FINELINE FISHING CHARTERS- ORLANDO, COCOA BEACH, and DAYTONA BEACH AREA FISHING REPORT by CAPTAIN JIM ROSS
If you are in the Orlando area and like to eat what you catch, then you need to book your Fineline Fishing Charters fishing excursion now! Tripletail have invaded the Cocoa Beach area just outside of Port Canaveral over the past few weeks. These hard fighting game fish not only pull drag off your reel, they taste great! Orlando area anglers can normally catch their limit of tripletail on a half-day near-shore fishing trip. Cocoa Beach is located only 45 to 50 minutes due east of the Orlando area, and about one hour south of Daytona Beach, so it is very convenient for most people living in or vacationing in the central Florida area to get to this great fishing destination. The tripletail should stay around the Orlando area for another month or so. I am also planning Cocoa Beach area fishing trips for cobia out of Port Canaveral at this time. The cobia will be migrating into the Orlando, Cocoa Beach, and Daytona Beach areas after leaving their wintering grounds farther to our south. I expect a pretty good spring run of cobia this year as the Orlando area has had quite a bit of cold weather which usually help improve the fishing for this highly prized species. Whiting and Pompano are two other species that we are catching in the Cocoa Beach and Daytona Beach areas right now. These are also great tasting fish, and like the cobia and tripletail get invited home for dinner on regular basis.
The Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River lagoon located south of the Daytona Beach area, and east of the Orlando area will continue to be good fishing destinations. These pristine back waters and shallow flats can hold redfish, black drum, and trout year round, but usually become a little more productive starting around the first week or so of March. The black drum bite has been good when we can find them schooling on the edges of the flats or holding near structure in these areas. I’ve had anglers catch black drum ranging in size from 1 to about 40 pounds on our Orlando area fishing trips over the last three weeks. The redfish and trout bite will get better over the next month or so in the Daytona Beach and Orlando areas. Redfish and trout will be the two most common species we will catch from about march through the summer months. Black drum should still be possible in the Orlando, Cocoa Beach, and Daytona Beach area Lagoons even though the water will begin warming into the mid and upper 70 degree range. Once it hits around the 80 degree mark the black drum action slows down most of the time. I’m looking forward to lighter winds as we move farther into the spring, this will allow me to get my poling skiff back on the water for my technical anglers that like to sight fish in the shallow flats. It’s been quite windy in the Orlando area so far this year, and my Skeeter bay boat has seen most of the fishing action over the past two months. Once the redfish start tailing on the flats again this month, my tunnel hull flats boat becomes a better option for us to fish out of on most days.
If you’re looking for a fun day on the water while you are in the Orlando, Daytona Beach, or Cocoa Beach areas of central Florida, make sure you book an excursion with me-captain Jim Ross of Fineline Fishing Charters (www.finelinefishingcharters.com) so that we can go out and catch your next memory! Please check the reservation page of my web site for available dates and pricing associated with the various fishing excursions that I provide for my anglers when they are in the Orlando, Daytona Beach, or Cocoa Beach areas.
