Capt Doug Blanton Cocoa Beach Fishing Guide

Summary
The bait has returned. Every year the bait pushes south, back into the channels and into deeper holes when the water cools in the winter. As the water temperature rises and stabilizes huge schools of bait start working their way back onto the flats to feed. Even though most of the predators continue to work the shallows they spend most of their time eating shrimp, crabs and other baitfish. Now that the mullet and glass minnows have returned most of these predators switch over to eating them.
This week that has been the case. It was a beautiful site this week watching a school of reds busting schools of mullet. They would chase them up and down the flat. It was like watching a school of jacks or blues working. This means one thing to us light tackle fisherman. TOP WATER.
Over the years I has told countless people that they haven’t caught a redfish until they have done it on the surface. It is one of the most exciting things to watch when you make a cast at a school of fish and get to see a red come out of the school like a torpedo chasing its target. Just before they are close enough to take the bait they lift their heads out of the water. You can see a hole form in the water and the fishes eyes as he busts your lure.
We have also been having some pretty good trout days over the past few weeks. Most have been around 4 to 6 pounds but they have been happy to take a top water plug as well. We are also catching some nice snook around the mangroves and docks and a few tarpon as well. Needles to say, it is a pretty good time to get a line wet.
Redfish
We have a few schools of reds starting to work the flats here in Cocoa Beach. I wish I could tell you where they were hanging out but it has been different from day to day. One day the are working the skinny water in less than a foot and the next they are working the deeper edges of the flats in up to 4 feet. The trick has been to find the smaller schools of bait that are all over the flats. None of the reds we have caught have been near the larger schools of mullet.
Our best catches have come on the 3.25 FS Rip Roller and the 4.25 FS Original High Roller. Now that the water has become a little more stable we have sped up our retrieve and started try to make our bait look like something running. This works great with the larger fish as long as you keep it in front of them and make it look like something trying to get away.
Rattle Mullet has been the fly of choice around these fish. It has also been great on days when the puffers are all over the flats. It hasn’t been rocket science. Stick it in front of them and strip fast. Trust me, they can catch up.
Trout
Our best trout bite has been in the early morning or in mid afternoon. All have been in the sandy pockets in areas where there is a lot of larger mullet. Our best luck has come on the 4.25 FS High Roller on calm days and the 4.25 Rip Roller on the windier days. When you are looking to catch big trout remember it is all about the long cast. I also try to always put the sun in my face so that the fish don’t see us as well. Our best catches have come in 2 feet or less. The trick has been to pole in the deeper water and work the shallows.
On fly the ticket has been Bubble Heads. This is one of the most unique top water flies to hit the market in a while. It spits and sprays driving the trout crazy. When working any top water fly for trout make sure you make the fly make some noise. Most poppers imitate the sound of something striking the surface. With that in mind you want to make sure any trout within 4 or 5 feet feels she is missing out and needs to get get it before someone else does.
Tarpon and Snook
The snook have been working the docks of Cocoa Beach pretty good over the past few weeks. Our best catches have come in areas where the water is at least 3 feet or deeper under the dock. As the water warms up even more we will start to see more of them in shallower water. All of our fish have been in areas where there have been a lot of glass minnows or smaller mullet. We have caught a few on top water but most are being caught on small grubs or twitch baits.
The tarpon are tarpon. As normal they do what they want when they want. We may see a lot of them in one place then not again for a week. I think since the water is warming up they are starting to move around more in search of bait. Last year when they did this they all started moving out to the deeper edge of the flats near sandbars not to far from their winter holes.
Other stuff
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
www.SightFishing.com 
 
To book a trip with Capt Doug click here or call 321-432-9470
 
Cocoa Beach Fishing Guide

Flats Report for Cocoa Beach & Titusville areas
April 13th, 2008 fishing report by Capt Doug Blanton
Summary
We have had some interesting days on the water over the past month. The fishing was pretty good. The reds were tailing and the gator trout were on the flats. Then it rained. The front that pushed through came at the same time that the water level was beginning to rise from the spring surge on the beach. Within a few days the water level came up over a foot in some places. This is always a time we look forward to in Cocoa Beach. Every year when this happens the fish start moving up into areas they haven’t gone to feed for months. This year it made the fish on the flats wired for a few days. It did turn on the snook and tarpon though.
Now things are starting to go back to normal for this time of year. Over night the reds turned on to top water. The bigger trout started moving back to their spawning areas and a ton of mullet showed up. It looks like spring has come.
Redfish
We still have mixed bags of reds working the flats in Cocoa Beach. I always get a kick out of a school that holds 10 to 35 pound fish. Most of the schools we find have fish all within a few pounds of each other. We do have one school of reds with 30+ pounders but you have to work for them. They are very shy and like to hang in 2 to 4 feet on the outside edge of the flats.
In the early mornings the reds have been willing to take a top water plugs. We put a few in the boat over the last few weeks with the 3.25 Rip Roller but our better catches have come on the 4.25 High Roller. The High Roller has a softer action and still casts like a much larger plug. When the fish have been becoming a little spooky around plugs we have been doing real well with the new Bass Assassin Blurp. Our best luck over the past few weeks has come on the Pearl 4 inch Sea Shad.
On fly we continue to have our best luck with ether the olive rattle mullet or the pinfish EP patterns. The trick with these flies has been to let them find the fly and strip it away like something trying to run from them. They have been real slow to take a slow moving fly.
Trout
The trout spawn is starting in Cocoa Beach. This means we are in for some of the best Gator Trout fishing this area has to offer. Please, Please remember these fish are restocking our fishery. If you like to catch big trout, put all of the trout over 20 inches back! If you were hear in the 80’s you will remember what is was like to not have any big trout. Before then the fishing was great. Then the netters came and RAPED our fishery. With the help of FCA now CCA Florida in 1994 we put a stop to the netting. In 1999 I had the best year I have ever had fishing big trout. We boated 37 trout over 30 inches with top water. In 2000 we boated a trout that weighed in at 16 pounds. Between 2000 and 2006 we have caught more big trout than I have in my life. I can’t say that today. We have some good days out there but nothing like we did. So what changed. Over the past few years I have seen more clueless people at the dock cleaning big trout this time of year. I have seen many with their bellies red from spawning that these yahoos were cleaning. The trout need your help. Please return these fish to the water unharmed so that you can feel the tug again another day. Don’t take me wrong. I like to eat fish more than most, but, I do not rape pregnant fish to have a meal. In most Native American Languages the word for “white man” means, someone who always takes and never gives anything in return. As sport fisherman we should adopt these words as names for the people who keep spawning fish.
I will get down off the soap box now and say that most of these fish we have been catching on the 4.25 Rip Roller. All of these big girls have been in areas with larger mullet in 1 to 2 feet of water. You need a long cast and to be very quite if you want the hookup.
Tarpon and Snook
We have tarpon and snook in some of the deeper holes near mangroves! That is all I’m going to say.
Other stuff
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
www.SightFishing.com 
 
To book a trip with Capt Doug click here or call 321-432-9470
 

Cocoa Beach Fishing Guide