THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

Complete with resident alligator and turtles, the water was obviously stuffed with fish. Initially, what
species and sizes was difficult to say. Some of the locals were casting lures and talked of large mouth
bass, but I didn't see any caught. So next time I was in Wal Mart I bought a carton of worms, rigged up
my telescopic rod with a small float, and proceeded to catch a never ending stream of bluegills and
small bass.
I also saw an alligator gar patrolling the margins, and when I put a bait down on the bottom it was
bullhead catfish all the way. But the best fish of all came quite by chance.
I was float fishing at the time and was forced back inside by a sudden thunder storm, so I left the bait
in the water until it had passed.
When I got back out there was no sign of it anywhere. Fearing that the alligator had snapped it off I
wound in to re-tackle, only to find a big tilapia hanging on the end.
FLORIDA - PORT CANAVERAL
The day after the red drum session mentioned previously on the Banana River, and our final day fishing
up around that end of Florida, with the same guide as used previously, we decided to look for some of
the more open water species after putting the boat in at Port Canaveral.
Initially we stayed tucked inside, slowly trolling live-baits
along the edges of the harbour walls, which, using the same
ultra light tackle as for the red drum, produced some brilliant
sport with hard fighting crevalle jacks in the twelve to fifteen
pound bracket.
These might not sound like big fish, but jacks rate amongst
the hardest pound for pound fighting fish on the planet.
Later, when we'd exhausted that one, and ourselves, it was
decided we would head offshore to an area marked by a buoy
to fish for barracuda, stopping off on the way to take a look
under a patch of floating sargassum weed around which we
spotted some triple tails, one of which I managed to tempt on
a small shrimp bait.
Then it was back to the barracuda's on small live-baits. The
only problem was that if you fished with a wire trace to beat
the teeth, they could sense something was wrong and wouldn't
take. So we switched to heavy mono, got the takes, but then
got bitten off.
Paul Bennett, Jack Crevalle All very frustrating, followed by a good soaking on the way
back in as the afternoon sea breeze had kicked up quite a
chop which the small skiff proceeded to plough back through.
Some years later during a family holiday near Kissimmee, and looking for any excuse to escape the
theme parks, I persuaded my Grandson Josh and his uncle Steve to try a day out on one of the larger
head-boats out from Port Canaveral, where I thought that being aboard a big boat with all its on-board
facilities would be easier on them if it wasn't to their liking.
I hadn't taken any tackle over for that type of fishing thinking I would be doing other stuff on small
guided boats. But I did have a good selection of terminal gear to knock up some end rigs for the rods
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