Indian River Lagoon & Banana River
Capt. John Kumiski
December 18, 2005
Titusville - Saltwater Fishing Report
Spotted Tail Space Coast report 12/18/05
Spotted Tail Space Coast fishing report, 12/18/05
First off, in my report last week I asked if anyone knew how much an osprey could carry. Reader Mark Clemons was the first to email in, "it can carry it's own weight, about 4lbs." Thank you, Mark! Email me your address and I'll send you a Spotted Tail Prize Pack!
The Reverend Larry Kirk also emailed in the same information that he found at http://dep.state.ct.us Thank you, Larry!
Several people have called/emailed, wanting more information about Heritage fly rods. Visit their website at this link: http://www.castlearms.com
Next, I have some great photos this week. To see the version of the report with the photos, hit this link: http://www.spottedtail.com
Finally, let's talk fishing. On Monday Capt. Tom Van Horn invited me to join him in the no motor zone of the Banana River. I gladly accepted. We had acceptable weather, about 10 mph out of the NW, with the occasional clouds. Yeah, the fishing was good. Tom got his first, second, third, and fourth redfish on fly, Clouser minnows in black and green and brown and orange. We got quite a few trout, and quite a few reds, with several doubles on both for good measure. I used a black and green Clouser exclusively, all day long. Our best fish of the day was a red pushing 20 pounds.
Tuesday I fished fly caster Dave Rocke of Ketchikan on the Mosquito Lagoon. We had a hard north wind (about 20 MPH), and cold temperatures in the morning. Although we saw quite a few fish the wind made fly fishing practically impossible. Although it was a full day trip we bagged it at noon time, without so much as having had a decent shot.
Wednesday I joined Tom Van Horn again, and we had the pleasure of being accompanied by Capt. Rodney Smith, again into the no motor zone. I'm not sure if we were the Three Stooges or the Three Musketeers, but we certainly had a lot of fun. I had several shots at tailing black drum. Not only did they not eat, they didn't even respond to the fly (yes, it was a black and green Clouser). However, the redfish were very cooperative, as were the trout. We didn't get any redfish doubles, but we did have several trout triples. I tried several different flies, including poppers and sexyflies, and had good success with all of them. Thank you, Tom! Thank you, Rodney!
The next best day this week weather-wise was Friday, but rather than fishing Maxx and I went for a 2 1/2 hour bike ride through the Little Big Econ State Forest, about twelve miles. Thursday and yesterday were cold, windy, and overcast, and it looks like that's going to be the case today too. Yesterday I tied flies for a good part of the day, and I'll probably be making the same use of my time today.
Lastly, I've been thinking about the trip I made with Shawn Healy a couple of weeks ago. Shawn was throwing lures with a spinning rod and didn't get a bite, while I was fly fishing and caught fish after fish. Does anyone have any good methods of casting flies with spinning tackle? If you email me your technique at [email protected], you'll be entered in the raffle for another Spotted Tail Prize Pack, so get those answers in right now!
Upcoming Events-
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.
-On January 14 I will be speaking at the Daytona Boat Show.
-On January 16 I'll be speaking to the North Florida Fly Fishers in Gainesville.
-A MINWR Show and Tell Fishing Seminar is scheduled for 1/28.
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 [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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