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Part Fishing Report, Part Update

November 21, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Part Fishing Report, Part Update

Thank you for reading this part fishing report, part update. I posted a blog last week but did not distribute it via Mailchimp. For those who missed it, the link is below.

Fishing– haven’t done much. I met Rodney Smith and Tammy Wilson at Titusville’s Sunrise Bread Company on Thursday. Tammy works on the All Waters Adventures charter boat out of Port Canaveral. She said all the port captains are calling this month “no fish November.” It’s been so rough they can’t get out of the port.

This cypress tree added a bit of autumnal color to my Econ River paddle.

Having said that, last week I paddled the Econ from SR 419 to Snow Hill Road. No fishing tackle was carried. The gauge was at 8.5 feet that day. The Florida Trail crosses the river by means of a footbridge about two-thirds of the way down the river. The water was so high I could not go under that bridge, and had to go around it. Weird, but there you go.

I had received a hot tip the bass were feeding in coves along the Econ, so Monday I launched the Bang-O-Craft at CS Lee and ran up the Econ to verify. Disclaimer- two or three weeks may have passed between receiving said information and acting on it. At any rate I enjoyed a beautiful day, but did not see nor touch any fish.

Thursday, after the above-mentioned bread company ron-day-voo, Rodney and I took a ride on Biolab Road. Mosquito Lagoon looked brown and terrible. A hard east wind had it all chopped up, too. There was a couple truck fishing, and as we passed them we could not help but notice they were measuring a fish. Naturally we stopped. It was a black drum. They told us they had caught ten, and before we drove off they hooked another one. They were just soaking shrimp. That’s my hot fishing tip this week.

Monarch butterfly.

We saw some birds, butterflies, and one obese alligator. We talked about how, at one point in time, you could drive the Biolab Road, see tailing reds from your car, park, wade out, and catch them with a fly rod. Looking at the water now even I have a hard time believing we used to do that.

Gulf fritillary butterfly.

In my last fishing report I asked that readers follow me on Instagram. I’m @spottedtailflyfish and would still appreciate it if you would follow me.

Head of obese alligator.

I just started using a new app called Magma, where I put together a short photo essay about fly fishing in the everglades. You can see that at https://magmanow.com

Body of same alligator.

The link to last week’s photo essay on the Orlando Wetlands Park is https://www.spottedtail.com/blog/orlando-wetlands-park/

My Mitzi Skiff, a 17 foot boat with a 60 HP Yamaha 4-stroke, is for sale. Asking $11.5 K. Lots of extras!!! Call me at 407.977.5207 if you’re interested.

No report next week. I’ll be preparing for a week-long paddle-fly-fishing trip to Everglades National Park.

I hope everyone has a safe and blessed Thanksgiving!

Thank you for reading this Part Fishing Report, Part Update blog!

Life is great and I love life!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! or paddle!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase a signed copy of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2020. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Fishing Stories, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report · Tagged: , ,

Another Not Much Fishing Report

September 18, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Another Not Much Fishing Report

Thank you for reading another not much Fishing Report. As I said last week, the subtitle of my blog is “Fishing and other bits of life.” This week the other bits of life again overwhelmed the fishing.

Why I did not fish out of Port Canaveral this week-

The waves have been kind of LARGE.

Why I did not fish the Econ this week-

I like the gauge reading 2.0 or less.

Why I only fished one day this week- cat to the vet, wife to the dentist, car to the shop, and getting ready for Saturday’s yard sale… 

Please feel free to stop by and say hello!

Did kayak fly fish on Tuesday, Mosquito Lagoon. The water was the highest I’ve seen it this year, with the gauge at 1.4. It has continued to rise all week and is currently close to 2.0. With the clouds, wind, and dirty water it was near impossible. I had only two shots in almost five hours, got one redfish. Leader was in the rod when the fish took the fly.

One good thing about the dirty water- they can’t see you, either.

But if you live in central Florida and have not been able to find time to fish, you’re not missing much.

Something to think about: if you fish the wrong fly long and hard enough, it will sooner or later become the right fly. – John Gierach

Life is great and I love my life!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2020. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Uncategorized · Tagged: , ,

Not Much Fishing Report

September 12, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Not Much Fishing Report

Thank you for reading my not much Fishing Report. The subtitle of my blog is “Fishing and other bits of life.” This week the other bits of life kind of overwhelmed the fishing.

This has to be the internet article of the week- https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/nutrition/the-health-benefits-of-farting/ar-BB18UyMu?li=BBnba9O

On the Tuck

The Featured Artist of the Week is local artist John Gilbert, who specializes in watercolors, gyotaku, and illustrations. His work is colorful, vibrant, and beautiful. Of course he’s an angler. Visit his website at https://www.johngilbertartist.com

Deep Creek

Sunday– Didn’t sleep well Saturday night. Visions of a big project involving a van kept me awake. My mind was fairly seething.

One thing that was painfully obvious to me was that before any big projects could happen I needed to be able to get at tools and materials that were buried under a year’s (at least!) accumulation of domestic detritus. Spent the morning cleaning the garage, then relaxed in the afternoon and watched the Red Sox.

Monday– no way am I going out in a boat on Labor Day. Got my sister to join me for an expedition to the landfill, where we chucked five cartons of unsold books as well as the back seats of the Sienna. See ya! Stopped by Mullet Lake Park on the way home. Yes, it was jammin’, cars, trucks, and boat trailers about a mile down Mullet Lake Park Road.

Took pictures of stuff I want to sell in the afternoon, put them on facebook. Some of the ads had instant gratification!

Tuesday– wanted to fish, but stayed home and sold a canoe. If you have a boat for three years and it hasn’t seen the water in that time, it’s time to get rid of it. I did. I now have one canoe left.

I also worked on the new bed for the van https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BlvZu7ZnWJszXVXKyM7uZX7eMM5FdzZ5/view.

Ripping boards- not as fun as fly fishing.

I’m using all repurposed materials in constructing the bed, so after ripping 2x8s and cutting everything to size, it was time for sanding. Hours of it. Piled the lumber neatly, cleaned up the mess, and took it easy all afternoon. Tied more flies. Can’t have enough flies!!!

The sleeping surface of the bed will be polycarbonate panels.

Wednesday– tried fly fishing from a kayak in the soup we call Mosquito Lagoon. We have a cat named Lulu. Lulu sheds a lot of fur. Once in a while I’ll take my fly brush and brush her. Then I take the collected hair and use it to make dubbed bodies. I tossed a Lulu fly at a tailing black drum and it ate the fly. BAM! I knew it would work, but am grateful it actually did. Many thanks to the kitty for its donation.

Black drum on the Lulu fly.

Thursday– had a long list of errands and things to do, tried to make a dent in it. The van was not ready to carry paddle vessels. I used 5200 adhesive to put a skid plate made from Seadek at the back edge of the roof, and then made and attached two tie down points that come out from under the hood. I’ll put the rack crossbar extenders on tomorrow.

Friday– if you’re going to make a camper, you’re going to need a bed. I spent all day Friday, quite a warm and humid day, working on that bed and perspiring. I do have the first iteration complete, though. Need to pull the seats out of the van and install the bed.

Saturday– Last week I cleaned the garage. Next Saturday we’re going to have a yard sale. So this Saturday was spent getting ready for that.

The wonderful thing about knowledge is that it is genuinely limitless. There is not even a theoretical possibility of exhausting the supply of ideas, discoveries, and inventions. – Matt Ridley, from The Rational Optimist

Life is great and I love my life!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2020. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , ,

Another E.C. FL Fishing Report

September 5, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Another E.C. FL Fishing Report

Thank you for reading my E.C. FL Fishing Report.

Monday– NOAA predicted 1-2 foot seas with an 11 second period. A bathtub! Reality proved the NOAA prediction incorrect, although the Mitzi was up to it. Launched at the port at 7 am. Right outside the port birds were everywhere, screaming and dipping. I did not see any fish, so I headed to the cape.

There were some small fish breaking there. I tossed a Krebs popper a few times and came up with a Florida-sized bluefish.

The wind was southwest so I stayed close to the beach. The water was dirty. There were big balls of glass minnows, and the only things bothering them were sharks and birds. Weird.

Casting a tan Clouser minnow around one of the balls, I got a small jack and then a nice pompano. Surprise!

This fish was a pleasant surprise.

Did not see any tunny or mackerel.

On the way back there was a school of menhaden in the bight. No fish that I could see. That was it for the day. The boat was on the trailer at noon. The skies opened up shortly after that.

Tuesday- non-fishing day to say the least. Had an early MRI, love those.

Afterwards I brought the chariot in for service. Sue and I have been talking about getting a minivan, the idea being we would turn it into a camper, then drive to San Francisco to visit Maxx and Catalina. My thought was I would see what they (AutoNation Toyota, Winter Park) had on the lot while I waited for my car to be serviced. Just checking out the scene.

They had a 2014 Sienna with 67,000 miles on it.

My car needed $1700 worth of work, but was worth $3000 as a trade-in.

I, to my own great surprise, drove the Sienna home. This is close to what we want to do with it-

Thursday I took the back seats out of the van, then had U-Haul install a trailer hitch and wiring.

Friday– went kayak fly fishing on the grossly dirty Mosquito Lagoon. Ran into Ed Wisecki at the boat ramp- Hi, Ed!

Found a rare trio of redfish, tails barely breaking the surface as they cruised. Doubt I could have seen them otherwise. Dropped a black Clouser Minnow in front of them- Score! Did not see much else. It was hot but otherwise quite lovely, at least until the skies opened.

I feel blessed to have found a fish like this in the soupy waters of Mosquito Lagoon.

There are many good fishermen and some great ones, but there is only one you. – Ernest Hemingway

Life is great and I love my apparent retirement!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2020. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, port canaveral fishing report · Tagged: , , , ,

Another East Central Florida Fishing Report

August 29, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Another East Central Florida Fishing Report

Thank you for reading another east central Florida Fishing Report. Kind of fished around this week, and none too seriously at that.

Monday– in spite of 20 mph winds and 60 percent rain chance I went kayaking on Mosquito Lagoon. I saw exactly one redfish while wading, put the slider three feet in front of it. The fish crushed the fly and I got it. Unbelievable, with the dirty water and in that weather.

Tuesday– stayed home, tied some flies and listened to Count Basie, Stan Kenton, Mose Allison, and Jethro Tull. Good times.

I made a flock of faux fishies.

Wednesday– beach day with Susan. Brought a cheap rod and reel I found along the Econ, a sand spike, and some shrimp. When the wind is from the southeast you get the Miami mud and terrible fishing. My first bite didn’t take long, and it was memorable- with a double hook rig, two (at once!) hardhead cats. After releasing the sixth one I gave up. I just sat and watched the waves and the birds. Nice morning!

License tag of a car parked at the beach. But the Red Sox are terrible this year.

Thursday– Susan wanted to go for a boat ride, so we hooked the Mitzi up to the car and went to Mosquito Lagoon. Figured I may as well look for fish at the same time. HA! The joke was on me.

Susan takes her boat rides seriously.

The Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon are both in full algae bloom mode. The water is brown, opaque, disgusting, heart-breaking. We rode around for two hours. The best water I saw was green instead of brown. You certainly get a different perspective in the skiff versus the kayak. Every time the algae blooms (every summer for the past six or seven years) I wonder if the water will ever clear up again. One of these times it won’t, I fear.

Friday– joined Walt Sheppard for a Spruce Creek kayak trip. Armed with a six-weight, I sallied forth to do battle with whatever Leviathan I could find.

I missed my first four bites. Guess I wasn’t ready. The third, fourth, and fifth bites were a baby tarpon. The hook stuck in number five. I was able to leader the little guy before he hopped off. Fly was a small bucktail streamer.

John with a baby tarpon. File photo by Tammy Wilson.

I did not get another bite, but did have to drag my boat a ways. I followed a six-inch long mantis shrimp, which I apparently spooked, about 20 feet. Those things look like they would be mighty tasty. Very graceful, beautiful creatures they are.

A Poem

We, this people, on this small and drifting planet
Whose hands can strike with such abandon
That in a twinkling, life is sapped from the living
Yet those same hands can touch with such healing, irresistible tenderness
That the haughty neck is happy to bow
And the proud back is glad to bend
Out of such chaos, of such contradiction
We learn that we are neither devils nor divines
– Maya Angelou

Life is great and I love my apparent retirement!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2020. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

East Central Florida Fishing and more Report

August 22, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

East Central Florida Fishing and more Report

Thank you for reading this east central Florida Fishing and more Report. Only fished two days this week. 🙁

The More (most of it)
September is nine days away. The year is flying by!

There are two tropical storms churning out there. Both are supposed to hit the same spot on the Gulf coast. Someone’s gonna need some prayers and financial assistance….

Government Newspeak- announce a new initiative with no funding or personnel. Brilliant! https://www.floridaphoenix.com/2020/08/20/musings-on-florida-and-the-politics-of-pythons/

Cheryl Kumiski, the official sister of the Spotted Tail, is an artist working in glass. You can see her work, and maybe purchase some of it (unique and thoughtful gifts) at this link- https://www.etsy.com/shop/cherylkumiskiglass

Lion Cub in glass, by Cheryl Kumiski

The FISHING!
Monday Walt Sheppard joined me again for some action out of Port Canaveral. My goal was to get him some tunny on fly. We found the bluefish and Spanish mackerel first, then went looking for tunny.

At first they were no-shows. I kept looking, and they started showing. Walt got his first on a sting silver. The tip-top fell off his spin rod though, and rather than use mine he picked up his fly pole. Perfect!

It took us a few opportunities but we finally got close to a group of fish that kept breaking. Walt laid the fly into them and BAM!

 

Walt got this tunny with a glass minnow fly.

The process repeated itself a few minutes later.

Then Walt said to me, “You should get one.” So I did. By now the fish were going off pretty good, but it was noon, and it was hot. Walt said, “I’ve had enough,” so we loaded the boat and headed home.

Thanks for a great morning, Walt!

Tuesday‘s visit with the pulmonologist was less fun than Monday was.

Wednesday Susan and I went to the beach up at New Smyrna. The surf fishermen were catching a few whiting. The surfers were loving life.

Thursday I went kayak fly fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. The water was as high as I’ve seen it this year, 1.4 feet on the Haulover Canal gauge https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?02248380. It’s real dirty, too. It took a couple hours but I found a shallow area where I could kind of see the bottom. There were a few redfish there and I used a slider to catch a couple. It was more fun than the pulmonologist visit.

I (and the rest of humanity) will be happy and relieved when the pandemic is over.

Life is great and I love my apparent retirement!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2020. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, port canaveral fishing report · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Port Canaveral and More Fishing Report

August 15, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Port Canaveral and More Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Port Canaveral and more Fishing Report.

Sunday morning, sick of being house-bound, I had Susan drop me off at the 419 bridge over the Econ. No fish were harmed in the making of this trip. It was a speed test. I left the bridge at 9 am, reaching Snow Hill Road at 1140. Pretty zippy! Saw only seven alligators!

Love, love, love to see this!

Monday– Susan joined me for a Port Canaveral scout. She has to limit her sun exposure, so it was to be a short trip. Launched the boat at 9, ran up the beach. Found a large school of breaking mackerel and caught a few, then continued on. Found a spot with some bluefish. Headed out to sea. Lots of tunny! Got one on a jig, then headed back to the port. Done at noon.

First tunny of the season for me. Here’s to many more!

Tuesday– family beach trip to Bethune Beach. There were balls of glass minnows along the beach. I did not see any tarpon, but something (I suspect ladyfish) was wearing those poor minnows out. Saw larger fish breaking sporadically farther out. I’ll be happy when Canaveral National Seashore starts opening early in the morning again.

Wednesday– Walt Shepperd joined me for a Port Canaveral trip. Boat left the dock at 730. Found a small school of breaking mackerel, caught a few. I tossed a Sting Silver , Walt a No-Eql . The macs were relatively small ones. They were scattered all along the beach. The bluefish were still at the bluefish spot.

Walt battles the wicked tunny.

We went out looking for tunny. We only found a few at first, but they got really thick, just awesome. I love watching them blitz! The Sting Silver worked best, although I did get one on a streamer.

It was a beautiful fish!

We caught 30 or 40 fish, a great morning all-in-all. Thanks for joining me, Walt!

Thursday– had errands to do, and then had the great pleasure (!) of pressure washing my driveway.

Not my photo, but this is ceviche.

Friday– I wanted to make ceviche  and needed a fish, so I boldly took the kayak to Mosquito Lagoon looking for a slot redfish. I found one, 23 inches, that took my slider. The filets are in my refrigerator as I write this (it’s the first redfish I’ve killed in four or five years), and the ceviche will be eaten for supper tonight. Bon appetit!

Time for Some Simple Frugality??
Two centuries of industrialization, population growth, and frenzied economic activity has bequeathed us smog; polluted lakes, rivers and oceans; toxic waste; soil erosion; deforestation; extinction of plant and animal species, and global warming. The philosophy of frugal simplicity expresses values and advocates a lifestyle that might be our best hope for reversing these trends and preserving our planet’s fragile ecosystems.

Think about it.

Thanks for reading this Port Canaveral and more fishing report!

Life is great and I love my apparent retirement!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2020. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, port canaveral fishing report · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

A Short Lagoons Fishing Report

August 8, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

A Short Lagoons Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Short Lagoons Fishing Report. No slam this week! Only fished two days.

Bake with a Mosquito Lagoon redfish, circa 1990.

Steve Baker RIP. I learned Sunday that my old friend and mentor Steve Baker passed away last week. Read my eulogy here…

Tuesday– launched the kayak on the Indian River Lagoon, before sunrise, visions of snook on fly dancing in my head. The snook had other plans. I don’t know what those plans were, but they didn’t include getting caught by me. Got one redfish on a RipTide shad. Stuffed, baked, and served on a plate it would have made a lovely hors d’ouvre. Did find the baby tarpon rolling, convinced one to take a fly. Said fly pulled out just as the leader hit the rod. Other than the stars and birds, that was my morning. It was quite a pleasant morning to be paddling!

Not a 50 pounder from the NMZ, but a black drum on fly.

Friday– went to Mosquito Lagoon with kayak. Did not bring the spin rod. Spectacular day, if a little warm. Found a few fish, even through the murk. Convinced a few to take my flies.

The redfish worm strikes again!

Time flies so fast once youth is past that we cannot accomplish one half the many things we have in mind or indeed one half our duties. The only safe and sensible plan is to make other things give way to the essentials, and the first of these is fly fishing. – Theodore Gordon

Life is great and I love my apparent retirement!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2020. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Central Florida Kayak Fishing Report- The Week of the Super Grand Slam!

August 1, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Central Florida Kayak Fishing Report- The Week of the Super Grand Slam!

Thank you for reading this Central Florida Kayak Fishing Report. This was the week of the super grand slam! A proper slam happens in a day. This one took me all week to get, but ya take what ya get these days.

Blog Posts This Week– Leave It As It Is- A Book Review 

Other Bits of Life– Peter Green, one of the founding members of Fleetwood Mac and a hero of my youth, passed away this week. I had the pleasure of seeing him, and them, in concert back in 1970 at the Boston Tea Party. I’ve been to a lot of concerts- that one remains one of the most memorable.

Weather Forecast from Hell-

Northeast winds 55 to 65 knots with gusts to around 80 knots. Seas 
27 to 30 feet with a dominant period 11 seconds. Extremely rough on the 
intracoastal waters. Periods of showers.

Coming at us on Sunday.

FISHING!

Monday– launched the kayak on Spruce Creek, illegally, since it was before sunrise and I had no light*. Got a ticket from the marine patrol there, a long time ago, for the same reason. But, I digress.

Before the sun hit the horizon, I found a redfish cruising the bank. Dropped the bunny leech in front of him. He acted the way they are supposed to, and I had a redfish release before sunrise.

Spruce Creek red, on a black bunny leech. Welcome to a new day!

Back in the day, at that time in the morning you’d see jacks crushing mullet, hear snook popping, etc. None of that this morning, very placid. Sad.

Found some baby tarpon rolling a while later. Jumped two, one on the leech and one on a small gray shrimp pattern. Them little boogers is hard to hook!

Found another shoreline red. Thought I had it, but the fish spooked off the fly. It didn’t have a weedguard (it was the one I had tossed it at the tarpon) and it hooked on a shell. That was my morning, and a lovely one it was.

Didn’t fish Tuesday or Wednesday, but I did watch The Kids Are Alright, a documentary about The Who. When they played Young Man Blues it gave me shivers, just freaking awesome. They don’t make them like that any more.

Thursday– Got up too early (really- the days are getting shorter and I’m still on the June program) but got to see Orion above the eastern horizon as I drove to the Indian River. Dropped the kayak in illegally again (no light) and paddled to where I hoped the fish would be.

The best one- of course I didn’t notice the lens was foggy…

In a clear example of “that’s fishing,” I did not get a bite for an hour and a half, then I hooked four snook on four casts, catching three of them. The fourth sawed through my leader (#25 fluoro). The bait was a RipTide Sardine. One of the caught ones was a real one, five or six pounds, my nicest one this year. The one that got away was WAY bigger, of course. 🙂

This was a decent one, too.

A while later I got another snook, a dinker. Then I found some dinker tarpon rolling. One took a black and white streamer and I actually used a dehooker to release it. I did not photograph it, but it was important to the slam. Then I paddled back to the car.

Friday– Got up at 6 am, was on the road to Mosquito Lagoon at 0645. Got caught in some wreck traffic, so I didn’t launch the kayak until 0800.

The water is so green. The first redfish I saw was not social distance away. I did not get a shot. And something I was reminded of this day was, it’s hard to drop a fly exactly where you want it to land when the fish is eight or ten feet away. The next several fish I saw, I could have speared more easily than tossed a fly to them. They were that hard to see.

The fly was deep enough I just cut it off and let the fish have it.

In spite of the murk I had three great shots- did not get a bite. Then I had an impossible one, leader in the rod, and hooked and caught the fish, a really nice red, eight pounds or so.

Black drum, not as pretty as brook trout. I still love them.

I ended up hooking four redfish and catching two, two black drum and catching one, and the last fish, just to put the exclamation point on the slam, was my best trout this year. I think the fish knew there’s a storm coming. They were just stupid, and more active than I’ve seen them in a long time. GLAD I WENT!!!

An EP-style streamer, blind-casting!!!

*If memory serves, the regulation is, any vessel less than seven meters doing less than seven knots needs a single white light, visible from 360 degrees, at the distance of a mile, when operating between sunset and sunrise.

And that’s my central Florida kayak fishing report for this week. Thanks for reading it!

I think I fish, in part, because it’s an anti-social, bohemian business that, when gone about properly, puts you forever outside the mainstream culture without actually landing you in an institution. – John Gierach

Life is great and I love my work!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2020. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Not Much Fishing Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

July 25, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Not Much Fishing Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Not Much Fishing Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report. Only fished a single day this week.

Request for Photos– I’m considering putting a book together on the history of fishing in central Florida. For this project I need at least 200 B&W images, scanned to at least 300 dpi. If you have some you’d like to share, or know where I can get some, I would love to hear from you! Thank you for your consideration.

Monday– launched the kayak in Mosquito Lagoon, armed with a six-weight. An unweighted black bunny leech festooned my leader. Water was high and green, very hard to see the bottom.

Didn’t see much for a while. Heard the ballsy splash that you know was not a mullet and went to investigate. Saw the tiniest wake and dropped the fly in front of it. BAM! The violence of the strike surprised me. The fish went into the backing but I was able to subdue it and get a (crappy) photo before releasing it. NICE!!!

the black bunny leech

A while later saw what I at first thought was the back of a fish sticking out of the water. As I approached, doubt commenced. Fish don’t usually lie still that long, especially in such shallow water. It still looked like a fish back…

I made the cast, almost hit the thing. It exploded on the fly, so surprising me I failed to get a good hookset. The fly came free a moment later. Laughed at myself for that.

Had one more shot at a tailer that never saw the fly. That was it for five hours work. Would do it again!

Tuesday– not having forgotten the tarpon along the beach last week, I went to Playalinda armed with a heavy spin rod and some soft plastic baits. When I got to the top of the boardwalk and saw the water I turned around and put the tackle away. The wind was out of the southeast (it stayed that way all week), the water was very choppy and dirty. I had a nice long walk on the beach, though.

Wednesday- Susan and I went to Bethune Beach. The tackle was still in the car. It stayed there. Saw two guys trying to fish. Both quit quickly. The current along the beach was probably five or six knots, running north, tough conditions for bait guys. When we left we went to Goodrich Seafood. Oyster po’boy, yum-mee!

Wife at the beach…

Friday– repaired three fishing rods including an old favorite fly rod. Talked to the editor about the above-mentioned book. Then launched the kayak on the Econ at SR 419 at noon. No fishing tackle was harmed in the making of this kayak trip.

The river is running a little over 5.5 feet- great for paddling, terrible for fishing. I did see gar and Plecostamus. And some dinosaur sized alligators. You know they’re big when you paddle by and they don’t even flinch. The smaller ones always jump off the bank.

 

Birds were not much in evidence, but the cicadas were. Other than that I had the river to myself, reaching Snow Hill Road by 4 PM. Enjoyed the trip immensely.

And that was my week mostly not fishing.

The footbridge over the River Econ.

It is good even to be a fisherman in summer and in winter. – Henry David Thoreau

Life is great and I love my apparent retirement!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2020. All rights are reserved.

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