I wish I could tell you that fishing has been great on the Space Coast of Florida, but as many of you already know, stronger than normal winds have held the upper hand for the past two weeks. We did get a bit of a break the last two days, but I think Mother Nature was just taking a breather because as of tomorrow, the winds are expected to reach gale force again, and our weekend looks to be blown out as well.
Although I have canceled or postponed five charters in the past two weeks, I have managed to get out on the water and catch a few fish.
On the 28th, the winds rested a little, so I jumped at the opportunity to kayak fish the No-Motor Zone with two of my Lagoon mentors, Captains John Kumiski and Rodney Smith. We still faced a challenging east wind of 15 knots, but at least the sun was out. Both John and Rodney are expert fly guides, so we chose to hit the water armed only with the long rods, and despite seeing a good number of redfish and some black drum, we only managed a few respectable fish each. The catch of the day was a very nice 4-pound pompano caught and released by Captain John.
My next adventure was actually a family photo shoot in the north Indian River Lagoon, and while waiting for the afternoon sun to set a bit, I inadvertently hooked and almost landed a huge doormat flounder. We had positioned ourselves in a protected cove, and while we were waiting I decided to flip a nite-glow DOA shrimp, but with no net in the boat, the only option I had was to try and hoist the huge flat fish out of the water with only the leader and I don’t think I need to explain what happened next.
Today, the wind was predicted to settled down again, so I eagerly joined Captain Chris Myers for a day of scouting and some fly-fishing on the Mosquito Lagoon. Our day started out good with sunny skies and a north wind of 10 knots, but the nice conditions didn’t last long as the wind soon picked up and clouds moved in and despite seeing hundreds of redfish, we ended the day catching only four. On a encouraging note, the redfish are starting to school up in very skinny water, but they are super spooky and a long cast and quite presentation is a must to get them to eat.
Also, now that the weather for this weekend is predicted be a blowout, I suggest a weekend of holiday shopping or boat and tackle maintenance, so if you get a chance swing by Bass Pro Shop in Orlando Saturday, I will be conducting free seminars from 10:30 to 5:30 pm on winter fish patterns in the Indian River Lagoon and I will be answering any questions you may have regarding shallow water angling.
As always, if you have any questions or need information, please contact me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn |
