Capt. Doug Blanton's Cocoa Beach Fishing Report
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Flats Report for Cocoa Beach & Titusville areas
April 15th, 2009 fishing report by Capt Doug Blanton
Summary
The cooler winter has been great for the water clarity. Our flats are almost gin clear in a lot of places. The backside of the cooler weather has been things are now running about a month behind. The bait has finally shown up in some pretty good numbers. The Gator trout are starting to push up on the flats to spawn. The only thing that is still running a little slow are the larger schools of reds consistently being on our flats. We have a few nice schools of up to 50 fish but I have yet to see a school over 100. I can say that most of our fish have been around 25 to 30 pounds.
To sum it up. It's on it's way so keep the faith. Any day our typical spring fishing will be here.
Redfish
As I said above we still haven't had the larger schools of reds working our flats here in Cocoa Beach. We are catching a few nice fish up to 30 pounds but most of the schools we have been fishing are smaller schools holding 25 to 50 fish. Historically by this time we have a few schools with as many as 500 fish. I still have hope that we will see that soon.
The good news is we have started to catch these fish on Top Water Plugs. They are not real aggressive with them yet so we have had to baby them a little by doing what I call a lazy walk. By this I mean slowing the Walk The Dog retrieve down by half to a quarter the normal speed until the reds start to chase it. We have had our best luck making long leading casts to the schools and letting them find the plug before we have been speeding it up.
Most of our reds have been in very shallow water in the early mornings. All have been on flats that have a good amount of bait and some times they have been schooled up with the bait. As the day warms up and more bait starts moving up on the flat the reds have been pushing out into a little deeper water. Most days these deeper reds have been dragging their bellies so we have had to work areas real slow to find them. When working reds acting this way be very aware of every noise you make and how fast you work an area. If you push through too fast you may miss them or just blow the school out.
On Fly we have been catching a few of these nice fish on white clousers in the afternoons and olive rattle mullet in the mornings. We have had a lot of blow fish on the flats so bring a box full or make them out of synthetic tying material. I would also stay away from rabbit and marabou because you may only get a cast or two before you have to change out.
Trout
The big gator spawning trout are just starting to work their way onto the flats in Cocoa Beach. We have only caught a few pushing 7 pounds so far this year so we still have some big fish to come. Historically we catch a few trout every week in the 10 to 12 pound range this time of year. And as I said last year, I want one of my clients to catch the next world record. Our biggest so far caught here in cocoa was 16.8 pounds caught on top water.
When fishing these bigger trout remember BIG BAITS for BIG TROUT. I don't throw anything under a 4.25 High Roller. Personally I love High Rollers 6.5 High Roller. Also, when fishing Big trout keep in mind they know when you are on the flats fo keep a low profile, make long casts and keep all movement to a minimum. I have heard time and time again that you can't catch big trout from a boat, this is not true. You can catch them a little easer as long as you think about fishing these fish as a hunter and not a fishermen. That 16.8 we caught from the boat.
Most of these big girls are holding in the very shallow water near drop offs or deeper flats. They are working the areas in and around schools of larger mullet. When I'm looking for Gator Trout I always look for the largest schools of the biggest mullet on the flats. Another good thing to look for is flats with a little taller and thicker grass. These big trout like to sit in the sandy holes waiting for their next meal.
Tarpon and Snook
Tarpon and snook are still working the deeper shorelines of the Banana River. with the warmer water we have started to catch a few nice snook around docks when the bait is around. Our best catches have been on Green Back 3.25 Rip Rollers in the early mornings and small suspending twitch baits in the afternoon.
On the days that the Tarpon are eating we have been having our best luck with small glass minnow flies. I'm sorry spin fisherman but they don't make a lure small enough to catch these fish at this time.
Other stuff
For those of you wanting to put together a trip to this area my wife is now booking hotel rooms for my clients. She can get you a rate as good as any of the online sites and knows what places are nice and the ones you want to stay away from. There is no charge for this service and she can book any hotel you want. She also does airline tickets, car rentals and cruises
Many of you have asked me over the years about the Fishing Lanyard I wear. I have started making them for the Fly Fisherman and they now have them in both stores. These make a great gift for the fisherman that has everything else. I now also have them on my website at this link Fishing Lanyards.
until next time.....
Get out there and catch a memory.
Capt. Doug Blanton
To book a trip with Capt Doug click here or call 321-432-9470
Pictures of fish caught on my charters
Here is the "Inshore Flats Kit" High Roller put together with my favorite High Roller Lures. This is a must for redfish, trout, snook and tarpon. Click on this link for more information on High Rollers Inshore Flats Kit.
Places to find the lures I use.
In Titusville go to the Fly Fisherman or call 321-267-0348
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