Hot Again Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Hot Again Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

An interesting and busy week, with some very good fishing. So it’s the hot again Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

Monday was a late half day with Daniel and his father (maybe Pete?), on Mosquito Lagoon. Anyway, it was blowing hard, around 20, out of the SSE. Realistically all we could do was soak bait on lee shorelines. It was not fabulous. We got a bunch of catfish including two catfish doubles, and got two stingrays, but also managed two nice redfish, and had some interesting conversation. Certainly not great, but we have all had worse days.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Daniel and his redfish, which had a big scar.

Tuesday was a morning half day with Jeff Limato and Pastor Ed Hlad, Jersey boys both. Fishing Mosquito Lagoon we tossed DOA CAL shad and Riptide Sardines and did some damage on seatrout that averaged three pounds or so, very solid fish and fishing. And they got four slot reds, too. Most of this was blind casting, as it was quite cloudy most of the morning. All the fish were released.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Jeff got this red and several other fish too.

 

mosquito lagoon fishing report

The magic lure of late has been soft plastic minnows like this Riptide Sardine in a variety of colors.

Wednesday Rick Callahan and I paddled the Econlockhatchee. I knew we would see a load of fish because we did not bring tackle. And the water was low and clear, so of course we did see a lot of fish. Species we observed included:
-American shad
-bluegills
-chain pickerel
-channel catfish
-largemouth bass
-mullet
-redbreasted sunfish
-spotted gar
-spotted sunfish
-tilapia
-various minnows, guppies, chubs, etc

Mr. Calahan doing that paddle thang!

We also observed quite a few turtles, and some very large alligators. It was an awesome paddle that I need to do again with a fishing rod.

orlando fishing report

Just a reminder that Godzilla lives at the Econ.

 

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Ray was deadly on trout like this, with a DOA CAL shad this time.

Thursday Ray joined me, back on Mosquito Lagoon. Again we tossed DOA CAL shad and Riptide Sardines and again did some damage on seatrout that averaged three pounds or so. There were quite a few reds around, schooled up, tailing, and most important, EATING. I thought it was the old days! We did really well all day, fishing just a short stretch of shoreline the entire time. It was really productive, just great. All the fish were released.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

He waren’t too shabby on the reds, either.

Friday found me doing a double half day. The morning trip was with Joe Bonato and his wife Sonia. Fishing a number of spots and using both cut mullet and the shad tails we got four redfish and two trout, not bad at all (I thought) considering how crowded the water was. There were boats everywhere.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Sonia, with a redfish and a dazzling smile!

 

mosquito lagoon fishing report

The lady got some trout, too!

The afternoon trip was with Lee Nguyen and Angel Mercado, from South Carolina. The wind had come up pretty hard out of the west-northwest. I brought them back to the hot spot from the previous day, tossing the same lures- NOT HOT! Lee got one redfish where the day before we had caught and released at least 20 fish. I got in a lee and soaked mullet chunks long enough to get two catfish, quickly ending that little experiment.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Lee and Angel were very happy with their redfish.

We went to a spot I hadn’t fished in a long time, and to my surprise and delight there were some fish there. We got three or four reds and a couple of nice trout using the shad tails, not as good as I would have liked but certainly better than nothing. All the fish were released.

Saturday I got to run last week’s postponed On-the-Water Show and Tell seminar. It gave me the chance to run most of the way around the southern basin of the Mosquito Lagoon, down the west shoreline from Haulover to behind Pelican Island, around the Whale Tail, back up the eastern side to the north entrance to the pole-troll area, and finally back down the ICW to Haulover.

The water is clean everywhere.

A shocking amount of seagrass is gone.

If we get another algae bloom this summer (and this reporter feels it’s inevitable) I fear that will be it for the remaining seagrass. My estimate is that 2/3rds of it has already been lost- better than the Banana River Lagoon, better than the Indian River Lagoon, but still tragic. The seagrass directly drives the productivity of those waters. Stay tuned for future developments…

That is the hot again Mosquito Lagoon fishing report!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2017. All rights are reserved.

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Blowing Winds Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Blowing Winds Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

A small craft advisory was posted Thursday (for Brevard coastal waters) until at least Sunday. So we have a blowing winds Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report.

Last week I asked, Did the storms and the rising water cause all the fish to move? As anyone might have guessed, the answer to that question was yes, and no. Such is fishing. Explanation below.

Sunday afternoon found me at the local bass pond again, this time with fly rod in hand. The shoreline vegetation (tall cat-o-nine tails) and blustery winds made fishing challenging. Two bites in four hours yielded two very modestly-sized largemouth bass, one on a small popper and one on a streamer. Maybe I need a new pond…

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Tom’s best trout of the day.

Monday morning Tom Van Horn joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon scouting. I was looking for an answer to the question posed last week! All the fish were gone from the first spot.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Fish on!

They may have all moved to the second. We found a couple hundred redfish there. However, we did not get a bite. We did not work it very hard, though, since we were scouting.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

This fish was tailing. Tom nailed the cast.

The third spot had some nice trout lying in sandy potholes. We found a tailing red and Tom, casting brilliantly in the now breezy conditions, convinced it to eat his DOA CAL jerkbait.

We tried two more spots, caught a few fish at both. So the fish moved from some spots, and stayed at others. Altogether a beautiful and productive day, spent with a fine human being!

Driving over the Max Brewer bridge in Titusville lately I have been saying to myself, “You haven’t been out on the Indian River Lagoon in a long time. You need to check it out.” Tuesday Kevin Linehan and I did just that. All the grass is gone. There were very few fish. I do not need to check it again, maybe ever. Heartbreaking.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Fish on!

Wednesday Capt. Paul Darby, fly fisher and raconteur, joined me for a day on Mosquito Lagoon. I would like to report that we caught fish all day long. That would be a rather large exaggeration, however. We saw fish more or less all day long. The wind was not our friend, and we only got a single redfish. Still, one is so many more than none!

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Capt. Paul and his redfish.

 

mosquito lagoon fishing report

While Paul makes spoon flies, he got this one on a Clouser Minnow.

 

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Nice tail!

Mr. Darby makes (among lots of other things) spoon flies. They are very nice, and he says very durable. See photo…

mosquito lagoon fishing report

I lost Thurday’s and Friday’s trips because of the wind. After getting home Friday I got on the bicycle and went to the Econlockhatchee. Wasn’t I surprised to see TJ Bettis and his friend Todd, who had also ridden bicycles to the river! And they were using fly rods in spite of the 25 mph wind. I hope they did better than my one small bass and one small spotted gar. At least I got out, and if you weren’t trying to fish the weather was gorgeous.

Apparently the wind will continue through Sunday. Last time I checked the small craft advisory lasts until then.

That is the blowing winds Mosquito Lagoon fishing report!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Winds of Change Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Winds of Change Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Aye, mateys, ’twas stormy mid-week it was. Friday’s trip revealed the water level in the Mosquito Lagoon had risen almost 12 inches since Monday. The fish moved! Thus the winds of change Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

I have an article in the new issue of Florida Sportsman magazine, thought it looked pretty good! Please check it out!

Upcoming Events-
– On-The-Water Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar March 4. Click this link for more information… http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/
– River Breeze Paddling Show and Tell Seminar, March 5. Click this link for more information! http://www.spottedtail.com/river-breeze-paddling-show-and-tell-seminar/

Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch writes an excellent blog about water quality problems at the south end of the Indian River Lagoon, and her latest is simply awesome. You can view it at https://jacquithurlowlippisch.com/2017/02/23/river-kidz-expands-to-all-south-florida-slrirl/

mosquito lagoon fishing repot

No, it’s not very big. But it is a fish.

Sunday afternoon found me thigh-deep in a local pond, tossing a Culprit Fat Max red shad worm with a spinning outfit. Six bites and four released black bass, and the only photos of the week, resulted. Nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

mosquito lagoon fishing repot

This one was the best of the day.

Monday morning the Mitzi was launched at a very busy River Breeze Park. Dr. Jeff Thill, a fly fisherman, was my passenger. While we visited a few spots that were devoid of life, we also hit three spots that had good numbers of fish. We could not get any of them to bite, however, and the skunk smacked right us in the face. Particularly painful in light of how good the fishing had been.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we had clouds, wind, rain, sleet, hail… no, no, sorry, got a bit carried away. No sleet or hail, thank goodness. Anyway, I did not fish those days.

Friday found me in the Ocean Kayak, paddling out of River Breeze Park. The water had risen nearly a foot. I visited the spot where I got that big trout last week- nothing there. Very sad! That spot had been money for weeks.

A short while later I cast a Clouser minnow into a small hole and caught a small redfish, a three spot fish with one spot distinctly amidship on its starboard side. I released it, took two casts, got another bite and caught the same fish again. Which, as it turns out, was the only fish I would catch. And which was kind of strange, too.

I paddled for miles, much of the time while standing, and perhaps saw 10 fish all day, only three of which were seatrout. Did not come close to getting a shot.

So, did the storms and the rising water cause all the fish to move? Stay tuned next week, same time, same channel, for the exciting answer to that burning question!

That is the winds of change Mosquito Lagoon fishing report!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2017. All rights are reserved.

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Still Still Hot Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Still Still Hot Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

This week was not better than last week. But it was still pretty darned good! Thus the still still hot Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

Upcoming Events-
– On-The-Water Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar March 4. Click this link for more information…
– River Breeze Paddling Show and Tell Seminar, March 5. Click this link for more information!

Steve Duckett asked me to get some pictures of his Bouncer Flies. So Monday, in spite of the winds and clouds, I went kayak fishing out of Oak Hill. This slob trout was my first bite. It hit like a freight train and went about 40 feet into my backing-

mosquito lagoon fishing report
I got other fish after that, but who cared?

Tuesday I visited the St. Johns River, trying to get a nice bass on Duckett’s Bouncer Frog. Two small crappie on Electric Sushi, no bass, no photo.

Thirty mile an hour winds on Wednesday kept me off the water.

Thursday I ended up scouting by myself on Mosquito Lagoon. I had limited time, so I visited spots that had been holding fish (they still were) and a couple places I hadn’t checked in a while (they were not). Three beautiful seatrout and one redfish were caught and released.

Friday Brian Hussey and his son, the tastefully named Alex, joined me for some light tackle Mosquito Lagoon fishing. For starters we had to get out and push because of the shallow water. Then at the first fishing spot we chased all the fish away without getting one. Then spots 2, 3, and 4 had had a fish evacuation, apparently. Nothing at any of them but two smallish trout. A boat ride ensued.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Maine’s Brian Hussey with a nice Mosquito Lagoon seatrout.

Thank God for spot 5. Nice trout, lots of reds, they weren’t eating very good but we managed to get several of each on the 3″ plastic minnows. So we started slow and ended strong, always a good script.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Not to be outdone, Hussey the Younger with a redfish.

 

mosquito lagoon fishing report

And the Husseys together with another redfish!

And that is the still still hot Mosquito Lagoon fishing report!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Still Hot Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Still Hot Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Incredibly, this week was even better than last week. Thus the still hot Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

Upcoming Events-
-2017 Fly Fishing Film Festival, February 26, 4 PM. See the graphic below for more information.


– On-The-Water Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar March 4. Click this link for more information… http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

SuperBowl Sunday Fran and Christian Allen, fly fishers from Massachusetts, joined me for a cloudy half day on Mosquito Lagoon. We spooked all the fish off the first spot. We just could not see them.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Christian got this fish by casting blindly.

The second spot produced a handful of seatrout, some of which were decent if not huge. Fortunately my anglers did not object to casting blindly.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

He followed the trout up with this fish.

At the third spot Christian got a bite. His response? “That’s not a seatrout!” He was correct, as a 26 inch red had taken the fly. It was a short, sweet trip, and that fish was the culmination.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Dave and Dan doubled up. Dan got to pose!

On Monday David Waring and his friends Ryan and Dan, all engineers from the Seattle area, joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon light tackle action. Redfish, seatrout, and black drum, all on either DOA CAL Shad or RipTide Sardines, came into the boat in spurts all day long. Dan posed with a couple of his fish!

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Dan got this nice fish, too.

Tuesday I went scouting out of River Breeze. I did not find fish everywhere I looked, but I certainly found fish. The water is getting really low.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

These three inch plastic minnows are deadly.

Wednesday Coloradoan Donald Nunn joined me, again on Mosquito Lagoon. It was the slowest day of the week fishing-wise, but he still got several redfish and a couple nice trout, all on my favorite artificial baits (see above).

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Don Nunn with a respectable seatrout.

Took Thursday off.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Bill Vail with a nice trout caught on a bouncer fly.

Friday Billy Vail, a fly fisher from South Bend, and Billy Vail, a student in Jacksonville, joined me out of River Breeze. We got trout and reds more or less continuously all day, with the best fish coming on the last cast of the day. The fish was a lovely 27 inch seatrout. If I could script every day that’s how it would play out.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Billy Vail got the fish of the day, though.

On Saturday Mic Lauric and his friend Brian, fly fishers from Atlanta, joined me for a day of kayak fishing out of a busy River Breeze Park. Somewhat inauspiciously I got the first two fish just a few minutes from the launch, a fine trout and a slot red, on a Polar Fibre Minnow. On the rest of the way to the spot I had in mind we saw very little. Even my spot was slow at first- all the fish were at the far end of it.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

One of the many redfish Mic got.

Without the gruesome details, they had at least three doubles. Mic sent me the following email- “Thank you. Can’t wait to do it again. Please send pics when you can. We want to braggggg…”

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Brian certainly was not to be outdone.

Flies were synthetic minnow imitations. The fish were definitely on the feed. There goes that they don’t bite good on the full moon nonsense.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Brian got this beautiful trout, too.

 

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Mic even got the elusive black mullet.

So, that is the still hot Mosquito Lagoon fishing report!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Hot Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Hot Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

The year is young, but this week was the best fishing of the year. Thus the hot Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

Upcoming Events-

2017 Fly Fishing Film Festival, February 26, 4 PM. Check the graphic below to get more information.

The week started last Saturday with a kayak fishing charter with Mic Lauric of Atlanta and his cousin Patrick, from Houston. The day began as a search mission, and the search paid off, especially for Patrick. He got numerous redfish and a couple nice trout too. Mic also got a few licks in. One was using the DOA CAL Shad, the other the Riptide Sardine. They seemed to work equally well.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Patrick found this fish tailing in Mosquito Lagoon.

A cold front came through on Sunday. Monday morning found me at AutoNation Toyota with my brides car. They got me out early (just after 9 am!) so I went looking for shad in the St. Johns, launching at SR 50. A couple crappie, a fat bluegill, an anemic redbelly, a beautiful day and boat ride, but no shad. This year’s shad run is shaping up pretty sadly for me.

Tuesday

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Most of the fish caught on Tuesday fell for this silly fly.

The morning was cold but sunny. I paddled (and dragged) a kayak to the place where Pat and Mic caught their fish. For fly fishers redfishing and seatrout fishing doesn’t get much better than it was on Tuesday. Sightfishing big seatrout with a flyrod is tremendous fun. They pull drag!!!

mosquito lagoon fishing report

We might have been wading. Wish there was seagrass.

 

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Being a mullet must be awful.

After releasing three trout in the seven-eight pound range the mischievous part of my brain wondered if I could get one on a gurgler. Good shots at four fish resulted in one crap-your-pants take and another seven or eight pound trout. They were all bigger than the reds, beautiful fish, the first time I’ve been able to sightfish them like that in a couple years. —AWESOME—

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Yes, I do realize I’m blessed.

Wednesday

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Vince says he caught seven redfish on Wednesday.

Steve Bartek and his buddy Vince, local gentlemen, joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon skiff fishing action. The weather was perfect, cool and sunny, almost windless. We found a spot with a lot of redfish and stayed there all day. Again, they were throwing the DOA CAL Shad and the Riptide Sardine. They seemed to work equally well, and they worked real well, about a dozen redfish worth not counting missed strikes.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Maybe Steve got the biggest one, though.

Thursday

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Tom was very pleased with this trout.

Another beautiful day found Mr. Tom Finger of Oviedo, FL in the Mitzi, again on the Mosquito Lagoon. Needless to say we started at the hot spot from the previous day. It almost goes without saying that it was not nearly as hot. After Tom got a red (DOA CAL Shad) the rest of the fish first got lockjaw and then vacated the area.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Tom was happy with this red, too!

We went looking at a number of other spots, working hard but picking up several more redfish and trout too. At only one place did we not see any fish. Altogether a good day it was.

Friday

morning I went scouting for a Saturday bass fishing trip. Wasn’t I surprised (not in a good way) when I could not get the Bang-O-Craft up the Econ. The water is too low.

My decision to check Lake Harney was foiled by the same problem- shoaling and low water prevented me from reaching the lake, too. I put the boat on the trailer, drove it home, dropped it off, threw a kayak on the van’s roof, and went to the Econ.

The water is low and clear, just gorgeous. For our friends in colder climes, the willow trees are leafed out and flowering, as are the red maples. With the quality of light now the river is Clyde Butcher picturesque.

Three hours later the kayak was returned to the van’s roof. I did not touch a fish in either place, yes, slapped upside the head by the dreaded skunk. Loved every moment of it.

So, that is this week’s hot Mosquito Lagoon fishing report!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Windy Week Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Windy Week Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Oh yes, it was windy all week! So we have a windy week Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report.

Blog Posts this week-
-A Betrayal of the Public Interest- http://www.spottedtail.com/blog/betrayal-public-interest/
-Top Tips for Women Hikers- http://www.spottedtail.com/blog/top-tips-for-women-hikers/

Sunday we had a major front come through, complete with tornado watches and warnings. There was no fishing by this reporter.

Monday the winds blew over 20 mph all day- still no fishing.

Tuesday the Senter family of Hackensack, NJ joined me for some light tackle fishing on a still-windblown Mosquito Lagoon. Dan the dad and his two sons Zev and Ben tossed DOA CAL shad and Deadly Combos for almost six hours. I figured that because of the storms and the change of weather it would be a search mission. It was. Some of the spots that had been reliably producing fish were barren. They got one slot red and perhaps 20 trout, four of which would hold batter. So it was fairly slow, although we’ve all had worse days.

Wednesday Brownie’s Septic Service visited the Kumiski household for an exciting septic tank pumpout, something that should be done every three to five years… It pretty much tied me up all day.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Capt. Jason with a nice trout.

Thursday Jason Semeyn joined me kayak fishing out of River Breeze, a light tackle half day. I had not been up there in almost a month. The water was pretty clean, if not chock full of fish. Using soft plastics we got a rat red and a half dozen trout to about 24 inches, all by casting into potholes, quite a lovely morning.

In the afternoon it got real windy as another front moved through.

Friday found me at AutoNation Toyota, getting my bride’s chariot serviced. Much to my surprise I was out of the shortly after 9 AM. After taking care of a few things I put a kayak on the roof and went to the St. Johns River.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

This poor creature will be eaten tomorrow.

It was not on fire. I foul-hooked a tilapia. While it was pulling I did not know that, and wondered what in the heck it could be. The filets are in my refrigerator right now. Mmm-mm-mmm.

Two shad fell victim to my crappie jigs, along with a very small warmouth.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Friday’s best bass, on a hair bug.

A half-dozen bass attacked my surface flies, to my surprise and joy. No big ones, though. Still, in part because not a single airboat went by, it was a very enjoyable afternoon.

So, we did not fish much this week, and that is the windy week Mosquito Lagoon fishing report!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Elusive Black Drum Fishing Report

Elusive Black Drum Fishing Report

This is the Elusive Black Drum Fishing Report!

Upcoming Events
-Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, January 25-30, Titusville, FL. http://www.spacecoastbirdingandwildlifefestival.org

Sunday found me in a canoe with Mr. Roger Cook, gentleman and fly fisher from North Carolina. On a spectacular day we were looking for tailing black drum, a fish and behavior that had been plentiful the previous week.

They let us down.

We ran into another fly fisher, a young man named Nick Swain, who was out on a paddle board. He found some drum, not tailing, and caught one while we watched. I photographed him. He invited us to cast to the fish he was working, but we could not get a bite.

black drum fishing report

Nick Swain releases a drum.

We found a few black drum in another spot, and got one on a wool crab. Even though we were out until sunset, that was it for the day. Tough day…

Monday Tammy and I Bang-O-Crafted our way up to Puzzle Lake, searching for American shad. We caught some crappie. We caught some sunfish. But we did not get any shad.

We ran into a couple other folks who had caught a few. One fly fisher called them “the fish of a thousand casts.” Shad should not take 1000 casts. When they’re around you often catch two at a time if you use a tandem rig. There just aren’t many in the stretch between SR 46 and Puzzle Lake. Will they show? That’s the question.

Wednesday I took the Mitzi across Lake Harney and fished the outlet, again for shad. Using crappie jigs I got three, nice ones all. It was still pretty slow.

Going upriver I tried again at the mouth of the Econ. I got two warmouth, nothing else. That was really slow!

I talked to a couple guys who told me their friend had been “killing” the shad near Mullet Lake, with 20 fish days. Perhaps I will check that out…

Thursday Roger Cook and I went looking for tailing black drum again. Although we saw a half-dozen or so, most of the fish were still schooled up in deeper water. Roger managed to get one of those fish to eat a fat brown sparkle crab. I could not get a bite, and ended up fishless at the end of another long, tough day.

black drum fishing report

Roger really had to work. This was his reward…

Roger and I went out on Mosquito Lagoon on Friday. We used fly tackle, and got spanked. We saw some fish, but it was windy, and the water is getting dirty again. DANG!

black drum fishing report

The mighty (and elusive) black drum, about to be released.

We got exactly one decent shot, which we did not convert.

Did the wind stir goo off the bottom into suspension, or are the algae already growing again? Hopefully it’s only the former. Time will tell.

So even though almost all the fish were elusive this week, that is the elusive black drum fishing report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Some Good News Lagoons Fishing Report

Some Good News Lagoons Fishing Report

Upcoming Events
-Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, January 25-30, Titusville, FL. http://www.spacecoastbirdingandwildlifefestival.org

The water in the lagoons has cleaned up considerably and I found some schools of fish this week- good news! Thus the good news Lagoons Fishing report.

A cold front slammed us last weekend, cold, wind, rain, the whole she-bang. Monday afternoon the weather started to moderate, so I took the kayak to the St. Johns on a shad mission. It was slow, but in three hours I got two shad (one on a chartreuse shad fly and one on a pink crappie jig), a couple crappie, and a redbelly. There were hardly any airboats, a lovely afternoon all together.

With charters coming up I went to the Mosquito Lagoon on Tuesday for some scouting. Wasn’t I surprised- the water was pretty clean in places! The bad news is lots of the seagrass is gone. Hopefully the water will stay clean and the grass will come back.

With clean water I could sight fish. The seatrout were sunning in a lot of my favorite spots, nice fish in the 20-inch-plus range. Redfish were also ranging on the flats. My current favorite lure, the three inch DOA CAL shad, was effective on both. I felt pretty optimistic about my trip the next day.

lagoons fishing report

Brent with one of several redfish he caught.

Wednesday Brent Chapeldaine and Tom Howell joined me for Mosquito Lagoon fishing. Out of the gate we hit trout, on the three inch DOA CAL shad. No surprise there. The larger fish had scattered some, but there were enough around that they kept three handsome fish. They also got quite a few redfish to about 24 inches. Basically we caught fish all day, a splended outing. Thank you for joining me, gentlemen!

lagoons fishing report

Tom was howling at how good the fishing was!

Thursday was a Banana River Lagoon trip, with fly fishers Kevin Barnes, from Georgia, and his friend Jamie, from Pennsylvania. The word younger folks would use to describe the fishing is “epic.” Tailing fish most of the day, calm winds, drizzly but not uncomfortably so, and the whole place to ourselves. Wool crabs worked well. Thank you gentlemen for the second awesome day this week!

lagoons fishing report

Jamie had never caught a black drum. He figured it out real quick.

 

lagoons fishing report

They are such beautiful, delicate fish!

 

lagoons fishing report

Mr. Barnes got a few, too.

 

lagoons fishing report

All fish were released.

Friday my old friend Kevin Linehan joined me for some fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. I wanted three trout in the 17-18 inch range for dinner, two for me and one for him. We caught a load of trout but did not complete the task, with one sixteen inch fish for Kevin and zero for me. Saw an honest-to-goodness school of redfish, at least 50 fish. They weren’t happy, but it was the largest school I’ve seen in a couple years, a wonderful thing.

So we have clean water, sight fishing, a school of fish, good catches, some good news for a good news lagoons Fishing Report!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Mixed Bag New Year’s Orlando Fishing Report

Mixed Bag New Year’s Orlando Fishing Report

We fished the Mosquito Lagoon one day, and the St. Johns River two days, and the Banana River Lagoon one day. Of course results were a mixed bag. And Sunday is New Year’s Day! So we have a mixed bag New Year’s Orlando fishing report!

Best wishes to all for a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2017!

Monday around noon I went launched the Bang-O-Craft on the St. Johns. Son Alex and John Napolitano were with me. It was warm and sunny and every airboat in Florida seemed to be there. Fish were popping fry minnows all over the river.

orlando fishing report

Alex casting on the Econ.

At the mouth of the Econ there was a paddling fly caster who steadily caught 12 inch bass on a small white streamer. Since there were three of us we refrained from joining him and went farther up the Econ. We found breaking fish up there but they weren’t taking our flies very well. John and I each got a crappie.

orlando fishing report

Crappie on the fry.

When we went back down the river the other angler had left. We took his spot. Fish were breaking steadily. Using a fry fly I did some damage! Bluegills, bass, and my first shad of this season all succumbed to the fry fly’s charms.

orlando fishing report

Even the shad take the fry.

When the action slowed we went down the river, where we found another spot with breaking fish. Again, the fry fly did some damage, taking some reasonably large bass. The other fly that worked extremely well was a #10 white Gurgler, a silly little fly. The fish liked it, though!

orlando fishing report

A finished fry.

Fry Fly
hook- Daiichi X510, #10
thread- Danville flat waxed nylon, white
wing- craft fur, light grey, light tan, or cream
eye- Witchcraft 3-D, 5 mm

Start the thread. Cut off a clump of craft fur and pick out most of the fluff. Tie it on to the hook, smooth the head, and whip finish.

Glue the eyes on with Zap a Dap a Goo or Duco cement. After the glue dries, coat the head with Softex.

Since the fly is small, you’ll catch some very small fish with it. Some surprisingly large fish will take it, too. The hook is on 3x thick wire, so it will hold a good fish without issues.

orlando fishing report

Drying, not frying.

You can see how to tie a gurgler here http://www.spottedtail.com/how-to-tie-a-gurgler/. Since the #10 is so small I use hackle fibers for the tail and the tying thread for the body- simple!

On Tuesday Greg Scible and Caleb Cousins joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon light tackle action. Unfortunately the action part was fairly slow- a couple trout and small reds. We started fishing the spots that had been so good to me last week- not so good this day. We tried Deadly Combo-ing for trout. We got a few fish but again, pretty slow.

orlando fishing report

Pvt. Caleb Cousins got this redfish while home on leave.

We checked out a couple spots where I had found fish last week. Caleb got a slot red on a DOA CAL Shad. We Deadly Comboed again and got a few short trout. We tried soaking cut mullet in two spots where this worked wonderfully last week. Not even a catfish this day. I cranked the motor to move, and it pooped out. It would not start again.

I had them start fishing while I thought about the problem. They started hitting trout immediately, again on the Deadly Combo. Most were short, but a few were slot fish.

In the meantime I checked the in-line fuel filter. It looked fine, but there must have been some debris in it. When I reassembled it, the boat ran fine. We kept fishing though, and got a bunch of trout.

We ended the day with six reds and about 30 trout, not bad for a slow day.

Wednesday at 8 AM I met Paul MacInnis at the Space Center Badging Station. He got me a visitor’s badge and off we went to the Banana River Lagoon. We had perfect paddling weather- no wind, no clouds. We paddled a long way before we found any fish, though.

The fish we found was a school of large black drum. They were way more interested in each other than in our flies, as we did not get bit.

We got a few small trout, though.

We found some smaller drum. I got one about seven pounds or so on a crab pattern.

I later got a small, beautiful, nine-spot redfish on the same fly. Paul got a fish here and there too.

Some kind of rooted vegetation is beginning to grow on the otherwise barren sand bottom there, and the water is quite clear in most places. Perhaps it was just an off day, but it was pretty slow fishing-wise.

Thursday afternoon I went back to the St. Johns, by myself, by kayak. A short distance from the boat ramp there were breaking fish. My first two casts, on the little gurgler, each garnered strikes from 12 inch largemouths. Before leaving that spot three strikes were missed and two more bass released.

orlando fishing report

Bass on fry. Not a bad schooling bass, ay-tall!

The spots that had been so hot on Monday were not on Thursday. Apparently the fish are following the moving bait.

No shad or crappie were caught, but bluegills and a couple more bass rounded out the catch. All fish were released to make more fish for the future.

Thursday night a cold front came through, putting the kabosh on any thoughts of fishing Friday.

So that is the Mixed Bag New Years Orlando Fishing Report! Have a great holiday!!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2016. All rights are reserved.

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