History of the Thousand Islands – The Thousand Islands formed as a result of an ancient tidal inlet that breached this barrier island and flowed across modern-day Cocoa Beach. The indigenous Ais people, a fisher-gatherer society, lived along the inlet. Their oyster shell middens gave rise to the tropical hammocks still evident on the islands today.
How to get there/Where to launch – There is a Kayak/Paddleboard Launch spot located at Ramp Road Park in Cocoa Beach, there is also a kayak landing on one of the islands if you need a place to stop and rest, grab a snack/drink or want to hike the trail on that island – if you follow the boat channel, it is across from the residential canals, halfway between the launch spot, and the Minuteman Causeway.
Why this place? – It is a an absolutely gorgeous place located in the Banana River Lagoon, the water throughout this area is very shallow and skinny, there are endless places to explore, and tight mangrove tunnels between islands that are only accessible by paddle craft. It is also a great place to tie the kayak up on on of the islands and wade fish is shallow, clear water.
Fishing Report – This is a great place to catch Trout and Redfish. You can find smaller trout schooling on the drop-offs of of the channel, larger trout can be found tighter to the mangroves later in the day when the sun comes up, and cruising the flats off the mangroves early in the morning. The same for Redfish, but I’ve found the Reds cruise down the mangrove lines like it’s a highway, and they are more likely to eat around wind blown points. If it is a bright and sunny day, it can be a great place to stand up on a kayak or paddleboard and sight cast to them, if your have a sit-in kayak, then you may want to get out and wade to sight fish. I’ve caught the occasional snook there, usually under docks in the residential canals, but there are more of them in the channel in deep shaded pockets of the mangroves. This is also a great place to target juvenile tarpon. I have caught several on the flats and the channel early in the morning, but they like hanging out in the hard to reach places, they feast on mosquito-fish back in the more stagnant water deep in the mangrove tunnels. There is some specific tackle you will want for this style of close quarters fishing. I plan on sharing my trials and errors of choosing the best kayak tackle as these reports continue.
My top lure/tackle choices for this fishery – I really like top water in the morning. My new favorite is the DOA PT-7 rigged weedless, It’s like the frog in bass fishing, it is a great top water choice to skip under docks or under mangrove lines, which enables the angler to fish top-water a little longer throughout the morning. But any conventional walking style bait works well here at dawn/dusk. My sub-surface top baits are a paddle tail rigged weed-less with a twistlock hook (my favorites are DOA Cal in White or Figi Chix or Saltwater Assassin in the same color patterns), or a Gulp! Shrimp (New Penny or Sugar & Spice colors) on a Mission Fishin Jighead (fish it slow, patience is a virtue and I struggle with it every trip). When the bite is tough, which it can be here, especially in the summer when it’s hot and you have bluebird skies, or in the winter when it’s cold and overcast finesse presentations are the way to go. The Berkley Gulp! Swimming Mullet in White or White with a Chartreuse tail is a great choice because it can be power fished but doesn’t give off the same level of vibration as a paddle-tail; A Zoom Fluke (or any jerkshad) in Baby Bass (clear skies/clean water) or Golden Bream (overcast/dirty water) work well; and if the bite is REALLY tough my go to to put a few fish in the boat is what the guys at Salt Strong call the nub rig. Put a 3 inch paddle tail on a stand-up jig head, pop the tail off and fish it like a ned rig for Redfish, or jerk/dart in back for Trout/Snook let it drop after a few twitches, they will hit it on the drop. The nub is a great way to sight cast to finicky Reds, throw it a few yards in front of where they are cruising and let it sit there, they have to decide to eat it, take my word for it, I have a Phd in spooking Redfish.
If anyone has any questions about the area, please reach out! It nay be hot as a sunny day in hell by 9 am, but remember you can’t catch any fish on the couch, get out there, get some tight lines and have a ball! And remember that we have a breathtakingly beautiful fishery here let’s enjoy it, but let’s leave it better than we found it. Please don’t litter, leave trash, disturb wildlife, feed wildlife or remove any plants/animals/archeology from this area.
Be blessed everyone, Peace!
Great report, I’ve been there once just paddling. Definitely need to make it back soon and wet a line.
@Raider it is a beautiful place to paddle, but the fishing can be very good. It’s one of those places that you can fish over and over and always discover new spots. Hope you are able to get out and catch some fish up there. Good luck and let me know how you do!