Space Coast, Florida
The east coast of Florida is perfect for as- tronauts and anglers. The wide, flat, marshy coast offers fewer things for space shuttles to hit and plenty of places for fishermen to hit. Dee Kaminski (
www.reelkayakfishing.com) guides clients to trophy redfish, tarpon, snook and sea trout on Mosquito Lagoon. “Best season is when you want to fish,” Kaminski half-jokes. In fact, each season features a star.
Catch tailing reds and trout sunning in sand holes during winter. Fall features big snook on shallow flats, deep canals and around docks. A me- dium-heavy spinning outfit spooled with 10-pound braid is the weapon of choice for throwing topwater lures and working weedless jigs. The Space Coast gets its name from Kennedy Space Center. Anglers can watch rockets launch into space and watch tarpon launch out of the water.
Pompano Beach, Florida
Where the Gulf Stream rushes into the east coast of Florida, kayak anglers can paddle out to meet sailfish, tuna, wahoo and other denizens of the deep. The stream can flow up to three knots and the wind blows 15 knots on a calm day. But phenomenal fishing awaits anglers who can beat the conditions. Slow troll live goggle eyes for dolphin, wahoo, sails and tuna. Or stop on a reef and vertical jig snapper, amberjack and grouper. Launch at 16th Street or 2nd Street. Best season is May to September. Great fishing brings hundreds of anglers to Pompano for the Extreme Kayak Fishing Tournament series (www.
extremekayakfishingtournament.com). And don’t miss the Fishing Hall of Fame in nearby Ft. Lauderdale.
Florida Keys
For inshore anglers, three species represent the ultimate achievement: tar- pon, bonefish and permit. All three swim the clear-blue water of Florida’s Keys. Alex Tejeda (
www.facebook.com/bigcatch.kayakfishing) guides an- glers to bucket-list fish on this limestone archipelago that separates the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. Kayak launches sprinkle the islands, and Tejeda recommends Bahia Honda State Park for access to the Gulf and Atlantic. He suggests fishing the bottom of the tide as water and fish flood the flats. “Don’t be afraid of sharks,” he says. The predators are a sign of a healthy reef system. “Target fish often follow the sharks onto the flats,” Tejeda adds. Look for waking fish or shadows moving across broken bottom. Anglers with crabs will have the most success. If you’re bait fishing, use a small blue crab on a 2/0 circle hook. Fly guys like a Merkin crab for permit and bones. Tarpon will eat a big streamer or a cockroach fly. The Keys were developed as a sportfish- ing heaven, and everything from hotels to restaurants and shops has a fishy feel.
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PHOTO: COURTESY EKFT
PHOTO: DEE KAMINSKI
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