Took a charter out with Capt. Travis Tanner in the Indian River a few weekends ago, brought my dad along to target the reds. He had caught one before, but had never targeted them. We booked a 1/2 day trip, but as the redfish kept coming aboard, we kept staying out, eventually extending to a full day trip.
I picked up the first one, and my first ever, about an hour and a half after we started. We began by fishing for ladyfish to use as cut bait (redfish candy!), and picked up a pair of jacks that came rolling through in a big school. From there, we moved into the flats for the reds. All told, we got about a dozen, ranging from slot-size to 32". No giants, but enough to keep out light tackle matched. I also had my first snook on, but those nasty gill plates set it free. It must have known that it would have been the only fish to experience fillet and eat as opposed to catch and release. Also picked up a nice speck, the biggest I had ever gotten.
It was a great trip with a great captain. He worked hard to keep us in fish - as soon as one spot dried up, he got us into another productive area quickly, even though the sight-casting was mostly toast due to cloudy water or cloudy weather. My sister back in NJ said he's told his fishing story about four times to the same people, so we're getting him another trip for a holiday present. If anyone else wants a good reference in the central florida area, here's his site: http://www.indianriverredfish.com/
I've been on my share of crappy trips, so I want to spread the word when I find a guy who works this hard and produces, even in sub-par conditions.
LOL - yeah, that's part of my sig, guess I need to put a line in to distinguish it. We saw tarpon rolling too, but the jacks took our baits at the time we saw the silver kings. Could've been an inshore slam day ...
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First-time Redfish!
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