Ups: Well another year has come to pass. 2013 was a fantastic year for the space coast kayaking scene. Many great local events were held and our Kayaking community is continuing to develop. Several great tournaments have been held in our local waters. All kayak tourneys follow a CPR (catch, photo, release) format that is very low impact to this great fishery. If you’re looking to expand your group of friends and learn some more great fishing techniques! The tourneys are a great way to accomplish this. Most seem to be at them for the fun and friends, but a few fish sure don’t hurt. Another one of our recourses and ties to the kayak world has changed too! The “Monday night kickoff show w/Redfish Chuck” brought to you by Kayak Fishing Radio, LLC has been expanded with a few new host’s and frequent guest. Alan Ryland and Pepi Vidal have become Chuck’s counterparts. Wade Hollowell and I (Capt. Alex) have become frequent callers sharing the fun and forecasts. This year we had some great guests like Chris Cenci of Slayer Inc lures, Woody Callaway of Native Kayaks, fly rod manufacturers, RCI optics guys, and so many more! It’s an amazing way to get the skinny in the kayaking and fishing industry. A kayak by Bo (KBB) has also expanded this year to include an Outfitter in the same building as its Titusville location. Manned by the before mentioned Redfish Chuck and stocked with an extremely well thought out selection of local fish catching tools. Complete with a lounge, snacks, fishing book library, and flat screen playing fishing videos to get you amped for your session. With a chilled out atmosphere and helpful staff you will find everything from tackle to valid up to date reports on the fishing, and some killer kayaks next-door. I’m also super stoked about my fleet change this year! Looking to keep my clients in the best our industry offers I have switched to an entire Hobie Kayaks fleet. Giving us the ability to peddle and hands free fish! I also have some great paddle ones so anyone can take a try at
kayak fishing.
Downs: Several sad moments have happened throughout the last year also. The lagoon has had issues of mammal and fish deaths with water quality on everyone’s mind as a root cause. All these problems are not easy to fix; however it seems more “regular” folks have started to become educated and aware. We can only hope a workable plan is on the horizon! Those of us that remember the last days of gill-nets in the lagoon were struck with a blast of “Deja vu” when a judge from another county decided in favor of the net lobby. True it was short lived, stopped, and pushed to a higher court! However it exposed the fact that this fight is not over. They have been fighting hard for twenty years to get it back, and we need to fight for another twenty to stop this unneeded practice. I suggest that you get your fill of the boat ramp follies found at Grill/Sunrise Marina ramp in Port Canaveral. The winds of change and smell of cruise ship money have claimed another victim. The ramp will be removed and replaced with more tourist friendly grounds. Us stinky fisherman will be launching from a new ramp to be located in the Jetty Park area. Different for sure, but may prove to be a great thing for off-shore kayaking on the space coast. Eliminating the need to punch through the surf is a good thing and should allow me to be able to introduce many more clients to the fun of big water Kayak fishing.
On the fishy side of things; predominate north winds and cooler temperatures will usher in sight fishing time on the Space Coast. Without tides our lagoons look to the winds for water movement. North drops the water level, and south brings it back. The cooler temps inhibit the growth of bacteria and other microscopic inhabitants of our waters. The lack of this allows the lagoon to become the clearest it will get. Shallow clean areas with a high sun to warm them will get you into some amazing fishing. Small soft plastics like the Slayer Inc. SSB in molting color will imitate the prevalent shrimp and get you hooked up. Best locations will have a form of deeper water close by!