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Tiger Key Fishing Report and Photo Essay

April 20, 2019 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Tiger Key Fishing Report

A blessed Easter to everyone. Thank you for reading this Tiger Key fishing report.

FANTASTIC OFFER
Three of my book titles are now available for five cents each, only from my website.
-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!

MONday
Last week I wrote- “Thursday loaded up the expedition kayak (Ocean Kayak Prowler 15) and went to Spruce Creek, which is not much of an expedition.” Monday I took it on an expedition, maybe short, but an expedition none the less. Drove to Everglades City, leaving mi casa at 0400, arriving 1000. Self-issuing camping permit in hand, I loaded up the boat with food, gear, and tackle (fly only) and paddled eight miles out to Tiger Key.

The wind was honkin pretty good out of the northwest and the water, near the top of the tide, was riled up. I did not see any fish other than black mullet on the way out, and did not get a bite after setting up camp. Did not hit it hard, was fairly drained from all the travel.

Campsite, Tiger Key. Nice.

I could not help but notice the army of fiddler crabs, way more than I’ve ever seen anywhere. Why is nothing snacking on them?

Good thing these guys don’t attack people. There were thousands of them.

Tuesday
Beautiful weather! No bugs! Southeast wind made fishing the outside of the islands the thing to do. Cast right off the campsite before breakfast or coffee, getting two small jacks and two small ladyfish on the Bouncer shrimp. Would have liked something sexier but these days be happy with what you get, John!

That’s quite a modest jack. First fish of the trip, though.

After a quick breakfast bite went boating- not far! Saw a place that said, Fish here! So I did. Second cast garnered a strike, a snooklet. Released him after a quick photo and went back to casting. A few casts later hooked a snook that was four pounds, maybe a little more. He went through the #20 Seaguar. Put on an Electric Sushi, 2/0.

The snooklet spit on my lens. 🙁

Everything was sized modestly.

Before the bite stopped there I’d gotten a redfish (small) and 10 or so trout in the slot. Spent the rest of the day hunting for fish that I didn’t find. There was no bait anywhere. Saw a single snook on top of a bar, did not get a shot. Saw one shark on the same bar. Blind-cast in places that screamed, Fish here! Did not touch a fish all day until I went back to the morning spot, where a half-dozen more trout fell to the Sushi fly.

After supper got another jack fishing by the campsite, for a nice circular ending to the day. Stayed up barely long enough to see some of my favorite constellations, tough under an almost-full moon. Slept well.

Beseeching the fish gods to toss me some crumbs.

Wednesday
Thinking that the outside didn’t work too well, went looking inside. Had a low outgoing tide to start, perfect for hunting shallow bays. Those bays had a few black mullet and the tiniest of fry minnows and nothing else.

There were lots of ospreys, good to see!

The only birds around were ospreys. There were no ibis (didn’t see one in four days!) and very few herons or egrets. No bait, no birds, no fish. I’m going back to where I got the fish yesterday.

Another snooklet.

Once there I had the same conditions as the previous day. Again, a snooklet attacked the Sushi fly almost immediately. A while later I got another. A while later I got another rat red. Then nothing. I stayed longer than I should have, hoping the trout would show. They didn’t. I hopped in the boat and went hunting again.

I worked another point real hard and again got nothing until a flounder took pity on me. It wasn’t much of a fish, but it was a fish.

Deciding a picnic on Picnic Key would be appropriate, I paddled over there. The beach is long and beautiful. The sun was high, the water clear. I walked toward the far end, high on the beach, hoping to spot a snook or redfish.

The beach at Picnic Key, home of the mighty houndfish.

When I got to the far end I reversed field. To my amazement, where there was nothing a few minutes earlier there was a fish. But it was almost bright green! What was it?

I cast too far in front. Hoping the fish would move toward me I let the fly sit there. The fish was not moving. When I tried to recover the fly it was discovered it had found a root. Pulling it off the root did not bother the fish, but it did bend the hook. While straightening it I broke the barb off.

The next cast landed a foot in front of the fish. He immediately came over to check. One twitch and BAM! It was a houndfish. He almost beached himself when he jumped, a pretty spectacular 1.27 seconds. Then the barbless hook came free. I suspect they’re hard to hook anyway, what with the bony beak.

While I was picnicking a guide boat with four tourists came to look for shells and whatnot. The captain was a crusty Chokoloskee Island native, knew Edgar Watson’s son. While we chatted he said something which was pretty obvious to someone who’s fished Florida for very long- “There sure ain’t as many fish as there used to be.”

No fish here.

I checked three more islands, saw a single redfish on two big stingrays. Did not get a shot.

No fish here, either.

The day was getting old when I went back to my “spot.” A few trout had come in, got a half-dozen to three pounds. One, once hooked, came in, did not fight until I tried to grab him. Then he thrashed like crazy. “Fish, please don’t do that, you’ll attract a shark.” No sooner did I release him than a six foot bull swam by a rod length away. It wasn’t a soil-your-shorts moment but it could have easily turned into one.

Did I have nice weather or what??

This evening had no breeze. The no-see-ums were a minor annoyance. I didn’t use bug spray once the entire trip, choosing in this instance to retire early.

Thursday
Got up at first light, had breakfast, broke camp and packed up, paddled back to Everglades City, getting there at 1000. Loaded up the chariot and drove home, thinking about no ibis, no gulls (NO GULLS), no bait, can I go to a planet that’s not being ravaged please?

That’s this week’s Tiger Key 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, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays, travel blog · Tagged: adventure fishing, Everglades National Park, everglades national park fishing, fishing everglades city, fishing everglades national park, fly fishing, kayak fishing, redfish fishing, snook fishing, tiger key

A Ponder on Trees- Essay/Photo Essay

March 19, 2019 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Cypress tree, Hillsborough River State Park.

A Ponder on Trees

I’ve been doing a ponder on trees. Do trees understand their own mortality? Trees don’t have a brain, a mind. Trees are not sentient. Right? What does science say?

Dwarf cypress forest, Tate’s Hell State Forest

Science doesn’t know everything. It’s particularly weak in areas of spirituality. Where do you keep your spirit? Can science tell you? Does your pet dog have a spirit? Does a gorilla? A whale? We can’t speak to any of these familiar creatures, so much like us in so many ways, much less to something as fundamentally different to us as a tree.

Pine tree, St. George Island State Park

Trees have hundreds of years to ponder the universe. How aware are they of their surroundings? Plants in general, and trees in particular, respond to stimuli. They take their time to do so. Trees have lots of time to respond. The oldest known living thing is a tree, a bristlecone pine, which has over 5,000 years under its belt. This much time allows for a great deal of philosophizing. This much time allows for a great deal of communication with other organisms, if they can understand the “tree talk.”

Temperate rain forest, Wood-Tikchik State Park, Alaska

Working with nothing more than gut instinct, I find it hard to believe that a responsive organism that has 5000 years with which to work can’t communicate with other responsive organisms in its immediate vicinity.

Live oak tree, Bronson State Forest

– Pause for research…

There you go. According to the work of Suzanne Simard, trees interact with each other by means of soil fungi. You can read more about this here- https://e360.yale.edu/features/exploring_how_and_why_trees_talk_to_each_other

Cypress trees, Lake Mills Park

Trees recognize and nurture their offspring and pass their accumulated wisdom to their own children. I knew it. It never made sense to me that a creature as magnificent as a large, old tree couldn’t communicate with its neighbors. The mycelium of soil fungi act as both a circulatory system for moving carbon products between trees and as a giant neural net that underlies the entire forest. For all we know this net, along with the trees that are part of it, is able to intelligently process information in ways we haven’t even begun to imagine.

Buttress roots on a cypress tree, Hillsborough River State Park

– Pause for research…

According to the work of Jagadish Chandra Bose, plant tissues respond to both external and internal stimuli exactly like animal tissues do. Flexibility of plant tissue is somewhat inhibited by cell walls. Plant tissues do not include muscle. Why would they? So on a macro level a branch can’t pull away from a flame like your hand could. But the tissues within that branch respond to the flame, to the threat of the flame, exactly like your tissues would.

Cabbage palms, Orlando Wetlands Park

– Another pause for research. The last, I’m wrapping this up.

I looked online for scientific evidence that humans have a soul. While there is some, the prevailing scientific view is that humans are basically bags of biochemical responses fueled by the reaction of various “fuel” molecules such as carbohydrates with oxygen within the cells. When these reactions no longer can occur within us we are said to be dead. As I said at the beginning of this piece, science is pretty weak when it comes to spirituality.

Gingko tree, Toccoa, Georgia

Like us, trees have biochemical reactions. Like us, they have birth and death. Like us, they can communicate with each other and respond to their environment. Like us, they recognize their mortality. Sometimes when I hug a tree, I feel something. I don’t know if it’s generated by the tree or by me but it’s a thrill either way. I think trees are sentient in ways that most of us can never understand, and as far as their having a soul, I’m more than willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I love the trees.

John Kumiski
admitted tree hugger

Red mangroves, Indian River Lagoon

Cabbage Palms, Jensen Beach

Mixed hardwoods, Appalachian Trail, North Carolina

Red Maple, Chassahowitzka River

Cypress tree, Lake Mills Park

Cypress roots, Peace River

Fir trees, Tongass National Forest, Alaska

Pine Tree, Lake Mills Park

Oak tree, Toccoa, Georgia

Live oak trees, Canaveral National Seashore

Filed Under: opinion, Photo Essays, Uncategorized · Tagged: tree awareness, tree hugger, tree sentience, tree spirituality, trees

South Florida Exploration Fishing Report

March 1, 2019 by john kumiski · 2 Comments

South Florida Exploration Fishing Report

I visited the Keys and Everglades National Park this week. It’s a south Florida exploration fishing report.

Upcoming-
–Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Seminar, March 23. An all-day fishing seminar that takes place in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, with the express goal of helping you catch more fish in the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoons. For more information, http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/
–On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar, March 24. Fun, educational four hour fishing seminar that takes place in my Mitzi on the waters of the Mosquito Lagoon, with the express goal of helping you catch more fish. For More information, http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

For Sale– Canoe Creek racks, fit any pickup truck (except Dodge RAM with toolbox). https://orlando.craigslist.org/pts/d/oviedo-tuff-truck-rack-by-spring-creek/6791721077.html

First off, the traffic in south Florida is out of control. This reporter does not wish to inflict that on himself ever again. South Florida fishing has declined to the point where it’s certainly not worth that kind of aggravation.

Saturday I helped Allison Bowman, official girlfriend of Alex Kumiski, move to Rockland Key to be with Alex. Even making the drive as pleasant as possible with snacks, music, etc., it was awful. On Islamorada I watched an old man who was walking slowly pass me and disappear into the distance.

I learned (or re-learned) a couple of things during that drive:
-any time is a good time for oral hygiene. The GUM Proxabrush is a fine little tool; and
-a harmonica makes traffic jams more enjoyable. Mine is a Hohner Progressive Special 20 tuned to C. For $40 it’s a portable entertainment system. The world needs more harmonicas and fewer guns.

Sunday John Napolitano took Alex and I out into the Keys backcountry. He stopped the boat and started poling. Before I finished getting my fly line out he shouted, “Permit!” There were a half-dozen fish at one o’clock. I could have spit on them. Needless to say they evacuated the area in a hurry. Additionally we saw a tarpon roll, a single bonefish, and another pair of permit (I did not see these fish, nor the bone). We wrapped it up early since Alex had to go to work.

In the afternoon I paddled out into the Saddlebunch Keys to do some exploring. I found lots of Cassiopeia jellyfish (they seem to be doing fine everywhere down there). I also saw one small permit (no shot), four or five barracudas (no shots), and a single blacktip shark.

A Cassiopeia jellyfish.

Monday Alex took Allison and I out into the same area as the previous day. We looked and looked five or six hours worth. We did not find much. I cast a plastic shad about 1000 times, got one small snapper and one small grunt. We did not see any crabs, did not see much bait.

The Keys are the most over-rated inshore fishing spot on the planet. Not only have I never done particularly well by myself there, I have fished with the following guides with the following results:
-Tommy Busciglio, with Steve Baker. We jumped two big tarpon (no complaints there!)
-Ben Taylor- skunked
-horrible guide (Ah-chee-wa-wa) at Hawk’s Cay- skunked
-Dexter Simmons- skunked
-a week in the Marquesas with Rick DePaiva, Blake Matherly, and Paul Hobby- one bonefish, one permit, and one tarpon between the four of us
-wade fishing Long Key with Bruce Chard- one bonefish between three of us
-Mike Gorton, twice- one large barracuda
Maybe I suck, but I seem to catch fish most other places.

Excuse my rant.

Four AM on Tuesday I got up and drove to Flamingo, hoping to get the boat wet by 8. I was out at nine, not too bad. Blame that Anhinga Trail stop.

This purple gallinule was feeding on a water lily flower.

Morning glories are lovely.

The soul of the Everglades.

Anhingas photograph well!

It was windy. Concerned about crossing Coot Bay on the rebound, I stayed and fished it’s lee, catching a lot of snook on fly rod poppers. I was glad I brought a four weight- it was probably too heavy for the fish I got. The largest was 18 inches or so. Two 12-inch tarpon succumbed to my wiles, too.

Lots of snooklets I caught.

Tarponitas too!

Spent some quality time on my back on a picnic table watching clouds dance. They are so graceful for being so large! They boogie to the music of the planet. Truly a wonderful hour spent there.

The waltz of the clouds. Still photo can’t do justice.

Home, under a mahogany tree.

Wednesday saw perfect weather so I put on my paddling shoes and hit it. My spot, a long-time favorite, was pretty barren, by its own lofty standards, anyway. Five snook were fooled by my popper with the largest weighing about four pounds. That fish was worth the price of admission- stunning strike, ridiculous acrobatics, the whole schlemeile. Awesome! Saw a few crocodiles, paddled through some mangrove tunnels, had a great time, and was glad I went.

I love paddling through the mangrove tunnels.

The fish of the trip.

Thursday at 0530 I got out of the tent so as to hit the road early- going home! The stars demanded I spend some time watching. Scorpius and Sagittarius were in the southern sky. The crescent moon was in Sagittarius, flanked by Jupiter and Venus. The Big Dipper pointed at Leo (whose nose was almost touching the western horizon), Polaris, and Arcturus. It was SO freaking spectacular I didn’t want to stop watching. But mosquitos reminded me I had places to go.

That’s this week’s South Florida Exploration 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, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays · Tagged: adventure fishing, everglades national park fishing, florida fishing, florida kayak fishing, florida keys fishing, kayak fishing, snook fishing

Post-Paddle Fishing Safari Fishing Report

December 9, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Post-Paddle Fishing Safari Fishing Report

The Sunday after Thanksgiving Mike Conneen picked me and my gear up, early, and we went off adventuring. We were on the 2018 west Florida paddle fishing safari. This is the post-paddle fishing safari fishing report.

We took one day off to wash clothes and re-organize our things. Other than that we paddled and fished every day for two weeks. Some days had good fishing, and all days had good paddling. This was an exceptionally enjoyable trip! The weather was brisk sometimes, but the light was so often spectacular!

We paddled and fished, in the following order, Deer Prairie Creek, the Myakka, Peace (overnighted on river), Little Manatee, and Manatee Rivers, Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve, the Hillsborough, Chassahowitzka, Withlacoochee, Rainbow, and Suwannee (overnighted here) rivers. The original plan included Weedon Island (too hard to get to, through Tampa), Anclote Key (15 MPH plus winds that day), and Oklawaha River (big rainstorm, who needed that at the end of the trip?).

Special thanks need to go to George Allen and Mary Jo, who got our trip off on such a great, positive step, Nathan Whitt at Rainbow River Canoe and Kayak, who went way out of his way to make sure we had a good time there, and of course Mike Conneen. A better travel and paddling partner would be hard to imagine.

Enough text. Let’s see some photos.

Sign at Chassahowitzka River ramp. We should all do this on all waters.

Lots of alligators. Everywhere.

Mayan cichlid, Deer Prairie Creek.

Mike, not thrilled with his channel cat? It took a Vudu Shrimp, Myakka River.

Spinnerbait snook, Peace River.

Purple asters signal winter is close.

Little Manatee River.

School of crevalle jacks, Manatee River.

Hillsborough River State Park.

Hillsborough River.

Waterfront property, Chassahowitzka River.

Resident of the Chassahowitzka.

Anhinga, Rainbow River.

Cooter turtles, Withlacoochee River.

Paddling on the Suwannee.

That is the post-paddle fishing safari 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 2018. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays · Tagged: adventure fishing, Bass fishing, fishing photography, florida fishing, kayak fishing

Jacksonville Paddle Fishing Report and Photo Essay

November 3, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Jacksonville Paddle Fishing Report (with a Mosquito Lagoon bonus!)

Photo courtesy Mike Conneen.

Spent the week paddling and fishing in Jacksonville, doing research. Hey, some one has to do it. So we have a Jacksonville Paddle Fishing report!

Monday woke up well before the alarm went off. It was set way too early for comfort anyway. Hopped in the chariot and drove to Hilliard. The plan was to fish the St. Marys River. Seemed like a good plan. New stuff!

The St. Marys is definitely scenic.

Launched the Ocean Kayak before sunrise (after driving three hours). Didn’t have a shuttle so would paddle upstream on an out-and-back. The weather was fantastic- clear, cloudless sky, chilly enough for a hoodie, no wind, gorgeous.

Saw what I thought were the three strangest-looking birds out on the water, couldn’t figure out what they were. Once they reached the bank and climbed out I could see they were three does, had to laugh at myself. Birds! Silly John! Never saw swimming deer before, way cool.

There were fantastic roots and stumps all along the riverbank.

Didn’t see many fish swimming either. Guppies are fish if you want to be technical. Saw a rolling gar every now and again. Did not see a bass, or a sunfish. No ospreys, or wading birds. No turtles, or alligators. The river is picturesque, but there weren’t any fish. Won’t be back.

Tuesday launched off Hecksher Drive for some saltmarsh redfishing. Tide was almost dead low. Paddled for ten minutes before seeing my first reds. They were in water so shallow I could not get within casting range. The boat was on the bottom, and the ploof mud made sure I stayed in the boat.

Once the kayak floated off the bottom the cast was well made.

I watched and waited for the tide to rise an inch or so. When it did I got close enough and made a cast to one of those fish, and it jumped right on the slider. Nice!

Slider redfish!

The scene repeated itself a few minutes later. I was not on my game though, blowing shots and missing strikes. Got two reds, should have had quite a few more.

When the tide got too high I loaded up the kayak and went to Fort George Inlet, where it got launched again. It took longer to find fish this time, but once located there were a lot of them. I tried the slider, a Clouser Minnow, and a crab fly. Got a couple looks but no takers.

Cheating, I switched to a spin rod, trying a jig and a DOA Shrimp. Those did not elicit any more interest that did the flies. Easily threw to 30 fish without an eat.

I fished until the top of the tide, then gave it up.

Mike battles another redfish in the salt marsh.

Wednesday morning Mike Conneen joined for some early morning low tide redfishing. We left the launch, still off Hecksher Drive, just as the sun busted over the horizon. We crossed the creek, to the north side. We found tailing redfish immediately. One fish took my Redfish Bite on the first cast. Welcome to Jacksonville!

Redfish Bite red!

It would be nice to be able to say, “Then it got better.” While that would be an exaggeration, fishing was solid all morning, with tailers, crawlers, fish busting, all the feedy kinds of behaviors fishermen love to see. Mike used a shad tail, I the Redfish Bite. We didn’t have overwhelming numbers but each of us had shot after shot. We ended up with eight or so between us before the oysters were covered.

Mike the Redfish Man.

We pulled the boats and drove to Guana Dam. We did not fish there, but did appreciate the beauty. We think that fishing there would be awesome and discussed returning at some point. Then we hit the road.

Redfish release…

Friday (this is the Mosquito Lagoon bonus!) I launched the Mitzi at Beacon 42 at sunrise. The weather was great, although it was blustery. The water looked terrible, brown and turbid. At the first spot the thought stayed in my head, “If I see a fish it will be a miracle.” It was just another example of how truly blessed I am.

Some gulls were diving. This reporter went to investigate. Under the birds was a small redfish school, 15 or so fish. First cast- BAM, on the shad tail. As it turned out it was the best fish of the day, maybe the week, five pounds or so.

Used a shad tail to fool this fish and a couple more.

The rest of those fish disappeared. The search mission, powered by MinnKota, continued.

Twenty minutes later I found three reds in one area. Got one not-very-good cast off, did not convert.

Fifteen minutes later found a series of reds along a shoreline. The light hit one just right to spot it at a reasonable distance. The cast was good. The shad strikes again! All the other shots did not work, all pooch jobs by yours truly.

Obviously not a spoonbill.

Came around a corner and saw something amazing. A large, pink bird that was clearly not a spoonbill was standing in the water. I got the camera out and got some not very good pictures of the third flamingo I’ve seen here since 1984. AND there was an otter there too. AND there was a little clump of tailing reds there too. Pooched that shot as well.

Tried a different area, got three dink trout by blindcasting a jig.

Tried an area I have not checked in a couple years. Immediately saw a tailing red and got it on the shad. The thought came, “You should try the fly rod.” I listened.

Got two more on fly before loading the boat at 1 PM. Darned good morning in spite of the wind and dirty water.

That is the Jacksonville Paddle 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 2018. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays · Tagged: adventure fishing, florida fishing, fly fishing, jacksonville paddle fishing report, kayak fishing, orlando fishing charter, redfish fishing

Charlotte County Fishing Report and Photo Essay

October 6, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Charlotte County Fishing Report and Photo Essay

We travelled to Charlotte County this week and did some fish-catching. We have a Charlotte County Fishing Report for you!

Upcoming Events-

-Aloha Protect Our Waters Fundraiser! It should be called th FUN-raiser- Mai-tais, tropical cuisine, and live music highlight this event. There might be some well-known fishing personalities, too. All funds raised help support Anglers for Conservation’s youth fishing education programs. Oct 14, 3-6 PM. For more information visit www.anglersforconservation.org/pow . I hope to see you there!

-MINWR Show and Tell Fishing Seminar. Oct. 27, 830 AM. In this all-day seminar I SHOW you where to fish, and TELL you how to be succesful. For more information visit http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

-Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar. Oct. 28. In this four hour seminar I take you out in my skiff and show you all my secrets. For more information visit http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

Fishing!

Monday I had to visit the chiropractor. He did not fix the problem and it colored the rest of my week.

Tuesday I got up in what seemed the middle of the night and drove to Port Charlotte. Old friend George Allen had moved there from Orlando and I was going to visit.

I’ll be hornswoggled.

We went out in George’s 26 foot Sea Hunt, cruising out to Charlote Harbor. I had zero expectations, never having fished the area before. Zero is what we got, too, until we saw a few tarpon roll. We cast a couple of pinfish out and I’ll be horn-swoggled, we got a bite. I fought the 60-70 pound fish up to the boat, where it posed for a photo. After that, even though tarpon rolled all around us, it was a hot sailcat bite. After that first fish, who cared? The back was fine so far. Thank you, George!

The pond at Deer Prairie Creek Preserve.

Wednesday I went to visit Deer Prairie Creek Preserve. A small dam on Deer Prairie Creek backs up a small pond. I opted to fish here instead of below the dam. That was perhaps a mistake, but I will visit the area again and hit the lower creek.

You’ll see lots of signs like this one.

The upper creek was gorgeous. As the morning passed the songs of birds gave way to the humming of cicadas. If you listened you could hear traffic sounds, but they were distant and easy to ignore.

I paddled upstream until it became obvious that if I went farther turning around would be difficult. The stream was too overgrown in most places to fly fish. I wished more than once I’d brought a UL spin outfit.

The creek was too overgrown to fly fish in many places.

The four-weight did come in handy though. Once the creek started opening up the fish started hitting my popper. The first was a feisty little bass, quickly followed by a garfish. After five bass and a stumpknocker the back was bothering me too much to fish any more. Loading the boat back onto the car was an exercise in slow and painful.

Bass on popper, always fun!

Stumpknockers are as aggressive as they are beautiful.

I visited Snook Haven for lunch. It’s an old-Florida style fish camp on the Myakka River, and is definitely worth a visit. The river is over its banks and is not fishing well right now, not that I tried.

We had dinner that evening at Carmelo’s in Punta Gorda. Five stars and two thumbs up!

Logan casting to rolling tarpon.

Thursday morning I met Logan Totten http://flykayaker.com in Englewood. In the dark he drove me somewhere onto the Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park . The sun was not up yet when we launched the kayaks into a small pond.

we dragged the boats into another pond.

After crossing the pond we dragged the boats into a second pond and began fishing. Baby tarpon rolled around us. In spite of several fly changes baby tarpon did not bite. A few Mayan cichlids did, so no skunking for us! Logan led me through a mangrove tunnel (I love doing stuff like that!) into another pond. Again, rolling tarpon, no biters.

Logan, still casting.

We eventually went back through the tunnel into the second pond. More Mayan cichlids and a few small snook. Tarpon still not cooperating.

Score!

We dragged the boats back to first pond, paddled back to his truck, loaded up, and went to another pond. Tarpon rolled all over it. We took two drifts across without a bite and called it. Tarpon of any size can be so ornery…

Another snook, a mini- model.

Thank you, Logan! I loved the adventure! You get the JK stamp of approval!

Upper Myakka Lake. The water is high.

Friday was return home day. I stopped at Myakka River State Park on a fact-finding mission for future reference. It’s beautiful there! As stated earlier, the river is over its banks. That and the fact my back was still bothering me kept me from going paddling. It was still so tempting…

Myakka paddle notes, at the canoe livery there.

My take on Charlotte County is that there is a lot of kayak fishing to be done there. Charlotte Harbor has all kinds of saltwater fish. In addition there are all the small natural ponds, with tarpon, snook, cichlids, etc. There are the Myakka and Peace Rivers and their tributaries, and loads of canals (peacock bass and snakeheads in addition to native species) and retention ponds. West Wall Outfitters in Port Charlotte is the place to stop for information and last minute tackle needs.

And that is the Charlotte County 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 2018. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Photo Essays, travel blog · Tagged: adventure fishing, Bass fishing, charlotte county fishing report, kayak fishing, logan totten, snook fishing, tarpon fishing, west wall outfitters

Alagnak Season Fishing Report and Photo Essay

September 5, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Alagnak Season Fishing Report and Wrap-Up

A silly bear on the Alagnak RIver.

Dear Readers-

I’m back from the Alaska bush after being there for almost three months. This is the Alagnak Season Fishing Report and Wrap-Up. The observant among you noticed there hasn’t been a fishing report in close to two months. My computer died. I was hoping it was merely ill, but today the Apple store confirmed that it’s dead. I write this on my wife’s machine.

Tony Gulisano with a colored-up king salmon.

King salmon season was only OK. Anyone who knows about Pacific salmon knows kings are in trouble in most of their range. So it was on the Alagnak. There were plenty of jacks, but only a handful of large, adult fish. Six came into my boat. That’s merely a good day on some rivers.

Sockeye fishing was good for the bears, too.

The sockeye run was strong. We used both green beads and small simple sockeye flies to catch these delicious fish.

This chum salmon was fly-caught by John Turcot.

Chums and pinks were the stuff of which fishing fantasies are made. Fishing for these fish during an almost three week long span you could catch fish on almost every other cast, even with a fly rod. I ate several bright, male chums for shore lunch after grilling them and cannot understand why folks say they’re not good. They are as good eating as any other salmon- Dee-wish-us!

Big bear at the prime location at Brooks Falls.

Silver salmon season was good up until the day I left. Fresh fish were getting scarce but there was plenty of action from beautifully hued colored fish.

Tom Van Horn shows off a beautiful rainbow trout.

Rainbow trout and grayling were both strong through the season. Trout fishing remains the weak spot in my resume, but I still managed to catch some beautiful fish.

I got to pan for gold, and found some flakes. Won’t be retiring, or moving to the Yukon, any time soon though.

Roaming the tundra on a spectacular day.

I got to walk on the tundra and eat blueberries, things that everyone who visits Alaska should do.

A brown bear takes a break from fishing to check me out.

Plenty of brown bears roam the banks of the Alagnak. Once the salmon runs started, seeing bears was a daily occurrence. A fly-out to Brooks Falls was a bear-watching highlight.

The sun is close to setting- something you don’t see a lot of during Alaska summers.

The management and staff at Katmai Lodge were wonderful to work with, and the food was great. It was nice to have old friends there in the form of Tom Van Horn and John Turcot, and to make friends with the bunch of really fine fishing guides that were there. God willing I will repeat the performance next season.

The Alagnak River at a high bluff.

And that is the Alagnak Season Fishing Report and Wrap-Up! Thanks for reading!

Life is short- go fishing!
Life is great and I love my work!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com

Filed Under: Alagnak River fishing report, Fishing Reports, Photo Essays · Tagged: adventure fishing, alagnak river fishing report, Alaska fishing report, katmai lodge, Katmai lodge fishing report, salmon fishing

Nearshore Port Canaveral Fishing Report

June 8, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Nearshore Port Canaveral Fishing Report

This is a nearshore Port Canaveral fishing report, my last Florida fishing report until September. I write this on an Alaska Air Big Bird, headed to Alaska’s Katmai Lodge on the Alagnak River.

Tunny will shake. Tunny will bleed.

Monday Mike Conneen joined me on Spotted Tail for some spin fishing. We headed out of the Port and went off down the beach. Near the fishing grounds I threw the net once, got all the bait we might need. It’s nice when that happens!

Tunny were breaking all over the place, as were Spanish mackerel. We got a few Spanish for my aunt, then went a-tunnying.

Mike got this kingfish without using wire.

It was borderline ridiculous, fish breaking everywhere. We used white CAL jigs and Sting Silvers. I broke out the seven-weight and got a couple on a Bouncer streamer.

This was as much jump as I got.

Mike wanted a tarpon, so once our appetite for tunny was sated we went searching. We found a place with scattered rollers, and so deployed the baits, what I believe were scaled sardines. Big tunny loved them. Crevalle jacks loved them. Blacktip sharks loved them. King mackerel really loved them, cutting us off repeatedly. Mike hooked a 20 pounder on the back of the head and so landed it. I put on a stinger rig and got one about half that size.

Mike has the beast near the boat.

We got a lot of bites. Finally I jumped a big tarpon. One jump and it was off. I was not sorry.

By this point I was ready to head back, but Mike really wanted that tarpon, so I made one more drift. A dinosaur-sized tarpon took his bait. Let the games begin!

It was a BIG fish.

I did not time the length of that fight, but it was a big fish and not jumpy at all. All thoughts of heading back were gone. I stood by with the cameras, waiting for jumps that never came.

Mike finally got the fish close to the boat. I leadered it six times, the last one getting the hook back. I could not hold onto that fish though, and the photo Mike wanted so badly did not get taken.

Breaking fish, fly rod. Life is good.

Tuesday Tammy joined me, same time, same station. Similar action, minus the tarpon. Tammy and I were both more interested in fly fishing, and whacked more than a few Spanish macks and tunny. When the surface action slowed we deployed scaled sardines. Tunny and jacks, with sharks and king macks taking turns cutting us off.

Lift that fish!

We would have liked a tarpon, but there were fewer rolling and we did not jump one. It was still another ridiculously good day though.

Tunny will shimmy. Tunny will vomit.

This one was better behaved.

This one was well behaved, too!

Wednesday Tom Finger joined me. We ran down the beach, got the bait, went looking for breaking fish. Nothing. I had called him telling him how great it was, and now had a major sinking feeling. The bazillions of fish that had been there the previous two days were all gone.

Tom’s tunny. All his buddies were gone 🙁

We went out to deeper water looking for jacks, tunny, and king macks. Not much there, either. Tom got a tunny on a sardine. We missed several strikes.

Heading back north we found a sizable area of breaking Spanish macks. We each got one before they disappeared. Then lightning started flashing and we headed back to the ramp at all possible speed.

Thanks to Mike, Tammy, and Tom for sharing these days with me!

And that is my Nearshore Port Canaveral Fishing Report! Next report will be from Alaska- trout and salmon!

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 2018. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Orlando Fishing Report, Photo Essays, port canaveral fishing report · Tagged: adventure fishing, fly fishing, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, Port Canaveral, tarpon fishing

Orlando Area Fishing Report

May 5, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Orlando Area Fishing Report

A pretty mellow week this week because I had no work :-(. This is an Orlando Area fishing report.

Monday I got a late start. How late was it? It was so late, lunch had happened first. The kayak went to the Econlockhatchee. In an unusual occurrence, it brought a spin rod. Four bass and a stumpknocker fell for a Riptide Sardine. Then the fly rod came out, which accounted for a couple more bass. All fish were modestly sized.

Stan, who could be a professional fish model, his Fenwick, and his bass.

On the way back I ran into a fly fisher named Stan Mercer. He was using an old Fenwick fiberglass rod, and almost on cue caught a bass for me to photograph.

The redfish bit a Riptide Sardine.

Wednesday I went paddling in a place on the Indian River Lagoon I had never paddled before. To my surprise I found some clean water with sparse grass growing. There were a few redfish around (I saw ten or so), I had a few shots, and got one to bite the Sardine. O, successo! I got the fly pole out and walked 1/2 mile or so looking for a fish, but no dice.

Econlockhatchee paddler.

Thursday was Tom Van Horn’s birthday. We celebrated by floating the Econ, casting our fly poles. Tom is in Alaska training mode. The fish were not suicidal but came steadily- bass, bluegills, redbellies, stumpknockers. Tom was using a foam mouse, I a small popper. They seemed to work equally well.

Econlockhatchee fly fisher.

The ferocious stumpknocker. If these things hit ten pounds, nothing near the water would be safe.

Tom’s birthday present.

Friday Scott Radloff joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon exploration from the Mitzi. We found some small patches of clean water and some redfish, and Scott caught one. We found some spots that had nothing, and other spots where the fish were sparse. We saw a few tailing fish. All things considered, I saw more fish this day than the entire year prior combined, very encouraging.

Radloff hooked up. You can actually see the bottom.

About to boat the beast.

O, successo!

And that is the Orlando area fishing report!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2018. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays · Tagged: adventure fishing, Bass fishing, Econlockhatchee River, florida fishing, fly fishing, Indian River Lagoon, kayak fishing, mosquito lagoon fishing report, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, redfish

Home Again Inshore Fishing Report

April 14, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Home Again Inshore Fishing Report

The Panhandle trip got wrapped up with a day of epic fishing, at which point I called it and drove home. Then I fished two days here, for the Home Again inshore fishing report.

Sunday
When it started getting light I left the B&B and headed east. I thought if I made it to Panama City early on Sunday, there wouldn’t be any traffic. I was right!

Got to Port St. Joe about 9 AM. Folks were going to church. I parked a short distance away and dropped a kayak in the bay. A short time later, while listening to the church bells ringing, I landed my first fish of the morning, a nice red that took a DOA CAL jig.

A nice red took the jig.

By 1 AM I’d gotten another red, a nice trout, a flounder, and a Spanish mackerel.

A rare break in the clouds yielded this red.

I need to get a new model.

I tried sight fishing, but only saw three sharks and two reds. All the fish were taken while casting blindly into deeper water.

This flounder bit during another short break in the clouds.

Checked into the campground, got set up, and then fished the south side of the bay. In three hours I saw only three fish and did not get a bite.

Monday
Drove to St. George Sound and launched the ‘yak. In two minutes I had a decent trout on a jig. Put the spin rod away and started blind casting with a Clouser Minnow.

Spanish on fly while wading, into the backing. Awesome combination!

The fish were not suicidal but they came steadily, nice ones, trout to four pounds, reds to eight. Got a nice Spanish mac and had another cut me off. Could not sight fish due to clouds but it didn’t matter.

Reds on fly over shell bottom- great stuff!

When I tired of casting the fly in the wind I switched back to spin tackle and a weedless jig. If anything it was even more effective. It was by far the best day of the trip. And I did not see another fisherman the entire day.

Trying to be creative with a fish and a camera while by yourself can be challenging.

Fortunately the camera is “waterproof.”

The Riptide weedless jig and Sardine accounted for several fish.

Tuesday
Got up in the rain, broke camp, tossed the soggy tent into the car, and drove home. It rained most of the way.

Wednesday
Had wet, messy mess to clean up, correspondence, etc.

Thursday
Took the Mitzi to River Breeze for scout duty. Water is pretty dirty. Did not see a lot. When I found clean water it was devoid of life. Got two trout the Riptide jig, one nice, the other spectacular. Hoped I would be able to find them the next day.

The other one was much bigger. I didn’t remove it from the water.

Friday
Met Kacky Andrews at 7 AM. While launching the boat I began conversing with a crabber on the other side of the dock. He said the crabbing right now is the best he’s seen in a 56 year career. He said one reason for that is the hurricane that passed. Another is that most of the redfish are gone, and you know how many little crabs they eat. Funny, his observation exactly reinforces my own. Only it’s sad, not funny.

Kacky and I went hunting for fish. She fly fished for four hours or so without a bite. Of course during that time we saw maybe a half-dozen fish. She switched to the spin rod. In the next four hours we saw maybe another half-dozen fish. She managed one very modest seatrout, our only fish. Tough day. She was awesome, though.

Thanks for fishing with me, Kacky!

And that is the Home Again inshore fishing report!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2018. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays, travel blog · Tagged: adventure fishing, florida fishing, fly fishing, kayak fishing, mosquito lagoon fishing report, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, redfish, RipTide Lures, seatrout fishing, St. George Sound, St. Joe Bay

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Charlotte County Fishing Report and Photo Essay

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Nearshore Port Canaveral Fishing Report

Nearshore Port Canaveral Fishing Report

Orlando Area Fishing Report

Orlando Area Fishing Report

Home Again Inshore Fishing Report

Home Again Inshore Fishing Report

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