Searching for Fish in the Indian RIver Lagoon
Capt. John Kumiski
November 2, 2009
Titusville - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 11/1/09
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I got out four days this week. The fish weren't terribly cooperative.
Monday Noel Keyes joined me for a days fishing on the Mosquito Lagoon. We searched high and low, from Tiger Shoal to Max Hoeck Creek. Visibility was poor, with lots of clouds. Fishing was real slow. We had three shots at redfish all day, and only got a few trout on jerk baits.
Wednesday Bob Gold and I took kayaks out of River Breeze. We paddled six or seven miles, searching shorelines for redfish. We saw exactly three and did not get a shot. The water level needs to drop some more before that fishing takes off.
Thursday and Friday Charles Murray and his friend Paul joined me. We started on the Mosquito Lagoon. The weather was calm, although clouds made seeing the fish difficult. They weren't moving at all, and most of the fish we saw were moved by the boat. Even when I could see the fish my fishermen could not. By 11 am we had gotten only one bite. I kept thinking, "I bet the ocean is going off." So I pulled the boat and we drove to Port Canaveral.
My intuition was wrong.
We cruised the beach to Cape Canaveral and saw almost nothing. There was a little movement in the water there at the tip of the cape. We got a couple of bluefish on jigs.
I headed out into deeper water, hoping to find some weeds or flotsam. Nothing. We checked around a couple of buoys. Nothing. I ran all the way down to the Cocoa Beach steeple, hoping to find some schools of menhaden. Nothing.
There was a shrimp boat out off the beach. We went out to look. There were a lot of big sharks behind the boat. Even though the biggest rod we had was a 10 pound outfit we tried shark fishing. We hooked eight or so. The spinners were the most spectacular, but the blacktips were fun, too. We actually managed to get one blacktip next to the boat before it cut off.
The sharks saved the day.
Friday we tried the Indian River Lagoon. It was overcast and raining when we started. There were a lot of ladyfish at the power station but nothing else.
I poled miles of shoreline on the east side. We saw exactly four redfish, and nothing else. While changing spots I saw some birds diving. A few weeks ago I wondered in my fishing report, "Where are all the breaking fish?" Well they were in the Indian River on Friday. There were birds over breaking fish both north and south of the NASA Causeway. Fish species included ladyfish, including some fairly large ones, bluefish, and sail catfish. I was hoping there would be seatrout and Spanish mackerel but no such luck. But using DOA jigs we caught a lot of fish under those birds.
We also had a few unsuccessful shots at snook. That was it for the day.
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), Southeastern Outdoor Press Association (www.seopa.org), Indian River Guides association (www.irga.org)
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