Member since: January 22, 2018
Capt. Jim is a professional saltwater fishing guide based out of Rockledge, Florida.
We had another great week here at Fineline fishing charters. Captain Justin and I have been on the water multiple days and have had some really good redfish catches in both the lagoon and near shore waters around Cocoa Beach. As we’ve mentioned in our last two Spacefish reports, this time of year can be absolutely fantastic for big bull redfish. We expect this action to continue for at least another 3 to 4 weeks based on our current water temperatures.
We’ve got some great news here at Fineline fishing charters. I am happy to say that I’ve been cleared by my doctor to start going back to work again. I’ve been put on “light” duty but with the help of captain Justin we are back in the game.
This past week has been awesome for us over at Fineline Fishing Charters. We have been consistently catching redfish of all sizes using mullet in the nearshore waters. Whether you want a great picture with a giant redfish or a nice slot size red to take home for dinner, now is the time to get out there. And if you want to catch sharks, I’m not sure there is a better time of the year. Hammer heads, bonnet heads, fine tooth, dusky, and many more sharks species are all over the place and even the little ones put up a good fight. There have also been jacks, Spanish mackerel, and bluefish to keep you busy in between the sharks and the reds.
It been a pretty tough week for Captain Justin. The rough seas had him cancelling or rescheduling almost all of his near-shore charters. One of the trips that he did manage to run was in the Indian River near Sebastian Inlet. Justin was hoping for cleaner water conditions than what we are experiencing farther north in the lagoon system. Though the water was slightly better down there, the bite was horrible that day. In fact, of the three boats that were fishing this multi-boat trip, only one had more than two fish. Justin’s clients landed a 4 to 5-pound speckled trout and a jack — and that was it.
Fishing this past week was not as good as we had hoped for in the Cocoa Beach and Titusville areas. A stalled frontal system gave us rainy and windy conditions over central Florida. Captain Justin did manage to get a few days on the water inside the calmer regions of the Banana and Indian River lagoons, so at least he was able to take a few of his clients that booked with him last week.
Captain Justin reports that the mullet are running strong along the beaches right now. He’s been catching jacks, ladyfish, bluefish, redfish, snook and Spanish mackerel on his recent trips outside of Port Canaveral. This active area will be the main focus of our charters for the next 2 to 3 weeks. We should also see an increase in the number of tarpon, sharks and king mackerel coming to the beaches looking to feed on the mullet.
This week’s winds and rough ocean conditions have us plying the lagoons for speckled trout and redfish. Water levels in the Indian and Banana River Lagoons are way up. This is allowing these fish to access places they don’t normally get to go. In some cases we can’t get our boats way back in these flooded marsh and mangrove areas so we stage at the entry points and use cut baits or noisy lures like top water plugs to create awareness of our offerings to these fish.
We talked about it in last week’s article and right on schedule the mullet run has started along the Space Coast beaches. Anglers up and down from Playalinda Beach to Melbourne Beach are cashing in on these little nuggets of Silver that are swimming south. Captain Justin has been catching shark, tarpon, king mackerel, bluefish, jacks, snook and a variety of other fish as they feed on these bait pods.
Captain Justin Ross and myself here at Fineline Fishing Charters have been eagerly awaiting the opening of our east coast fall snook season. This kicks off what will be two great months of fishing in the Port Canaveral and Sebastian Inlet areas for our Charter clients.
As we reported last week, the Indian and Banana River Lagoons have turned into something resembling pea soup throughout the central and northern portions of these bodies of water. The neon green algae bloom is making it extremely difficult to spot fish, or even catch fish on some days. We’ve been searching to find cleaner conditions and fish over the past two weeks and it hasn’t been easy.
“If you want to!”
Red Snapper soon is just around the corner with dates soon to be announced…
Capt. Jim Ross says he catches mangrove snapper like this one with light leaders and small hooks, which will get you more bites on the mangroves than standard bottom tackle.
Beating the storm, hitting that black drum bite!
The black drum bite is still booming in the Lagoon!
Big barracuda caught with Capt. Jim Ross
