Captain Bob Bushholz
Jensen Beach, Florida
(772) 225-6436
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ALL YEAR LONG!!!!' | | Fishing Report for
October 15th, 2002
"Trout and More Trout"
It was another hot ("catching") and
cold ("fishing") week aboard Catch 22 with trout and bottom
fishing being the most productive. There were plenty of trout on the West
side of the Indian River near Walton Road. Using a combination of DOA and
live shrimp in 3-4 feet of water has been the ticket. Most of the trout
are running under 18" and ladyfish and small snook have been running
with the trout. We spent a fair amount of time in the Crossroads area this
week, jumping 4 tarpon, releasing 3 to 50lbs, with one escapee. The first
tarpon ate a live shrimp on a 2/0 -1/4oz trollrite. After a 30-minute
battle on 12 lb. test, Jim Matulis from East Berlin, Connecticut had his
first silver king, estimated at 50 lbs. It was actually a double hook-up
but #2 "poon" broke the line early in the fight. Elsewhere in
the inlet there was some nice action with jacks to 10 lbs. along with
scattered snook, flounder and ladyfish. Bottom fishing in this area near
slack tide has been hot, with plenty of mangrove and small mutton snapper.
The detached jetty is holding lots of smaller snapper that produces
some great rod-bending on Ultralite. It's pretty rocky in this area so I
prefer to use my homemade #1-¼ oz. trollrites. These hooks are bendable,
allowing the angler to straighten them when snagging rocks, saving a ton
of tackle. These trollrites work great using 6 lb. test.
Structure fishing around area bridges has been fair with some snook,
black drum, mangrove snappers and goliath grouper. There are still tons of
glass minnows around, but I think they're getting their fill causing
fishing to be down a bit.
Now, for the "fishing" part of the report instead of the
"catching". I ran two night trips last week that I would really
like to forget (and hope the charters don't hold against me). We did catch
fish but not the snook we were hunting. Ladyfish , jacks and big bluefish
have been chowing on the abundant finger mullet stacked up in the inlet
area. Sometimes too much bait can damper the fishing action. Last night in
the crossroads, finger mullet were so thick they almost dented my
pontoons. Another large patch of bait started outside Sandsprit Park and
continued north through Hell's Gate and halfway to the 10-cent bridge.
With 3 anglers I elected to fish open areas and not private lighted docks.
I'm giving serious thought to cutting my night charters to a max of 2
anglers. There would be many more possibilities and definitely prove to be
more productive.
Today's morning trip was a blast, with the Brocard Family. Four very
enthusiastic kids ages 5-10, with mom and dad, bagged a total of over 25
fish (all released) including mangrove, mutton and lane snappers, snook,
grunts, porkfish and even a stingray. The group had a big tarpon on
briefly but fishing 6-lb test was definitely no match for Mr. Tarpon. It's
always a thrill to get a great group of youngsters on the Catch 22.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Bob
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