Indian River Lagoon & Banana River
Capt. John Kumiski
July 9, 2005
Titusville - Saltwater Fishing Report
Spotted Tail report, north Indian River Lagoon, 7/9/05
This week’s fishing report from Spotted Tail, updated 7/9/05
Good morning everyone. I was going to fish this morning, but it's hurricane season again, and Dennis, although thankfully mostly missing us, is dumping wind and rain today. Pray for those who are going to get slammed…
I only fished twice this week. Wednesday was a scouting expedition to the north end of the Indian River Lagoon. Ron Novitsky and Scott Radloff accompanied me. We found decent numbers of trout, most in the slot to about three pounds, by tossing Chug Bugs, although Ron did get a slot fish on the fly rod using a Floozy popper. The fish were in clean water that was between about a foot and a half and three feet deep. It didn't seem to matter much where we were. Before noon if those conditions were met we got some fish. We also got a couple of nice sized ladyfish, also on the Chug Bug. It was very hot, and what wind there was in the morning laid down as the day progressed. After noon time the bite definitely slowed down.
We only found one school of redfish. They wouldn't let us near them. We only got one cast off, which was errant. So we ended up catching a couple of ladyfish and about a dozen trout altogether, with a bunch of missed strikes. The highlight of the day was Novitsky using a Chug Bug and having an 18 inch trout hit the thing seven times on the same cast until Ron finally stuck him. Great fun!
Thursday fly caster Jason Knott of Baltimore joined me on the IRL for a morning's fishing. We ran up to where the redfish school was the previous day, and as luck would have it they weren't there. There were some reds in the area, but they were hard to see in the tannin-stained water. A few tails showed briefly, but we never got a good shot.
We then tried throwing a Floozy popper, hoping for a trout or two. Jason had two strikes and neither got stuck. It was very hot, and what wind there was in the morning laid down as the day progressed.
Finally we went over by Black Point. There were a gazillion jacks there in about 15 inches of water, cruising, daisy chaining, and definitely NOT eating. We tried a couple different flies, then a Chug Bug (usually a no-brainer for crevalle), then a jig. They wouldn't touch any of them. I doubt if they would have hit a finger mullet, although I didn't have one to try.
I will not be fishing next week (an entire week without fishing??) so there will not be a report.
Remember- life is short. GO FISHING! But take a little time to smell the roses, too!
Life is great and I love my work!!
John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
member IRGA, FOWA
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