Fishing Florida With Captain Myers

It has been some time since my last report but I have been on the water nearly every day. In addition to the Mosquito Lagoon, I have been able to fish the Charlotte Harbor are of southwest Florida as well as the Stuart area north of Palm Beach. My first trip this month was with Capt. Tom Van Horn in the Banana River no motor zone. We fished from Tom's canoe and it was my first chance to experience his new outrigger and deck systems installed by Kay-noe Paddle Products. The outriggers provide stability and allow anglers to stand in a canoe or kayak for better visibility while fishing. Tom also had a decks installed in both the front and rear. The ability to stand makes fishing from a paddle craft much more comfortable. We had to fight the wind all day but we did encounter some nice redfish and black drum. I finally managed to fool a big drum with a DOA shrimp in golden bream color.


The next three days, I was tarpon fishing with Capt. John Kumiski along the beaches outside Boca Grande Pass. Conditions were tough with some wind and dirty water. We didn't see as many fish as we had hoped but we did get a few shots with our flies. John got one bite, I only had a few half-hearted follows. We did see the bait fishermen jump a few fish. We took a drive through the pass and saw hundreds of tarpon coming up from the 70 foot depths rolling on the surface. Though there are many fish there, the pass is not a place for sight fishing. Dozens of boats are stacked on top of each other fishing with very heavy tackle. It is not my style of fishing, but it was interesting to witness.




Saturday the 7th, I fished Mosquito Lagoon with Randy and Paul. At the first spot we stopped, Paul caught a 34 inch redfish to kick off the day.


We fished schools of redfish and black drum and worked the deeper edges of flats fro some trout. They ended up releasing 10 reds, 2 black drum, and around 20 trout. The 3 inch DOA CAL in Silver Rush color accounted for most of the fish including this multi-spot beauty landed by Randy.


I spent last week fishing in Stuart Florida. I had the honor of being invited to participate in the DOA Outdoor Writers Festival held on Wednesday and Thursday. I spent the other days fun fishing in the Indian River, St Lucie River, and along the beaches with the owner/inventor of DOA products Mark Nichols, Capt. Duber Winters, and my wife, Julie. During the event, I had the pleasure of fishing with Capt. Mike Holliday, the editor of Florida Fishing Weekly and a regular on the Chevy Florida Fishing Report show. The fishing was great but the catching varied. We did catch a variety of fish including tarpon, jacks, snook, tripletail, lookdowns, snapper, tunny, and more. The holographic DOA shrimp produced the most fish and the Baitbuster accounted for the largest.




This Monday was a fly fishing charter with British angler Vaughn and his father in law Cliff. They found the casting skills needed to catch our fish a bit of a challenge. Cliff managed to fool a black drum on a black crab fly and Vaughn followed up with one more on a spinning rod.


We had plenty of shots throughout the day and Vaughn fooled a redfish with a green and copper bendback fly.

Tuesday, Mike and Tony joined me for another fly fishing excursion. We began the day searching for some tarpon. Tony, a fresh water fly angler from Colorado, was not used to casting the distances normally needed for flats fishing. While we were working on Tony's casting, Mike jumped a small tarpon that ate a holographic DOA shrimp. We moved out to the flats where we had consistent shots at both schools and single redfish throughout the day. Learning to break of lifetime of casting habits in a day is a huge hurdle and was a struggle. The breezy conditions did not make things easier. As a nasty looking storm approached us and staring at a school of several hundred redfish, Mike and Tony abandoned the fly rods and hooked up with a pair of nice redfish on spinning gear.


Wednesday, Vaughn and Cliff were back for another try at redfish on fly. Vaughn had a nice bite early in the day but the hook pulled. Cliff was fishing a spinner as backup and caught a redfish on a shallow running Baitbuster which would prove to be the only one of the day. We had some shots at large reds and big black drum but never got another bite. After dropping them off at the ramp, I was able to get in a few casts of my own and landed a redfish on an EP pinfish fly before lightning chased me off the water.

Water levels in the Mosquito Lagoon are extremely low so be careful when navigating at low light. The water temperatures are in the 80's at daybreak and are climbing to near 90 by the afternoon. Hot water means low oxygen and the fish will easily become stressed if not brought the boat quickly and handled with care.

Tip of the Week - Loop Knot
I tie on almost everything I use with a loop knot, icluding lures, hooks, and flies. A loop allows youre bait or lure to move freezly and gives it more action. There are many ways to tie a loop but I have found one which is both easy to tie and had never failed me even on fish over 100 pounds. Give it a try and I think you will agree it is both easy and effective.
Loop Knot Directions

Kay-noe Paddle Products

With the price of gas climbing higher all the time, many people are turing to canoes and kayaks to get them to their favorite fishing spots. Being able to stand in your paddle craft allows you to see the fish better and makes for more comfortable casting. The stabilizer systems offered by Kay-noe Paddle Products utilize a unique lever system to raise them out of the water when you are travelling. They can be depolyed quickly with one hand and allow two anglers to stand in comfort. I have fished with them and would recommend them to any paddle craft owner. They are made here in central Florida and can be found at http://www.kay-noe.com/

Capt. Chris Myers
Central Florida Sight Fishing Charters
http://www.floridafishinglessons.com/
321-229-2848