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.