Report from Cocoa Beach
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Nedak
Oct 16, 2014, 7:28:58 PM10/16/14
to tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com
Connected with a guy from Stripers Online who works in a local shop. I
have fished Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River and Banana River for the past 4
years. I have caught reds, black drum, pompano, catfish, ladyfish and
sea trout, lots of variety but never on a fly.
We met on the beach south of Patrick Air Force base with the intent to find tarpons hitting the mullet run. Unfortunately a cold snap last week drove the bait south and it was tough going. We drove about 20 miles searching for bait balls but did not see any.
Finally we happened on a spot and decided to go for it. Wandering down the beach blind casting we saw some boils. I was fortunate enough to bring 2 blue fish and a jack to shore. Not huge fish but first time catching fish on the fly out of the surf.
Later that night we motored down to Sebastian Inlet and tried our luck on Snook. If you have never been, its an interesting place. We saw lots of cast nets and some pretty offensive stuff. One guy landed a snook in the cast net that looked to be about 40 inches-both outside slot and illegal to catch in a net. The guy hurried off to his car with the poor fish in the net. No respect for the fish or fishery. We contemplated calling DNR but figured he would be gone by the time DNR got there.
After wading out on the rocks on the north side-inlet side we pitched sinking tips with various baitfish patterns. With my headlamp shining on the water, I could see the mullet were so thick you could walk on them. They were going upstream, downstream cross current. About every 20 seconds, the bait would explode and you would hear a loud smack as the snook busted up them up. Unfortunately we could not get any takes.
Day 2 we went over to the Banana River and wet waded walking about 2 miles along a nice flat. The wind was light, the water was dirty and very high. About 200 yards from our exit point, I had been casting a popper against the mangroves. I must admit, after about 50 perfect casts, I put another one in tight to the mangrove, let it sit for couple of seconds, gave a hard tug, one pop and then BOOM huge explosion. After a nice fight, I brought a nice sized ~20-24inch red fish to hand. 3 years of chasing them with a fly and it was well worth it.
I learned a ton fishing with an experienced angler and hopefully met a friend for life. We spent a lot of time together and shared a meal or two.
My question, what do I do for the guy? We talked and there is a great restaurant down there (The Fat Snook). He said he loved it but only on date night. I was thinking a nice gift certificate to the restaurant would be appropriate for single guy, works in a fly shop and lives off a disability check.
Thoughts or suggestions because he has the world covered on fly fishing stuff.
We met on the beach south of Patrick Air Force base with the intent to find tarpons hitting the mullet run. Unfortunately a cold snap last week drove the bait south and it was tough going. We drove about 20 miles searching for bait balls but did not see any.
Finally we happened on a spot and decided to go for it. Wandering down the beach blind casting we saw some boils. I was fortunate enough to bring 2 blue fish and a jack to shore. Not huge fish but first time catching fish on the fly out of the surf.
Later that night we motored down to Sebastian Inlet and tried our luck on Snook. If you have never been, its an interesting place. We saw lots of cast nets and some pretty offensive stuff. One guy landed a snook in the cast net that looked to be about 40 inches-both outside slot and illegal to catch in a net. The guy hurried off to his car with the poor fish in the net. No respect for the fish or fishery. We contemplated calling DNR but figured he would be gone by the time DNR got there.
After wading out on the rocks on the north side-inlet side we pitched sinking tips with various baitfish patterns. With my headlamp shining on the water, I could see the mullet were so thick you could walk on them. They were going upstream, downstream cross current. About every 20 seconds, the bait would explode and you would hear a loud smack as the snook busted up them up. Unfortunately we could not get any takes.
Day 2 we went over to the Banana River and wet waded walking about 2 miles along a nice flat. The wind was light, the water was dirty and very high. About 200 yards from our exit point, I had been casting a popper against the mangroves. I must admit, after about 50 perfect casts, I put another one in tight to the mangrove, let it sit for couple of seconds, gave a hard tug, one pop and then BOOM huge explosion. After a nice fight, I brought a nice sized ~20-24inch red fish to hand. 3 years of chasing them with a fly and it was well worth it.
I learned a ton fishing with an experienced angler and hopefully met a friend for life. We spent a lot of time together and shared a meal or two.
My question, what do I do for the guy? We talked and there is a great restaurant down there (The Fat Snook). He said he loved it but only on date night. I was thinking a nice gift certificate to the restaurant would be appropriate for single guy, works in a fly shop and lives off a disability check.
Thoughts or suggestions because he has the world covered on fly fishing stuff.
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