Memorial Day Orlando Fishing Report
Please take some time this weekend to consider the sacrifices made by so many, so that we can enjoy the lifestyle we have. And have a happy and safe Memorial Day Weekend.
As seems to be the habit lately, I did some fishing around this week. Generally it was good. A tactical error prevented many fish from being caught one day.
I apologize for the quality of the photos. We did not have any beautiful models available. No offense, Aubrey!
Monday found Anton Faith and I out in the Bang-O-Craft, on the Indian River Lagoon. Some snook had been discovered last week and I wanted another crack at them. All the fish at that spot were gone, including the snook. Sad!
We went to another spot I had been wanting to check. Bingo! No snook, but lots of nice seatrout. This is where the tactical error occurred. Anton doesn’t fish much and I brought frozen mullet for bait. I filleted them, then cut the fillets into strips. You can’t throw them very far. The fish were spooking before we could get into range. The one fish we got came on a 3″ DOA CAL Shad tail.
Tuesday morning Scott Radloff and I launched the Mitzi at Port Canaveral. There was a lot of Sargassum in the water. I was guardedly optimistic. There was almost no bait and we did not find any fish. The water off Cocoa Beach is very dirty. We pulled the boat at 10 AM and went to the Indian River Lagoon.
The jerkbait was an almost brilliant choice.
Remembering my tactical error from the previous day, I opted to try a 5.5″ DOA CAL jerk bait, since the fish eat it and I can throw it a long way. It was an almost brilliant choice. Between us we got over a dozen nice trout and reds. We were done a little after 2 PM.
No fish were harmed in the making of this photo.
Has anyone noticed how hot it’s been? Thunderstorms are becoming a daily affair. It will start cooling off around October. Welcome to the long, hot, Florida summer!
Wednesday found me up at the Villages, at the request of the Tri-County Fly Fishers, a very active and nice group of people. We discussed fishing opportunities in the Indian River Lagoon system for an hour or two, after which I drove home again. Thanks to all of you for having me up there.
A couple months back I blogged about the Sevylor inflatable kayak, which had been purchased to access a remote spot on the St. Johns River. For some unfathomable reason I decided to drag an Ocean Kayak Prowler back there on Thursday. I would drag the boat 100 yards and stop to catch my breath. Then I would do it again. And again. Ad infinitum. It took way too long. The entire time this song flowed through my mind:
I got a mule. Her name is Sal.
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal.
She’s a good old worker and a good old pal.
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal.
It was a feasibility study. I think if I were 26 instead of 62 it might be feasible. As it is I won’t be doing it again, I don’t need exercise that badly. I’m no mule! Anyway, the bass were biting, but they were all small ones. The best one I got maybe hit 13 inches, all but one hit the gurgler in the photo.
This fish was not worth dragging the kayak a half mile.
The killer fly, a gurgler.
On Friday Aubrey Thompson, Ph.D., fly fisher, joined me on the Indian River Lagoon. Man, we saw some fish. They were not eating very well. Aubrey managed a half dozen bites, only one of which posed for photos. It was a right solid trout, right at 26 inches!
Come to me!
A solid trout at 26 inches.
And the release shot.
And that is this week’s Memorial Day Orlando Fishing Report from Spotted Tail.
Life is great and I love my work!
Life is short- Go Fishing!
John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
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All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2015. All rights are reserved.
Aubrey Thompson sent me the following (slightly edited) email:
“I learned a long time ago that the thing that matters most is to be on the water with good company. I fish by myself most of the time, so the good company part is almost always a certainty; but the fact is that there aren’t many people with whom I will share a day on the water. So a lovely day, great weather, good company. What more can one ask?
“Well, it’s nice to see fish; and we sure as hell saw a lot of fish. Your report didn’t mention the huge redfish or the monster snook. Have you any sense of how few people in the world got a shot at a snook like that yesterday?
“To see fish, particularly big fish in such numbers, and to be able to cast to them, to the limits of one’s ability, those are the icing on the cake. It’s probably some character flaw on my part, but once I see the bite, the process of fighting and releasing the fish is secondary.
“So, from my perspective, we had an outstanding day yesterday.
“Many, many thanks.”
-Aubrey