Articles : Making a Business Trip, Into a Fishing Trip

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Making a Business Trip, Into a Fishing Trip:
Dolphin, Manatee, Sea Trout, and Red Fish on Florida’s Coastal Waters
By: Steven James Rusteberg

If your anything like me, you think in terms of fishing first, and business second. Unfortunately in today’s day and age, people have less time for the things they love. However, mixing business with pleasure is like the perfect blend of rum and pineapple juice. Often the perfect concoction will lead you to pleasure in both worlds.

Fishing is to business as golf is to corporate America. Everyone would like to get away but nobody can find the time. If you combine the two you can get just as much done as you would with a golf club in your hand. And make sure to let your superior know this. Weather you take your clients fishing on the company expenses account, or you need some time away from that boring business conference, angling will allow you to make that transition from business to pleasure.

On a recent business trip to Orlando, Florida I found that perfect blend of business and pleasure. After several hours at the Orlando Convention Center our conference broke for lunch. This became the perfect time to scout the local phone book for fishing guides and local angling conditions. Many hotels with conseiers, will help you with this task for a little pocket change (charge it to the company). Was it Large Mouth Bass that was my quarry for this trip, or the beautiful salt waters of the Coastal Florida I was after? After talking to several Bass fisherman on the phone and finding local water temperatures too warm, I turned my efforts elsewhere and came across a local guide on a waterway just off the east coast of Florida. The guide’s name was Captain Pete Davison. He is a five-year veteran of the Indian River, a salt water tributary of the ocean.

Pete was onto a pattern he had been working for several days in search of sea trout and red fish. Days before I had contacted him he had shown moderate success with the red fish, and the weather channel was promising some of the best conditions coming. The ride was just short of fifty minutes from the convention center, and certainly if I can sit in a meeting for eleven hours, a fifty-minute casual drive to the coast was going to be good karma.

Captain Pete was at the dock… boat launched, fully loaded, and lines waiting to be cast, unlike, some other (so called) pro-fisherman I have had the pleasure (or nightmare) of fishing with. The Indian River is a shallow coastal waterway, directly across from Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center. As a matter of fact there is almost nowhere you fish that you can’t toque a glance over your shoulder and see the might tax dollar at work. The massive facility never leaves the background of this beautiful, nature abundant, location.

Captain Pete boat is a “polling flats boat” meant for fishing in the over abundance of shallow water the Indian River provides. Often times you cast at fish in less than two feet of water and a boat of this caliber is very necessary. Constant surface activity surrounds you as the captain poles along the shallow weedy flats looking for the sea trout and red fish. This is very much “sight fishing”. The hunt is to find the fish, then sneak up every so slowly into casting distance. Quiet is the key to getting close enough to land a cast near them. Then hang on! When a red fish takes your lure the drag will scream. This is one of the most bulldogging fish I have ever encountered. The fact that their bodies are made for high speed in shallow water doesn’t help the angler get control once the lure makes contact with the jaw.

Although Pete will supply all the tackle to make your day a success, you might want to bring a few small daredevil spoons, Bass Assign Plastic stick baits, or just some small jig s and grubs. This will be much more than you need, however, I know how some anglers don’t like to come empty-handed (myself included).

What really made this trip for me were the extra encounters we had with the local wildlife. A pod of Manatee (or sea cows) made it’s way up to the side of the boat on one drift. These harmless, fearless, mammals are incredible. They have no enemies with the exception of man, and often find their creosote of us getting the best of them. The pod came so close to the boat that touching (although illegal) was no problem. These animals are very protected by the government any disturbance is a fineable offence. All I can say is WOW! Captain Pete said it is almost a daily occurrence to see these awesome creatures while angling. What a bonus to the board room blahs… nature at arms length. You don’t get this close at Sea World!

Other wildlife that frequent the Indian River include the many schools of bottlenose dolphin, and lone swimming alligators. The ‘gators might get a little to close for your comfort, but all they are looking for are the fish that struggle on the end of you r rod. Most will keep their distance assuming lunch is not on the line.

I would highly recommend you give Captain Pete Davison a call next time you’re stuck on business in Orlando, Florida. Skip the long lines at Disney World, the high cost of Universal Studios, and the congestion of the tourist trap. Captain Pete guides three to five days a week at his leisure when the fishing is good (all year round). The man is a retired pilot and has given up the high stress (in a Jimmy Buffet kind of way) for something more pleasurable, red fish and sea trout guiding. Give him a call next time you are in the area at (407) 459-2838. Remember to keep the workday short and the fishing day long.