Autumnal Equinox East Central Florida Fishing Report
Thank you for reading this week’s Autumnal Equinox East Central Florida Fishing Report. Got out four days this week- once to the beach, two solo trips by kayak, once with Tom Van Horn. In general fishing was more productive last week.
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I’ve been writing a travelogue for Global Outdoors. You can see those posts here- https://blog.globaloutdoors.com.
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Monday
The first fish of the day nailed an Electric Sushi streamer.
I went to the Indian River Lagoon by kayak. Early on I heard a fish bust along the bank. Got into position (so important) and flung a fly along the bank. Third cast the line came tight, a beautiful coppery top-of-the-slot redfish. Good start to the day.
The tarpon seemed to prefer the EP fiber minnow.
It wasn’t gangbusters though. After some time, I found some baby tarpon rolling. Through a few fly changes and a lot of casting I got a few bites, jumped and unhooked two. Tarpon of any size are the coolest of fish!!
The snook didn’t seem to care one way or the other.
A few more fish started busting along the bank. Turned out to be what Mark Nichols calls snooklets. Got a few on streamers.
An electric sushi did the red.
Last fish was another red, bottom of slot. It was by far the most productive day of the week.
Tuesday
Susan and I went to see the Orange County Public Schools Art Teachers exhibit at the City Arts gallery. If you’re in Orlando, it’s a worthwhile stop of an hour or so.
Wednesday-
the autumnal equinox, saw me trying the Banana River Lagoon again. It’s o-fish-illy fall! Determined to get some fish on fly, I made sure the leader was long enough (about 16 feet) that the line wouldn’t spook fish. It worked! Didn’t spook any! Of course, most of the reason for that was because there weren’t any fish to spook.
The only fly-caught fish of the excursion, took an electric sushi streamer.
Worked my butt off all morning blind-casting, got one small snook. I stood up and poledled (paddled and poled with the paddle) all along the shoreline heading back, saw nothing for a long way.
The spin rod was out, with a DOA Shrimp, when I spotted a slot trout. A cast, and the fish hit violently. As I played it, a dolphin appeared out of nowhere- I thought he’d take the fish off the line! He hung around waiting for me to let it go. I kept it in the boat, not wanting dolphins to associate fishing boats with food (although this one clearly already did). The fish, about 17 inches long, died while waiting for me to release it. That’s how long the darn dolphin hung around.
I love dolphins. They are magnificent animals. But they can outswim anything else in the water and certainly don’t need humans to catch fish for them. Please do not feed caught fish to dolphins!
Thursday
was the official son Alex’s birthday. Happy birthday, Alex! He’s currently in California, so not much special went on there. Except I went fishing with Ton Van Horn, in the Indian River Lagoon.
We saw exactly two redfish (no shot at either) and three or four tarpon roll. If not for the generosity of a pair of six-inch trout, we would have been completely skunked.
Friday
Susan and I went to Playalinda Beach. I tossed a jig and did not touch a fish. One hundred yards away, three guys were surf fishing conventionally, using cut mullet for bait. They caught bluefish steadily.
I thought this bird wanted me to pet it. It hung out right next to us until Susan mentioned having boiled eggs for lunch, at which point it bolted. Poor bird!
Soon enough the mullet should start their annual parade down the beach. Then my jigs will work as well as anything else.
After leaving the beach, we went looking for spoonbills on the Black Point Wildlife Drive. There were none there, and precious few birds of any kind. So that’s not in season yet, either, but should be soon!
That’s what I got. Thank you again for reading the Autumnal Equinox East Central Florida Fishing Report. Life is great and I love all my readers!
Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go hiking! Take a walk! Do SOMETHING!
John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase a signed copy of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/
All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2021. All rights are reserved.
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