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Fishing Reports
Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report
June 10, 2006
Posted by Captain Tom Van Horn
Chuluota, FL 32766 USA
Email: captain@irl-fishing.com
Current Report
Indian River Lagoon Coast
Fishing Charters, May 9, 2006
Mosquito Coast Fishing
Charters
I always enjoy writing about
my notable fishing
adventures. I enjoy sharing
my experiences, and I enjoy
reading and hearing about
the significant catches
others talk and write
about. There is much one
can learn from these yarns,
good and bad. For the most
part, fishing stories are
about the pleasant days on
the water not tough ones.
Well, if you are wondering
where Im going with this
lead into my report, you can
suffice to say that the
fishing was great this past
week; it was the catching
that varied.
My week consisted of two
charters in the Mosquito and
Indian River Lagoons, and a
two day adventure to the
other side, (Floridas west
coast) on a quest to add
Megalops cyprinoids, (big
eyed fish or silver king) to
my fly catching conquest.
Out of the four days, all
were magnificent days of
fishing, but only one
significant fish was caught.
Out of the two days on the
lagoon, the first was a
challenge due to windy
conditions, and after hours
of polling into the wind and
casting at schooling
redfish, we returned to the
dock stinking to high
heavens. Dont get me
wrong, we were on fish, but
between poor visibility and
difficult conditions, our
shots were limited. On
several occasions, we had
schooling redfish swim
directly over both live
shrimp and fresh blue crab,
but apparently they were on
a seafood diet. I once
heard a wise angler say that
any guide can but his
clients on fish, but a good
guide always puts his
anglers on hungry and stupid
fish. Well, I guess I fall
into the any guide category,
because these fish were
anything but stupid or
hungry.
Our luck was a little better
on my second lagoon charter,
but heavy weekend angling
pressure closed the door on
the bite shortly after it
started. We were on the
tailing fish at dawns first
light and we landed and
released a nice 25 pound
redfish before the sun
cleared the horizon, but
before we could get a second
shot at the fish, several
enthusiastic anglers moved
in and chased the fish from
the flat with their electric
trolling motors.
In my last report, I
mentioned targeting and
putting my clients on
several of the larger trophy
redfish for which the
northern Indian River Lagoon
is famous. Several readers
questioned why I pursue
these larger breeders.
Well, in my defense, I am a
fishing guide, and many of
my clients book me
specifically to catch a
trophy redfish. In the name
of customer service, Im
obliged to do so. You will
never see me catch and
release more than a few
trophy fish from a school on
any given day. My question
to my critics is how do you
catch trophy redfish
(breeding size, 28-inches
and larger) during the
summer without targeting the
schools? I see it as my job
to meet the request of my
clients to the best of my
ability, and many of them
travel a considerable
distance at a considerable
expense to catch a trophy.
The tactics I utilize are to
quietly poll into areas
known to hold fish, catch a
trophy for each of my
clients, and then leave the
fish for another day. I
refuse to pound the breeder
schools like many anglers
do, and the vast majority of
my clientele understand and
agree with my tactics and my
return business is testimony
to that.
On my next two days of
fishing, I was more than
excited by the invitation to
venture to the Pine Island
Sound area to fly fish for
monster tarpon by one of my
fishing mentors and veteran
fly guide Captain John
Kumiski. Captain John
normally guides anglers on
the lagoon coast, but for
the last seven years, he has
shifted the mode of
operation to the Pine Island
and Captivia Island area
during May and June to
target the tarpon run. I
was also fortunate to have
the company of Captain Chris
Myers, and together, you
would thing that three
professional guides fishing
from the same boat would
equal fish, not!!!
This was the first time Ive
ever targeted tarpon on the
west coast, and the sight of
30 or more 100 plus pound
fish just swimming in lazy
circles in clear shallow
water was breath taking. We
fished both Tuesday and
Wednesday, and on both days
Captain John put us on one
school of chaining tarpon
after another, and we cast
to hundreds of fish and
still couldnt get one fish
to eat. We trough almost
every fly in Captain Johns
arsenal, and we couldnt
raise a fish. The highlight
of the trip was when Captain
Chris was casting into a
large school not less than
30 feet from the boat, when
he strip set what he thought
was a substantial fish, and
to his surprise and
disappointment, a ladyfish
tail walked across the water
and the poons just kept
chaining in front of us like
nothing happened. Even
though I was unsuccessful in
accomplishing my goal this
year, I was more than
satisfied in just seeing
those fish, learning from
both John and Chris, and at
least now I have something
to look forward to next
year. If any of you are
interested in catching a
giant tarpon, contact
Captain John Kumiski at
www.spottedtails.com.
As always, if you have any
questions of need more
information, please contact
me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
www.irl-fishing.com
407-416-1187 on the water
407-366-8085 office
866-790-8081 toll free
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