Banana River No Motor Zone - 01-07-2012

Started out the year at the Banana River No Motor Zone. Put in the kayak at the Patrick AFS fence at about 8 AM. Temp in the 50's, some early fog, which had cleared by sunrise. Calm wind. Water temps were in the low 60's, and the water was slightly murky. Moon was waxing gibbous, 97% illuminated. Sunrise 7:17 A, moonrise 12:11 P. Major solunar, 9A-Noon, minor 2:30P - 4:30 P.

Headed East toward the shoreline, then North. After no action early, I followed a smallish school of mullet, blind casting an Exude shrimp in Golden Bream pattern on a 1/8 oz jig. A solid bite started at 9:30 AM. Landed a 19" redfish, then a 22" trout, and a 21" trout in rapid succession. Photos of the first two:



The bite remained solid throughout the day. I anchored over a hole near some old dock pilings and caught trout after trout, the smallest being about 18 inches. I then made my way back to the south, probing the 18"-24" water depths. I started catching redfish again closer to the south end, and I caught one after another for about an hour.

I was off the water by 3:30 PM, as the wind started to pick up to 5-10 mph. Total haul was 20 large trout, 10 bottom slot reds. All fish were caught on the Exude Golden Bream.