the spotted tail

Puffers, Dali, and More Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Puffers, Dali, and More Fishing Report. Dali has little to do with fishing, but I’ve always liked his work.

In a totally different direction, how about Red Sox starting pitcher Tanner Houck? Wednesday night he pitched a full nine-innings of shutout ball, taking 96 pitches to register 27 outs against the Cleveland Guardians. It was the first full game by a Red Sox pitcher in two years, and only the third this season in major league baseball. Sox won by two.

We also have a guest blog this week by Julia Mitchell- Beyond Borders: Diverse Careers That Embrace the Digital Nomad Lifestyle. It’s an interesting read!

Subscribers without photos- go to https://www.spottedtail.com/blog/, please.

Monday found me paddling on the Indian River Lagoon on a spectacular morning. There were only a few redfish around- very spooky. The leader on my fly line is easily 15 feet long, and it seems too short for them. I had two decent shots, had one bite (missed it) and one extended follow where the fish finally turned off. The puffers, however, liked my fly, enough I got three of them. Don’t know which is worse, getting skunked or getting three puffers. Rodney sez No fish is a bad fish, tho.

Tuesday Susan and I journeyed to St. Petersburg, Florida, home of the Tampa Bay Rays and the Dali Museum. We were visiting the latter. I hadn’t been there since they moved into the new edifice. There was an exhibit of Impressionists, and the permanent collection. A few of my favorites from the latter:

Lovely place, well worth a visit.

When our work there was over, we moseyed (by way of Dunedin) to Hillsborough River State Park, where we spent the night. HRSP boasts one of Florida’s two river rapids:

Hillsborough River Rapids.

Lovely place, well worth a visit.

Thursday I tried the Mosquito Lagoon. The road to the boat ramp looked like this-

I wrote to the refuge, asking for an explanation. I got one. They are trying to improve the habitat for the scrub jays- “Florida Scrub Jays need low scrubby habitat with lots of sandy openings. This habitat is maintained by fire. In the absences of fire, the habitat transitions from open scrub to dense, tall forest and scrub jays can not survive. ”

Other than that, the day was a lot like Monday. The weather was incredible, the water was clean, there was seagrass, and there were relatively few spooky fish around. I saw 12-15 reds, a handful of snook, two or three trout. Unlike Monday, I did not get a shot at a decent fish. I did get four more puffers, however, and two snappers, a hockey-puck-sized crevalle, and a black drum of about three pounds, all on fly. Wouldn’t toss a soft plastic bait out there with the hordes of puffers. It’s definitely yacht season again.

Friday I was joined by Alastair Worden. He uses an electric motorized kayak because of an injury he’d sustained. We missed several strikes between us, and all that kept me from a skunking was a six-inch snapper that took my slider fly.

I saw another fly caster (Bob Vaughn by name) hook and boat a redfish, which I photographed. His fly was tied with fur from his dog. Gotta love that!

At least someone is getting reds!

Assuming Alastair had a watch, I asked him what time it was. It turns out he does not use a watch, and had to take his phone out- it was 1204. While the phone was out, he noticed his daughter had texted him. Like a good dad, he answered her. Unfortunately he did not turn off the motor. While he was texting, his kayak went around in a circle. It ran over his line, which fouled the propeller. He had to go ashore and remove the propeller to un-foul it.

At this point, seeing he had an issue but not knowing what it was, I paddled over to him and asked if he was OK. He said, “Never text and drive.” He didn’t say “No”, so I assumed (incorrectly) that he was OK, and off I went.

After he put the rig back together, it wouldn’t run. He started paddling back to the launch, but it hurt his back. He got out and started dragging the boat. I saw this and paddled back over to him. Then a guy in a motor boat came over, and kindly took Alastair in tow. Near the launch, a manatee almost knocked Alistair out of his boat, just to make the day even more interesting. Thank goodness the kayak didn’t roll over! I  really hope Alistair’s back is OK.

I fished three days this week, caught fish every day, and did not get a single species I was targeting. That’s fishing!

That’s also the Puffers, Dali, and More fishing report. Thanks again for reading!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Go walking! Stay active!

John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com
www.spottedtail.com/blog

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