Manatee

Went fishing this morning North of the Pineda Causeway and got skunked. The first time fishing here where I failed to catch ANYTHING.

Took some pictures of a bunch of manatees that were enjoying themselves though.

Eau Gallie River Dam

Fished the Eau Gallie River this morning and caught two small snook on a clear DOA Shrimp. Both fish had some great jumps, coming all the way out of the water. Both got off right before I could get them up to the kayak so didn't get a chance to take any pictures of them.

Here's a nice picture of the Dam. You can actually walk right down here to the Dam, it's behind a Church off Eau Gallie Blvd.

Dad in a rented Tarpon 120

Went up to Thousand Islands this morning to fish but the wind was out of the South. We weren't able to find much wind break at all so didn't really get to do much fishing.

We did see some huge white pelicans, and a couple nice redfish in some deeper water on the way back. Didn't catch anything though.

Redfish from Thousand Islands

Caught this nice redfish today while fishing the Thousand Islands area of Cocoa Beach. I did my usual drift early and didn't see any tailing fish. Lots of bait but no redfish.

I was actually on my way back after about 2 hours of seeing nothing and was thinking I was going to get skunked. I was casting to some mangroves in a little deeper water when I picked up this fish. He gave a heck of a fight for a little guy.

Redfish caught on White Exude Jerk Bait

Well this is definitely my new favorite spot. When I can fish out of the kayak in 15+ mph winds and still have PERFECT conditions I'm HAPPY! It was hard to get out of bed early with the wind chill reports so I slept in and headed out at about 9:30. I was on the water at 10:00. Made the relaxing peddle through the narrow mangrove creeks and popped out right onto the flats. The structure did a fantastic job of blocking the wind and gave me just enough of a breeze to setup a nice drift. I didn't see any activity until about 11:00 when a few tails started popping out here and there. I made casts at a couple but lost track of the fish quickly and couldn't get hooked up.

Just as I was drifting up to this little point marked on the map a tail popped up right in front of me. I cast to him and off he went. Ended up being a colorful little redfish. The white exude did the trick again. That was my only hookup of the day although I did see a nice school of about a dozen fish swim by on my way back. They weren't feeding though, just cruising by.

I drifted into the dock at 12:30 and home by 1:00. Very enjoyable couple hours of fishing thanks to all the shelter from the wind.

The wind was expected to be 10+ mph out of the North again so decided to drive up North a little farther and explore the Thousand Islands area of Cocoa Beach.

Overhanging Mangroves

On the map and Satellite photos it looked to have plenty of areas to find shelter from the wind.

There is a nice ramp on Ramp road, and as soon as I had the kayak in the water I new I was in the right place for that day. The wind was blocked by plenty of shoreline to the North and the water was smooth.

I headed down one of the narrow passage ways due east of the boat ramp and was immediately treated to a narrow mangrove covered passageway. It was a dark tunnel that the kayak barely fit through.

Exiting from the tunnel I found myslef on a wide open flat, that stretched several hundred yards out and was only about 12" deep.

Weedy Cove

I let the wind push me while I kept an eye on the water. For the first couple minutes there didn't seem to be anything happening, even the mullet were absent which is unusual.

The water was clear enough and shallow enough to see I was floating over lots of brown grass.

I was about to give up and move on when a splash just to my left startled me. I didn't see what it was but it made a big ripple. I moved over a little closer and up popped a tail! It was definately a redfish. He was so close to me though it was hard to cast to him. I made a couple tries but couldn't get him to take an interest in the white exude jerk bait.

I eventually lost track of him, so started heading South. The action on the water was starting to pick up and I was seeing lots of splashes. I decided to switch to a top water lure.

Redfish on Silver & Black Top Dog

I was drifting close to a small island. My first cast to one of the splashes got a follow but no strike. I threw again, this time letting the lure sit momentarily still before twitching it. That did the trick!

If you've ever seen a redfish take a top water lure you know what a commotion they make. They have an underslung mouth so have to actually come out of the water and get on top of the lure to take it.

This one gave me a nice fight and ended up being small at about 25 inches.

I caught one more a little bit later on the white exude jerk bait. I actually saw this fish swimming next to the kayak and flipped the bait at him. I was surprised that he took it since he was so close. He was about the same size as the first.

Went fishing this morning and although you wouldn't know it from these photos the wind was HOWLING out of the North.

Secret Cove

I had wanted to fish the same part of the Banana River that I fished last weekend but it looked pretty rough there so I decided to just do some exploring.

This first picture is from an area I found at the back of some really shallow water, I actually had to push through a line of cat-tails to get to it. It was very secluded and quiet but no fish that were biting. There were lots of mullet though.

The next picture of the kayak is pretty much the limit of it's shallow water capabilities. I finally found water that it couldn't float in :) As you can see it's not even deep enough to get your ankles wet though.

Not Enough Water to Float

Both of these pictures were taken with my new camera. I bought a waterproof Olympus Stylus 720SW. It's a great little camera. Very small so fits right in a shirt pocket and it's waterproof up to 10 feet. It can even take pictures under water!

Peddling the Shoreline

Fished the Banana River this morning and the conditions where picture perfect. Water like glass, cool temperatures and loads of fish. I only had a couple hours so I decided to fish here because it was close to home. It's really a great area and I'll probably fish it more often now that I have the kayak and it's so convenient.

I had planned to fish the East side but when I got to the Pineda causeway the wind, what little there was, was right out of the West and that side of the river was slick like glass. This was actually the place that I first tested the kayak when I bought it new. You can see a satellite image of the area at GEOPESCO under the Fishing Report I posted there. Look for the one labeled Banana River.

First Self Portrait

There is a nice little put-in area right on the off ramp of the Pineda Causeway. It's perfect for kayaks but some people do put small boats with trailers in there too.

I was surprised to find that I had it all to myself at 7:00AM this morning.

The water was fairly clear and the conditions were perfect. It wasn't long before I saw the tail. I could see if from quite a distance so paddled slowly to get within casting range. This water was so shallow that I actually had to paddle rather than peddle, probably less than a foot deep.

I made one cast with the white exude and spooked a bunch of bait fish but the redfish remained oblivious to the commotion, with his tail wagging away. The second cast was a little more aggressive on my part and I put it right on top of him. That got his attention however, as he grabbed the lure and took off. He made a good effort of tugging the kayak around before letting me get him in. He was a nice 29" redfish, photographed and released.

As you can see from the photo it's not easy taking pictures of the angler and the fish when alone.

Kayak Fully Rigged

The kayak is really proving to be a great fishing platform. I've got everything situated where I can get to it now. I have all the important stuff leashed so in the event of a mishap it doesn't sink to the bottom, and it is all within easy reach. I really like sight-fishing the shallow water. It's very quiet and peaceful out there.

I don't know if it's laziness or what but for some reason I keep going smaller and smaller in my boats rather than up in size. Starting with a 19' center console, then a 13' Whaler (awesome little boat), I'm now down to a 9' Hobie Mirage Sport.

Hobie Mirage Sport

I've never been in a Kayak before but was looking for a way to fish the many different kinds of waters in Florida with a minimum of fuss (I live on a barrier Island so have the ocean on one side and rivers/canals on the other). Having 3 younger children takes up most of my free time so I needed to be able to get on and off the water for a few hours whenever a window of opportunity presented itself. I happened upon an article online that reviewed fishing in an inflatable Kayak so that's where I started my search, which then led to sit on top Kayaks, and then to the Hobie Mirage Drive.

The only local Hobie dealer with a fishing model was over an hour away so I put off going and looking at it and did more reading. Boy, searching on "kayak fishing" turns up a treasure trove of online goodies. I was really starting to see the possibilities for customization, and this made me want one even more. But driving a couple hours to go 'look' at one was still going to be difficult.

Luckily I happened upon a post talking about the differences in the two models (fishing and regular), and the fact that Hobie separated the two between different types of dealers. So, back to the Hobie website and search for a 'regular' Hobie dealer... yep, there was one right down the road, and they had the Sport in stock.

So I'm now the proud owner of a sand colored Hobie Mirage Sport.

My maiden voyage was literally on the way home from the dealer, a quick launch from a sandbar and I was floating in 10" of water for my very first time ever in a Kayak! I had already read about the flutter kick with the drive unit in shallow water so all was good. This was easy. It was very well behaved, did not seem tipsy to me at all. Was easy to get in and out of, had a great turning radius, was easy to peddle, was dry... I was a happy customer.

I've since had it out fishing 3 times in the last two weeks and am really enjoying it. I've stocked up on the proper safety equipment and am in the process of getting everything properly arranged for fishing (and making leashes). I've done some self rescue practice in the pool and feel confident with that. I plan on spending quite a bit more time in the river before trying the surf, but that is something I do want to eventually get to.