Banana River Lagoon Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 1/12/08
If you would like to see this week's photos visit http://www.spottedtail.com/ThisWeeksFishingReport.htm
Upcoming Events:
-On January 22nd I'll be giving a presentation to the Mangrove Coast Fly Fishers in Sarasota, Florida. Contact John Freeman at 941.228.5938 for information.
-From January 25 through 27 I'll be a featured fly tyer at the Fly Fishing Show in Somerset, New Jersey. I always enjoy that freezing weather they have there.
-On February 2 I will be holding a Show and Tell Seminar at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Visit http://www.spottedtail.com/show&tell.htm for more information.
-On February 12 I'll be speaking to the Backcountry Flyfishing Association in Orlando. Contact Paul Norton at 407.620.7639 for more information.
-On March 30 I'll be giving a program at the FFF Flyfishing Expo in Lakeland, Florida.
-News Flash! I have a new skiff! A brand new Mitzi 17 is at Central Florida Marine getting rigged as I write this. It is not the boat I've been waiting for. That one is still under construction. When it is ready I will be selling this one and buying that one. If you have any interest in a slightly used Mitzi 17 let me know. More information will be forthcoming when I'm ready to sell.
Another news flash! I have a new website up, http://www.johnkumiski.com. The site is still under construction and is still in a testing phase, but it is useable. My goal is to put all my writing and much of my photography on this site, to make it a resource for anglers and outdoor adventure travelers, both individuals and magazine/newspaper/website editors. If you visit the site and find any mistakes, please let me know at john@spottedtail.com . The first ten people to do this will receive a mini prize pack!
On to the fishing!
Monday Capt. Chris Myers had me get up ridiculously early to join him in a Mosquito Lagoon escapade. The sun was just rising as we left the ramp. He said the fish would be tailing. We got to the spot, and they were, not hard, not lots of them, but tailing fish are tailing fish and you're not going to sneer at that any time.
Chris poled first and I got a slot red, a tailer, on a black redfish worm. We switched ends and Chris got a slot sized tailer on a small Merkin crab. Between us we blew at least a dozen shots. By this time the sun was getting up into the firmament. The fish had stopped tailing and we decided to look for laid up trout.
We found quite a few. Were they spooky! Mr. Myers finally hooked one on a bend back, only to have it shake off at boatside. I couldn't get a sniff. Chris thought he knew where some drum were, so we went looking for them.
I was on the bow when suddenly there were at least a hundred fish in front of me. I tossed the redfish worm out there a number of times. It was obvious it wasn't sinking fast enough. Part of what made it so was the fact not a fish touched it. I tied a Merkin on, and got an upper slot red on the first cast. His thrashing scared all the other fish away.
We looked for them for a while without success, although Chris picked up another red on a Merkin.
Rain clouds were moving in from the south, so we bailed early. It was about 1 PM as he put the boat on the trailer, just as the first drops started to fall. Good timing!
Tuesday I drove to Titusville to deliver the kayak I had sold. I took the opportunity to take another kayak out on the Indian River. The water was kind of dirty and it was windy. I blindly cast a Dupre Spoonfly for an hour or so and caught two slot sized trout.
All this week I couldn't get last week's no motor zone trip out of my head. Thursday I went over there for a solo trip. I was out seven hours, looking hard. I probably paddled 12 miles or more. I had seven shots in that time, all at slot reds. I didn't see a big red or black drum, although I did see four big seatrout. The fish were very scarce. I had three bites and released two fish. I will say that I don't think I've ever seen so many hardhead cats up working in shallow water and tailing. I saw a fish in a white sand hole at the limit of my vision. I couldn't tell what it was and threw the redfish worm over to it. It jumped all over it and to my surprise and dismay, it was a catfish. There were quite a few sheepshead, too, but none of them were fooled by my offerings.
Life is short- GO FISHING!!!
Life is great and I love my work!
John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
member Florida Outdoor Writers Association (www.fowa.org), Southeastern Outdoor Press Association (www.seopa.org), Indian River Guides association (www.irga.org)