i'm in the melbourne / palm bay area. I'm afraid i can't help you much on the river yet. just moved here at the first of the year and i've only been to the river a couple of times without much luck cause i have no ideal of where to go or how to do it yet. plus the weather has been down right shitty here lately. The wind just won't stop blowing when i'm able to get out.
Yeah Mag, it's unreal how bad the weather is. Terrible.
I sat next to a guy on the plane back from Atlanta to MLB, and he mentioned what he does is wade and walk from dock to dock in the river and jig right in there. Says he came back with more snook than he could eat, so he was a very popular guy for a while. Now, of course, their 'restricted'...
I worked on charter and party boats chasing grouper and snapper for almost 6 years....if you really want a decent chance at catching grouper, ask around at the local docks about the captain that goes the farthest, in the worst weather, and brings back a nice catch and you'll find a captain that will damn near kill a mate trying to put you on nice fish.
The boat I worked on for the majority of my time was called the Southwind and we really weren't fair-weather fisherman. We had a pretty solid, hardcore fisherman base, and we fished hard if it was tough going. I pulled our anchor 17 times on a 10 hour trip because the bite was slow all day. We had a reputation of being a little gung-ho, but the piles of fish at the end of the trip justified it to us.
If you REALLY want a shot at nice big grouper and snapper, I recommend doing an overnight trip of some sorts....at least 24 hours. It gives the Captain time to venture out into the areas that don't get pressured nearly as heavily, and puts you into a whole 'nother league of fish. Keep a flat-line out with a sardine on a bedded stinger rig at each stop and be sure to experiment with different bait combinations and leader size.
Lemme check with my pal Cappie. He's a retired fire chief and works over at Port Canaveral as a harbor master. He goes out all the time and he'd know who to go out with. I'll PM you with the info.
Who was running the boat when you fished on the Southwind, Hellbilly? About 5-6 years ago the boat switched hands from a Captain Jerry to a Captain Hans Evald. I fished with both of them, but Hans was by far the better fisherman. If Jerry did you right, you should book a trip with Hans.
I know Hans was working some tournaments for billfish down south for a little bit, but I talked to him 5-6 weeks ago and he was still kicking in Ft. Myers Beach, though the regulation and economy damn near has everyone sunk down there. Thankfully a doctor owns the boat and is happy to have tax write-offs for the failing business.
