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Fishing Report for Cocoa Beach, Merritt Island & Port Canaveral
Capt. Ron Presley
May 11, 2006
Cocoa Beach - Saltwater Fishing Report
May Starts Off With Hot Trout Bite
With a lot more mullet on the flats and channels, the trout bite has picked up considerably. It always happens this time of year when the spawn is on. Most of the fish have been coming on plastic mullet. The RipTide 3 inch or 4 inch model has been most productive. The favorite colors continue to be silver mullet and nite glow. Just like last year, the electric chicken is also a good color. Fish the plastics near the bottom and relatively slow. Retrieve them at a speed that will keep them swimming just off the bottom in 2 to 3 foot water around schools of mullet.
If you are not producing strikes, just stop the retrieve occasionally and let it settle on the bottom and then twitch it up and continue the retrieve. Change colors as the day goes along to test out the patterns. There are lots of fish above the 20 inch slot, so don’t forget you can only keep one if you are keeping them at all.
I had several different anglers with good trout catches this week. Unfortunately in a couple of cases it was the old story of “the big one got away”. In one case we just did not coordinate the net and the landing very well. This is something you should not take for granted. Keep your concentration level high with the person holding the net simply placing it in the water as a target while the angler leads the fish to the net. Once the fish is above the net, raise the net and boat the fish. You can often loose a fish by making passes at him with the net.
In the other case, a huge trout followed the RipTide Nite Glow right up to the boat and the strike occurred with only 6 or 7 feet of line between the angler and the fish. Wow, what a commotion! There is not much you can do about a situation like this, just hope your drag is not too tight and your rod limber enough to give the fish some play. In this case, the fish was there just long enough to give the angler a view of, in his own words, “the biggest trout I ever caught,” and he was gone. Like I said before, there is just not much you can do under these circumstances, it all happens so fast.
New Fish Attractant Spray
New Fish Attractant Spray
One angler, Berry, was experimenting with the new Blast Fish Attractant Spray that RipTide has formulated for their plastic lures. It is a specially formulated Shrimp-flavored spray that bonds to the plastic and releases a feeding stimulant for up to 30 minutes following application. Shortly after applying the Blast attractant he caught the two largest trout of the day. You might want to try it. Just go to their website at www.riptidelures.com to check it out.
So, for this week, cousins Jim and Bob, and father son team Berry and Mike, the trout bite was hot on the Banana River. They have all indicated they were ready to come back for some more.
Final Comments
As always, you can visit my website at www.inshorefishingadventures.com to view pictures of the fish we catch. That’s what it’s all about. Good fishin’.
On a scheduling note, The Costal Angler Magazine Fishing & Boating Expo will be held on May 19 -21 in Melbourne Florida at the Melbourne Auditorium. Mark your calendars and come by the Florida Guides Association Booth and say hi. Let me show you some RipTide lures and how I rig them. Also, we will be holding a kids fishing clinic at the show on Saturday the 20th of May. Plan on bringing your kid or a friend’s kid to the clinic and get them hooked on fishing.
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