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Taking the family on holiday to Florida this summer? TSF’s David Guest outlines why you simply can’t visit the USA’s sportfishing capital without squeezing in an exotic sea fishing adventure.Florida Fun

A surge of adrenaline courses through my veins as the incredibly sturdy

and solid boat rod in my hands groans into action, bending over almost double. The speed and ferocity of the take, even at a depth of 60 feet, takes me by surprise and I need all my strength to get the rod back into a comfortable position before I can fight whatever monster I’ve hooked. The vast Florida sun beats down and the humidity is high, so I’m already a sweaty mess before this fight begins, but I get even more worked up when one of our guides shouts: “It’s definitely a snapper. Snapper on!”

This is what I came here for!

Where is here? The Atlantic ocean, about 10 miles east of Cape Canaveral in Florida – home to the Kennedy Space Center, where man still ventures out on regular space missions. I actually feel like I’m on another world on this trip –

and the best thing is it’s a trip you could easily arrange as a small part of your regular family holiday to one of the world’s biggest tourist destinations. Thousands of Brits head to the Sunshine State each year to enjoy the very best that Disney World and the countless other tourist traps have to offer. You could be one of them – in which case, for not as much as you’d think, you can leave the family to enjoy a day of Mickey Mouse while you spend a day hunting for monsters of the deep.

The waters off Cape Canaveral are warm, relatively shallow and offer an embarrassment of riches when it comes to fishing. The term aquarium is probably most apt when you consider the species you could catch.

I’m here thanks to my day job as editor of Total Sea Fishing’s sister magazine Tackle Trade World, fresh from visiting ICAST, the world’s biggest sportfishing trade show, in Orlando. The trip I’m on was organised by

Embrace The MicroWave WayThe host for our fishing day was Orlando-based firm American Tackle – a perk of being editor of international fishing-trade magazine Tackle Trade World. This company has blown the fishing-tackle-component market apart with its revolutionary MicroWave guide system. Using these unusual looking but highly effective guides, we were all able to cast further and more accurately with far less effort required. If you haven’t tried them yourself, you really should! www.americantackle.us

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the kind folk at American Tackle, an Orlando-based fishing-tackle manufacturer and partner of my magazine. But it’s very easy to arrange a day out on a boat from Cape Canaveral. It’s a lively port with fishing captains everywhere you look ready to take you out for some sport. And, trust me, if you’ve travelled all that way anyway, you won’t want to miss out on this action.

Now, back to the fight…The thought of catching

a northern red snapper – a vibrantly coloured and aggressive member of the snapper family that’s native to the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico – is one of the main targets for me on this trip, so the suggestion that I might be in the midst of battle with one gets me tense. The fish are found cruising around wrecks on the ocean floor, and this one was tempted by a particularly pungent dead squid used as bait.

I’m pumping the rod in fairly formulaic fashion, but this fish is not giving

up easily – the snapper is a slab of pure, lean muscle, which is one of the reasons why it’s such fantastic eating as well as

David with a hefty red snapper.

Brook Oliva adds to the

snapper tally.

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sport. Encouragement is being offered to me very enthusiastically by Ben Stein, one of our guides and marketing man for American Tackle. He’s particularly excited because the day in July that we’re fishing has fallen conveniently in the two-week period where two snapper per boat are allowed to be taken to eat. The rest of the year it’s strictly catch and release because this is a species needing protection and conservation.

“Put the screws to him!” yells Ben as he notices fatigue setting in to my weary arms. The fight seems longer than it is simply because it’s so ferocious. Finally we see a crimson shape crest the surface and I know I nearly have him. Before I know it, Ben is over my shoulder with a gaff and the fish is in the boat. And what a fish! It’s not a monster size but it is my first-ever red snapper and I’m amazed by it. Catching

a new species for the first time is something that will continually give me a buzz in angling – I don’t think there’s anything better. Best of all, this fish has come within the first half an hour of fishing. With a whole day ahead of us, I’m on the verge of jumping in with excitement. However, noting the number

of sharks in Florida’s oceans, I think better of it!

I’m fishing with my colleague Rob Smith and also the man who has kindly offered his boat for the day, Brook Oliva. Brook works for American Tackle’s sister company Mud Hole, a custom-rod-component firm also based in Orlando. All

four of us are well up for the hunt for more fish.

A shout goes out from the rear of the boat and Rob is into a fish. Because this two-week period is quite lucrative for local anglers, there are several boats around us and we’re causing quite a stir being the only boat catching, with plenty of whooping and shouting to go with it!

Rob’s muscles are tested as the fish he has on darts deeper every time he gains ground on it.

“I think it’s a shark,” states Brook. “You can tell by the movement of the rod tip; they fight in longer, smoother tugs than snappers do. This area is heavily populated by lemon sharks, small members of the shark family that can actually get kind of annoying when you’re targeting other species as they’re greedy little fellows.”

The idea of catching a shark isn’t something that Rob nor I would consider annoying and this news actually spurs Rob on to get the fish up faster. Demonstrating that many winter months spent in a gloomy English gymnasium have paid off, Rob makes light work of the lemon shark and he’s kicking up a fuss in the boat before we know it.

“I just caught a shark –

awesome!” Rob exclaims as we pose for a quick photo before returning this mini-predator.

The next few hours pass very quickly as several more lemon sharks and another snapper caught by Brook are brought to the boat. Our technique involves hooking either livebaited small silver fish or dead squid onto sturdy wide-gape hooks sitting above a significant weight to allow us to reach the ocean floor quickly. This simple method of jigging is not only an easy way to fish but also extremely effective. If you’re using the right bait, you’ll have an action-packed day.

We also take some time to throw lures around as we spot a dolphin fish (mahi mahi) sailing past our boat while we’re on the move. Ben takes several casts at the shimmering green/yellow shape before a huge smash of water sees the fish take the lure. But before we can get too excited the fish comes off and displays a multicoloured side at us before retreating to deeper water – gutted!

As the fishing dries up in

one spot we move to another and it’s not long before a few more species are tamed. Rob and I hook into fish almost simultaneously as we arrive in a new spot. No matter how many times you go out in a boat, wherever it is in the world, the excitement of a double-hook-up is something I will always love. We’re both praying for snappers (particularly Rob who has yet to snare one) and are both surprised to see triggerfish arrive on the surface. A species known to UK anglers, the triggerfish can be caught in the much more familiar surroundings of Chesil Beach among other places, but there’s something about the waters of Florida that gives it an edge. It’s another new species for both of us and we’re both pretty happy.

The fish are returned and, as the day gets longer, we notice just how

amazingly calm the weather is. We’re 10 miles out at sea and the water is like an enormous mirror expanding out as far as the eye can see. This giant mirror is making the conditions enjoyable for fishing and those who suffer from sea sickness, but also unbearably hot. It’s vital you stay hydrated on a trip like this so make sure you have a cooler filled with ice and more water than you need.

The conditions are not the only battle left for us to face, though. There’s one more species that’s set to grace our boat, but it’s very close to being another lost monster.

Rob hooks into a fish, but this time it’s different. He adopts the same stance as before but line is

screaming off his reel.“This is a big boy, take it

easy Rob, let him have a little slack,” advises Ben. It’s clear that we’re into something serious here… but then disaster strikes.

“I think it’s stuck,” Rob says. He can’t move the fish and the line is very tight. Ben and Brook think that whatever’s hooked has dived for cover under a rock and we may have to give up.

“Just an idea, put the reel in free-spool mode and let him have no tension,” Ben says. “It’s risky as there’s no line tension, but he might

eventually think he’s escaped and move off, in which case we can hit him again.” Rob

complies but looks dejected. I am too. I feel like we’ve lost a truly special fish. As we all sit around

and joke about

An Aquarium At SeaThe warm and relatively shallow waters off the east coast of Florida are not only home to a huge array of sportfish that you’ll want to have a cast at. If you’re very lucky like we were, you’ll see a whole host of exotic marine life, including hammerhead sharks, dolphins, flying fish, jellyfish and pretty much anything else you can think of that might be behind the glass at SeaWorld. It’s easy to see why Florida is one of the top saltwater sportfishing destinations in the world.

Rob’s muscles are tested as the fish he has on darts deeper every time he gains ground on it. “I think it’s a shark,” states Brook.

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Rob Smith takes the fight to a lemon shark.

Lemon shark landed – but not without a struggle.

Triggerfish – a species familiar to

UK sea anglers.

Brook pulls the trigger.

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what might have been, Rob’s reel suddenly begins giving out line. He grabs it, slams on the drag and the fight is back on. And it is some fight! Rob pumps and pumps and the fish just keeps on kicking. It’s a good 20 minutes before we see what we’ve caught… a grouper, a massive grouper! Our tension and excitement almost bubble over as Brook gaffs the fish and attempts to celebrate before it wriggles free and lands back on the surface. Panic sets in and time seems to stop as Brook rescues the situation and saves himself from some serious abuse! The fish is in and even Ben and Brook, two seasoned Florida anglers, are buzzing about it.

This fish caps off the day spectacularly and we’ve all reached that stage where

we’re both physically and emotionally drained. There’s only one thing for it, and that’s to head back to Cape Canaveral where a portside restaurant will cook your catches for just $10 each.

Most sea anglers will know that nothing beats eating a

fresh catch and when you’re encrusted with a day’s worth of sweat and saltwater, with arms aching all over and a sun-kissed face, it tastes all the sweeter.

Some of the other guys from American Tackle were also out on another boat

and they had similar joy but instead of a grouper they caught cobia.

Our fish is freshly cooked up and we toast a fantastic day’s fishing. Florida has a lot to offer any sea angler and I can’t recommend taking to a boat enough!

VIDEO See how Rob tamed

and very nearly lost the

impressive grouper caught

on this trip at www.

totalseafishing.com.

Rob had a tense battle with this grouper.

The catch of the day goes down well with this hungry lot.