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The Wind Finally Stopped Blowing: the Mosquito Lagoon- Banana River Lagoon Fishing Report

March 17, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

The Orlando Area Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 3.17.12

Last Sunday David Alan Roth, little known twin of the Van Halen lead man (I just made that up), and his friend Chad joined me for some flats fishing. It was a hard wind of 20+ coming out of the southeast, and it was solid overcast besides. Thank God fly poles weren’t involved.

I boldly ran down to the Whale Tail figuring there wouldn’t be anyone else there, and also if we soaked bait for 30 minutes maybe we’d be rewarded with a jumbo. Good idea that didn’t work. We did have the place to ourselves (no one else was so stupid as to go down there) and we did get two catfish out of the very muddy water.

Ran back up to the spoil islands for some lee shore action, tossing DOA Shrimp. A couple of dink trout were our reward until David got a handsome 22 inch trout. Persistence pays I guess!

Went through Haulover to fish lee shores in the Indian River. A few more dink trout followed. We did see some redfish, even a demented one that tailed a few times. Then Chad actually hooked one. Unfortunately the leader broke while he was playing it and the fish effected a getaway.

The highlight of the day for me was a tip consisting of venison. More anglers ought to tip their guides that way. Thank you David, it was very delicious.

 

Monday morning found me up around Oak Hill, part of a three boat charter with Chris Myers and Drew Cavanaugh. Joe, Javy, and Javy the Younger (nine years old) were in the Mitzi with me. It was still windy, although no more than about 15, and the sun was out.

It took me a couple hours to find some redfish, and then I couldn’t convince them to eat. Finally a dink took pity on me and impaled itself on a hook containing a mullet chunk, our first and as it turned out only redfish of the day. We got a few small trout on DOA Shrimp, then right at the end one that was about 20 inches long.

Myers found a school of fish and did pretty well, a half dozen or so. Way to make me look bad! It’s fishing, dude- misery loves comany.

 

Thursday Jim Scherer, Ph.D. and fly fisher, paddled with me into the no motor zone. We found a bunch of redfish tailing in some of the muddiest water I have ever fished in. If you showed them the fly they would eat, but they couldn’t see the fly. I finally figured out if I used a big streamer they would crush it. We ended up getting four or five, with the usual missed strikes thrown in.

redfish, banana river lagoon            Apparently the suicidal seatrout that were there have moved on. We tried for quite a while and only got one.

 

Saturday I finally got the Mosquito Lagoon On-The-Water Show and Tell Seminar done, with Matt and Caleb, fine young men. When we got out there the was NO WIND AT ALL! Because we weren’t fishing there were literally redfish in every single place we looked. We went from Haulover to Max Hoeck Creek to Georges Bar and back to Haulover, basically circumnavigating the south portion of the lagoon.  Fish everywhere.

The water at the south end of the lagoon, already at 76 degrees, is starting to color up again. That does not bode well for clean water come summer. But maybe the tarpon will come in and wallow in the hot, dirty water.

And that dear reader is this week’s Mosquito Lagoon- Banana River Lagoon Fishing Report.

Life is great and I love my work!

 

Life is short. Go Fishing!

 

John Kumiski

http://www.spottedtail.com

 

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2012. All rights are reserved.

 

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Weather or Not: the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report

March 10, 2012 by · 10 Comments

The Orlando Area Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 3.10.12

First off I want to thank everyone who responded with kind words during my nightmare with the mailing list. There were way too many to respond to individually. I appreciate your patience and cooperation!

Next, last Saturday 10 brave souls attended my Show and Tell Seminar on the Merritt Island NWR. Here’s what a couple of them had to say:

-“Thank you for a great outing Saturday. Super informative and I feel much better prepared to do exploring on my own. You held nothing back and I look forward to putting your advice and counsel into action.” Doug Whitmer

-“Hope I thanked you for a very nice day last Saturday. Got a lot from it and you use your teaching background VERY well.” Dalen Mills

We had a good time and all of us learned something.

And now we get to the fishing. I was supposed to run an on-the-water seminar on Sunday. However, the lightning, rain, and 30 mph winds accompanying a cold front convinced me that would not be a good idea.

The water temperature, as measured by the gauge at Haulover Canal, dropped seven degrees Sunday due to that front.

Monday morning Sam and Dave (not the soul men), son and father, joined me for what turned out to mostly be a brisk morning boat ride. The air was chilly when we came out of Haulover in a largely fruitless search for fish. We did see a couple of redfish and Sam got a dink on the DOA Shrimp. That was it.

Since it was a half day I used the afternoon to go scouting. I found a few reds and managed to get two bites (both of which I missed) but the fish were widely scattered and hard to find.

Wednesday it was overcast and blowing 20 out of the southeast. Eric Hustedt, a fly fisher and Ph.D. from Nashville, wanted to go out anyway. We came out of Haulover and a wave came over the bow of the boat. The water was filthy, roiled up by the wind and waves.

Eric managed to get a trout on a rattle fly. It was a dink, to be sure, but he got it on a fly in those horrible conditions. He had the sense to switch to blind casting with a spin rod.

spotted seatrout from the mosquito lagoon

This was Eric's best trout of the day. Heck, it was the best trout of the week!

Using a DOA Shrimp he managed two redfish and several more trout, much to my surprise. We were out until 330.

Thursday Jim McDonall, a fly fisher and Ph.D. from New York, joined me for a half day. Given my success in the Mosquito Lagoon the previous two trips I did some gambling and launched at Parrish Park. The gamble did not pay off very well.

We did not see a fish in the first spot. Only found a few trout and exactly three black drum in the second. Nothing in the third. We flushed a small and spooky school of reds in the fourth, at which we did not get a shot. And in the fifth there were quite a few trout. They did not bite. There were also a few large redfish. They did not allow us into casting range before disappearing.

Then it was time to go. So Thursday was a big fat bagel.

Wind and developing lung crud prevented me from searching more in the afternoon. I slept much of the day Friday, coughing and sneezing while awake.

And that, folks, is this week’s Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report. We’ve had better weeks!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short. Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2012. All rights are reserved.

 

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An Awesome Week- Mosquito Lagoon and Port Canaveral Fishing Report

March 4, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

The Orlando Area Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 3.4.12

Spring is breaking out in central Florida! Azaleas are blooming, trees are leafing out, oranges perfume the air with their blossoms.

Fishing has been fantastic.

Monday’s trip was a family affair. Pastor Louis Schulz, his son Chris, and the pastor’s brother Chris, joined me for a day’s fishing in the Mosquito Lagoon. It was overcast almost all day, and a soaking rain lasted for at least an hour. Fortunately there was very little wind.

We wanted redfish. With the exception of a school of maybe two dozen fish that did not hang around very long, we did not see any. But the trout were really on.

I don’t know how many they caught. It was a lot. Most were caught on DOA Shrimp, but at the end of the day we found a hole full of trout and short reds and they used live shrimp there. All of the reds and many of the trout were short, but eight trout were in the slot and two were over 20 inches. It was a wonderful day.

 

On Tuesday Mike Webber, his girlfriend Judy Votta, and his friend Mike from New Orleans joined me for a day’s fishing on the Mosquito Lagoon. It was cloudy and windy, not nice at all, although in the afternoon the sun finally broke through.

It was almost a repeat of the previous day. The DOA Shrimp produced a lot of trout, some short, some in the slot. Live shrimp produced a few more, and some short reds. The one slot red they got came on a mullet chunk.

seatrout Mosquito lagoon

Judy had the hot rod all day long.

The sun finally came out. It turned out to be a lovely day.

 

Wednesday Father Rick Voor and his long-time friend Steve joined me for some kayak fishing, launching at River Breeze. It was a search mission, as I hadn’t been there in weeks.

The weather was awesome, the water was low, and conditions were great. We did not see any fish for about an hour. Then we found a school of reds in a large white hole.

Father Rick had never caught a red on a lure before. Steve had never caught a red at all. They got quite a few- most on the DOA Shrimp, one on a Johnson Minnow. With the exception of a couple shorts, all were in the slot. It was a blessed day.

steve's first redfish

steve's first redfish

father ricks's doa redfish

redfish doa

This redfish wanted the DOA Shrimp.

 

Thursday son Maxx and I launched the Mitzi at Port Canaveral. Winds were SW at close to 15, almost at the limits of the Mitzi’s ability to handle on the open ocean. But there were no clouds at first.

We ran down to Satellite Beach, then went out a couple miles and started to idle back. Close to two uneventful hours passed before Maxx said, “There’s a fish!” He fired a jig out towards it and the fish was all over it. It was close to 20 pounds.

cobia

Maxx's first cobia in quite a while...

That gave us more confidence, although another long lull followed. Then I spotted a tripletail. I fired a live shrimp out in front of it. How could it say no? It was around five or six pounds.

tripletail

The tripletail- lover of shrimp.

A while later I spotted a cobia, coming in fast. He ate the jig but in spite of my striking him three times he came right off.

A while later Maxx spotted another cobia. He followed, but did not eat, the jig. I tossed a live shrimp and he was all over it. We released that one.

We bagged it shortly after that, but ran another cobia over on the way back. The boat was back on the trailer before 2 PM.

Saturday 10 fine folks attended the Show and Tell seminar. We drove all  around the Merritt Island NWR and talked fishing at every stop. We didn’t finish until almost 6PM. Great group of guys, great day.

The weather blew out Sunday’s on the water show and tell. We will hold it next week instead.

And that is this week’s Mosquito Lagoon and Port Canaveral Fishing Report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short. Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

 

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2012. All rights are reserved.

 

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Windy Weather Hampers Fishing- Orlando Area Fishing Report

February 25, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

The Orlando Area Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 2.26.12

Upcoming Events Dept-
-Merritt Island NWR Show and Tell Seminars- March 3 and 4. Time is short, it’s this coming Saturday! Read More Here…

Monday’s trip was postponed due to high winds.

Tuesday afternoon I took the Mitzi out on the St. Johns River. Thought I might fly up a few shad. Strangely, there was only one boat at the mouth of the Econ, a kayaker. He said he’d only gotten one shad all day (he got there at 8 AM) and his friends in a motor boat had only gotten a couple of small crappie.

There was certainly not much surface activity. I fished for three hours with both fly and spin, got one small largemouth bass on a Muddler Minnow, the only bite I got. No shad were seen.
It was a lovely afternoon. I was glad I went.

Wednesday Scott Radloff and I went canoeing on the Banana River Lagoon. There was some wind and a lot of clouds, plus the water was up a few inches. All this conspired to make spotting fish difficult.

I found a tailer and managed to drop a black bunny leech in front of him. He took the fly and Scott got this picture of us:

redfish banana river lagoon

One of two reds I got, both on a black bunny leech.

I got another almost as big about an hour later, also on the leech, then hooked and lost one on a crab pattern.

Meanwhile Scott was wading around with a spin rod. He got three reds that were in the slot. He wanted a bigger one. We got in the canoe and went looking for one.

When we found one Scott cast a faux shrimp at it. The fish responded like he hadn’t eaten in weeks. Unfortunately during the battle the hook pulled out.

We stopped and fished for trout as we headed back to the launch. I got a few on the Gurgler, and Scott made me look silly with the spin rod, catching fish after fish. Considering the weather we had quite a good day.

seatrout- headshot

spotted seatrout, caught with a Gurgler

I wanted to go scouting on Friday but the winds caused me to alter my plan.

Saturday’s trip was cancelled due to high winds. 🙁

And that, friends, is this week’s Orlando area fishing report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short. Go Fishing! when it’s not blowing 25…

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2012. All rights are reserved.

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Hot Fishing This Week- Mosquito Lagoon- Banana River Lagoon Fishing Report

February 18, 2012 by · 2 Comments

The Orlando Area Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 2.19.12

Upcoming Events Dept-
-Merritt Island NWR Show and Tell Seminars- March 3 and 4. Read More Here… 

Four days were spent on the water this week.

On Monday Pat Macginn and Richard LongItalianName (no, I can’t do any better than that) joined me for some paddling on the Banana River Lagoon. Actually they mostly pumped their legs with the Hobie kayaks. We got to the first fishing spot and there was a big redfish.

Kayak charters can be difficult. If you lead the anglers so they know where to go you get all the first shots. If you have them go first they don’t know where they’re going. So- there was the big fish, right in front of me. I fired a black bunny leech out and it inhaled it.

Pat passed me and spotted four reds. He fired a jerk worm out and one of the fish inhaled it. It was by far the biggest red he’d ever caught. So we’ve been fishing for thirty minutes and have two pushing-twenty-pound reds photo’d and released already.

Big redfish, banana river lagoon, florida

Pat was real happy with this redfish!

I would like to report it stayed that way but that would be a large exagerration. However, at least a half dozen reds in the slot were caught, as well as a dozen or so trout that were mostly over the slot. The lures of choice were a 3 inch DOA Shrimp, and a Skitter Walk. All the fish were released.

It was an awesome day all in all.

Tuesday I spent hundreds of dollars at the auto repair shop. 🙁

Wednesday John Pusateri joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. The weather was incredible. The fishing was not. I hadn’t been out there in 10 or 12 days and the fish have mostly moved. The first two spots did not show a single fish. Then we had some fly shots (a black bunny leech) at a big school of black drum. They just gave us the fin. We tried for almost an hour without a sniff and gave up.

At the last spot we tried John was tossing a 3 inch DOA Shrimp into sandy potholes and got a couple nice trout and a couple reds, salvaging an otherwise very slow day.

spotted seatrout, mosquito lagoon

This trout got the skunk off us.

I filleted one of the reds and did a stomach autopsy. It had three or four small blue crabs in there.

Thursday found me in the Banana River Lagoon again. In my canoe was Ed Redman, a fly fisher from North Carolina. In the kayak was Todd Redman, official son of Ed, likewise a fly fisher.
We gurgled up a few trout, then went on the hunt for redfish. It is not uncommon for anglers who attempt wading in the mucky lagoon mud to fall down. So it happened with Ed. I walked him around in the canoe and talked him into the biggest redfish of his life, which took a wool crab.

Big redfish from the banana river lagoon, florida

Big Ed got this redfish to take a faux crab.

Then it was Todd’s turn. Using the same fly he threw to a pair of reds. One swam off, one swam over and inhaled the fly. It was also the biggest red he’s ever caught.

big redfish from banana river lagoon, florida.

Todd fooled this fish with the same fly that his dad used.

We had shots more or less all afternoon but those were all the bites we had.

Friday Ed joined me in the canoe again. Todd was in Roger Cook’s canoe. Again, we gurgled up a few trout and then looked for redfish. Roger scored first. It was (are you ready for this?) the biggest red he’d ever taken on fly.

big redfish from banana river lagoon, florida.

Roger carefully releases his best fly-caught redfish ever.

Ed then hooked one on the crab fly. He got a little too impatient and straightened the hook. He soon had another bite but missed the strike.

spotted seatrout, banana river lagoon, florida

He missed the redfish but gurgled up some seatrout.

I saw what I thought was a huge herd of fish, and poled over their as fast as I could. If we’d had a lettuce fly we could have thrown to a half dozen manatees that were my “fish.” Not the first time that’s happened to me…

Todd and Ed switched boats. It took a while but Todd stuck a red that took a wool crab. I grabbed the leader but the fish wasn’t ready to be grabbed and I had to let go Then the fish came off, so no photo of that one.

Then Todd and I went gurgling again and got a half dozen trout before bagging it for the day.

spotted seatrout, banana river lagoon, florida

We ended our day by gurgling up a few more trout. They're not as exciting as the big reds!

Altogether a wonderful two days, lots of fish, real nice weather, awesome people. This is why life is great and I love my work!

Life is short. Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2012. All rights are reserved.

 

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

Big Reds, Plentiful Trout- Banana River Lagoon Fishing Report

February 11, 2012 by · 3 Comments

The Banana River Lagoon Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 2.12.12

Upcoming Events Dept-

-Merritt Island NWR Show and Tell Seminars- March 3 and 4. Read More Here…

I’d like to thank those of you who came by to talk to me at the Old Florida Fishing Show- TC Howard, TJ Bettis, Gary Kokaisel, Greg from Kel’s, Mark and Ginny Nichols, Shane, and a bunch more whose names have already slipped (sorry! Names have never been a strong suit). It was good to see you! The show went pretty well and I certainly got some flies tied up.

Fishing only took up two of my days this week.

On Monday I launched the kayak at the Banana River Lagoon no motor zone at almost 1 PM, hardly an early start. I did not follow my own advice- the wind was SSE. It was overcast. And I thought I might sightfish for redfish.

I hooked the first one I saw on an experimental fly. I lost it. I did not get another bite, although I did have two or three more shots.

On the way back I remembered why I never go there on a SE wind.

On Friday I returned with son Alex and outdoor writer Vic Attardo. We got a much earlier start. It was still overcast but the wind was out of the east, much easier to deal with.

We found some seatrout right away and got several on Gartside Gurglers. When the bite slowed we continued on our way, until we found some more trout. We got some more trout, same flies.

The spotted seatrout bite was going on.

The trend continued until we reached the redfish spot. Holy cow, there’s a tailer. I had done something I never do, which was to bring bait into the nmz. Hey, you got a writer, you need to produce. Vic had the wrong fly on and with the wind I couldn’t hold the canoe in position all that well so I flung a mullet head to it. He ate it. He weighed around 16 pounds.

Alex got another, bigger fish shortly after.

Bull Redfish

Alex was REAL happy with this big redfish.

I left the two of them and took off for a walk armed with a six-weight and a crab fly. I threw to six or eight fish and finally got an eater. It was a handsome fish although a third of his tail was missing and he had a large scar on his starboard side near the dorsal fin.

bull redfish on fly

Alex agreed to model with my fish.

We got more trout on the way back, and loaded up the boats around 430 pm. It had been a solid day fly fishing, even without the two cut mullet fish.

And that, friends, is this week’s Banana River Lagoon fishing report! Thank you for reading!

Life is great and I love my work.

Life is short. Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

 

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2012. All rights are reserved.

 

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

A Full Week: Banana River-St. Johns River-Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

February 5, 2012 by · 3 Comments

The Orlando Area Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 2.5.12

Quote of the Week Dept.  “The difference between a job and a career is the difference between 40 and 60 hours a week.” – Robert Frost

Upcoming Events Dept-

-The Old Florida Outdoor Festival, February 10, 11, and 12th. I will be there in the Coastal Angler Magazine booth, Saturday from 10-2, Sunday from 12-2. Please come visit! I’d love to see you!

-Merritt Island NWR Show and Tell Seminars- March 3 and 4. Read More Here… 

Non-Fishing Item Dept.- We live on an awesome planet, the nicest by far in this part of the galaxy. Our personal star makes that whole life thing go. In un-fishing related news, check out the amazing photos of our very own personal star here…

Fishing, ah yes!

It was a spectacular week, with plenty of fishing. On a windy Sunday (1/29) Scott Stroop and Joe Mercer, from Savannah, joined me for a day’s fishing. The Mosquito Lagoon was the venue. We went first to the spot where all the tailers had been a few days earlier. They weren’t there!

While poling, we ran over a school of redfish sitting in a white hole in the same vicinity. Scott got one on a spoon. Joe quickly follwed by nailing one on the fly rod, using a wool crab. This is good. We haven’t been out long and already have two fish.

The school had blown out though. We looked in a few other spots and saw nary a fin. Back to the first spot.

We saw a couple more fish but nothing targetable. My anglers had to drive back to Savannah (pretty athletic, down and back in one day) so we bailed a little early.

Monday fly fisher Josh Carleback, a resident of Brooklyn, met me at River Breeze. We launched the Mitzi and ran about two minutes. Five minutes later we were on a school of a couple hundred redfish.

We sat on them all day long, chasing them into the wind, which was blowing 15 out of the north. Eight hours of that wore my butt out, I’ll tell you that. But Josh got 10 or 12 slot reds on a wool crab, making all the effort worth it. He had a heck of a day.

Tuesday, in spite of the 15 mph east wind, I went to the no motor zone of the Banana River Lagoon. I thought I could find the big fish that have done such significant damage to my fly rod collection the last two trips.

I passed up a good number of slot reds, so determined was I to get to the big fish spot. Funny thing about big fish spots. They change. They move. They disappear. So I get to the big fish spot and I see exactly one black drum, while running it over with the kayak. I waded around for at least an hour hoping for a shot with no luck.

Our fish don’t like the wind. I know that.

Figured I’d go back to the slotties. On the way I ran over a few seatrout. They looked decent sized so I anchored and hopped out. Tied on an Electric Sushi. Second cast- THUMP. It felt like a real fish, and turned out to be a trout nearly two feet long.

Knowing it could be wishful thinking I changed the Sushi for a Gurgler. Thank you Jack Gartside! First cast, the toilet flushed, another beautiful trout.

Before I gave up I had gotten a dozen or so. The smallest was a solid 20 inches. It was a fun afternoon. And, I picked up two slot reds on the way back. Not bad for a windy day. Not every trip will to produce a 20 pound fish.

Thursday afternoon son Alex and I went to the St. Johns River. We took the Mitzi this time. It proved to be a good idea.

shad fishing St. Johns River

This handsome scene repeated itself many times.

The bite wasn’t real strong but it was steady. Alex had just visited Bitters’s Bait and Tackle, and bought a bunch of little crappie jigs. We started off tossing shad flies, but I wondered how a 1/32nd ounce crappie jig with a mini-twisty tail would work.

American Shad head shot

It's not a fly but the fish didn't care.

It was hard to throw on the four-weight but the fish seemed to like it. We both caught shad. Ended up with 10 or 12 between us. Alex got a chunky largemouth and a couple of crappie. I got a fat bull bluegill. It was quite a lovely afternoon.

largemouth bass ST. Johns River

It wasn't big, but it was obese.

Friday Dr. George Yarko and his brother John joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. Conditions were yucky, cloudy and windy. I had some mullet but we stopped and picked up a coupls dozen shrimp, something I rarely do. It was a good call.

There were three boats where I wanted to start, so we went to the next spot. Didn’t see anything for a while. Then, we ran over a couple reds. I immediately staked out the boat. Into a white hole we cast a mullet chunk out on one line and a shrimp on the other. Less than 100 seconds passed when the shrimp line went off. Twenty seven inch red, right at the top of the slot.

redfish, Mosquito Lagoon

The Brothers Yarko with the first (and biggest) of quite a few reds.

It turned out that spot was finished. The next didn’t produce, either. But the last spot produced about eight more reds and a 16 inch (yummy) flounder.

Spotted (redfish) Tail

This fish had some serious spotting. The other side was similar. Spotted Tail!

I filleted three slot reds and that flounder. All three reds had shrimp in their stomachs. The big one also had one of those damn Gulp synthetic bait things. I don’t understand why people use those things, they are not good for the fish.

Last but not least, on Saturday I met Ken Muhbich, a fly fisher from North Carolina, at Parrish Park. I started the day by slamming two finger tips in the car door. WOW that hurt. My fingernail is all black. I bet I lose it.

Cruising down Haulover a fisherman was fighting a big fish. We stopped to watch. His red weighed at least 20 pounds.

big Mosquito Lagoon redfish haulover canal

Someone was having a real good morning.

At our first stop we only saw a few fish, had just one shot. Did not convert. Second spot had more fish but they were hard to see and we didn’t get a single good shot. Third spot had exactly three fish. Ken couldn’t see the easy one and I hardly saw the other two. No luck there.

I decided to visit the place where Josh had done such a good job kicking redfish butt on Monday. On the way there- WHAM! Ken and I went flying. Fortunately we both stayed in the boat.

crab trap wrapped around an outboard's lower unit.

What did I do to deserve this? We're lucky no one was hurt.

I had to get in the water and cut wire for 30 minutes before we could get going again.

We get to the spot and of course there are boats around. But none of them are in the right place. We sneak in there and to my disbelief and delight some of the school is still there. They were very spooky but Ken did manage to fool one with a Homer Rhodes Shrimp Fly, all grizzly. It turned out to be the only bite of the day.

Redfish on Fly

This cooperative redfish rid of us a skunk.

And that, friends, is this week’s Banana River Lagoon, St. Johns River, and Mosquito Lagoon fishing report! Thank you for reading!

Life is great and I love my work.

Life is short. Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2012. All rights are reserved.

 

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Cold, then Hot on Mosquito Lagoon- Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

January 28, 2012 by · 1 Comment

The Orlando Area Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 1.28.12

Upcoming Events Dept-
-The Old Florida Outdoor Festival, February 10, 11, and 12th. I will be there in the Coastal Angler Magazine booth, Saturday from 10-2, Sunday from 12-2.
-Merritt Island NWR Show and Tell Seminars- March 3 and 4. Read More Here…

Monetizing
I hope that readers like yourself understand that writing two or three posts a week takes a considerable amount of time. I take pride in putting useful information that you can trust into every post. So now I am asking that you help me by allowing me to recommend products from time to time, and then sometimes actually purchasing them.

Along this vein I have just opened a new online store at Cafe Press. Our only products right now are a line of long sleeve jerseys featuring photography by one John Kumiski. That product line will soon be expanding.

Feedback has been good and shirts have already been sold. Please check it out and join the fledgling Spotted Tail nation! Thank you!

Also, I am in the process of finishing up an e-book on Mosquito Lagoon fishing. It will be for sale for $7.95 through my website, but I will be giving all of my subscribers a copy to thank them for their loyalty. Watch for it!

Last Friday night my phone rang. Bob Colley wanted to go fishing on Saturday. Let’s go!

Saturday morning found us out on the Mosquito Lagoon. One of us held a fly rod, the other a push pole. The wind was blowing from the south. Other than that it was pretty darn nice out.

I went to several spots where I had been finding fish. The fish mostly weren’t there. We did not convert any of the few shots we had. Bob had had enough by 1 PM, so we went back to Beacon 42 and loaded the boat. Skunktrooski!

Tuesday morning Bill Kirby joined me for a day’s fly fishing. There wasn’t a breath of wind. There were more tailing redfish than I’ve seen in at least a decade. It was simply extraordinary.

Bill used one of my old standbyes, an unweighted grizzly Seaducer. Every time Bill presented it properly a fish nailed it. It was an outstanding morning.

Mosquito-Lagoon-Redfish-Bill-Kirby

This was the first redfish Bill caught on fly, a good start.

Bill said, “I had a real good time yesterday and was very excited to catch my first redfish on  a fly. Thanks again for a great day!

Around noon a light breeze came up. Down went every tail! We managed one more fish after that. The flat where the fish were still has dirty water. That, combined with the clouds, made them very hard to see.

The boat was back on the trailer at 3:30.

Tom Van Horn called me to tell me shad fishing south of SR 46 has been excellent. Friday afternoon I went there, intending to walk up the river bank to the Econ and fish my way back. The water is too high to do that, at least with the amount of effort I had budgeted. So I fished just south of the bridge.

Those shad were flapping like crazy, but in spite of changing flies four or five times I didn’t get one. I did get three solid crappie, though, and a small channel cat. Yes, on fly. No, I never did that before. It was a new fish for my life list.

I met Phil Woodham at the boat ramp when I got back. It was good to see him. It had been a long time. He looked good.

He likewise said shad fishing has been outstanding. He and his friend Fred had stopped shad fishing and had gone catfishing. They had some fat cats, a few pushing 20 pounds. Keith Sutton, where are you?

And that, friends, is this week’s Mosquito Lagoon (and elsewhere) fishing report! Thank you for reading!

Life is great and I love my work.

Life is short. Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2012. All rights are reserved.

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