Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report, Banana River Lagoon Fishing Report
What a week! A Harvest moon and the autumnal equinox, too! Both have an effect on the fishing.
A moon like this affects the fishing for better or worse.
Upcoming Events-
Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, October 26
Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar, October 27
Indian River Lagoon Paddle Adventure starts December 1. Paddle the length of the lagoon!
Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report– On Tuesday son Alex and I went to the Mosquito Lagoon, getting a late start because I had to see the hygienist first. While it was a beautiful day (the weather has been awesome) as far as catching fish went we might as well have stayed home. We saw maybe ten redfish, all a rod’s length away, and did not get a shot.
Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report– Thursday Scott Radloff and I went to the Indian River Lagoon. After a short boat ride we saw diving birds. Breaking fish, one of fall’s pleasures. Ladyfish, bluefish, and gafftopsail catfish were in the mix. Nothing too thrilling there but it was certainly a fun way to kick off the day.
The new power station in Port St. John is up and running now. There are lots of ladyfish there. Didn’t see anything else.
Went for a ride and ended up poling miles of shoreline. There were enough slot reds to keep it interesting. The fish were spooky and it was a long time before we convinced one to bite. We ended up getting four on DOA CAL shad tails rigged weedless on a worm hook. One was a gorgeous thirteen spot fish.
Banana River Lagoon Fishing Report– Friday I went to the Banana River Lagoon, breaking out the kayak to do so. I hadn’t been in a kayak in months and it was great to be paddling again. I learned (again!) that stupid stuff can happen to you at any time.
Two hours or so of paddling were under my belt before I saw anything other than lots of mullet. Excited for having seen a redfish, I anchored the boat and got out to wade. The wind was blowing a little too hard to fish effectively from the boat.
The fish were not thick, but they were good sized. I had several poor shots and two good ones. None of the fish took the fly, which got changed a few times.
Working my way back to the kayak, I tied the painter to myself and kept wading, towing the boat behind me. Shots at fish continued coming sporadically, and I finally fooled one with a small grizzly Seaducer. I photographed myself with the fish. I should have noticed at that point that my paddle was gone but it did not register.
The lone biter of the entire affair.
After wading another hour or so without any more bites the clouds got thick enough I couldn’t see any more. The atmosphere was telling me it was time to bag it. I ate lunch, reeled in the fly line, and went to paddle back. Now I noticed the paddle was gone.
Crap. I had three or four miles to go. At least the wind was out of the north-northeast.
Human hands make lousy kayak paddles.
The wind blew the boat along at about one mile an hour, putting me back at the chariot about 4 PM. Fortunately the weather was still beautiful, and other than losing a nice Aqua Bound paddle it had been a wonderful day with a nice redfish on fly as a bonus.
I think I will tether my paddle while wading from now on, though.
Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report, Again– Saturday fly fisher DJ Montigny joined me for a 3/4 day. He had never caught a fish in saltwater before, so we went to the power plant and knocked that right out. Two regrets- the ladyfish were dinks, and there were no tarpon there.
After 30 minutes DJ had had enough of the little ladyfish. We went looking for redfish. It took us most of an hour but we found big ones, enough to keep us entertained for the rest of the day.
We couldn’t find a fly they would bite.
They were exhibiting strange behavior, swimming quite rapidly most of the time, but circling through the same area repeatedly. We found and lost a sizeable school. Other than that they were in small groups, from pairs to a half dozen. We saw a lot of fish in the 20-30 pound range.
DJ had some great shots and by all rights should have had three or four bites. We also saw a big school of crevalle and in an almost-unheard-of situation did not get a bite from them either.
If it hadn’t been for those dink ladies we would have gone fishless.
I think the full moon boogered up the fish this week. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
That is this week’s exciting version of the Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report, and Banana River Lagoon Fishing Report.
Life is great and I love my work!
Life is short. Go Fishing!
John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com
All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2013. All rights are reserved.
|
Speak Your Mind