Been in the planning stages for a week or so to have several of us meet up at a newly opened primitive facility (read no running water, no bathrooms) campground on one of the islands in the northern part of the Mosquito Lagoon. The campgrounds are part of the Canaveral National Seashores Park. There is a small fee ($10 per night for up to 6 campers) to be paid the day you plan on camping. You can call ahead, however, to check availability and to reserve.
GatorGuy Dan made the arrangements for Saturday last. Unfortunately, only myself and Dan were able to make it out. That's too bad, 'cause everyone else missed a damn good time and good fishing to boot.
We met early so we could get to the park (south of New Smyrna Beach) at dawn on Saturday. Loaded up the yaks with gear, but we had to make two trips to the campground (second was to bring mostly firewood). Not a bad paddle - maybe a 15-20 minutes. Unloaded all the gear, and then set forth to find Mr. Redfish.
And we found him. Located them about mid-morning, even while the wind was blowing at 10-15mph. The were sitting down in the sandholes (too windy to see tails), so we would anchor up, cast, and after a few casts, up-anchor, drift a bit, and re-anchor. Both Dan and I caught several reds all in the slot -- Dan's had the largest at 28" and 7lbs. I think we caught about 8-9 reds total (missed a couple as well), on Exudes, SaltWater Assasins, and shrimpbombs. At one time I had two hooked up at once -- one on the bobber (shrimp) left floating, and the other on a jerkbait. The two fish were fighting each other and the kayak didn't know which way to go -- what fun!! We kept two with plans for dinner .....
Wind was still 15 or so, and we decided to call it quits for the morning session. We paddled back to camp, ate a lunch of donuts, and finished unpacking the camp. Dan had a tent, and I used a (Hennessey) hammock. Plenty of room for additional tents/hammocks. We then paddled (1-2 miles) to the Ranger's station to pay our camp fees and get our bio-degradable TP (the only kind that can be used at these campgrounds). By that time it was geting late, the wind was still blowing, so we called it an early day, finishing camp setups and starting the fire.
Dinner was absolutely great. We filleted the reds, coated them in seasonings and wrapped them in tinfoil. Put some kielbassa on the grill along with baked beans. Had chips and pinapple for sides. And perhaps consumed some adult beverages .... Just a flat-out fantastic-tasting meal. You know how it is when camping and eating out next to a campground fire. Next to no mosquitos or no-seeums; probably due to wind, cooler weather, and dryness ....
With bellies full, we went to bed early -- had been a long day with getting up early and all the paddling we put in. Dan was soon "sawing logs", but for me this was the first time using the hammock, and I didn't get it set tight enough or high enough off the ground. Kept wondering why the damn hammock was so uncomfortable -- hurt my back something awful! Then realized I was partially on the ground (it only took about three hours for this to come to me). Doh!!!! After adjusting the tightness and lifting it higher, I was able to get in and get some sleep in comfort .....
Sunday morning we woke to the sounds of high winds blowing through the camp. We quickly got up and we had just started breaking camp with the first of the rains came. We finished packing in a torrential downpour. However, as the rains came down, the wind dropped from the 20-25 it had been blowing to 5-10. So Dan and I gave fishing a shot for about 45min before heading in. Fish were not co-operating -- only picked up two 18" trout. So, getting wetter by the minute and starting to feel cold, we headed in and called it a weekend.
If anyone wants any information, send me a PM and I'll forward what I have. I know Dan is planning to go back out this weekend with his twin boys. I am hoping that this will serve as interest for the next time and see if we can get a few more paddlers to join us.
Dan took a ton of pictures with his camera -- Here are some pictures for your perusal:
Loaded yaks: http://community.webshots.com/photo/112 ... 9976YnToiw
Campground Setup: http://community.webshots.com/photo/112 ... 1421krMDkT
http://community.webshots.com/photo/112 ... 1608GzByhD
http://community.webshots.com/photo/112 ... 1703tLymwF
Food: http://community.webshots.com/photo/112 ... 1852HauyKH
Fish: http://community.webshots.com/photo/109 ... 2769AgXiPF
http://community.webshots.com/photo/109 ... 3320WIqgjR
I'll make some more comments about how gear worked, etc. in a follow-up to this post ....
GatorGuy Dan made the arrangements for Saturday last. Unfortunately, only myself and Dan were able to make it out. That's too bad, 'cause everyone else missed a damn good time and good fishing to boot.
We met early so we could get to the park (south of New Smyrna Beach) at dawn on Saturday. Loaded up the yaks with gear, but we had to make two trips to the campground (second was to bring mostly firewood). Not a bad paddle - maybe a 15-20 minutes. Unloaded all the gear, and then set forth to find Mr. Redfish.
And we found him. Located them about mid-morning, even while the wind was blowing at 10-15mph. The were sitting down in the sandholes (too windy to see tails), so we would anchor up, cast, and after a few casts, up-anchor, drift a bit, and re-anchor. Both Dan and I caught several reds all in the slot -- Dan's had the largest at 28" and 7lbs. I think we caught about 8-9 reds total (missed a couple as well), on Exudes, SaltWater Assasins, and shrimpbombs. At one time I had two hooked up at once -- one on the bobber (shrimp) left floating, and the other on a jerkbait. The two fish were fighting each other and the kayak didn't know which way to go -- what fun!! We kept two with plans for dinner .....
Wind was still 15 or so, and we decided to call it quits for the morning session. We paddled back to camp, ate a lunch of donuts, and finished unpacking the camp. Dan had a tent, and I used a (Hennessey) hammock. Plenty of room for additional tents/hammocks. We then paddled (1-2 miles) to the Ranger's station to pay our camp fees and get our bio-degradable TP (the only kind that can be used at these campgrounds). By that time it was geting late, the wind was still blowing, so we called it an early day, finishing camp setups and starting the fire.
Dinner was absolutely great. We filleted the reds, coated them in seasonings and wrapped them in tinfoil. Put some kielbassa on the grill along with baked beans. Had chips and pinapple for sides. And perhaps consumed some adult beverages .... Just a flat-out fantastic-tasting meal. You know how it is when camping and eating out next to a campground fire. Next to no mosquitos or no-seeums; probably due to wind, cooler weather, and dryness ....
With bellies full, we went to bed early -- had been a long day with getting up early and all the paddling we put in. Dan was soon "sawing logs", but for me this was the first time using the hammock, and I didn't get it set tight enough or high enough off the ground. Kept wondering why the damn hammock was so uncomfortable -- hurt my back something awful! Then realized I was partially on the ground (it only took about three hours for this to come to me). Doh!!!! After adjusting the tightness and lifting it higher, I was able to get in and get some sleep in comfort .....
Sunday morning we woke to the sounds of high winds blowing through the camp. We quickly got up and we had just started breaking camp with the first of the rains came. We finished packing in a torrential downpour. However, as the rains came down, the wind dropped from the 20-25 it had been blowing to 5-10. So Dan and I gave fishing a shot for about 45min before heading in. Fish were not co-operating -- only picked up two 18" trout. So, getting wetter by the minute and starting to feel cold, we headed in and called it a weekend.
If anyone wants any information, send me a PM and I'll forward what I have. I know Dan is planning to go back out this weekend with his twin boys. I am hoping that this will serve as interest for the next time and see if we can get a few more paddlers to join us.
Dan took a ton of pictures with his camera -- Here are some pictures for your perusal:
Loaded yaks: http://community.webshots.com/photo/112 ... 9976YnToiw
Campground Setup: http://community.webshots.com/photo/112 ... 1421krMDkT
http://community.webshots.com/photo/112 ... 1608GzByhD
http://community.webshots.com/photo/112 ... 1703tLymwF
Food: http://community.webshots.com/photo/112 ... 1852HauyKH
Fish: http://community.webshots.com/photo/109 ... 2769AgXiPF
http://community.webshots.com/photo/109 ... 3320WIqgjR
I'll make some more comments about how gear worked, etc. in a follow-up to this post ....
