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North Indian River Lagoon System Fishing Report

November 12, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

North Indian River Lagoon System Fishing Report

Lagoon sunrise.

Thank you for reading this North Indian River Lagoon System Fishing Report.

Got out three days last week, even worked on one of them. Fished in both the Indian River Lagoon and Mosquito Lagoon.

Saturday there was a book signing at Kayaks by Bo. I’d like to thank those people who came out for making time in their day.

For those who were unable to make it to the book signing, Fishing Florida by Paddle is available here- http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

I have a copy of the 1971 Professional Guide’s Manual written by George Leonard Herter for the North Star Guide Association. An excerpt is printed below-

Having done this numerous times, I suggest you use a forceps instead of fingers to hold the fly. That steam is hot!

Fishing!
Monday
Make hay while the sun shines, as the saying goes. The weather was nice so with a kayak on the roof I drove to the Indian River Lagoon, place I hadn’t fished in a long time. It wasn’t great. The water is high and not very clean. There were not a lot of fish around. I did manage to get a redfish (soft plastic shad, 3”) that I was able to sightfish (shoreline fish) and 15 or so trout to about 4 pounds on the same lure cast blindly. Got caught in the afternoon rain. Warm and gentle, the rain was surprisingly pleasant.

Wednesday
Was getting ready to go scout Mosquito Lagoon, and asked Susan if she wanted to go. She wasn’t out of bed yet so it was a surprise when she said yes.

We launched the Mitzi at Beacon 42 about 930. The color of the water caused a great deal of dismay. The trolling motor kept hitting the bottom- I could not see it.

I saw and got nothing at spot one. On the way to spot 2 she wanted to see the pelicans, so we got as close as legally allowed. While she watched the birds I threw a DOA Deadly Combo a few times and got a 20” trout. Into the livewell it went!

At spot 3 I got two more trout, both released, on the plastic shad. Then I cleaned the first trout and we went to Goodrich’s. https://www.goodrichseafoodandoysterhouse.com They cooked the fish for us and served it with slaw, hush puppies, and sweet potato fries. Yum-meeeeee! The boat sat noticeably lower in the water on the return trip to the boat ramp!

The water is high and horribly dirty. The Indian River doesn’t look great but it’s way better then Mosquito Lagoon.

orlando fishing charter

Thursday
Charlie and Crystal joined me for some IRL fishing. We started at Parrish Park at 7 AM. The first bite, a trout, took about 45 minutes. We got ten or so fish over the next hour or so, all on plastic shad, healthy trout with a rat red and a junior snook thrown in. Then it went d-e-d.

A couple location changes failed to improve our luck.

I didn’t want to run to a new spot late in the day but did anyway. There were trout there and we got a dozen or so before we were done. The boat was back on the trailer about 330.

And that is this week’s north Indian River Lagoon System Fishing Report. Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- 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 2019. All rights are reserved.

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

North Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report

November 2, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

North Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report

Fished four days this week on the Indian River Lagoon. It was good! Fished one day on the Banana River Lagoon. It was a pleasant paddle.

Upcoming Events
On November 9 starting at noon, Kayaks by Bo in Titusville is having a “Meet the Author”/book signing with John Kumiski. His new book, Fishing Florida by Paddle, is now available!

For those unable to make it to the book signing, Fishing Florida by Paddle is available here- http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

Bugs- The Forgotten Food
I have a copy of the 1971 Professional Guide’s Manual written by George Leonard Herter for the North Star Guide Association. An excerpt is printed below-

Try an insect next time you’re hungry!

Fishing!
Monday
Itching to get out again, I tied a kayak to the roof of the chariot. My destination, picked more-or-less at random, was the Indian River Lagoon. Due to the water quality I have not fished there much in the past several years.

I got there just as the sun was appearing. The water’s surface was smooth and shiny. Barred owls hooted. Mosquitos bit me. To my complete surprise, jacks were going off all over the place. Haven’t seen that in the river in way too long. Got in the boat, started paddling, started casting a popper.

Got a jack of a pound or so. Got a trout, somewhat smaller. Ran over a pair of tailing reds. The jacks were not very interested in my popper, which was strange.

Changed flies to a small white streamer. Stood up and started looking. The water wasn’t clean, but it wasn’t algae nasty either. I could see the bottom as long as I stayed shallow. There were a lot of mullet around.

I started seeing trout. At first they were too close when I’d spot them, but as the sun got higher I was able to sight fish them.

Every good presentation got a fish. It was uncanny. The fish were all nice ones, 20-24 inches. Got a slot red for good measure. Off the water at noon, it was a heck of a morning.

Tuesday
Weather holding, went to a different area on the IRL, launching the kayak around 1030. The water was dirty. Kept paddling until it cleared up, then started looking.

There were more redfish and fewer trout at this place. There was more wind, too, which made fishing harder. I tried wading but couldn’t see anything.

I had five good shots at slot reds. Only one ate, a fly without a name.

I saw a fish and dropped a grizzly seaducer on it. It took, I struck and missed. It swam right under the kayak and sat there. I dropped the fly back in its face. I was fairly shocked when it ate again. I released it a few minutes later. It was a big trout, every bit of 26 inches.

Ended up doing well again, another great day.

Wednesday
Tammy and I were there at first light. The jacks were not there but the mosquitoes and no-see-ums were. They tore us up.

Forecast called for wind and clouds so I brought a spin and fly rod. Never touched the fly pole.

Tammy tossed a 5.5” jerk bait. I tossed a DOA Shrimp. I caught more fish, she got better quality. I did not get a red, but she got two. I got a pompano, a flounder, and a sea robin in addition to numerous trout to about 22 inches. Among other things, she got a trout about 28 inches.

Another awesome day.

Thursday


Tom Van Horn and I launched the Mitzi for some serious IRL scouting. We covered miles of shoreline, finding trout, black drum, and redfish, and hooking two snook. We could not get the drum to bite any of our soft plastics; however, the trout and reds were reasonably compliant. In most places the water was reasonably clean. Some green stuff, not seagrass, has started growing on the bottom in some places.

Fishing was never hot, but it was pretty steady all day. We did pretty well.

Saturday
Last time I went to the Banana River Lagoon I said to myself, “It will be a long time before I come back here.” I tried it today. The water is better than it was but you really can’t see the bottom. Of course the water is still pretty high. Other than a few mullet I saw no fish, got no bites. Did see one dolphin and one manatee. You know it’s a bad sign when you show up on a Saturday with nice weather and no one else is there.

And that is this week’s north Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report. Thanks for reading!

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 2019. All rights are reserved.

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

Around Central Florida Fishing Report

September 13, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Around Central Florida Fishing Report

I fished in three different places early in the week, giving me an around central Florida fishing report.

Sunrise was spectacular.

Sunday morning I hauled meself out of bed and drove to Playalinda, watching lightning play between the clouds as I drove. Armed with a stripping basket and an eight-weight fly rod loaded with an intermediate line, my first thought on seeing the surf in the dawn’s gloaming was, “I can’t fly fish in that.” It turns out I was wrong.

“I can’t fly fish in that!”

Observation- that 50 foot cast that looks so great on a stream or pond looks terribly short in the ocean.

Sunrise was spectacular. But there was no bait. No birds were working. I parked at lot 1 and worked most of the way to the fence, tossing a 3/0 electric sushi. Not a tap did I get.

He had just as much success as I did.

Near the boardwalk a guy was bait fishing. He had just as much success as I did, at least while I was there. That wasn’t very long. I was home before church got out.

*****

Monday Scott Radloff joined me for a Mitzi trip out of Port Canaveral. We launched the boat before 8 AM, heading south to see what we could see. The water was dirty. A few pelicans circled lazily, diving every now and then.

For about a mile north of CB pier the surf was loaded with mullet. We saw a few busts in there. I netted some of the lisa. We impaled a couple on hooks and tossed them out, freelining and dragging them behind us while using the trolling motor. This lasted 40 minutes or so, when I ran out of patience.

We ran most of the way to the CB steeple, saw nothing. I turned left and headed out a couple miles. The sea was flotsam free. We saw nothing in the way of fish.

I turned left and headed for the cape shoals. We saw nothing. The water did get a lot cleaner north of the buoy line.

The water along the beach on the way back to the port had a few schools of finger mullet. We saw a couple small busts in one that I suspect were ladyfish. We did not get a bite.

We saw a small manta ray within a stone’s throw of the beach. He was lonely.

We saw a barracuda within a stone’s throw of the beach. He ignored our offerings.

Back at the ramp I saw and talked to Fred Cisnero. He had not gotten a bite either.

*****

Tuesday morning I drove up to Spruce Creek, launched the kayak about 8 AM. It was a slack high tide, pretty much the worst tide possible for fishing there. The odd mullet jumped happily. Other than that the water surface was almost a mirror.

I started with the six-weight. On my leader was a size one electric chicken colored synthetic minnow, EP-style. About an hour in I found some baby tarpon rolling, quite a few of them. I got only two responses to my casts, both negative.

I changed to a black and purple version of the same pattern. That got no response at all.

Since I had a spin rod, I tried a plastic shad. Nothing.

Near noon some busting fish attracted my attention. A Chug Bug elicited strikes but no hookups. I switched to a Deadly Combo. That resulted in a rat red, a snooklet, and a crevalle of about one pound, all within a 10-minute span. Hey, yay, the skunk was off!

Shortly after this I loaded up the boat and drove home, stopping at River Breeze and Beacon 42 on the way. The water is high and looks dirty. Perhaps I will venture out there next week, if the new storm misses us.

Errands and weather kept me off the water the rest of the week. Humberto, go away!!!

I have a new book coming out! Please tell your friends! It’s a guide book to fishing Florida by paddle craft. Click this link for more information!

That’s this week’s Around Central Florida Fishing Report. Thanks for reading!

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 2019. All rights are reserved.

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

Father’s Day Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

June 16, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Father’s Day Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Father’s Day Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report! And to all you dads, Happy Father’s Day! I just spent my morning cutting grass.

FISHING

Tuesday
The skiff was not available while the trailer was being repaired. So early Tuesday morning I met Bob Reed at Snow Hill road for some Econlockhatchee fly fishing.

It’s been raining a lot. The river was blown out. So we just went home.

Once home I checked the gauge – it was over 5 and still rising. The river won’t fish for a while.

Friday
Ed Wasicki joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon scouting. We did not stay anywhere long. There were several places to check before the storms started. But I got a slot red, and Ed lost one. Ed also got a couple nice trout, one well over 20 inches. And there were a few dinker trout too. We were off the water a little after noon. The skies opened up shortly afterwards.

Saturday
Sebastian Fasanello, a fly fisher from Buffalo, joined me on Mosquito Lagoon. We went to a spot, fished tailing redfish all morning (!), and then left at 11 AM.

Hadn’t seen this in quite a while!

Sebastian boated three slot fish and missed a couple strikes. The fly of choice was a black and purple streamer. It was a pretty awesome morning!

Sebastian was happy with his redfish!

I have a lot of non-fishing things to do this week. There may not be a report next week.

That’s this week’s Father’s Day Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

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 2019. All rights are reserved.

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

Mixed Bag Central Florida Saltwater Fishing Report

June 9, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Mixed Bag Central Florida Saltwater Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Mixed Bag Central Florida Saltwater Fishing Report!

Thanks to all of you who bought books. Shipping all those books reminded me of the good old days!

FISHING

Tuesday
Tammy and I took the Mitzi out of Port Canaveral. The ocean looked like a pond. I tossed the net a few times north of the jetty, and was finally rewarded with a couple dozen pound-and-a-half menhaden. Truly, I’ve caught much smaller fish while using hook and line. But we had some bait.

As we cruised along the beach looking, there were scattered outbreaks of Spanish mackerel and little tunny. I got a nice mack on a Sting Silver.

Finally we saw what we were looking for- rolling tarpon! I shut the boat down and dropped the trolling motor. For a couple hours it looked like Sea World- strings of tarpon cruising just under the surface, monster jacks running by, five foot sharks making their presence felt, even a few king mackerel attacking the baits. There were loggerheads copulating all around us. We had several tarpon bites and Tammy put a big one in the air a few times.

copulating sea turtles

Turtles were copulating all around us.

The bite slowed down and we made the mistake of thinking we could find more fish by searching again. We were wrong.

copulating sea turtles

More copulating turtles!

We returned to the hot spot to find only an occasional roller. But there were thousands of five pound jacks, many with fins in the air. A fly rod appeared, and several fish cooperated by crushing a Krebs popper.

Tammy lays the cast out.

 

A fish cooperated.

 

Mission accomplished!

All-in-all it was an awesome day, as fishing with Tammy usually is.

Thursday
Scott Radloff and I took the Mitzi back out of Port Canaveral. The ocean did not look like a pond. It was choppy and sloppy. I could not catch any bait.

I used the tried-and-true tactic of returning to the place where the fish were last time I was out. The fish did not use that same tactic, however. NO one was home.

We ended up off the tip of the cape. Northern sennett were thick and aggressive. Bluefish and blue runners were there. We got a few small jacks and ladyfish. We saw a few tarpon roll. So we caught a lot of fish, but they were all small ones.

Friday
Nils Johnson and Allen Dronko joined me at Port Canaveral for some ocean fishing. We cleared the jetties. It was choppy and sloppy. There were three of us the skiff instead of only two. So I turned around, loaded the boat, and went to Mosquito Lagoon. The trout bite had been good. It seemed like a solid plan.

The trout had left the building.

We worked it hard all day for exactly two slot trout, basically touring most of my trout spots in the process. It was a tough, frustrating day. But thank you for fishing with me, gentlemen!

As I left Haulover I realized that I had blown a wheel bearing on my trailer. Jim Savage used to tell me, “Trailering is the weak link in boating.” I had been meaning to do bearing maintenance, had procrastinated, and now probably have to replace the axle. Argh!

That’s this week’s Mixed Bag Central Florida Saltwater Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

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 2019. All rights are reserved.

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

Optimistic Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

June 3, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

An Optimistic Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Optimistic Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report!

Summer has certainly arrived in central Florida, with the thermometer hitting the mid-90s every day. Start your fishing trips early!

FANTASTIC OFFER
This is the final week we run the book offer- three of my book titles are now available for five cents each, only from my website. Thanks to all of you who have already taken advantage!
–Flyrodding Florida Salt
–How and Where to Catch Redfish in the Indian River Lagoon System
–Fishing Florida’s Space Coast
Shipping is still $5.95 each. The mailers cost money, the post office wants a cut, and the mail boy has to bring the package to the post office. But you can have each of these titles delivered to your door for six bucks. Act now!
———————

FISHING
MONday
Just did some retention pond fishing with son Alex, only for an hour. We got three bass between us, all modest size-wise. Alex hooked a larger one, but you know what happens to the Big One.

Tuesday
Alex and I took the Mitzi out of Port Canaveral after waiting for a submarine to sail. We ran south, close to the beach, as far as Patrick AFB, finding very little other than two rolling tarpon. Alex caught a small bonnethead, using a jig.

I turned east and headed out to sea a couple miles, then headed north. The water was BEAUTIFUL, clear, blue, oceanic water with Sargassum. But we did not see any bait or fish.

We ran to Cape Canaveral, fishing around the breakers for a while. I got a dink ladyfish, also on a jig.

We followed the beach back to the jetty where we anchored, tossing out a chunk of mullet. That resulted in a sizable ray, and an exit from the fishing excursion.

Wednesday
Scott Radloff and I took the Mitzi out on Mosquito Lagoon. Recognizing I had been in somewhat of a rut I looked in places I had not been in a long time.

The first fish we saw was a tailing redfish. We did not get a shot. We found a couple dozen reds in water shallow enough that I was pushing the boat through mud. The fish were very spooky, giving us only two shots, neither of which was converted. But it was so good to see them!

Changing locations, I was happily surprised to find the water was much cleaner than it’s been lately. We hit a few dink trout. Then I saw a real one. It struck my bait (soft plastic shad) without hesitation. It was at least four pounds, perhaps more. I did not take it from the water before releasing it.

spottedtail.com

The best fish of the day, caught and released by Scott.

The best part was, it was one of four that size, plus several smaller ones. So while we did not hit a red we got about 20 trout including some real nice ones. And the water was cleaner.

Nice day!

Sunday brothers Chance and Charlie Moore, Texans both, joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. We first went to the redfish spot. I thought they would be tailing- WRONG. There were fish there, hitting bait. I thought we should have gotten a few-WRONG. Nary a bite. So we changed it up and went fishing for trout.

Trout fishing was pretty good. We got about twenty, with the best a fat fish close to five pounds. All were taken on 3” plastic shad, and all were released.

orlando fishing charter

Thank you for fishing with me, gentlemen!

The water looks pretty good, as clean as its been in quite a while

That’s this week’s Optimistic Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report. Thanks for reading!

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 2019. All rights are reserved.

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

A Short East Central Florida Freshwater Fishing Report

May 4, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

A Short East Central Florida Freshwater Fishing Report

Only got out two days this week. Thank you for reading this short East Central Florida freshwater Fishing Report!

FANTASTIC OFFER
We are still running the book offer- three of my book titles are now available for five cents each, only from my website. Thanks to all of you who have already taken advantage!
-Flyrodding Florida Salt
-How and Where to Catch Redfish in the Indian River Lagoon System
-Fishing Florida’s Space Coast
Shipping is still $5.95 each. The mailers cost money, the post office wants a cut, and the mail boy has to bring the package to the post office. But you can have each of these titles delivered to your door for six bucks until June 15. Act now!

MONday
Launched the kayak at Buck Lake on a stunning morning. I miss all the weeds that supposedly did not get sprayed. Fly fished for a couple hours without success, so switched to a Culprit worm. It wasn’t great, but it did take six or seven bass to about three pounds. Was done by noon.

Another kayaker told me he got about a dozen fish to over four pounds on soft plastics. Good morning if he was being honest.

Tuesday
Beautiful weather again! With the gauge reading 0.9 I launched the kayak on the Econ. Three hours of fly casting with a Krebs popper netted a single bass of maybe 10 inches, one small spotted gar, and two stumpknockers. Again I switched to a plastic worm. After noon it started working pretty well, and although I saw a couple fish in the four-to-five pound range my best was only about 14 inches.

On the paddle back I saw a bunch of bedding redbellies and switched the fly to a foam spider. I got only one nice one.

Since May Day was this week, I have started gathering my belongings for this summer’s trip to Alaska. I need to buy a gold pan and some hot pink chenille.

Great fly for hot silvers…

That’s this week’s East Central Florida Saltwater Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

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 2019. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Orlando Fishing Report, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

East Central Florida Saltwater Fishing Report

April 27, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

East Central Florida Saltwater Fishing Report

With the nice weather this week we got out several times and fished around. Thank you for reading this East Central Florida Saltwater Fishing Report!

FANTASTIC OFFER
We are still running the book offer- three of my book titles are now available for five cents each, only from my website. Thanks to all of you who have already taken advantage!
-Flyrodding Florida Salt
-How and Where to Catch Redfish in the Indian River Lagoon System
-Fishing Florida’s Space Coast
Shipping is still $5.95 each. The mailers cost money, the post office wants a cut, and the mail boy has to bring the package to the post office. But you can have each of these titles delivered to your door for six bucks until June 15. Act now!

My current reading material is Basin and Range, by John McPhee (If it’s by McPhee you know it will be good!), a book about the geology of the southern Rocky Mountains. For a while I’ve been upset about rampant development and the loss of fisheries habitats. This book put everything in its proper perspective though.

Geologically speaking, in less than the blink of an eye we and all our works will be a part of the fossil record. Plastic lasts 500 years in the environment. What’s that to the earth? A little lava here, and little magma there, some erosion, some deposition, and all that stuff will be gone. REALLY gone.

The ocean will clean up the Indian River Lagoon, and the Everglades, and everything else, and some new specie will be running things. So everything’s good, unless you are a Homo sapiens. Because of their behavior as a species, their outlook is pretty bleak. They are nowhere near as smart as they think they are.

FISHING!

Sunday-
Carey and Joey Cordell, father and son, joined me for a day’s fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. The weather was amazing. We tossed soft plastics all day. The fish came in fitfully, and they were all small- four reds and maybe a dozen trout. We had a few shots at sight-fished, uncooperative reds, getting only one in spite of some ace casting by Joey.

The reds were small, but not this small.

Thank you for fishing with me, gentlemen!

MONday
Launched the Mitzi at Port Canaveral- love the new construction there by the boat ramp!- and went up into the Bight. Again the weather was amazing. There were loads of fish along the beach- five-pound crevalle swimming near the surface in big schools, some bluefish, and quite a few Spanish mackerel. Got the fly rod and did some jack damage with a popper, great fun. Got some macs on streamers.

I love jacks! Jack damage via a Krebs popper.

After getting my fill of the smaller fish I went looking for cobia, tripletail, etc. Zero success with that, though.

Macs on streamers, too.

Tuesday
Beautiful weather again! Took Shawn Healy out after telling him how great it was Monday. Of course it was not at all great on Tuesday. We worked it hard for four hours with spin tackle, to the tune of three mackerel, two jacks, and one ladyfish. Slow fishing but better than no cheese.

Thursday
Took a kayak and a fly rod out on the Indian River with low expectations. They were met! Found a small clump of black drum. They would not play, even with a crab fly. Saw two redfish, did not get a shot. Got a skunk-busting ladyfish, blind-casting with a streamer. Was loaded up by noon.

That’s this week’s East Central Florida Saltwater Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

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 2019. All rights are reserved.

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

Tax Day Central FLorida Fishing Report

April 14, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Tax Day Central FLorida Fishing Report

Happy Tax Day to everyone, especially the CPAs. Thank you for reading this Tax Day Central FLorida fishing report.

Cartoon of the Week-

 

FISHING!

MONday Tired of not getting bites, decided to try something different. Loaded the bicycle and a spin rod into the car. Drove to a park. Unloaded the bicycle and fishing rod, wired the rod to the bike. Put hooks and purple plastic worms into my pocket and rode into the woods to a spot I’d been to only once before. Did not carry a camera.

Found the stream, surrounded by second growth cypress. The woods glowed a lovely spring green. Was not encouraged by the appearance of the stream- small, shallow, overgrown, hardly any current. Tossed a worm into a little hole. BAM! Two pound bass.

Under the trees the woods were dark, and other than the songs of birds, quiet. The air smelled sweetly. Lizard’s tail (https://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/saururus-cernuus/) was blooming. I found some old footprints but did not see anyone else. Only three pieces of trash were noted.

Lizard’s Tail, Saururus cernuus

The bass attacked that worm like they were starving. At one spot got three two-pounders on three casts without moving my feet. Don’t recall that ever happening anywhere with bass. I didn’t get any bigger than about two and a half pounds, but didn’t get any smaller than one pound. Got 25 or 30, enough to wear most of the skin off my left thumb. The fish were beautiful, healthy, fat. Almost black they were so dark. Even got a mudfish, a personal favorite. In a way the tiny creek reminded me of brook trout fishing in my youth.

Had a pair of otters swim almost right up to me. We observed each other for a couple minutes. I asked them how they were doing. They responded by swimming around and away. They looked like they were enjoying themselves too.

To illustrate just how good it was, after I loaded up the car and started driving home, it started to rain. Perfect timing, too! God smiled on me on Monday.

Would love to go back. Tiny spots like that are delicate, though. It will be quite a while before I return.

Thursday loaded up the expedition kayak (Prowler 15) and went to Spruce Creek, which is not much of an expedition. The boat handled beautifully. Fishing was slow. Got a decent trout (18”?), a smallish crevalle, and a flounder. Hooked and lost a beefier jack. That was it. Didn’t see much other than fishermen. Quite a few of those.

Friday Tom Van Horn joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon flats fishing. The wind was stiff from the south. We could not find any clean water, saw exactly two redfish. Did not get a shot, did not hit a fish blind casting the plastic shad. A juvenile blue crab pinched my line and was brought into the boat, our only animate catch. Does that chase the skunk away??

That’s this week’s Tax Day Central FLorida Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

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 2019. All rights are reserved.

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

A Quick Econlockhatchee River Fishing Report

April 7, 2019 by · 1 Comment

A Quick Econlockhatchee River Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Econlockhatchee River fishing report.

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-Flyrodding Florida Salt
-How and Where to Catch Redfish in the Indian River Lagoon System
-Fishing Florida’s Space Coast

Shipping is still $5.95 each. The mailers cost money, the post office wants a cut, and the mail boy has to bring the package to the post office. But you can have each of these titles delivered to your door for six bucks until June 15. Act now!

FISHING! Not much this week I’m afraid.

A pastoral scene on the St. Johns.

SUNday morning I took the official sister of Capt. John out to see alligators in the Bang-O-Craft. The water body was the St. Johns River. We went upriver from SR 50. The gators were thick, as I expected.

One of many.

We went as far as the powerlines, where we got out to stretch our legs. A trio of turkeys flew right over to us like they were expecting handouts.

Was never approached by turkeys before.

When we got back in the boat a problem developed.

Another of many.

The Bang-O-Craft is powered by an 8 HP Mercury, 2003 vintage, with a pull start. When I pulled, the pull cord got caught between the flywheel and the cord windup spring mechanism. I did not have any tools. [note to self- do not make that mistake again]

Third and last one for today.

There were six guys there trying to net Plecostamus (They eat them). They had a small johnboat with a Mariner 8- same motor! But they did not have the tools I needed either. So I did what any red-blooded American male would do. I called my wife and asked her to bring me my socket set. The road through Tosahatchee ends under the powerline, right where we were sitting.

Susan showed up a while later. I disassembled the top of the motor, used my mooring line to start the Merc, and we were on our way.

Monday was not a chamber of commerce day. One of the things I did was rewind the spring mechanism and put the Mercury back together.

Wednesday Susan had retirement meetings all day. I accompanied her.

Thursday morning I launched a kayak at Snow Hill Road on the Econlockhatchee. The gauge was at 2 feet. The river was running low and clear, just how I like it.

There was no one home.

My plan was to just fish for sunfish, knowing I’d pick up a few bass that would hit the sunfish bug. I was wrong.

Four hours of casting netted me four stumpknockers and one small redbelly. The river was as lifeless as I’ve ever seen it. I saw only two bass, four turtles, and zero alligators.

Ordinarily I would get sick of catching sunfish and put a larger bug on, hoping to cull them out while I concentrated on bass. This day I could hardly catch anything. Mind you, conditions were perfect.

Ordinarily you see lots of fish in the Econ- sunfish, bass, catfish sometimes, gar, Plecostamus, loads of fry minnows. This day I saw a few fish, but nothing like I should. No fry minnows! There’s some serious concern about the river at this end.

I used to catch fish like this almost every trip. Now it’s hard to get a stumpknocker!?

The kayak was already on the car roof so I was going to try to get out on Friday. Rain and lightning in the morning made me quickly change that plan!

That’s this week’s Econlockhatchee River Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

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 2019. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Orlando Fishing Report, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , ,
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