Corporate Retreat Charters

July 10 -- The Resnicks

2009-07-13T10:54:00.000-07:00

Please remember to visit my website at http://www.corporateretreatcharters.com/

Justin, Fran and 11-year old Jake fished out of the St. Lucie Inlet with me, looking for "anything that would bite". Besides a couple of fish, they also re-emphasized the lesson "don't stop until you're COMPLETELY out of bait."

Jake began the fun with a nice little 3-pound jack he caught right on the edge of the beach, in about a foot of water. The jack might not have pulled the scale all the way to the edge, but it managed to run Jake around th boat a couple of time and try to break off in the prop before he finally got it to the boat. That's part of the joy of light tackle fishing!

We ran out to get some more bait and then came back to the inlet, hoping for some big snook. It looked like, once again, we were going to run out of bait, but I found one last threadfin hiding behind the standpipe in the well and stuck on Justin's hook. Not 30 seconds after the last bait of the day hit the water, Justin was pulling hard to keep a 12-pound jack out of the woods and submerged logs where we were fishing. The fish made three or four really hard ( I know, because I had the drag pretty tight 0n the Shimano reel) runs. When Justin got him to the boat and I got him in the boat, the hook immediately fell out onto the deck.

June 12 -- Steve, Lance and Casey, Round 2

2009-06-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

Please remember to visit my website at http://www.corporateretreatcharters.com/

The Georgians came back for Round 2 of St. Lucie Inlet snook. This time: More baits and more time equaled more snook.

After a run to the 14 Buoy for more baits, we hit the inlet to catch the last of the outgoing tide. Ten casts brought in 8 fish and the Georgia boys were on fire. The best part was the water was shallow enough that you could see the bite happen and watch the sardine get inhaled by the snook.

Casey even got in on the action and reeled in a few standing on the deck and holding his own rod.

With the tide change, we headed out the inlet and set up near the rocks. Lance's favorite rock (the one with the flat, dry top), if you want to be exact.

It didn't take long for the big fish to figure out we had the baits they wanted and the action was non-stop for a little while as Steve and Lance fought (sometimes unsuccessfully) to keep the fish out of the rocks. Casey assumed his spot on the leaning post and reeled in the bigger fish with the rod in the holder.

All told, the final count was 20 snook. All very near, in or above the slot limit.

June 9 -- Snook fishing with Steve, Lance and Casey

2009-06-09T11:15:00.000-07:00

Please remember to visit my website at http://www.corporateretreatcharters.com/

Steve, Lance and Casey were down from Georgia, breaking in summer with a couple days of rest on Hutchinson Island. Part of that time, they decided, was going to be spent fishing for snook with Corporate Retreat Charters and Capt. Mike Readling.

After a run out to the 14 Buoy for some baits, they headed back and poked around a couple spots before landing on the detached jetties in the St. Lucie Inlet. Steve was the first one hooked up, wrestling his first-ever snook away from the rocks and to the boat. The 36-incher was thick shouldered and stuck around long enough for a few pictures and nice release (not to mention the evil eye stare as it swam away).

Lance jumped in on the action and pulled another snook off the jetty and to the boat. Next, it was 7-year old Casey's turn to mark snook off of his lifetime checklist. Lance hooked it, Steve put Casey on the leaning post, facing backwards with the rod in one of the rod holders. Despite a couple runs for the rocks, the linesider made it to the boat and Casey stuck his thumb in the mouth of his first snook.

But he wasn't done. The last bait of the day got gobbled up by another 36-incher and Casey assumed his position on the leaning post, reeling in another monster. This one was big enough that he had to put his entire arm underneath it to support it for the picture.

Great day guys! Thanks.

May 9-10: Big jacks, a few sharks and a nice snook

2009-05-13T10:14:00.000-07:00

Please remember to visit my website at www.CorporateRetreatCharters.com.

Scott and Dylan (he's the little one) came down from Meridian, Mississippi for a couple days of fishing in Stuart and Jensen Beach. The main target was sharks since this was Dylan's birthday present, so we headed up the beach in search of some spinners, black tips, bulls and whatever else we could find.
On the way up, I saw a big school of jacks swimming by, about 100 yards off the boat. So, we turned around, got in front of them and tossed out a Sebile Splasher. For those of you who haven't seen one of these Splashers before, you have to see the water this thing moves when you pop it. Amazing.

The lure landed in front of the school, he popped it twice and then fought to stay in the boat the next 20 minutes as that jack too off.

The 24-pounder securely in the boat and ready to be used for bait, we continued out trek up the beach, passing three or four more schools of the big jacks.
At the shark spot -- Shark Territory, as Dylan kept exclaiming -- I cut a slab off the jack and tossed it out while the carcass hung in the water right behind the boat. Within about 30 minutes there was a BIG shark about 40 yards off the boat doing ever-tightening circles. It looked like a lemon shark, and ran about 7 feet long. He lined up behind the boat, in the chum line and right over one of the baits, but another boat came blowing up from behind it and we never saw the shark again.
We redeployed the baits and finally got a hook-up (between boat traffic) with a jumping, twirling spinner shark. I set Dylan on the leaning post, kneeling and facing back so he could reel on the fish with the rod in a rod holder. He reeled a couple times but the shark broke off. We put more bait out and hooked another shark, this one much smaller, who was content to just splash on the surface and make quick runs. He eventually broke off too.

The next day the water temp dropped 15 degrees to 61 (thank you cold water upwelling) so we ran all the way back down the beach to the flats and fished for snook. We got a couple real good hits on the big greenies we had and managed to get this one to the boat. Dylan reeled it all by himself, while I held the rod through the jumps and runs.
The cold water should have moved on to the flats by now and shut down the bite for a week or two, but it was nice to get in some good fishing before that happened!

May 1 -- Offshore permit out of Stuart

2009-05-06T10:51:00.000-07:00

Please check out my website for more photos and fishing reports, http://www.corporateretreatcharters.com/.

The day started with my boss (Mike), the Yamaha Southeastern Saltwater Promotions Director (Mike D.) and myslef (Mike R.) fishing the Sailfish Point flats. After about an hour of seatrout (up to 6 pounds or so), jacks and bluefish (lots of bluefish), we decided to head offshore to see if we could run into a school of permit that was in about 40 feet.

Grabbed some crabs and headed east! When we got to the spot, we found more barracuda than anything else -- until Mike spotted a mass of dark backs coming our way. Mike D. was the first to throw his crab and it was immediately sucked in. Mike and I sat back and watched him fight the fish on tackle that was far too light for what we were doing. And we had quite the fun time doing it!

After about 20 minutes we pulled the 35-pounder into the boat and went back to what we were doing. In the meantime, a 29-foot Everglades pulled up and anchored on the rock pile we were fishing. They had no idea what they were doing and, between dropping their shrimp to the bottom and reeling up empty hooks, we were pulling 30-plus pound permit from right under their hull. If they had looked up they would have seen about 300 permit mooning and shining all around their boat.

I got my chance when I cast my crab about 10 feet from the Everglades and hooked up, working hard to keep the hard-running fish out of the other guy's anchor line. Mike D. fed a decent-sized mutton snapper a crab and then threw it back before we had a chance to filet it for dinner.

Then Mike and Mike D. socked into a doubleheader, leaving me to snap pictures and wait for a fish to come close enough to grab it. We ended up with 5 fish on 8 crabs and 4 permit, all 0ver 25 pounds.

All in all, one heck of a great day offshore. And it's only going to get better!!

April 9 -- Charter fishing in the St. Lucie Inlet

2009-04-11T11:35:00.000-07:00

Please check out my website for more photos and fishing reports, http://www.corporateretreatcharters.com/.

The Owen family was in town from Georgia celebrating Spring Break and enjoying a little charter fishing trip in the St. Lucie Inlet.

Michael, Sydney and mom, Allison, spent a half day fishing the docks and shorelines of the inlet, listening to drags scream and watching fish pop baits off the surface. The day started with Sydney reeling in the first snook, watching the release and then catching another to release on her own, using the famous Let-It-Suck-Your-Thumb method.

Ater the tide changed, we head out on the beach, hoping to run into a school of the big jacks that have been marauding baits the past few weeks. We found the school, but the fish were more interested in tormenting fishing guides by appearing and then disappearing as soon as the bait hit the water. We learned that lesson pretty quick and headed back inside for more outgoing tide snook.

We found the pocket where the fish were holding and kept bombarding them pilchards. Sydney hooked and reeled in several of her own, while Michael kept his reel screaming. Even Allison got in on the action with a couple jacks.

All told, the day produced 12 to 15 snook, a couple grouper and several hard-pulling jack crevalle. Thanks to the Owen Family for stopping by for a great Thursday!!

April 5 -- Diggin' the dolphin offshore

2009-04-07T06:56:00.000-07:00

More photos and information at http://www.corporateretreatcharters.com/

Shawn Steele, down from St. Petersburg, and I found a nice, smooth day and headed offshore in search of dolphin. It's April and that means the big mahi should be moving along the East Coast. Anywhere from about 120 feet to 330 should hold the fish and some of the biggest ones of the year are caught this month.

I'd heard the Gulf Stream was only 10 miles out of the St. Lucie Inlet and that was where we were headed. Live bait in the wells and some strong braid on the reels and we were ready to go.

Shawn caught a small "sandwich" dolphin pretty soon after we started drifting in about 175 feet but he was a solo and barely big enough to bother cleaning so back in he went. Nothing happened for a while, unless you count a really cool funnel cloud spinning off the bottom of some storm clounds about 12 miles out!

We were moving a little deeper when I spotted a couple schools of flying fish scattering across the surface. It looked like they were jumping from the white caps, until I realized those white caps were a fish blowing up on the bait. We ran right to the explosions and, when we were about 100 feet away, you could see a decent-sized dolphin all lit up blue and green gobbling baits. We pitched a pilchard and a BIG live mullet and he came right to them, crunching the mullet hard. The bull spit the mullet, then jumped right back on it and then ate the pilchard as well, meaning we were both hooked into him at the same time. He jumped once and spit the pilchard, but kept the mullet and the hook.

A few more jumps and he was gaffed and iced. He weighed out between 35 and 40 pounds.

March 20---Shimano Snookin'

2009-03-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

Please visit my website at http://www.corporateretreatcharters.com/

So, as part of the "real job" we had to go out and take some pictures with the new Shimano Voltaeus fishing rod. We were looking for big snook, even though Mother Nature was telling us to stay home and let the winds die down. Unfortunately, we didn't have until June to wait, so it was off to the Sailfish Point flats with a live well full of beautiful pilchards, a couple Rapala X-Rap Subwalks and the Voltaeus rod and Shimano Symetre reel (borrowed from one of my other rods).

The winds were nasty the water was all choppy and very un-fishy like. We were even chumming with smaller live pilchards and weren't getting any pops or splashes from feeding fish. After stops at about 5 different spots on the flats, we finally got a little action. Then it was on.

The first snook (pictured above, please notice the lovely rod) came to the boat and started a quick feeding frenzy that included another snook and a few jacks. We were light tackle fishing so, the reels were zipping the entire time and fish were biting as soon as the baits were hitting the water.

The moral of this story is: Even when the weather looks like it wants to snow and the wind feels like it wants to rip out of your boat, fish can be found with just a little bit of patience.

The bait is here...whay aren't you?

2009-03-17T13:02:00.001-07:00

Visit my website at http://www.corporateretreatcharters.com/.

FINALLY! FINALLY! FINALLY! The pilchards moved into the river this past weekend and that means fishing time is here. I got out early Sunday (after a LATE Saturday night, thank you Melissa's birthday party) with Mike. We netted some beautiful baits and headed for the flats.

Because we're greedy, we fished for only big fish -- snook and trout -- which means we passed up all the spots where there were lots of fish, aiming instead for a trophy. It didn't take long for one to railroad a bait into the pilings of a dock and a few more swirl and pop our baits, only to miss them completely. Apparently the snook and trout are out of practice still.

Pressed for time because he had to get to the beach to meet his family and I had three people waiting on me for lunch, we finally ended the day with three decent-sized snook (one at the top of the 32-inch slot) and this trout, which weighed between 4 and 5 pounds.

With the weather warming all week long, the bait will continue to stack into the river and good things will continue to happen for the rest of the summer. That means many more pictures and a lot more posts here. So check back every week for more updates.

Feb. 16 -- Hiding in the river from NASTY winds

2009-02-17T08:06:00.000-08:00

For more photos and information, go to http://www.corporateretreatcharters.com/

When the day starts off with the boat floating off the trailer and heading straight out to sea because the north winds are ripping so hard, you know it's not going to be pretty. That was the case at the Stuart Causeway, my normal launching place. I corraled the boat, put it back on the trailer and took it to Palm City, where we were going to be a little more protected from the 20-25 mph north winds.

Mike, Joey and I headed up (down?) the south fork, looking to fish the sea walls that were in the sun and, hopefully, holding big snook and/or jacks. Joey works for ZMan Lures, so we were using his paddletail swim baits and Ultra Shrimp.

Despite the whipping wind and temperature that seemed to be dropping even though the sun was out, we managed a pair of jacks and spooked a big redfish. Mullet were EVERYWHERE up the river. BIG mullet. So the fish are there, too, it's just a matter of some calmer days and warmer temps.

Feb. 8-- Bass fishing

2009-02-09T06:30:00.000-08:00

Visit my web site at www.corporateretreatcharters.com.

The beach was rocking with big waves and the water in the rivers was so cold even the croakers turned off. The choice was fish in the South Fork of the St. Lucie River and try to pick a couple snook off sea walls or take advantage of the recent full moon and hope the bass were spawning at a nearby county park. The snook will be there all summer (and they're only going to get bigger). The bass should have been hungry and willing to chomp. Easy decision.

Paul and I headed to the park, slipped the tiny trolling motored bass boat in the water and started marveling at how quiet and empty the lake was. We were in a big lake, but wanted to fish the clearer south lake where the banks were a little less steep and the potential for beds was much higher.

Throwing worms and jerk baits and swimming baits (I LOVE the Sebile Magic Swimmer!!) and spinnerbaits, we racked up about 40 bass total. The cold front from last week kept the water chilly and the fish weren't on the beds yet. Instead, they were hanging just off the grass, waiting for the right time to start the spawn. The biggest bass was about 2.5 pounds (though I did manage a 3.5-pound bowfin). Also saw a really cool otter right next to the boat.

These lakes are so pristine and untouched, it's unbelievable. We were the only ones out there the entire day. The plan now is go back out in the spring with a bucket load of wild shiners. We won't forget the camera that day!!

January 25-- BIG Jacks on the beach, some Spanish too

2009-01-26T08:02:00.001-08:00

Visit http://www.corporateretreatcharters.com/ for more fishing information

I took Mike out Sunday morning for a quick 4-hour trip along the beach, looking for the schools of big jack crevalle. By big, I mean 30- to 40-pounders. He'd been wanting to catch one on a fly rod with a popper.

Once the sun finally got up a little bit we found the schools around the reef and started casting. Before that we were just messing with the schools of Spanish mackerel, catching about a 7-pounder on an X-Rap.

When we found the jacks, they were very boat-shy at first, but a couple casts with the topwater teaser riled them up enough to at least get them to strike. Quick note about jacks: They're not very good at the first pass. Mike had several strike the popper, but miss before he finally hooked up. The fight was on as he tried to remain upright and I tried to maneuver the boat through the crowd and keep the fish out of the reef. An amazing 20 minutes later (Mike knows how to handle a fly rod) we netted a 35-pound jack and snapped a couple shots.

I dropped Mike off at the dock and picked up Melissa for just a fast trip along the beach. Once again we found the schools of jacks and threw a Yo-Zuri popper to them. Melissa didn't know what she in for when she began pulling (to no avail) against the crevalle on the other end of the line. Every tug was answered with about 20 yards of line rolling off the Quantum reel. And she thought she was gonna have to work out that night! Ha! We finally got the fish to the boat, snapped a couple pictures, let it go and she was ready to call it a day, so we headed in.

January 23--Offshore, battling dolphin

2009-01-26T07:39:00.000-08:00

Remember to visit my website...http://www.corporateretreatcharters.com/

The winds went west and I was able to get offshore, hoping to take advantage of what should have been a really good sailfish bite, thanks to the front moving through two days earlier. Picked up some BEAUTIFUL blue runners off one of the buoys and headed offshore. At 130 feet I came across a decent rip line, deployed the runners, sat back and waited. Within 30 minutes I had two 10- to 12-pound dolphin hounding the baits, snatching one and then attacking the other while I tried to entice them with a topwater lure. Luckily, those dolphin appeared just as the wind shifted to the north and it started to be time to head back in.

It turned out to be a short offshore trip, but it was well worth trip.

January 2 --scouting/fishing

2009-01-05T07:18:00.000-08:00

Remember to visit http://www.corporateretreatcharters.com/

I got out by myself on Jan. 2, just to do some looking around to see what was going on. I fished some docks and basically just scouted the river. There seems to be a decent snook bite in the St. Lucie and all the jacks and ladyfish you could possibly want right now in the Indian River. Pompano are skipping anytime you run a flat. If the water temperature drops a little bit more, the bluefish will really make their presence known. I spooked plenty of flounder while running the trolling motor along the shallow sand. Spanish mackerel are all over the inlet.

When it comes to variety, this is one of my favorite times of the year to fish. You don't need anything crazy; just some light tackle and a few shrimp or pilchards will be more than enough.

Dec. 31: The Pathfinder arrives!! Ran into some cobia

2009-01-05T07:13:00.000-08:00

Remember to visit http://www.corporateretreatcharters.com/

Finally!! The new boat is here. The 22-foot Pathfinder Tournament has officially been signed for and parked in front of the house.

The maiden voyage was with my friend, Tom, down from Macon, Georgia for the New Years holiday. We went out the St. Lucie Inlet, hoping to head to the 14 Buoy for bait. The winds switched from the west to the north and it was choppy, but we held out for a little while to see what was going on. We ran into a school of 8 to 10 cobia, the biggest looked to be about 20 pounds. Because we hadn't gotten to the sardines yet, we threw the MirrOlures that were tied on, but only got passing interest from the cobes. There was also a bunch of Spanish mackerel jumping around out there. After getting battered for a while by the northerly chop, we headed back in and fished the flats for pompano and some snook spots.

Dec. 27 and 28: Finally! Back on the water!

2009-01-05T07:07:00.000-08:00

Remember to go to my website at www.CorporateRetreatCharters.com

I got to get out for a couple of short trips on Dec. 27 and 28. On the 27th, we stayed south of the Stuart Causeway and hunted around a couple of spots, looking for bait, then spent the rest of the day drifting the Sailfish Point Flats (along with everyone else) for pompano. Caught a 5-pounder and then a 2-pounder on jigs. Also managed to nab a bunch of ladyfish and jacks. Lots of jacks. Which was cool because we were using light tackle.

On the 28th, we went north of the Jensen Beach Causeway, once again looking for bait, but also scouting a few trout, redfish and snook spots. Found LOTS of mullet (and hungry porpoises more than willing to deplete the mullet population) and fished some flats and shorelines for trout. Mike caught two trout before we moved back down river and fished some more shorelines, where I caught a couple of snook on MirrOlures.

Fishing Nov. 8

2008-11-09T10:43:00.001-08:00

Check out my website at www.CorporateRetreatCharters.com.

Went fishing Sunday by the Stuart Causeway and caught eight snook on live mullet. Live bait is everywhere!! Seatrout are all over the flats and willing to hit topwater plugs. When I got home, I went out back and cast a few times while watching the airshow and hooked into a 36-inch snook on a Rapala X-Rap.

Corporate Retreat Gallery

2008-09-23T10:32:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple of shots from my last fishing trip. Nothing exciting, just a redfish and bonefish.

About Corporate Retreat Charters

2008-09-19T07:42:00.001-07:00

When I was a sports writer in Tampa, my friends and I would play hooky from our jobs to spend the day working our way down the Gulf Coast from Clearwater Beach to St. Pete Beach. Our excuse to wives and girlfriends was we were on a “corporate retreat.” This ensured no phone calls or interruptions to our partying ways as we took part in our “important company meetings.”
A Corporate Retreat was a day of fun, relaxation and the chance to do something new and different. That’s exactly the tradition Corporate Retreat Charters was born to continue.
A day on the water with Corporate Retreat Charters is the opportunity to forget about your every day life for a few hours, get your stress level to a normal rate and catch some of the finest fish the Treasure Coast has to offer.
Your prime targets will be (of course) huge St. Lucie River snook, seatrout, jack crevalle and tarpon the Treasure Coast is famous for. Other potential objects of your casting desire will be mutton and mangrove snapper, redfish, sheepshead, permit, flounder, Spanish mackerel, kingfish, bonito, grouper, dolphin, blackfin tuna, sailfish and wahoo.
You won't need to bring anything except a laid-back attitude, some sunscreen and maybe a snack or two. The boat will provide soft drinks and water for every trip and lunch for full-day excursions. No fishing license is required.