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A Float Down the Econlockhatchee

April 19, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

The river ran low and clear. Whoever designed the put-in was not a boater- a couple hundred yards separate the river from the parking lot.

Maxx pulls up. I give Cheryl my keys and they drive off to do the shuttle. I drag the boats down to the riverside.

The kayak feels wonderful, as it always does. Light and responsive, it’s a joy to paddle.

Every flood on the Econ drops trees. Of course they fall across the river, creating obstacles for boaters. Those obstacles start while the road is still within earshot. Fortunately, the kayaks are light and responsive. Fortunately, both Cheryl and I know how to paddle. In spite of that, several small river spiders soon share our boats with us.

We come to a deep hole. The fly line shoots out, dropping a foam spider near the bank. Again. Again. Bloop! The little rod bends. A redbelly comes to hand.

redbelly sunfish

“Cher! Come look at the colors on this fish!” They are one of the most beautiful fish you’ll ever see. Cheryl makes stained glass windows. This fish may be a model for one.

The redbellies are bedding. We see their bowls all the way down the river. In spite of not working it very hard, I catch many more, and some bluegills too. Strangely, the stumpknockers never put in an appearance. I wonder where they are.

sunfish beds, econlockhatchee river

We see many bass. They are not interested in my spider. I try a streamer, and soon lose it on a backcast to a riverside bush. Karma, telling me to enjoy the sunnies and ignore the bass. I put the spider back on.

Cheryl wants to know if we’ll see alligators. I’m surprised we haven’t seen any yet. We needn’t have worried- we end up seeing at least a dozen big ones.

alligator, econlockhatchee river

We have to get out and drag the kayaks, over logs, around fallen trees, again and again. In between we float over shallows, through deep pools. Songbirds call. We hear a barred owl. I call back. We converse briefly, then it tires of the game.

kayaking, econlockhatchee river

We travel leisurely, stopping to snack, to converse. I haven’t seen Cheryl in a long time. It’s good to be on the water with her.

coreopsis

I notice our shadows getting longer. I’m surprised it’s gotten so late so quickly. I put my fly rod away, and we start paddling like we mean it. We still have several miles to go.

wildflowers, by econlockhatchee river

I hear voices before I see the speakers. Some teens are enjoying the afternoon. One does a spectacular flip off a rope swing. I can hear cars in the distance.

We load the boats onto my van. Our paddling is done. A float down the Econlockhatchee River is a wonderful way to spend a day.

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 Stories, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays · Tagged: , , , , ,

photography by Henrique DePaiva

March 16, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

My friend Rick took up photography just a few years ago. He got real good, real fast. At first I was jealous- I’ve been at it my whole life, and he’s better than me! Fortunately I quickly got over it. Now I’m happy for him, and brag on him.

Enjoy these fishing related photos. See more at this link…

 

 

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Everglades, Naples Fishing Report

October 29, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Everglades, Naples Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 10/30/11

Upcoming Events- Last call! Show and Tell seminar on November 5 and 6. The 6th will be an on the water seminar. Details and the signup are now posted at this link- http://www.spottedtail.com/category/Schools-and-Seminars-13.

The Florida Fishing Road Trip- Installment 2

October 27
Dear Diary-
On the 25th we got up early and drove off of Sugarloaf Key at 6 am. Our destination- Flamingo, Everglades National Park.

We got there a little after 10 am, and launched the boat in the Buttonwood Canal. We ran to the entrance to Mud Lake, dropped the canoe in the water, and paddled through the creek into the lake. We were hoping to find snook.

Running through the Buttonwood Canal.

The water was high. It’s always dirty in there. So sight fishing was again going to be difficult.

We saw a redfish right away as it blew out when we ran it over. A while later Alex spotted a red, close to the canoe. Using a four weight TFO he smartly dropped a small chartreuse Clouser Minnow right in front of it and BAM, he’s on. Darn nice work by Alex.

Alex fights a redfish in Mud Lake. Look at the color of the water.

A short time later a crash along the shore indicated the presence of another fish. As it turned out there were two. They were swimming away, but Alex threw the Clouser in front of them and one immediately jumped on it for redfish number two.

Sight fishing in the high, stained water worked well enough for a couple of these.

We didn’t see anything else in Mud Lake.

We paddled through the creek into Bear Lake. Fish were crashing at the entrance. We got a couple ladyfish, again on the Clouser.

Paddling down the lake yielded no chances at snook or reds. Some baby tarpon were rolling. We changed to the baby tarpon gurglers. In spite of missing a bunch we got four between us, including a tarpon double, on fly. Nice! Yes, they were micro-tarpon, but they are still tarpon, my favorite fish. And we got them on surface flies. So we counted the trip as a success.

Your intrepid blogger got this micro-tarpon on a gurgler.

Alex also used a gurgler to get this slightly larger specimen.

On the way back through Mud Lake Alex was blind casting along the mangroves and that chartreuse Clouser got him a little snook. So he got two reds, two tarpon, and a snook on fly in one day, certainly some kind of Everglades slam.

The snook was small but it completed the slam, all on fly.

We camped in Flamingo that night. The mosquitoes were thick. But the stars were beautiful. We saw two satellites. Fireflies flashed intermittently. We were asleep by eight thirty. I slept like a log. Man, I miss camping.

On the 26th we fished some ponds behind Cape Sable. The water was really high and dirty. I spotted a redfish working some mangrove roots and Alex got it on that same Clouser. It was the only shot we would have.

We got back to Flamingo about four thirty, loaded the gear up, and headed to Fort Myers. The drive was fortunately uneventful.

Today we launched the boat at a public ramp near Wiggins Pass. Once on the Gulf we headed south. The hope was that diving birds would give away the location of feeding Spanish mackerel and little tunny.

The hope was not realized. Plenty of bait, plenty of birds, no fish.

Along the beach were loads of mullet, oddly enough swimming north. We hoped to find tarpon with them but what we found were blacktip sharks. Several bit the mullet we tossed at them, and Alex got one of 50 pounds or so to the boat. With the exception of a couple of ladyfish and a small jack it was all we would catch.

There were lots of sharks like this blacktip, right along the beach.

Blacktips are magnificent animals.

Reach in there and get that expensive hook out, will you?

I’d never been to this section of the Florida coast. It was quite nice and I would like to visit again.

October 28
Dear Diary-
Last night Rick took us to Café Brazil. They have Brahma and Antarctica now! I had Alex try both. Alex and I had muqueca. It was so delicious. Sometimes I miss Bahia, I’ll tell you.

The last day of our trip is here. Alex sleeps while I write this. Our intent is to head to Sarasota and see if the little tunny are along the beach there. It’s on the way home.

The weather forecast today is iffy at best. A tropical storm churns in the Gulf, headed this way. So if it’s pouring the deal is off. We can only go out there and see.

October 29
Dear Diary-
An anticlimax. We got to Sarasota and it was pouring water from the sky. I was all for going out anyway but Alex would hear none of that. So we drove home, cleaned up the car and boats, and put stuff away. The trip was over.

A day later it’s still raining. Alex made the right call.

Next week- back to the lagoons!

Embrace simplicity.

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 2011. All rights are reserved.

 

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Wildflowers of the Goodnews River Valley

September 8, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The flowers of the Goodnews River valley dazzle the eye on even the dreariest day. Sadly I don’t know the names of many of them, or even the family of some, but they present a photographer with a never ending range of subjects.This is a type of Eriophorum grass, commonly called Alaska cotton, near the base of Tsuktulik.

Purple asters flower in the fall in every state where I’ve lived. These grow on a north fork gravel bar.

Hillside tundra gives off a wonderful fragrance, and hosts many different berry types.

This is a type of composite, found on the tundra near the north fork. If any readers can identify it, please post below.

A wild geranium, or cranesbill, also growing in tundra by the north fork of the Goodnews River.

Fireweed, or river beauty, grows on almost every gravel bar in the valley.

Lingonberry blossoms form low in the tundra.

This lovely flower has the unlikely name of Jacob’s ladder. It grows abundantly in meadows throughout the valley.

Mike calls the bluff on which these lupines grow Silver Salmon.

You find irises in wet places in the tundra. This one grows right at the lodge.

I think this is starwort. It grows along the rivers all through the valley.

A bumblebee works some yarrow flowers. Likewise, yarrow grows in meadows all through the valley.

Frigid arnica grows above the treeline on Tsuktulik.

While you fish here it’s easy to get distracted by scenes like this.

Life is short- get outdoors!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2011. All rights are reserved.

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Gamefish of the Goodnews River, Alaska

September 7, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Here in one place find images of the major gamefish found in Alaska’s Goodnews River.

Of the anadramous fishes, the first to appear are the king salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Kings reach weights in excess of 50 pounds on the Goodnews, making them the largest type of fish found in the river.

Your average "nice" Goodnews River king, a fish of about 25 pounds.

King salmon get quite large.

You'll also find king salmon jacks, precocious males that, despite their small size, are sexually mature.

Sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) come in next. When they come into the river they are bright silver (see the photo of the silver salmon below). As they prepare to spawn they become bright red with a green head. The males develop a hump.

Sockeyes, hard to catch when they first appear, become aggressive once colored up.

Chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) come into the river a few days after the sockeyes start. Like the sockeyes, they come in by the tens of thousands. Unlike the sockeyes they strike flies aggressively.

This chum shows some color.

Pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) come into the river every year, although alternate years have a larger then a smaller run. When they’re thick they almost become a nuisance.

This pink salmon threw mud all over Calene.

The last salmon specie in are the silver salmon, (Oncorhynchus kisutch). They may be the most popular fish among anglers coming to Goodnews River Lodge.

A bright silver salmon, early in the run.

Later in the run some of the silvers color up. This phenomenon happens to all the salmon.

The Dolly varden char follow the salmon up the river, hoping to gorge on their eggs. They range in size from little “micro” Dollies to fish over ten pounds. They also color up once in the river.

This nice Dolly varden is still quite bright.

This Dolly varden shows lots of color.

We also have two resident species in the river. The Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) is a lovely, delicate fish. A big one is three or four pounds, and could be in excess of 20 years old.

The Arctic grayling sports a showy dorsal fin.

Finally, the river hosts a population of beautiful leopard rainbow trout, (Oncorhynchus mykiss). These are also very popular among Goodnews River Lodge anglers. We release every trout we catch here.

An average sized Goodnews River rainbow trout. A big one will push 30 inches.

a detail of a pectoral fin, rainbow trout

That completes my pictorial roundup of Goodnews River gamefish.

John Kumiski

Home- Spotted Tail Outdoors and Travel

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2011. All rights are reserved.

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Brown Bears of the Goodnews River- A Pictorial

August 25, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Goodnews River Lodge sits in a remote part of southwest Alaska, in the middle of bear country. We live in brown bear (Ursus arctos) habitat, and see them daily during the latter part of the season. Large, magnificent, goofy, dangerous, awesome, stinky, these and many more adjectives describe them. I love watching them and of course I’ve been photographing them as much as I can.

Rather than copy from another website the facts about these fascinating animals, I’ve included this link http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=brownbear.main for those who want more information. I will be satisfied with sharing a few of my photos.

This bear posed briefly on a gravel bar. Barnum Mountain forms the backdrop.

Another bear, another gravel bar. This one eats a chum salmon.

These bears possess an incredible sense of smell and can see as well as we can.

Bears will tear a beaver lodge apart in minutes.

A bear family strolls along the banks of the Goodnews River.

One cub had something the other wanted. Possession did not change.

The bear watches us while it secures its prize, a chum salmon.

Live is short. Get outdoors!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2011. All rights are reserved.

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Gravel

August 15, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Most folks fishing with me in Alaska walk on gravel all day long but never look at it. Rocks is just rocks to them.

A small sample of Goodnews River gravel.

When I walk on gravel I see a kaleidoscope of color, form, shape, texture. I feel a deep sense of geology, history, archeology, biology. In the right light the visual richness of Goodnews River gravel almost overwhelms me.

Millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions of years ago sediments settled. Magma cooled. Volcanoes erupted. All these processes form rock. Heat and pressure change rock that’s already there.

Mountains were thrust upward by the motion of continents. Erosion wears them down. The river carries pieces of mountains towards the sea, shaping and polishing them as it goes. The river deposits the pieces in enormous piles we call gravel bars. I find pieces of mountains when I walk on those bars.

I wonder how long it takes a piece of gravel to travel from a mountain top to a riverside bar where I might find it. No one has started a gravel tagging program.

This fish, or what’s left of it, was not processed by a bear.

I find beautiful pieces of rock in the gravel. Unusual shapes and intrusions fascinate me. And occasionally, if you look enough, you find aboriginal artifacts.

Men have lived here in Alaska from the time of the Bering land bridge, about 12,000 years ago. Until Columbus arrived, these people lived in the stone age. Their tools and implements look much like the rest of the gravel. You have to look at a lot of rocks before you begin to notice those that are different, those that look worked.

I find a curiously hollowed out rock. Mike Gorton tells me it’s a whale oil lamp. It almost certainly predates Columbus’s arrival in the new world.

I find a stone. The working of men on one side is obvious. I take it back to camp and ask Mike what it might be. He says it’s an anchor stone, used by aborigines to anchor their skin covered boat. Thousands of years have passed since it was last used. Did the owners lose it when its tether snapped while anchored, or was it dropped, broken, and then discarded?

Footprints in the gravel indicate a large mammal has passed. Most of the time those mammals are bears. Their scat and footprints litter every gravel bar in the Goodnews River system, hundreds of miles of shoreline.

You find bear tracks on every gravel bar in the Goodnews River system.

Bear scat releases nutrients into the environment that salmon have carried into the river from the Pacific Ocean. Salmon act as an enormous nutrient cycling system, although that system is nowhere near as efficient as it was before dams, logging, agriculture, mining, and commercial fishing brought Pacific salmon perilously close to being endangered.

Salmon lay their eggs in gravel. It’s astonishing how they alter the river bed, digging the holes we call redds in which to lay their eggs. On the downstream side of the redds big humps of gravel alter the current flow, and at low water nearly form hazards to navigation.

As the hen salmon drop their eggs and buck salmon their milt, dolly varden and rainbow trout dart in to partake of the bounty of eggs. Salmon develop those gnarly teeth to fight off the egg predators. Apparently they work well enough that salmon continue returning to rivers that have not been too severely altered.

As I walk on a gravel bar, looking for interesting stones, all these thoughts and others only half-formed pass through my mind. A gravel bar is so much more than just a pile of rocks.

Purple asters, or a close relative, on a Goodnews River gravel bar.

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2011. All rights are reserved.

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Silver Salmon, Dolly Varden Fishing Hot in Goodnews River- Goodnews River Fishing Report

August 8, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Goodnews River Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 8/7/11

Silver salmon bite steadily in the Goodnews River, with five fish limits being caught daily by most anglers. Weighted salmon flies on size 2 hooks dressed in pink, cerise, orange, and/or chartreuse are working well, as are Pixies, Mepps Flying Cs, and 5/8 ounce jigs with twisty tails. While the run is going well, it certainly hasn’t peaked yet and there’s lots of room for improvement. We prefer to catch fresh fish in tidewater but folks well up the river, fishing for dollies, have been running into silvers too.

Chums, pinks, and sockeyes are still busily digging redds and dropping eggs. Dollies and rainbow trout are sitting just downstream gorging themselves. These fish are suckers for a dead drifted bead or glo-bug.

Dolly fishing is still sensational. The average fish has dropped to about 20 inches long. Most of the bigger fish have moved far up the river. My fishermen have been using a small orange gurgler tied on a #8 long shank hook almost exclusively, the most fun you can have with a Dolly (other than maybe eating one). Most are just starting to color up. A few are already sporting fall colors.

My man Kim with one of dozens of Dolly Varden he caught on the gurgler fly.

Dead chums begin to litter the banks. The gulls are sitting there, burping. Trout will be keying on flesh. Time to tie, and use some nasty looking flesh flies.

Dead salmon support life on the Goodnews River. This was a chum salmon.

The weather this past week has, with the exception of one day, been cold, rainy, and windy. Running the boat has not been fun, but the clouds swirling around the mountains have been very dramatic, just beautiful. This is such an incredible place.

The sun tries to make an appearance through a hole in the clouds.

Most days lately have looked like this.

We have a sow bear with three cubs in the vicinity of camp. We see them frequently. She seems to be a very good mama, as all three cubs look fat and healthy.

Mama bear with some of the kids.

Embrace simplicity.

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 2011. All rights are reserved.

 

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Goodnews River- Alaska Fishing Report, Photo Essays · Tagged: , , , , , ,

An Alaska Fishing Guide’s Day

August 4, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The generator fires up, waking me. It’s cold in my house.

Soon, in the midst of a sweet dream, my alarm goes off. I turn it off and fight to wake up. Rain patters on the fabric of my weatherport, trying to make me drowse again. I peel off my sleeping bag, lurch toward the dining room.

Low clouds sprinkle. The air moves enough to wave the willows. The mountains are visible, but only at their bases. My breath forms little clouds when I exhale.

The wait staff greets me at the dining room. Most mornings they’re cheery but today they seem to be in the same state as me- eyes bleary and watering as we all struggle to wake up. The season is old, and folks are feeling it. A full coffee urn does its best to help us clear the cobwebs.

Guides keep entering, slurping java, sausages, and pancakes. Typical morning guide banter, full of friendly curses and BS, fills the air.

In the drying room everyone dons waders and raincoats, preparing for the weather. I bilge the boat, prime the bulb, and start the engine. It takes a few tries. It’s cold, too.

The fishermen come down to the water, carrying equipment and looking for their guides. We get everyone pointed in the right direction.

On any given day my anglers could be world class or rank novices. It’s my job to teach them about fish and fishing, to entertain and educate. Catching fish is important too, but fortunately in Alaska that’s usually pretty easy to do.

We head off to fish. At the first hole I see they’re novice fly fishers. They don’t cast very well. Some basic fly casting instruction occurs. One guy gets it, the other not so much. If he could cast 25 feet he could get a bite, but he’s struggling.

I keep working with him. By God’s grace a fish eats his fly and hooks itself. I’m more relieved than he, knowing it’s a confidence builder for him. We net and admire the fish, a big male silver salmon. Glad my angler is off and running, I string the fish.

Soon it’s lunchtime. We’ve had to work for every fish. The weather hasn’t improved and we’re dripping. I think detect a shiver or two in my fisherman. We head back to camp for soup.

Hot and delicious, the soup warms us. It’s not raining in the dining room, but the floor is wet from dripping jackets and waders. No one hurries back out, glad to be in a warm refuge.

Reluctantly we return to the boat. It’s still gray but the rain has stopped. It may be a nice afternoon if the rain doesn’t start again. In my pagan way I say a prayer.

We stop at the first hole. Wham! Wham! Double hookup! Now that’s what I’m talking about. Two more fish for the box. The string is getting heavy.

We continue fishing. It’s steady if not spectacular. We don’t find any more doubles. A patch of blue appears.

Soon blue covers more sky than the clouds do. What’s that flaming ball up there? It’s hot!

Five fifteen. Time to head back. I drop my anglers off, congratulating them, thanking them for a great day. They do the same to me.

On my knees, I cut into the first salmon. There’s no one else around. I hope no bears come. Soon the bucket is full of lovely orange sided slabs, sides of recently caught salmon.

After fueling my vessel I head to the vacuum packer. Soon the filets are wrapped in plastic and nestled in the freezer. I wash down the boat, get out of my boots.

The dining rooms are full, guests in one, staff in the other. The wait staff scurries, ant-like, efficient. A piece of salmon graces my plate. It was caught hours earlier. It is delicious.

After dinner we meet with tomorrow’s anglers, discussing strategies. Do you drink coffee? Do you have tackle?

Eight PM and finally off work. The weather is nice. The sun is out! A group of us head to Lookout Mountain. The walk is strenuous but short, the views breathtaking. All too soon it’s time to return to camp.

Face washed, teeth brushed, I nestle in my sleeping bag. I want to read, to fall asleep. It’s late, and the generator comes on early tomorrow. I’m soon in another world.

The generator fires up, waking me. It’s cold in my house.

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2011. All rights are reserved.

 

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