We fished bass in our back yard every day (AM & PM) for almost 2 months in Florida

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

When you have a dock with a 14 foot Jon boat in your back yard it is pretty hard not to go fishing a lot.

While we were back there in Sebastian, Florida Joe Shirshac, now 90 years old, came for a week to visit and fish.

During the warm periods we use a small fly rod pencil popper for LMB, Crappie and Blue Gills with Sage bass fly rods.

I think being retired is growing on me?


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[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

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This is the dock I built in my back yard in Florida with my Crestliner 14' x 48" Jon boat. We just added a bow mounted electric to it this past month. We put some floors in it too. It is hard not to fish every morning and evening when you have a boat and a nice water way in your back yard full of fish.

The canal is the rain water collection system for the town which has a small dam that keeps it at a constant level and then it flows over it to the Sebastian River then to the Indian River Lagoon and then to the Atlantic Ocean.

In the canal are LMB, crappie, blue gills, shiners, telopia, turtles, lots of water birds, ducks, otters and small gators

Across the canal is my good buddy and neighbor Danny who is a retired commericial clammer from New Jersey. He is a commado fisherman with three boats.

In Sebastian you are rated as a fisherman by how many boats you have on your property. Some guys have 6. An off shore boat, bay boat, airboat, a Jon boat with a mud motor and a canoe and kayakas.

I had 3 boats so far: 14' Jon w/electric, 14' fiberglass skiff w/ 40hp and a vintage fiberglass peddle/paddle boat. My next boat is going to be a canoe or two person kayak for traveling around the area to small bass/snook/tarpon water.

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[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Our little place is in Sebastian, Florida, which is a very serious fishing community with tons of retired people from up the north coast of the US.

We have the famous Sebasitan River that looks like the lower American River below Cal-Expo except it has Snook, Tarpon, LMB, ladyfish, redfish, jacks and other speices chasing mullet and other bait fish.

It also has manatees, porpoise, otters, alligators, turtles, water birds, etc.

Here is a little kayaking video I found that is in the upper smaller reaches of the river.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y51XgsCH4fc

We also have the over hundred mile long intercoastal water way, the Indian River Lagoon, that is average depth if ~3 feet and full fo salt water gamefish.

In it's length it has about 5 opening through the barrier island to the Atlantic Ocean, one being our famous Sebastian Inlet.

Sebastian Inlet is one of the most famous salt water fishing spots in East Central Florida.

http://www.floridastateparks.org/sebastianinlet/

You can buy fishing cottages for $50,000 to $100,000 right now in Sebastian, FL.

You can buy a mobil home in the famous Bar Foot Bay Community for $50,000.

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[David Lee]

Sweet-sweet-sweet !!!

Boss , I have a task for you (since you're retired and all ..... probably just wandering around all day with a Camera in your pocket ?)- can you post a photo here of one of the mullet (common bait sized) from your area , prefer a shot of one in the palm of your Hand .... I'm tying a bunch of Deerhair Baitfish flies , and I'll send you some that will match your Mullet .

Thanks !!

D.~

[jbird]

Love it Bill! i wanna be you!

David theres two varieties of mullet in florida. Theres Mullet and theres finger Mullet. They look almost identical but the fingers are the most commonly used for bait. They are 5-7". Not sure if they are a "half pounder" mullet or a sub species. The big mullet grow in excess of 20". I think they are plankton eaters but may eat krill. It would be an absolute hoot to find a small fly they liked to eat :)

I wanna see Bill gettin towed around a canal by a tarpon or big snook ;)