With the Central Florida Shootout coming up, I wanted to get back to my roots and focus on some local areas that have produced well for me in the past. This week, I scouted out my home waters, the south end of the Banana River. I made it to my first spot just after sunrise, a long flat on the west side of the river, just north of the Pineda Bridge. As you can see from the video, the water on this side of the river is pretty clear, you could see the bottom in water depths of 1-3 feet.

Last weekend was a three day weekend for me and Mini tropical-like storm or not, I was going fishing. The name of the game was finding wind protected shore lines with some kind of structure.

Last trip in the Eau Gallie River, I saw schools or fun sized jack crevalle and rogue tarpon set off large bait pods near the US1 bridge. I ended up catching a few jacks but no tarpon despite seeing multiple roll near the boat. A nearby local fisherman saw my frustration missing a tarpon and reaffirmed “they are always back in here, and no one ever catches them.” Only having caught one tarpon before, flashbacks of the adrenaline rush motivated me to rise to the challenge.

Last week, in between crab buoy runs searching for tripletail, I turned into the Eau Gallie River for a mid-day break to check out the area for the first time. I haven’t scouted the whole river out yet, but the area I did drive through was holding a lot of bait. During my short visit, I saw pods of bait being blown up on, and tarpon rolling in the channel. I did pre-fish the area for a short amount of time, but no luck on artificial. So for this trip, I decided to return to the Eau Gallie River with live bait and hopes to get into some early spring tarpon action. I also thought this area may be similar to Crane Creek a couple of miles south and could be holding some large snook, so I was excited to have on board a live well full of croakers.

Spring Break, images of perfect Florida weather, sandbars, and perhaps an adult beverage or two. Instead, I found myself retying poles, replacing old hooks, and dreaming of getting out of the house. As a teacher, one of the few things that keeps me sane around this time of year is being out on the water, but it seems mother nature had other plans for this week. ..

Seeking refuge from the windy river, we found a mangrove-protected deep water canal that leads into a popular marina nearby. Today we started fishing around 4:30pm. The bite was hot early and mellowed out towards dusk. I believe between with the windy conditions during the day, and cooler temps during the evening, fish have moved back to deeper water. Also, the feeding habits have been later in the morning and earlier in the evening, during warmer water temps.

My first attempt at a fishing report. With strong 15-17mph winds coming out of the south east, I was looking for some wind breaks, with shallow to deep water drop offs. I managed to find some good wind current ripping through a popular weekend sandbar spot near the Pineda Bridge. This area is easily accessible from the southern “boat ramp” on the south side / east bound side of the bridge. From this ramp you can launch small skiffs, kayaks, and paddle boards. There is also always plenty of parking available as well.