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Orlando area fishing report 3/11/11

March 11, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Report from Spotted Tail 3/11/11

Emails from readers-
“I read with interest your blog on littering; that is one of my pet peeves. I also cannot understand how people can carry in, but not carry out. Long ago, I got into the habit of taking out more whenever I went fishing (trash, not fish). It’s not hard to do. I was inspired by your blog to start this habit in my new home. Monday and Tuesday, I fished the Banana River off the 520 causeway, near the hospital. I carried home a full trash bag each day. Also, I hope people driving by saw a crazy guy in chest waders with a trash bag in his hand picking up trash along the shoreline. By the way, I caught some trout, too, one of which measured 30 inches.
“I’ll call you when I return in May, so we can go fishing. Thank you for being a great guide and a great person.” -5:00 Bob

God rewarded you for picking up trash with that fine trout, Bob. Great work and thank you.

“I spent last week fishing large areas between Sebastian and Vero Beach. A combination of wind, tidal fluctuations and shallow water made accessing the fish difficult in my north-country deep V boat. On an information seeking trip, at the tackle shop below the bridge in Vero, I picked up a copy of your 2005 redfish book and used to it find some scattered reds. Without your guidance, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to continue to seek redfish, and would have turned to the more predictable trout and ladyfish. I even picked up a few flounder, a new species for me. Pretty cool.
“So thanks for selflessly putting your flats experience between covers. The book is an undervalued resource at $12.95, and should be priced at least twice as much based on the specificity and depth of the information. I’ll journal the experience, and will use your book to shape tactics during future visits to the IRL.” -Jeff Kutcha, Jackson, MI

Thanks for the kind words, Jeff. Send the other $12.95 to me directly, please!

Sunday Bill Carey and I did the On-the-Water Show and Tell on the Mosquito Lagoon. While it was not a fishing trip we found some redfish and managed to get six or seven on RipTide weedless jigs and Johnson Minnows. Thanks for coming out, Bill.

Monday was cold and windy. That didn’t stop Steve Ranier and his uncle Mike from braving the elements aboard Spotted Tail. We started off with a quick five or six redfish in the pole/troll area of Mosquito Lagoon, using RipTide weedless jigs and DOA Glow Shrimp with an inserted Woodies Rattle. When that well dried up we went on a search mission. Some spots were barren, others had fish that wouldn’t eat, and they got a few more fish in other spots. We knocked off in 20 mph winds an hour early. I’ll be glad when the Haulover Ramp opens again.

Tuesday’s trip was cancelled because of the weather.

Wednesday Jim Revercomb and his son Wes joined me, again on Mosquito Lagoon. If anything it was even windier than Monday. The graph I checked afterwards showed wind speed peaked at 24 mph. Jim actually tried to fly fish, and we actually found a tailing fish. Between the winds and clouds it was almost impossible. By using spin tackle they managed three reds boated and a couple missed strikes. A RipTide weedless jig and a Johnson Minnow again did the damage. Again, we knocked off an hour early due to the conditions.

It poured all morning yesterday. I’m not booked today.

Tomorrow I’ll be giving fly tying demonstrations and lessons at Mosquito Creek Outdoors in Apopka, starting at noon. If you want to learn to tie the Redfish Worm and maybe some related patterns, come on out and see me!

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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Orlando area fishing report 3/6/11

March 6, 2011 by · 3 Comments

The Report from Spotted Tail 3/5/11

I can die in peace, as I’ve hit the big time. See this link- Catching Redfish and History. Thank you, Susan Cocking.

Yes, we did some fishing this week.

On Sunday fly fisher Kevin Ferrell joined me on Spotted Tail. We launched at River Breeze. It was cool and a tad breezy but a lovely day. We saw quite a few fish. Kevin had plenty of shots. He scored a couple times, with a handsome seven pound red that ate a Mosquito Lagoon Special and a nice trout on a slider.

it ate a mosquito lagoon special.

fooled by a slider.

Kevin wrote, “It was real good fishing with you. Thanks for putting me on so many fish.” Thank you for fishing with me, Kevin!

The following day Lane Thurgood, another fly fisher, joined me. Lane also sent me an email the next day, to wit- “I cannot thank you enough for yesterday.  I had one of the best days of my life and I enjoyed every minute.” I don’t know how many reds he got but it was a lot. He also got two trout and a flounder. Just one of those spectacular days. Thank you for fishing with me, Lane! And thanks to the Urban Angler for the referral!

he got at least a dozen like this.

You may have heard about the big fire just west of I-95 in the Scottsmoor/Mims area. Yeah. It’s a BIG fire.

It's a brush fire, not a nuclear explosion.

Thursday I had a kayak trip with Paul Hynes, a local guy from Lake Mary. It was breezy and overcast a good part of the morning. We finally found some fish and Paul had just hooked one when a Gordon skiff roared up. The guide dropped the power pole, and the “anglers” started casting shrimp right where we were fishing. The noise they made pushed the fish away and then they started poling after them. It was as unprofessional a display by a fishing guide as I’ve ever seen. If that’s how he has to find fish I certainly wouldn’t want to fish with him. What a jerk.

Anyway, Paul lost that redfish, but got three nice trout, all on a DOA CAL shad. Except for the Gordon moron it was quite a lovely outing.

Yesterday was the MINWR Show and Tell. Ten souls showed up and we spent the day together exploring the wildlife refuge and talking about fishing. It was fun and educational for all concerned.

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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Why Are We Such Slobs?

March 2, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'”

Genesis 1:26 ESV

We’re not doing a very good job of it.

We live on what is undeniably the finest rock in this part of the universe. The way we as a race of beings act though, you might think we had a whole bunch of planets to which we could move when we make this one uninhabitable.

We could discuss global warming, holes in the ozone, rampant uncontrolled development, suburban sprawl, overpopulation, and a host of other gritty problems with which we are not really coming to grips. But let’s discuss a problem in which every single one of us could immediately make a difference- litter.

You won’t have to look far to find some. Look on the ground at the next red light you have to stop for, and you’ll see where dozens of slob cigarette smokers have thoughtlessly emptied their ashtrays. Go down by the Econlockhatchee River and see where slob beer drinkers have thoughtlessly left their empties. Particularly galling to me as an angler, go to any shoreline and see where slob fishermen have thoughtlessly left wads of discarded line, empty bait containers, hook and lure packages, and quite often cigarette butts and empty beer cans.

Hey! Cut it out! You guys are making the rest of us look bad!

Dorn Whitmore, an administrator at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, told me that the biggest single problem the refuge faces is the litter left by people fishing from the bank there. What is the problem, folks? Why do you carry a bunch of stuff into a beautiful place and then trash it? If you can carry it in, please carry it out!

If everyone that reads this would commit to not littering, that would make a difference. If you would make it a habit to sometimes pick up litter and dispose of it properly, that would make a bigger difference. If you would organize litter pickup days, that would make an even bigger difference. And if you would write a letter to your state representative and get a bottle bill passed in this state, that might make the biggest difference of all.

Please, do it for the sake of our home, planet Earth.

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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orlando fishing report- 2/26/11 Redfish in the Mosquito Lagoon

February 26, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Report from Spotted Tail 2/26/11

Upcoming Events

March 5- MINWR Show and Tell Fishing Seminar. See this link for details. Last call for the Show and Tell Seminar! Prime slots still available!

March 6- Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Fishing Seminar. See this link for details. Last call!

Fishing success (as frequently happens) was up and down this week.

On Tuesday John Anders and Heather, visitors from Ontario, joined me for a half day on the Mosquito Lagoon. Although it was a beautiful day we didn’t see many fish and the ones we did see were not very cooperative. Heather finally broke the ice with a nice trout that whacked a jerk bait. John got two rat reds on a RipTide Weedless Jig. Sometimes guides will complain that the fish were there and the fishermen couldn’t catch them but Mr. Anders is a tournament fisherman and was very competent. It just wasn’t happnin, mon!

Tuesday night I had a nice visit with the Florida Fly Fishing Association. The program went well. Thanks for having me, gentlemen!

Thursday fly fisher Five O’Clock Bob from Vermont shared the Spotted Tail with me. The weather was crapalacious- cold windy, foggy, overcast. How windy you ask? It hit 25 mph, measured with an anemometer- not exactly prime flycasting weather. Bob had a fine red nail his black bunny booger on the third cast of the day. The fish broke off. It would turn out to be the only bite we got. Amazingly we saw quite a few other fish but it was borderline unfishable. Any fish seen under those conditions, much less caught, was a major victory. The water was real low- I had to get out and push a couple times.

Thursday I had a split half day. In the morning Dan LaRosa and Ron Ten Berge joined me. The weather was awesome. There should have been fish everywhere. There wasn’t, although we certainly saw enough that we should have caught some. The gentlemen had some fine casts, lures right in the fish, both trout and reds. We found them both tailing and laid up on the flats. We had one strike all morning, and did not hook the fish. Yes- the dreaded skunk visited.

The afternoon trip was with old friend Susan Cocking, up from Miami to write a piece about redfishing with the space shuttle going up. We got the skunk off pretty early with a nice trout that fell for a DOA Shrimp.

This trout de-skunked Spotted Tail.

Then we found a school of redfish and got them on the DOA, the RipTide Weedless Jig, some real (dead) shrimp, and on fly with the redfish worm. I wasn’t keeping tally but we probably got eight or nine.

The fish didn't say anything about the launch. Unimpressed?

Then we raced down to watch the shuttle blast off. It went! It was spectacular! Take that you dirty Klingons!

The launch was flawless. Take that, Klingons!

Friday Rod Miller made love to my Yamaha for me while I got new tires for my van and trailer. New tires on the van- it’s almost as good as…, well, no, not that good. But pretty darned good, none the less. And the Yamaha is good for another year now. So let’s go fishing!

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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Orlando area fishing report featuring the Mosquito Lagoon 2/21/11

February 21, 2011 by · 1 Comment

The Report from Spotted Tail 2/21/11

Upcoming Events

February 26- Beachside Hook Kids on Fishing program in Satellite Beach from 9-11am. The program will be held at the pond located directly west of the Satellite Beach library and east of the skate park. Volunteers should show up no later than 8:00 am.

March 5- MINWR Show and Tell Fishing Seminar. See this link for details.

March 6- Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Fishing Seminar. See this link for details.

*******************************************

I just put a short sleeve shirt on and am not wearing socks- and I’m still comfortable! Maybe winter is ending here finally.

I fished every day this week past so will just be hitting the high- and low- lights.

Monday Tim Dennin and his wife (whose name I already can’t remember a week later, very embarrassing) who we’ll call Brenda, spent the day in Spotted Tail. I picked them up at Turtle Mound. We found an extremely cooperative school of redfish and caught them pretty much non-stop all day long. Tim got his first, second, third, etc. redfish on fly, using a #4 brown merkin crab. Brenda was using a RipTide weedless jig, sadly no longer made. The weather was perfect- no clouds, very little wind, cold in the morning warming to about 65 degrees. Awesome day.

One of many during a stunningly beautiful day.

Tuesday son Maxx and I went scouting on the Indian River Lagoon. There were four spots I wanted to check that historically have been good to me this time of year. We didn’t see a fish and got a few trout on jigs around one of the spoil islands.

Wednesday Rob and Steve from North Carolina joined me for a three quarter day on the Mosquito Lagoon. It was overcast and definitely looking like rain when we left Beacon 42. I had a rain jacket and rain pants. Steve had a rain jacket, but only jeans on down below. Rob had neither rain coat nor rain pants.

When you come fishing here, please bring clothing for the forecast weather. Dress just for what you hope the weather will be at your own risk.

Steve got a 26 inch red on a Johnson Minnow at the first spot we visited. It started sprinkling then, too.

We visited the spot where Tim had gotten so many redfish on Monday. All the big ones had vacated, although a bunch of rats were still there. My anglers got eight or ten on jigs and Johnson Minnows.

Then it started to rain in earnest, a good, soaking rain. Steve got half soaked, Rob completely so. We had to go in two hours early and did not get another fish. Of course the sun came out as soon as the boat was on the trailer.

Thursday Peter Missick and I went kayak fishing out of River Breeze. Peter had never been kayak fishing before. He grew up about a half mile from where I did, went to the same elementary, junior, and high schools, had the same teachers. He was three years ahead of me so I didn’t know him before Thursday. Weird. We did have some friends/acquaintances in common, though.

The weather was beautiful if perhaps a tad breezy. We found some tailing fish and a small school of reds. I got three on a redfish worm, he got five or six on a DOA CAL Shad Tail. He enjoyed the day. So did I.

Friday Dr. Bud Robertson joined me for some fly fishing on the Mosquito Lagoon. I always enjoy fishing Bud, whose motto is “Success happens when opportunity meets preparation.” He was certainly prepared for the first shot he got, nailing a 36 inch red that ate his Puglisi streamer, less than 30 minutes after launching the boat. He also got a 30 inch red and another smaller fish.

Success happens when you're prepared!

Saturday Dr. Bud and I took the Dagger up into the no motor zone. We found a lot of fish in one small spot. They would not eat anything we tried. Bud got a good black drum on a Bunny Booger. I got a slot red on a black Clouser Minnow. That was it for the day.

Dr. Bud with another fine fish.

Sunday Tom Geis, his 17 year old son Conner, and his brother-in-law John joined me for a day on the Mosquito Lagoon. We would throw three different lures- a Johnson Minnow, a four inch DOA CAL jerk bait, and the Rip Tide weedless jig. We would also use cut mullet. We caught fish everywhere we went and on everything we tried. Fishing was good all day and they ended up with fifteen or so reds to 28 inches.

This morning Andy Bitner and his 11 year old son Hunter joined me on the Mosquito Lagoon. Who flipped the switch? The fish wouldn’t bite. Hunter got a slot red on a chunk of mullet and missed a strike on the DOA Shrimp. We were on tailers and a school and they fled from everything we tried. It was a nice day too, until the wind started honking. We were off the water at 1230.

The only fish was very nicely spotted!

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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More Stupid Ideas from our Legislators

February 13, 2011 by · 1 Comment

Mr. Bill Gunn of Melbourne sent me this as an email. It’s important enough that it needs to be passed along and responded to by all Florida readers.

Greetings.

Sportsmen have a long history of supporting conservation. States fund fishery and game enforcement, research and conservation through user fees raised by selling licenses. The attached link is an article from Florida Today regarding a Florida State Senator who is proposing that Florida eliminate the requirement for both fresh and saltwater fishing licenses within the state.

Florida fisherman and hunters are a very lucky lot. I lived in Connecticut where license fees go into the general fund. Their legislature is not mandated to earmark those funds toward programs impacting our sport and they skim off user fees for other purposes. But in Florida the funds are dedicated.

Note that Federal Law calls for states to administer Saltwater fishing licenses or the feds will impose a national licence requirement. If this proposal passes we will have no freshwater license and a federal saltwater license. Florida will loose funding for FWC, conservation, research and enforcement.  Please take a moment to read this article and voice your concerns to the State Senator sponsoring the bill. I believe he is misguided.

Stay hooked,

Bill Gunn
President, FFF Florida Council

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110213/COLUMNISTS0308/102130328/1067/SPORTS05/CCA-will-fight-Senator-s-plan-kill-licenses

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Orlando area fishing report 2/13/11

February 13, 2011 by · 2 Comments

The Report from Spotted Tail 2/13/11

Upcoming Events

On February 22 I’ll be speaking to the Florida Fly Fishing Association in Cocoa.

February 19-  Hook Kids on Fishing program at Kiwanis Island Park from 9-11am. Kiwanis Island Park is located directly on Sykes Creek immediately north of State Road 520 (951 Kiwanis Island Park Road Merritt Island). Volunteers should show up no later than 8:00 am.

February 26- Beachside Hook Kids on Fishing program in Satellite Beach from 9-11am. The program will be held at the pond located directly west of the Satellite Beach library and east of the skate park. Volunteers should show up no later than 8:00 am.

March 5- MINWR Show and Tell Fishing Seminar. See this link for details.

March 6- Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Fishing Seminar. See this link for details.

*******************************************

Only two days saw me out this week just past.

On Wednesday the Ocean Kayak and I visited my favorite pond. It was a beautiful day! Regular readers may recall the fine day I had there a few weeks back blind casting with a rattle rouser. I certainly remembered, and hoped for a repeat.

I tied on the rattle rouser and tossed it for a couple hours. I had only one bite, hooked the fish, then lost it. No problem with the hook this time, either.

Even though the solitude was enjoyable, after a couple hours I decided to try a different spot.

I went to another pond. It had been quite a while since my last visit. It wasn’t quite dry, but the seagulls were walking across it. It was about an inch and a half deep. There were dead catfish around the shoreline, badly decomposed, almost mummified.

I went out into the main part of the Indian River Lagoon. In about three hours one shot at a trout presented itself. The cast was good, I thought. The fish did not agree.

I saw three reds but did not get a shot at any of them. And then the sun was low and it was time to go home.

Friday Dr. George Yarko and I launched the Mitzi at River Breeze. The thought crossed my mind, “If we find any fish it will be by the grace of God.” It was maybe 50 degrees, overcast, misty, and windy, horrible winter redfish weather here. I forgot my sunglasses and didn’t even miss them.

My intuition proved correct. Actually we did run over about a half dozen fish but didn’t have a crack at any of them. We couldn’t see anything.

I did get one short trout on a jig. As far as catching fish goes that was it for the day.

We talked about music, concerts and such, and money, and women, and a variety of other things, and had as good a time fishing as you can when the fishing’s not so hot. The boat was back on the trailer at about 2:30 pm.

I’ll be out a bunch this week coming. And I am looking forward to it a LOT!

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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Orlando Shad Fishing- Orlando area fishing report 2/5/11

February 5, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Report from Spotted Tail 2/5/11

Upcoming Events

February 22- I’ll be speaking to the Florida Fly Fishing Association in Cocoa.

March 5- MINWR Show and Tell Fishing Seminar. See this link for details.

March 6- Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Fishing Seminar. See this link for details.

*******************************************

Every day this week saw me on or in the water. Fishing wasn’t very good.

Monday I went scouting on the Mosquito Lagoon in the Mitzi. It was mostly sunny and at first there was no wind. I saw that and headed straight to a big fish spot.

They were there, finning out and tailing sporadically. I donned waders and stalked them on foot. I had two superb casts with a crab fly, casts I was sure would work. Neither did. The fish moved off and rather than use a lot of time on them on a scouting day I went scouting.

I did not see much else.

There were five boats at the south end of Tiger Shoal. I could see one chasing some fish around, but didn’t see anyone hook up. I poled the entire way across the flat. All I saw were tailing mergansers, nothing with fins.

I ended up with a small black drum taken on a Son of Clouser and several marginal sized seatrout on a chartreuse DOA Shrimp.

Tuesday afternoon I went to the St. Johns River to try for shad. I walked up to the Econ and started fishing. My six-weight had a floating line. I got one crappie and hooked and lost one other fish.

I hitched a ride back down the river with Bill Mieli. Bill, using a #3 sinktip line and a pair of flies, had gotten nine shad. Ah-HA!

Wednesday David Cushman, a fly caster from Virginia, and his brother-in-law Clark, joined me for a day on the Mosquito Lagoon. It was cloudy and breezy. I was hoping for better luck than on Monday, but no such luck. We scoured the south end of the lagoon and most fish that we saw we saw as they fled. We just couldn’t see them. Not that there were many around. It was very thin, numbers-wise.

Clark tossed various spinning lures all day without a strike, and David did no better. He really had only one legitimate shot all day. We were victims of a good, old-fashioned skunking.

Thursday afternoon found me back at the St. Johns, this time with a sink-tip. When I got there Tom Van Horn was there already. We fished together for about three hours. Total tally- two bluegills, one shad. We talked to a guy who had been fly fishing up by the Econ. It was slow up there too.

Friday I went back to the St. Johns. The fish come up the river in waves. If you hit the wave you do very well. Between waves there’s not much going on. Some years the waves come one after another and other years there are days between waves. I figured if I kept trying it I was bound to hit one of those waves.

When I got there Ron Presley and Paul McGinnis were staging Ron’s boat for launch. I hitched a ride with them up the Econ a ways, then hopped out and fished my way back to the SR 46 bridge.

Ron and Paul tossed tandem rigs with Tiny TerrorEyz from DOA. They got seven shad between them. I was throwing a chartreuse shad fly. I got one bluegill, one redbelly, one crappie, and one shad. I passed several other fly casters along the way and none of them was doing much.

I like the stretch of river between SR 46 and the Econ because you don’t need a boat to fish it. But Thursday and Friday at least there were no waves of fish there. You could get one or two but you’d better be prepared to work for them.

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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Upcoming Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Seminars Share Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Secrets

February 3, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Central Florida fishermen want to know how to catch more and bigger fish in the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoons. On March 5 and 6 two Show and Tell Fishing Seminar held on the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Mosquito Lagoon will show them how and tell them where to do just that.

There are two separate seminars. The first tours the land area of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The second tours the Mosquito Lagoon by boat.

Instructor John Kumiski says, “I designed these seminars with the express purpose of helping attendees catch more and bigger fish. During the all-day seminar we cover fishing techniques for redfish, seatrout, tarpon, and other species, spinning and fly flats tackle, boats, wading, choosing and using lures and baits, fish fighting techniques, knots, etiquette, and more. We drive all through the refuge, discussing where to wade, where to launch power and paddle boats, and of course we discuss specific locations and how to fish them.

“During the on-the-water seminar we use my skiff to navigate around the entire Mosquito Lagoon. I show exactly where and how I fish. Nothing is withheld- locations, techniques, tactics. Be sure to bring your GPS and a notebook.”

During both seminars plenty of time is dedicated to question and answer.

You will learn more in one day during these popular seminars than you could learn in years on your own.

Registration is on-line. Go to this link:
http://www.spottedtail.com/category/Schools-and-Seminars-13
to register. The cost of the first class is $60.00. The on-the-water class is $120.00.

For more information contact John Kumiski at 407.977.5207, or email him at john@spottedtail.com.

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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Orlando Kayak Fishing- Orlando area fishing report 1/30/11

January 30, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Report from Spotted Tail 1/30/11

Upcoming Events

On February 22 I’ll be speaking to the Florida Fly Fishing Association in Cocoa.

*******************************************

Sadly, the Mitzi sat in the yard all week. The Ocean Kayak lived on the roof of the van all week, though!

Monday we went to the Banana River Lagoon, launching at about 9 am. The water surface was like a sheet of glass, reflecting the low overcast in the sky. I paddled to the first spot, where not a sign of life showed itself.

The second spot was a large flat that had a few, widely scattered large redfish tailing on it. I got a decent shot at exactly one and he fled in terror when the fly (a black and green clouser minnow) moved.

The third spot beckoned.

Upon arriving there I again found widely scattered tailing reds. The first one I threw to spooked off the fly. The second was cruising in water so thin its back was showing. Even with the overcast I could see it plainly and managed to get the fly right in his face. He ate it.

He couldn’t get good purchase in the thin water so he didn’t fight very well. But he was fat, around the 20 pound mark. It was around noon and certainly nice to finally deskunkify, especially with a fish like that.

In the next hour a couple more shots followed. I convinced another tailer to eat. He was smaller, around 14 pounds, but fought harder in slightly deeper water.

By now the sun had come out and it was easy to see it was well into the afternoon. There was a long way to go so I turned the bow of the kayak south and started the return trip. I only had three unsuccessful shots the entire way and with some sore buns put the ‘yak on the roof of the van at about 430. No black drum and only a handful of trout were observed the entire day.

Friday again saw ‘yak and I at the Banana River Lagoon, launching at about 10 am. The sun was out, gloriously so. Not a single cloud marred the sky. The breeze was chilly and at the edge of practical kayak fly fishing, speed wise.

Found a tailing red within sight of the van, wasn’t ready. By the time I got so the fish had disappeared.

Shortly afterwards I found a big slob red tailing in about a foot of water. I waded to it and cast a bunny booger about a half a dozen times. Missed every one, and finally spooked the fish. It turned out to be by far the best shot of the day, and set the tone for the day too.

Hours later I found some black drum in dirty water, hard to see because they weren’t tailing. I finally got a bite from one and missed it. It was the only bite of the now rapidly aging day.

I saw a few tailing reds on the way back but did not get a shot. No trout were found. No humans were found, either. Altogether a glorious, if not fish-filled, day.

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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