear in most spots I went to and I got to watch every one of em clobber the lure. No heroes but it's awesome to see them eat whether they are 3 pounds or 30 pounds.
Click here for full forum report.
Mosquito Report
Florida Sportsman member: C Dog
Not a bad day in the north goon. Water has cleared up a good bit. Sight fishing is at least feasible but still difficult. Didn't catch any sight fishing, but caught four reds and finished the day with a surprise black drum. All were caught on cut mullet.
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East Central Inshore
Florida Sportsman member: jmsnookman
I called my buddy Ronnie to hit the inlet for some catch and release snook action. Had the pleasure of hopping on Ronnie's Skeeter with his buddy Sergio. We landed six nice snook with the three best fish measuring 36 to 38.5 inches and called it a night early.
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Indian River Lagoon Action
Florida Sportsman member: RealSeabee
Water is dirty but the reds are hanging in the places they should be, for the most part. I found most production came from bait, upwind of the spoil islands. On calmer days it seems that jigging worked good on the hidden side of the same islands.
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East Central Reds
Florida Sportsman member: C Dog
The kids decided to stay home, which I didn't blame them. They've spent many of weekends fishing and not catching. So it was just me and the wife. Saturday was probably one of the best days of fishing I've ever had, catching four bull reds.
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Sebastian Chaos
Florida Sportsman member: surfer23mg
From the bridge to the tip of the jetty I have never seen tarpon exploding like they were. 130 plus pound fish completely skyrocketing out of the water as far as you could see.
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Mosquito Lagoon Action
Florida Sportsman member: Capt Michael Savedow
Trevor wanted to treat his girlfriend to a fishing trip for her birthday, so we went redfish hunting on the flats, started off with a bang, with bites first thing, turned slow in the second half, but we still had a great time.
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Sebastian Fun
Florida Sportsman member: Kim Chi
My nine year old son caught the fishing bug over the summer and wants to fish every chance he can, so we have been hitting the inlet a lot lately. We have mostly been catching jacks, reds and snook on pins, pigs, croakers and mullet on all different stages of the tide.
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Windy Week
Florida Sportsman member: Final Point
That being said we still caught plenty of fish, especially back in wind protected areas. Baits of choice this week were live finger mullet pinned to a 3/8oz jig head and various hard twitch baits.
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Figuring It Out
Florida Sportsman member: EddyRodriguezU
Normally I'm looking for oyster bars, changes in the tide, grass flats, and deep sand pockets. Since majority of those are not evident in this area I just started looking for bait and fish the surrounding areas. Needless to say today was a completely different story. Within an hour or so I had four nice trout in the boat and a 24 inch red.
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Tarpon from the Paddleboard
Florida Sportsman member: SaltyRoots
With an enormous thunderstorm looming in the distance we knew we wouldn't have much time to fish. Within three minutes I was hooked up to nice little tarpon. Landed the fish about 10-15 minutes later and safely released it.
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Cocoa Beach Tarpon
Florida Sportsman member: 186 KEYWEST
Forum member
186 KEYWEST and friends got into the tarpon off of Cocoa Beach. Within 15 minutes of getting bait, they were hooked up!
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Mosquito Lagoon Reds and More
Florida Sportsman member: Capt Michael Savedow
Fall is a great time for locals to fish the Lagoon, tourist season is over so many less guide trips on the water most days, locals who hunt are focusing on the fall hunting season, not out fishing, so much less boat traffic on the flats which is very welcome change from summer.
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Red Hot in the Lagoon
Florida Sportsman member: marcogrey
Got an early start this morning for the Lagoon, weather was great and reds were out. Between two boats we managed 10 reds in the range of 22 to 50 inches. The rookie in the group ended up with 4 including the beastly 50 inch monster on a shallow flat.
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Florida Sportsman member: cbmdk86
Went out a couple nights this full moon on the hunt for bulls on the flats, overall, it was pretty slow both nights. I did however manage to land my personal best red at 50.25 inches with a relaxed tail on the first night.
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Catching in the Backwater
Florida Sportsman member: cbmdk86
Hit it a couple days ago looking for the snook, they were nowhere to be found but these reds were happy to oblige on the same shorelines. I've only caught under slot reds back here so it was quite a surprise to put a 29" and 26" on deck in two back to back casts.
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Indian River Bulls
Florida Sportsman member: RealSeabee
Forum member
RealSeabee recently got into some bull redfish in the northeast Indian River. These fish can be found in small schools along the shorelines.
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Surf Surprise
Florida Sportsman member: CFLnative
Decided to put lines back in 30 min before we were going to leave and this gal shows up. About pulled my rig into the surf. Not sure what it ate, either a clam strip (not likely), bare hook or a small croaker that was already hooked.
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Mosquito Lagoon Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: Capt Michael Savedow
Summer has arrived to Mosquito Lagoon and the Edgewater backcountry, loads of mullet schools, summer water temps mean early morning surface activity. Live mullet and pigfish, topwater lures early morning, weedless rigged jerk baits and soft plastics, cut mullet and ladyfish are all good summer pattern baits and lures.
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Sebastian Slam
Florida Sportsman member: duckmanJR
I decide to keep at it and miss a strike and as i'm trying to decide if I want to quit I see a nice fish up ahead. I move down on it and make a toss, but the wind takes it long and I cup the spool to stop it short by about a foot...but the fish turns and inhales it!
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Spring Time Variety
Florida Sportsman member: Capt Michael Savedow
Fishing from New Smyrna to Edgewater to Oak Hill and south into the lagoon, clients catching everything from Redfish and Seatrout, Black Drum and Sheepshead, Mangrove Snapper, Sharks, Bluefish, Jack Crevalle, Ladyfish, and more. Backcountry mixed bag trips have been great, 10 or more species on most trips, keeping it interesting waiting to see what type of fish will surface next.
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East Central Inshore
Florida Sportsman member: jmsnookman
It was a little tight with four anglers on the boat, but the fish were chewing hard at all three spots we hit this morning. Between breakoffs and missed hook sets we lost as many as we landed; and we landed twelve trout (mostly overslot), two slot reds, snook, and missed a tarpon that would have completed a grand slam.
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East Central Inshore
Florida Sportsman member: Reel Teal
I re-rigged another mullet and put it in the same spot and a couple minutes later got hammered again and this time stuck the hook in em. After about a 5 minute fight landed a 29 inch red. It had a fat belly full of those mullet I assume.
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Catching in the Indian River
Florida Sportsman member: tron1.8
Me and my wife headed out early and had a great time getting into some fish. She got her first tarpon and some large jacks. One jack had two large jigs down his throat. We were able to bring home some sheephead and one nice mangrove snapper as well.
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Night Time Sebastian Bite
Florida Sportsman member: Salty Roots
The night time tide changes have been our bread and butter. The snook have been hitting bucktails, the reds were hitting cut pogies when we could get them, live croakers when we could get them, and for two nights they were smacking crabs on the top.
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North Brevard Wading
Florida Sportsman member: IRJ
Forum member
IRJ caught some nice fish wade fishing in North Brevard. Fishing soft-plastic paddle tails were the key to success.
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Catching in the Lagoon
Florida Sportsman member: Capt Michael Savedow
The shallow water coming up a few degrees can have some fish leave the school to look for food on their own, fishing some areas with soft muddy bottom, can have loose groups of reds and trout in dished out type spots of a couple feet deep.
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Windy Day on the Lagoon
Florida Sportsman member: flightcontroller
A good day on the goon even with the winds. We managed to drift up on several single/double over slot reds but the planets aligned only for this one 29 inch fatty. If we had been a bit more on our game, we could have boated a half dozen of these.
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Cocoa Beach Inshore
Florida Sportsman member: fishin4amission
Been busy enjoying our local waters trying to find some willing fish. Some days have been great letting us get some inshore slams. Others we are lucky to just catch a couple fish. Most fish have come on slowly presented paddle tails and doa shrimp.
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NIRL Drum Bite
Florida Sportsman member: RealSeabee
It's a pretty good size piece of real estate to try and cover but I did manage to get three BIG red's to eat, but none willing to get all the way inside the boat, two alongside and one about 10 feet away. They were all OVER Slot and would'a been released anyway but I'd rather have done the "releasing".
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A Friend's First
Florida Sportsman member: duckmanJR
With us having a grueling duck hunt schedule we finally had an off day on Monday while one buddy drove another to the airport and we slept in. We woke at 9 and the weather looked OK, so we splashed the skiff. Wind was brutal at 14 out of the northeast but it didn't take too long.
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Wintertime Tarpon
Florida Sportsman member: redfish27
So my 14 year old son invites me out yesterday on his "new" skiff and says he knows where some tarpon are. I take him up on the invite, no doubt he knows his stuff. Seems like just yesterday I was showing him the tricks of fishing and boat handling, now he is taking Dad out and putting me on fish.
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Warm Winter in the Lagoon
Florida Sportsman member: Capt Michael Savedow
New clients Laszlo and Brittany from Connecticut had a great, first flats fishing experience out with me, good sight fishing conditions helped them catch 5 Redfish with most overslot fish up to 29 inches and upper slot fish, being good catch and release anglers all fish were sent off swimming.
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East Central Inshore
Florida Sportsman member: Cavanaugh68
The spotted seatrout are thick along the drop offs and ledges. However the big boys, the gators, are back in deep thick backcountry waters. Searching the white holes or sand spots and always keeping in mind your posture, bait movement and signs of their presence.
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Early Winter on the Lagoon
Florida Sportsman member: Capt Michael Savedow
The colder water has redfish starting to school on the flats with winter sight fishing patterns as water gets much clearer and the temperature drops. Sea trout are also a winter target species on the lagoon waters, the larger Trout frequent the flats along with Redfish, while most school size Trout are caught along the drop offs edges of holes and sloughs in the backcountry.
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Nearshore Mayhem
Florida Sportsman member: SaltyRoots
We went out of the Port in search of triple tail, flounder, redfish, and kings. Both times got blanked on the triple tail and flounder but that was because all of our time was spent reeling in kingfish and redfish!
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Braving the Conditions
Florida Sportsman member: Keystroke
We were the only boat in Sebastian Inlet for 2 hours. The fish were fattening up for winter on the incoming tide. As the tide started to swing to outgoing we got out of there. Sebastian Inlet can be a deadly place if not respected.
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East Central Slams
Florida Sportsman member: duckmanJR
I really didn't keep count on how many I was catching, but it was close to "palooza" status. We ran south to a new spot and it didn't take long till I had another trout, then a snook and then Frank hooks up his first snook ever.
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Fun in the Lagoon
Florida Sportsman member: Capt Michael Savedow
The water is still fairly high on the north lagoon so fished mostly shorelines and points that the north wind would allow. Mainly finger mullet baits as I fish with clients to give them the best chance for maximum bites, our second red did not take long at that first spot as daughter Calle hooked up with this 25" extra spot fish.
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Banana River Red
Florida Sportsman member: Panfishangler1
My friend and I pulled the lines in, anchors up and began to let the fish lead the way. I was using 10 pound mono with a 25 pound test leader. If my drag wasn't set right, there was no guess that I would have lost the fish.
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Messin' with the Macks
Florida Sportsman member: Farout
We ended up with 30 Spanish, threw back countless bluefish and jacks and another 10 or so small mackerel. A huge shark came up and grabbed a small spanish we had just hooked, it came out of the water and performed an awesome acrobatic display for us and promptly snapped the line.
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Bulls off the Beach
Florida Sportsman member: triplehelix
Joined the fleet atop a redfish frenzy. They were feasting on pogy pods, so we matched the hatch with some live ones on the bottom. In half an hour we released four reds in the 15 to 20 pound range.
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Sebastian Inlet on Fire
Florida Sportsman member: Final Point
What an incredible fishery we have here in Sebastian. The last week has been full of some serious fish. The smallest snook to come in the boat was 30 inches, the smallest red was also 30 inches.
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East Central Action
Florida Sportsman member: SaltyRoots
Been hitting up the inlet for the late night outgoing tides with the old man. We've been pretty successful drifting through with live bait bouncing the bottom. Mullet, pins, pigs, croakers it didn't matter, if you were bouncing bottom you were hooking up.
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Putting the In-Laws on the Fish
Florida Sportsman member: RealSeabee
Top Water (Skitter and Sebile Slim Sticks) and Cut Mullet are the baits. We've been doing much better this go around. Don has caught 18 reds to this point and we will be out again today.
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New Family Record
Florida Sportsman member: RealSeabee
The old family record red fish WAS 44 1/2 inches which my wife held. Well, today she done went and broke our family record, new record is 50 3/8 inches!
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Redfish Riot
Florida Sportsman member: cbmdk86
I also pitched them the monster 7 inch Fender Walker topwater plug. These reds lost their minds when they saw that plug, I had one red of at least 45 inches come completely out of the water about a foot above the surface trying to dismantle my plug. It was epic action to say the least.
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East Central Snookin'
Florida Sportsman member: Keystroke
There are some big fish out in the ocean along the beaches, feeding on all that little bait moving along the coast. The trick is to fool them into eating in that clear ocean water. Can't wait till all the big girls find their way up through the inlet and visit us this fall.
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Early Morning Trout and Reds
Florida Sportsman member: B. Graves
I had some fun with the trout for a while then made my way to the spot I had been fishing the last few times out and the reds weren't there. So I started trolling around looking for some and came across a school of 30 to 40 over slot reds.
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Indian River Reds
Florida Sportsman member: B. Graves
Took about an hour to find some redfish. Caught a couple decent trout on topwater while looking for reds. Finally started seeing tails so I anchored up and threw some top water, soft plastics and a spoon, nothing. So I turned to cut up pinfish.
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East Central Tailers
Florida Sportsman member: cbmdk86
We made the paddle out to the spot and we were greeted by 100 plus over slot reds happily tailing away in the grass, finning out, backs breaking the surface, the whole 9. We managed to scoop up 5 until the wind switched out of the east briskly and they all made their exit off to the deep end.
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Bulls Before the Storm
Florida Sportsman member: RiverRat321
Within ten minutes of that mullet surfacing the water there was the blow upp! I grabbed the bell and set a perfect hook set and enjoyed the ride! She put up a nice and long fight for her size at 36 inches, I got her in and unhooked her. Of course we released her just in time to head in before the storm.
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Backwater Tarpon in the Rain
Florida Sportsman member: cbmdk86
40 hookups between us give or take, the vast majority of them shook off after a fine display of acrobatics. We got a few decent ones to the boat though, including a nice one Steven caught on fly.
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Sebastian Slob Snook
Florida Sportsman member: MelbourneMark
A little defeated we headed to one of our shorelines to soak some shrimp, hoping to catch some trout or reds. We were using light tackle with 25 pound leader. This was my wife's first snook over 40 inches, and she did a wonderful job of handling her around the boat. The fish ran what seemed like 100 yards before slowing down. I finally got her in the net, but she would not fit completely.
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Setting Personal Records
Florida Sportsman member: SlamPiece
School of 30 or so breeder reds tailing in the flats, carefully casted with the jerkbait and twitched it twice. Thought I spooked the school (as a huge wake was formed near my lure) but turns out two or three reds were racing to get to the lure first. Hooked up and after a nice fight on my lightest outfit I landed a 44 inch red!
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East Central Reds
Florida Sportsman member: FLChance92
I spent a ton of time up in north Brevard and some schools in the Banana this past week. I haven't fished up there much in a while and figured I would go chase some schools of Redfish I used to fish for as a kid.
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Tarpon off the Beach
Florida Sportsman member: Secretweapon321
Forum member
Secretweapon321 got into the tarpon recently. Jumping one fish and landing one after an hour and a half battle! Nice work.
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Solo Mission in the Lagoon
Florida Sportsman member: FowlMouth824
After a couple hundred yards on the pole I spotted a small school of slot reds. They were milling about, completely unaware of my approach. I tossed out the ole trusty CAL on an 1/4oz head, one fish spotted the "prey", broke ranks and pounced.
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East Central Gators
Florida Sportsman member: FowlMouth824
There was no shortage of bait or game fish, we saw hundreds of black drum all morning long. We could hear them drumming through the water. Though we never could convince one to eat. We threw D.O.A. shrimp, cals and an assortment of flies. They were just completely disinterested.
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Snookin' Success
Florida Sportsman member: Postal
This girl blasted my bait and screamed off line the fight is on. She headed for the dock pilings and the mangroves. After a fun battle and yelling " no! " a 100 times with every dart she took for the dock, I landed the old girl.
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East Central Reds and Trout
Florida Sportsman member: Montana1
I think we only caught two fish that were under slot, and one that was just over. None of the fish were tailing, and 90 percent of them were caught while blind casting, and just like always they were all caught on artificials, and released to fight again.
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Big Mosquito Lagoon Snaggle Tooth
Florida Sportsman member: tron1.8
My friend invited me out Sunday for a short trip. Caught a couple of small trout and reds, nothing major but it was nice to get out. Then this one took my DOA glow shrimp with my 6 pound line. Ended up being 30 inches long, one of the biggest I have caught in a long time!
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Saturday Sheepsheading
Florida Sportsman member: DeHeaven
We ran to our first spot and within a few hours had boated five keepers. Kris had the winner with a seven pounder! We ran out of fiddlers and the weather started to improve so we decided to go to port to get some food and more bait and try fishing at the mouth to see about a mix bag.
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Gator at Daybreak
Florida Sportsman member: dtm
As soon as it got daybreak I was ready to fish. About 5 casts and then wham! Fish on and a good one, it came up shaking its head trying to spit the hook then surged for the trolling motor under the boat ,buried in the mud and then game over. right into the one arm landing net. This thing is a hog first fish of the day and wow. By this time another boat showed an was working the same area but keeping his distance. I kept on a fishing and wammo another hog at 25 inches and released it.
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East Central Action
Florida Sportsman member: KLUELESS II
Not having a push pole we drifted the flat until we started seeing tailing reds (BONUS!).The wind dropped and the rain started but it seemed to really get the fish fired up. Although I struck first blood with a small rat red that I will not post pictures of, captain Adam was the top hook with a just short slot red and two slob trout!
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Big Trout in The Lagoon
Florida Sportsman member: dtm
Hit a few deep spots hoping the trout would be hunkered down waiting for the flats to warm up, we threw gulps and worked them slowly in their face and they couldn't let the easy meal go by.
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Redzilla In The Inlet
Florida Sportsman member: SaltyRoots
Got a solid hook set and 25 to 30 minutes later, redzilla was boat side. It bottomed out our 40 pound boga grip scale with ease. We guess it to be 45 plus pounds and it was a hell of a way to start off the new year.
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Sebastian Inlet Holding Big Fish
Florida Sportsman member: SaltyRoots
Occasional weeds fouled plugs and Friday and Saturday the waves made it a little dicey in a 16 foot boat to say the least, but the fishing was on fire. Managed to catch around 11 snook (2 slot before the 15th), 7 reds, and 2 tarpon and lost countless others. We were using 50 pound Yozuri Flouro with a decent size split shot about 8-12 inches above a Owner Mutu Light 4/0-5/0 circle hook.
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Trying Something New
Florida Sportsman member: Muskee50
I went fishing today for the first time out of Port Canaveral. I usually fish out of Mosquito Lagoon but decided to try something different. I fish out of a 17 foot flats boat so we were waiting for a nice day like today to fish along the shoreline. We picked up a few small bluefish and this nice bull Red. It is by far my largest red to date. I battled it for approximately 15 minutes before finally bringing it to the boat. I didn't want to keep the fish out of the water any longer than necessary so no measurements or weights were taken , just this photo.
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Night Time Bruisers In The Inlet
Florida Sportsman member: Final Point
Did a trip with a good friend on Saturday evening. It rained on us most of the night but the fish didn't mind. I'll just show you the two big fish of the night. All fish caught on 6000 series PENNS with 50 pound braid, 50 pound fluorocarbon leader and 4/0 circle hooks. Baits were pigs, pins, croakers.
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Slobs In Sebastian
Florida Sportsman member: Final Point
Then, as the sun was starting to drop Sammy hooks into something big. Never got it close enough to see it even though at some points the top of the leader was out of the water, fought it over about three quarters of a mile of inlet and almost 20 minutes before it pulled the hook. I thought he was going to lose it and chuck my pole in the water but he kept it together. And on the very next drift he had redemption.
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Bringing Home Dinner In Sebastian
Florida Sportsman member: duckmanJR
At this point both the wind and water clarity were past what I like and my arm was now past the point that the two morning Aleve were doing anything. I was willing to quit with dinner in the well but thought,
"one pass on those oysters by the island over there" and that's where this nice red was to finish the slam.
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Banana River "Red" Hot
Florida Sportsman member: SLW UroCane
So here are a few more pictures. Started in the morning on west side out of the wind by Kars campsite. 2 reds there including the biggest of the week. Few trout and jumped another tarpon under that dock. Then went over to 528 and waded out to the bombing target. No reds but a lot of small trout. Finished about of the wind south of 520. Another red and a few trout on the Mirrodine. All fish this week released alive. Best part, not a single jack, catfish, or lizardfish!
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Redfish Mayhem in Cocoa Beach
Florida Sportsman member: Fin & Fly Charters
The redfish bite is super hot right now, were catching 10 to 40 redfish a trip and all of them are on artificial. Topwater is definitely the best strike for them but you can use any of your favorite lures [...]
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvXUsfN8yy4&feature=player_embedded
Indian River Lagoon Redfish
Florida Sportsman member: cbmdk86
my fish was a stud, and would have been the biggest fish of the day, which got wrapped around someone's boat and I actually managed to work it out, had it pretty whooped and to the boat. It made one more big run and crossed someone else's hooked fish, and my line parted also had a double hookup of smaller ones that made it to the boat. we hooked 9, landed 5.
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Titusville Reds
Florida Sportsman member: AdamHughes
I drove down to Jacksonville and met my family at the ramp at 9, we took off and before we got to the first channel marker had engine trouble. Great start to the day, we ran the river looking for the big schools of spawning reds and after about an hour we found them. The school was so large it looked like a moving sandbar. We started tossing live pinfish and crabs at them with only the pinfish getting hit. We hooked up on the first fish and my mom gave it a good fight before pulling it in for some pictures. The school kept moving and the crowd began to grow. We worked the school for a couple more hours not getting to much action until I tossed out at top water. Second twitch I get blown up and the fish takes off, only to be broken off by a flurry of panicked fish swimming into my line. I quickly tied on another and as we got back into position I got my line right on the nose of the school. It seemed like the whole school targeted my bait. I got blown out of the water 3 to 4 times before finally getting a hook set.
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Cocoa Beach Snook
Florida Sportsman member: Off Shore Dude
Went out of PC this morning hunting for tarpon with friend Capt. Alex Jr. On the water by 6:15 and saw no pogies till sunrise. Then they were everywhere. We didn't see a single tarpon all day!
However, we did run into some nice snook right off the beach. Once we realized there were snook around we started to target them. Hooked five and netted four. Caught them on pogies and all fish were released in good condition.
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Cocoa Beach Tarpon
Florida Sportsman member: Off Shore Dude
Went out this morning with my friends Alex and Bob. Ran down the beach - pogies everywhere. Found some Tarpon rolling and busting bait between 520 down to steeples. We did run down to patrick but the pogie pods disappeared south of steeples. Was kind of weird but the water off Patrick
