Indian River Lagoon & Banana River
Capt. John Kumiski
November 22, 2005
Titusville - Saltwater Fishing Report
Spotted Tail north Indian River Lagoon report 11/22
Spotted Tail North Indian River Lagoon report, 11/22
Although Florida's not perfect, we are so lucky to live here. More on that coming later…
Monday and Tuesday Cameron Dilley and his father were supposed to fish with me. Cam got violently ill the previous evening, so that didn't happen. Monday turned out to be a non fishing day.
Tuesday my thought process was that the water had dropped and cleared somewhat, so perhaps kayaking out of River Breeze would be productive. You know, that transition from fishing a non-tidal area to a tidal area always takes a day or two. I foolishly neglected to check the tides before I left home. I got to River Breeze and had high, incoming water. It turned out to be extremely dirty, too, so I bagged it after only an hour or so, not having seen a thing.
I hadn't planned on fishing Wednesday but the weather was so perfect that at 10 AM I once again put the kayak on the rack and drove to a spot on the Indian River that I hadn't visited in literally months. I found a healthy fish tailing and the second cast with a black Sexy Fly garnered an extremely aggressive strike. The fish turned out to be quite lovely, about 15 pounds.
It turned out that there were only a few fish but they were all tailers and all fairly large. The next several either ignored me or spooked off the fly. Then I found another hungry one, which was almost identical to the first in size. While I was fighting it I was startled by a loud "CRACK!" It was my rod breaking at the first ferrule. I boated the fish anyway, but my fishing was done. I'd been out two and a half hours, had shots at a half dozen tailers, and caught two that were each 35 inches or so. I've certainly had worse days!
Thursday I didn't fish, since I had to prepare to travel. Friday I flew to Newark NJ, (the temperature when I landed was 34 degrees- THAT'S why we're lucky to live in Florida!) then took a shuttle to Somerset to attend the International Fly Tying Symposium. Any serious fly tyer ought to try to attend this event, which is essentially a conference for fly tyers. The amount of information that is shared between the attending tyers about techniques, materials, and patterns is incredible. Every type of tyer is here too, from those tying salmon flies for framed art purposes to commercial tyers, such as AK Best. Jack Gartside was another (in)famous tyer there.
There were tyers from England, Wales, Holland, Finland, Spain, and Japan, so it truly was international. In spite of the expense I am seriously considering attending next year. As an educational experience it was outstanding. It was also very rewarding and a load of fun as well! The highlight of the weekend was a private performance by renowned jazz pianist Joe Augustine, who also happens to be a fly tyer and fisher.
Writers ought to be able to express the extreme wonderfulness of any situation they may find themselves thrust in to. I couldn't do it when my sons were born, and I can't do it for this, either. Let's just leave it that I feel blessed to have been able to attend. Special thanks go to my good friend Rick DePaiva for making it possible for me to attend!
Yesterday brothers Jim and Ralph Tedesco, long-time friends, found their way onto Spotted Tail, and we headed off onto a breezy and choppy Mosquito Lagoon. The water has come up a tad, and it was not very clean. The 20 mph winds out of the west made fishing tough and we saw maybe a dozen reds. We had exactly two bites, one on a mullet chunk and one on a fly, and put one 12" red in the boat, not exactly scintillating fishing. On the bright side the forecast included rain and thunderstorms and we didn't have any of that, and it was good to see my old amigos again. The fish will bite again some other day.
Upcoming Events-
December-
-I will be appearing on Mel Berman's radio show WFLA AM 970 Tampa from 6-9 AM on December 3.
January-
-I will be giving a talk about fishing the Indian River Lagoon system and signing books at the Orange County Public Library in Orlando on January 8 at 2 PM.
-A MINWR Show and Tell Fishing Seminar is scheduled for 1/28. Hit this link http://www.spottedtail.com for more information!
Remember- life is short. GO FISHING!
Life is great and I love my work!!
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email me at mailto:[email protected], or call at 407 977 5207.
John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com
member, Indian River Guides Association,
Florida Outdoor Writers Association
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