Travel report: Florida's Indian River Lagoon

[BenCantrell]

I was in Florida recently to have a look around and decide if I'd like to move there, and while I was there I borrowed a friend's kayak and did some fishing in the Indian River Lagoon. Thought you guys might like to see some different fish for a change. The kayak is an Eddyline Caribbean 12, which only weighs 45 lbs. It's fast, but it doesn't slice through chop or boat wakes the way my Trident does.



Hardhead catfish. These guys have pectoral and dorsal fin spines and know how to use them!



Sheepshead. Spelled with the S in the middle, as opposed to California sheephead. I could see these guys feeding on the mangrove roots.



Grey / mangrove snapper. They have teeth and can extend their jaw forward a bit. They really want to bite you when you unhook them.



Dolphin. Got to watch a few small pods of them hunting and corralling fish.



Pinfish. Often the pest species in Florida, but I only caught the one.



Jack crevalle. They're strong and get much bigger!



Spotted seatrout. They do get bigger, but this is a pretty typical size.



Another dolphin shot. They were corralling fish into a tight circle before blowing up on them at the surface.



Ladyfish. This was my last fish of the day as I was kayaking back to the launch. I was doing a solid 4.5 mph when it hit my swimbait. They fight surprisingly hard for how skinny they are. I figured I had a bigger jack crevalle on the line.



Florida is a lot different than California. I'm pretty certain that I'm going to move, but I want to have a look around a few other states before I decide.

[Salty]

Nice variety! Looks like a fun day on the water. Just curious, what other states are you looking into? I have family in South Carolina. Haven't been able to fish there before, but it looks like there is plenty going on in that area.

[katchfish]

Thanks for the report.

Interesting variety of critters.

You might want visit that area in the summer first.

[BenCantrell]

Originally Posted by Salty

Nice variety! Looks like a fun day on the water. Just curious, what other states are you looking into? I have family in South Carolina. Haven't been able to fish there before, but it looks like there is plenty going on in that area.

Thank Salty, it was a fun day. I forgot to mention that I saw a 3 ft bonnethead shark and roughly 2 ft diameter stingray, but I wasn't prepared to catch either of them. I'm fortunate to have a work from home job (even before covid), so I'm thinking I'll go to a no state income tax state. FL and WA look like the two best options, because they both have access to saltwater fishing, which I'm not ready to give up. I love mountains too though, which FL does not have.

Originally Posted by katchfish

You might want visit that area in the summer first.

Yeah seriously, that is big concern. My other passion is running, and I don't know how people keep up with it there in the summer.

[PapaDave]

I've caught all of those species, BTW, pin fish are great bait.

I too am considering moving there. Grew up in south Florida.

You'll get used to the heat and the fishing is pretty good and the weather is usually conducive to kayak fishing, even offshore.