My travels this past week carried me from the pristine east coast waters of the Banana River Lagoon No-Motor Zone to the rustic west coast shores of the Homosassa River, and yes I can attest we do live in paradise.
My adventure started out last Sunday morning before first light when I joined up with some members of the newly formed Orlando Kayak Fishing Club for a short angling excursion out of KARs Park. After launching our boats, my friend Carmelo Alvarez manned the front seat of my Old Town canoe and we paddled north along the western shoreline of Banana River Lagoon.
Witnessing very little activity at first, Carmelo and I paddled for about four miles before locating a suitable target. As Carmelo retrieved his soft plastic bait across the top of the water, a sizable fish pushed out from under a matt of floating widgeon grass and exploded on the bait three times before getting a good taste of the hook. As the impressive fish burned drag for deeper water, the heavy run made me think it was a nice snook, but that's when the thirty-pound tarpon cleared the water for the first time, and then freed itself on the third jump.
Carmelo's First Sizable NMZ Redfish
Continuing our tract north, we were forced to take shelter along the mangrove shoreline as a brief monsoon passed. As the rain showers pushed away and I bailed out the canoe, glassy conditions emerged and schools of slot size redfish began pushing down the flat in waves, allowing Carmelo to catch his first sizable redfish before returning to our launch site for a great shore lunch.
Next, it was off to the west coast where my wife Sandi and I spent a very relaxing 5 days at the Homosassa Riverside Resort attending the Florida Outdoor Writers Association Conference. Visiting Homosassa took me back 20 years with its laidback old Florida style, and the incredible hospitality of all we met was very refreshing.
Homosassa Riverside Resort and Crab House, http://www.riversideresorts.com/
Within an hour and a half drive from Orlando, the Riverside Resort is situated on the banks of the scenic Homosassa River. The spring fed headwaters, Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, are 2.5 miles upstream from the Resort and the river's confluence with Gulf of Mexico is 6 miles downstream. The characteristics of the fishery are very different than those of the Indian River Lagoon, with an abundance of skeg eating rock formations being the most pronounced feature.
On Thursday, we fished a fun catch and release tournament sponsored by the Homosassa Fishing Guides Association, Citrus County Visitors and Convention Bureau, and Coastal Conservation Association. Each team of anglers were assigned guides and we departed the resort around 7am. Our crew consisted of myself, Reb Stewart, a retired Fly Outfitter from Virginia Beach, and Captain Kyle Messier of Red Hot Fishing Charters. Captain Kyle is a third generation professional fisherman, with a lifetime of experience fishing out of Homosassa and Crystal River areas, and I highly recommend him as a guide if you plan on exploring these waters. As usual for this type of event, the tides were wrong for an early morning bite, but I still managed 8 different species of fish.
Captain Kyle and Reb with a Light Tackle Gag Grouper
After fishing for 4 hours we returned to the Tarpon Key Lodge for a BBQ lunch provided courtesy of CCA. The Lodge is located on an island at the mouth of the Homosassa River, and it sleeps eight people and is available for rent with a three-day minimum.
Tarpon Key Lodge Photo from http://www.tarponkeylodge.com/
In closing, there are still a few openings in the 2007 Fall Mosquito Lagoon Celebrity Redbone Tournament scheduled for October 11th, 12th, and 13th. The event is a CPR tournament supporting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and with our support we can catch the cure. For more details visit http://spacecoast.cff.org/redbonefishing.
As always, if you have questions or need information, please contact me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
http://www.irl-fishing.com/
407-366-8085 landline
407-416-1187 on the water
866-790-8081 toll free
Visit http://www.mosquitocreekoutdoors.com/ for your outdoor adventure needs, its Where the Adventure Begins!
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