Long Paddle in Banana RIver Yields Little
Capt. John Kumiski
April 5, 2009
Titusville - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 4/5/09
I was tying tarpon flies when I realized I hadn't written the report this week. Speaking of which, I'm trying to fill holes in my calendar for tarpon dates. I've got May 20-24, 28 and 29 open, as well as June 3-11 and 14-16. So let's hear that phone ring! Book now before it's too late!
Monday I fished a couple we're going to call Jack and Jill to protect the innocent. Jack had booked me for two days of kayak fishing. Jack is a hard core fly angler.
Jack brought Jill with him from 1300 miles away knowing she didn't care to fish. Jill came knowing Jack was going fishing.
After looking at a few manatees we got the kayaks into the water at the Banana River Lagoon just before 8 AM. It was cool and breezy and I wished I had worn my waders. I was chilly all day. We paddled to the first spot and worked it hard. I saw a single redfish and Jack got a lunker puffer. Jill hardly fished and got nothing.
We went to the next spot. I saw a few big reds and had a shot at a black drum. It spooked off the fly. I pointed out a push of fish behind Jack and he turned around, dropped the fly on them, and was rewarded with a crevalle of about three pounds.
Jill has had enough by now, but of course Jack didn't. Jack's writing the check, so we continue, heading off to the next spot. Jill lags way behind. She's not a strong paddler, and lacks motivation.
We get to the next spot and there are some big redfish there. The water is dirty, and there are clouds, and it's windy. They aren't tailing and are very hard to see. I get a couple of shots and miss a strike. A seatrout about 18 inches long takes my fly and a 20 pound plus red chases it around, thinking about taking it away from me. It would have been exciting but he doesn't eat it and I catch, then release, the trout.
By now it's after 2 PM so we start the return trip, working the shoreline. I see a grand total of four slot reds in a stretch of several miles. We don't get another fish.
In the meantime Jill is completely whacked. Jack ties her kayak to his and tows her for over a mile back to the launch site, which we get to after 6PM. A good, solid day for anyone, way too long for an unmotivated, middle-aged woman.
Jack said to me, "I would love to go again tomorrow but we're not going to." So I ended up having Tuesday off. The weather on both Tuesday and Wednesday was awful anyway, thunderstorms, wind, just nasty.
Thursday son Maxx and I took a canoe out of the Mosquito Lagoon. It was cloudy and breezy. We saw a spooked a small group of black drum almost immediately. We looked for those fish for at least 30 or 40 minutes but couldn't find them again.
We hadn't seen much for a good while when I spotted a redfish swimming at us, high in the water. I dropped a shrimp in front of him and he stopped and tailed on it. I anchored the boat, but quickly had to hand the rod to Maxx, pull the anchor, and paddle after him. That fish SCREAMED out of there and we had to chase it down. It turned out to be about 35 inches long, way bigger than either of us thought we'd find, a real nice fish.
Shortly after we found a few black drum. Maxx got one, also on a shrimp. Then we headed back to the launch and went home.
This morning I went scouting at the south end of Mosquito Lagoon. It was Sunday and there were a lot of boats out, but I found scattered fish in many of the places I looked. I didn't catch any, but I didn't really try to, either. The boat was on the trailer just after 11 and I was home just after noon time.
Since then I've been going through my tarpon stuff, tying flies, and starting to get ready for my favorite fishing of the year!
Life is short- GO FISHING!
And life is great and I love my work!
John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
member Florida Outdoor Writers Association (www.fowa.org),
Indian River Guides association (www.irga.org)
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