Grant: Seafood Festivals & Spoil Island Kayak Fishing

Happy Monday Spacefish!

This past weekend was the annual Grant Seafood Festival! This year was our first time attending, and we had an awesome time. I really regret not going to this before now. My family and I went and spent a good chunk of the day there on Sunday, and on Saturday I was out of town with my football team, we participated in an all day 7v7 tournament in St. Cloud. So I do not have up to the minute intel to provide today, this is the 2nd time in the last 3 weeks life kept me off the water, but with a 4 day weekend coming up for me, and spring break looming around the corner, I look forward to getting back into a groove and getting dialed in again soon.

So in lieu of not fishing this weekend, and having Grant-Valkaria on my mind, I want to talk about some spoil island tactics that have served me well in the past, and talk a little bit about the seafood festival.

Fisherman’s Landing – Grant, FL

One of the best launch spots in Brevard County to go kayak fishing from in my humble opinion is Fisherman’s Landing in Grant. Located at 5795 S, 5795 US-1, Grant-Valkaria, FL 32949 this park offers ample shoreline to launch a kayak or canoe on a soft sandy bottom that is really close to where you can park.

I favor this place from mid-to-late Spring through the early Fall because when you’re trying to get up early to take advantage of the morning sunrise topwater bite, the ability to shave 5 minutes off your unloading/launch process is pretty clutch. Also, after you launch you get a series of spoil islands with tall trees that you can sit on the western side of and buy yourself more time to throw topwater in the shade.

The island across from Fisherman’s Landing marks a special accomplishment for me. In the summer of 2023 I completed an inshore slam within sight distance of the launch spot. I literally launched, paddled straight across and started casting topwater plugs at the shoreline. Within an hour and going less than 200 yards south I had caught multiple Snook, Trout, and a Redfish before I even lost sight of where I launched from. None of the fish on that trip were brag worthy, but I thought it was cool to be able to knock out an inshore slam within a few hundred yards of water covered.

Spoil Islands of the Indian River Lagoon

What makes these spoil islands interesting places to fish is the depth contours created by them.

A brief history lesson: The spoil islands in the Indian River Lagoon are man-made islands created primarily from sediment dredged while constructing the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway between 1951 and 1961, essentially dumping the dredged material along the edge of the channel to form the islands;. These islands are numerous throughout the lagoon and are considered “spoil islands” due to their origin from dredged “spoil” material. Now I am not sure what has created the drop offs nearby, I am assuming it has to do with wind waves crashing against the banks for the last 75 years have created new depths in the areas around the island.

One of my favorite things to do when taking out less experienced anglers is to get live shrimp, and let a novice angler drift alongside the spoil island with a live shrimp under a popping cork. My wife caught her PB Trout last spring doing this. When I take my kids out fishing, we use the kayak to get over to the spot, and park on the shoreline and wade the shallows. Roberts Island is a great place to do that with several spots on all sides of this island being ideal places to park the kayak and get out to wade. Even on solo trips I have done this just to stretch my legs and do something different, which is where the small Snook in the picture above comes from; during a park and wade trip I have done in the past.

I like fishing these islands with topwater in the warmer months, but usually when that bite dies off, I go with a soft plastic swimbait on a jighead. Since I am typically fishing deeper water I like to be able to bottom bounce a jig along depth contours.

This is a great style of fishing for newbies to the sport, but they can also offer a fun change up for those of us that are used to grinding away for hours in a pedal drive. As the weather starts to heat up, don’t forget about these islands from Grant down through Sebastian, they can be very productive fishing areas in the spring, summer, and fall.

Grant Seafood Festival

The Grant Seafood Festival has been held annually since 1966, and is organized by the Grant Community Club. It’s a free, family-friendly festival that features seafood, live entertainment, and community involvement. The festival has been held in late February or early March every year since 1966, which means next year will be the 60th anniversary. Cool historical fact, the Grant Seafood Festival was even once visited by a US Presidential Candidate (Hubert Humphrey during his 1968 bid for the White House when he ran against Richard Nixon, who ultimately won).

This has been an event I have been wanting to go to for years, but each year “something” comes up and we don’t go, but this year, the main reason we went this year was because my wife and I both have a student whose grandparents were part of the founding of the festival, back in 1966, and her family is still heavily involved today. Through this student, I learned the festival is run entirely by volunteers from the community. Many booths are run by family members, with multiple generations working together. Community members are involved in all aspects of the festival, including organizing, purchasing, preparation, cooking, and serving. The money raised goes toward college scholarships for local students, Summer activity for local children, and historical/community sites like the Grant Community Library, Grant Historical House, and the Grant Community Center.

So what can you experience at the festival? There are tons of booths from arts & crafts, to shirts/hats/apparel, to fishing tackle, and even organic bug spray being sold. My favorite local apparel dealer, Fish Skinz, had a tent, and I was impressed that there was the ability to buy discount tackle from a wholesaler who sells directly to tackle shops around the state. For those of us who have done battle with mosquitoes and no-see-ums, my favorite Bug Spray maker, The Bug Juice founders were there offering discount rates on their products, and samplers. While the Grant Seafood Festival is no iCast, it’s not a bad place to visit for a local angler to get cool stuff and buy directly from the founders of our small local businesses.

But let’s talk about the main event, the Seafood. We kept it simple sharing a fried fish dinner plate, extra hush puppies, and 2 orders of fried shrimp as a family. It was delicious! But they had a wide array of food options. In addition to the classic fried fish dinners, and fried shrimp offerings included: fish and shrimp tacos, blackened Shrimp & grits, grilled Mahi sandwiches, beer-battered fish sandwiches, clam chowder/lobster bisque, lobster rolls, steamed oysters, steamed clams, and linguini pasta with clam sauce.
The best part of the festival is that it is free to get in, so you can spend more money on the food. It’s a great local event, with a great history, that goes to benefit a great cause. Next year I will make sure to make some mention in the weeks leading up to the event.

Conclusion

If you have never done the Grant Seafood Festival, mark your calendars for it next year! It is definitely an experience you will not want to miss! Also, Fisherman’s Landing is one of Brevard County’s most kayak friendly launch spots located close to some fertile inshore fishing grounds!

As we approach springtime, we get closer to bright sunny days and warmer weather. The perfect time to go shopping for a new kayak! Make sure to see what is on sale at Kayaks By Bo!

Until next time!