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Goodnews River Fishing Report

July 20, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
Goodnews River Fishing Report

I’m back at Alaska’s Goodnews River Lodge. As always, it’s great to be here. The internet connection, however, is dreadfully slow. I was not able to load up my email protocol last week. You can see last week’s vacation report here…

The state of Alaska has closed the Goodnews to the taking of king salmon. As the photos below show, there are some fish in the river. One of these fish was taken on a Wiggle Wort, the other on a Pixie spoon. We’re at the tail end of July, so we’re also nearing the tail end of the king salmon run.

 

goodnews river fishing report

This king salmon whacked a plug.

 

goodnews river fishing report

This 41 pound king was fooled by a Pixie spoon.

 

Likewise, I missed most of the sockeye run. Dimitri at the weir told me that over 25,000 fish passed through their counters there. But only 200 went through the day before we spoke.

There are chum salmon, also known as tiger salmon, everywhere right now. These fish average 10 to 12 pounds and get significantly larger. They eat small pink flies (#4 or so) readily and you can get 30 or 40 in a day, incredible fishing.

Those thousands of chums will start dropping eggs soon. Then the trout and dolly fishing will go of the charts.

There are relatively few pink salmon in the river- it’s an off year. They will be back in force next season.

The dolly varden are coming in now too. Tom Olden got one yesterday while salmon fishing that was about two feet long, a beautiful fish. He also got a 24 inch rainbow trout on a salmon fly given to me by Steve Silverio, a fly every bit of four inches long.

We saw three bears yesterday, a sow with two cubs. I’ve already equalled the total bear sightings from last year. There seems to be many more bald eagles here this year as well.

No one here has caught a silver yet but before I write another fishing report someone will. They are my favorite fish here and I look forward to their arrival!

And that, folks, is this week’s Goodnews River Fishing Report!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short. Get out and live!

John Kumiski

Home- Spotted Tail Outdoors and Travel

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2013. All rights are reserved.

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Orlando Saltwater Tarpon Fishing Report

June 6, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Orlando Saltwater Tarpon Fishing Report

Since we are having a tropical storm I won’t be fishing again before the weekend, so here is this week’s Orlando saltwater tarpon fishing report-

Scott Radloff and I had an outstanding day tarpon fishing early in the week.

Monday we launched the Mitzi at Port Canaveral. We had no information about the fishing- no one had been out for almost two weeks due to the strong east winds. So we were on our own.

We found plenty of pogies by the Cocoa Beach pier. A couple tosses of the net and we were baited up.

We slow-trolled around the bait pods in a couple different places. Nothing. Apparently there weren’t any fish around the bait.

We headed out to sea.

Shortly we came across little tunny busting minnows. There is a very effective lure for this situation, the Sting Silver, manufactured by Haw River Tackle in North Carolina. I tied one on and was soon listening to the sweet sound of a reel in distress. Tunny are such awesome light tackle fish!

Orlando Saltwater Tarpon Fishing Report

The Sting Silver is the hot tip for tunny. Doesn’t look like much but they do like it! Photo by Scott Radloff.

Tunny swim fast and soon they stopped busting in our immediate area. Then Scott saw a tarpon roll.

Soon we were surrounded by rolling fish. Scott put a pogie on (Daiichi circle wide hook, 5/0) and cast it out. Five seconds later a behemoth tarpon came flying out of the water.

Orlando Saltwater Tarpon Fishing Report

This was a REAL fish.

It commenced to kicking Scott’s ass.

While it was doing that I had a strike from a more manageable fish of about 60 pounds. Tarpon double. You gotta love that.

I leadered and released my fish while Scott continued to struggle with Moby Dick. Finally after about an hour the fish broke off. Sadness and relief at the same time.

Orlando Saltwater Tarpon Fishing Report

Scott had Moby up close a couple of times.

Then I hooked one almost as big. I tried to kick its ass before it could kick mine and succeeded in breaking it off after five jumps. Sadness and relief at the same time.

Orlando Saltwater Tarpon Fishing Report

Scott hooked up to a more user friendly version.

The rest of the morning continued in the same vein. Most of the subsequent fish we hooked were significantly smaller. I got one that was only about 40 pounds. Scott video-taped that one. See the video here.

Orlando Saltwater Tarpon Fishing Report

Trying to get a handle on the fish, I received a shower.

The wind came up out of the east and the fishing died. No rollers, no bites, no nothing. We were pretty beaten up, having jumped around twenty fish and leadered a half-dozen. Just a spectacular, awesome day.

Orlando Saltwater Tarpon Fishing Report

The beast was subdued temporarily.

We were back at it Tuesday. Elvis had left the building. We saw maybe a dozen tarpon roll all morning. I jumped one of about 100 pounds. It tossed the hook after the second jump. Finally we didn’t see any rollers at all.

We got a half dozen tunny on Sting Silvers and pogies, and a half dozen blacktip sharks, too. Not spectacular like the previous day, but entertaining nonetheless.

Orlando Saltwater Tarpon Fishing Report

The sharks were a nuisance, but they photograph well.

That is this week’s exciting version of the Orlando Saltwater Tarpon Fishing Report.

I will not be posting another report until mid-July.

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 2013. All rights are reserved.

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Tarpon Fishing Report 526

May 26, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Tarpon Fishing Report 526

This week’s Tarpon Fishing Report:

First, please remember the reason for the holiday. Lots of young men have died so we could have a day off.

Next, a Mosquito Lagoon update.

algae bloom in progress, indian river lagoon

algae bloom in progress, indian river lagoon

I had a reader send me this aerial photograph, showing the Indian River Lagoon north of the Max Brewer Causeway in Titusville. From the air the algae in the water is obvious. On Friday I spoke with Drew Cavanaugh, who told me that the algae in Mosquito Lagoon had bloomed and visibility into the water at Tiger Shoal was about one inch. Bad news for sight fishers and lovers of seagrass, this. I will have to investigate myself this coming week.

On to the tarpon fishing-

Tuesday I got up at 430, hopped in the chariot, and towed the Mitzi to Pineland Marina, launching the boat at about 10 AM. Went to spot number one, had a few bad shots while under way with the trolling motor. Still, there were fish there, a good thing. Ran out and set up camp on the beach, anchoring and waiting. Several fish came through. Had some shots and a few looks but no eaters. Still, was guardedly optimistic for the next day.

Wednesday Clint Scott, an expatriate fly fisherman living in Rio de Janeiro, joined me for a day’s fly fishing for tarpon. We went to spot number one. Clint was using a black and purple streamer. He had several shots and had an eat, putting an eighty pound fish into the air. The fish shook the fly on the first jump, however. We beat the spot to death and then ran out to the beach and anchored. Good numbers of fish came through. Clint had thre hard looks but no bites. We bagged it around 6 PM only having gotten the one bite.

tarpon fishing report

Thursday found Clint in the Mitzi again. We had a solid 15 mph wind from the west at the start. I poled into it about a half mile, sweating blood the whole time, and we did not see a fish. Went to another spot and had a couple shots but no interest from the tarpon. We went out to the beach.

It was sloppy out there, so much so the bilge pump was running constantly. Very few fish came through. We waited for hours and gradually all the other boats left except my friend Rick and us.

Finally a string of fish came right at us. Clint made a good cast. A tarpon came up and tracked the fly about ten feet, then turned off. I opined a fly change was in order, and tied on a black and purple streamer. I instructed Clint to make a practice cast, which he did. The line immediately came tight and sixty pounds of angry tarpon came flying out of the water. Dumb luck? Absolutely, but I’ll take it.

tarpon fishing report

Clint and his first tarpon go at it.

Thirty thrilling minutes later I removed the hook and released Clint’s first tarpon, managing a jump shot while operating the boat. Since it was 6:30 PM we decided we had had enough and went back to Pineland.

tarpon fishing report

 

On Friday Dr. George Yarko joined me. We went to the first spot, where we had several shots but no interest. We went to another spot where a hard west wind came up. We saw only two tarpon there and blew right past them. We took a beating running out to the beach against the wind, and anchored up once we got out there. Waves washed over the front of the boat constantly. Decent numbers of fish came by. We had several shots had three good, hard looks from the fish but no eats. We packed it in about 5:30.

On Saturday Dr. Yarko and I tried again. Now the wind was east at 15. We went to the first spot, where I netter some pinfish. We anchored up and tossed on out. Thirty minutes later the float disappeared and a large fish started screaming line off the reel. It kept going and before I could get off the anchor and pursue the line went slack. We had about 15 pounds of vegetation on the line, which was broken in the leader. We never did see the fish.

We went out to the beach. It was a crazy, beautiful weather, everyone-who-owns-a-boat-is-out Memorial Day weekend scene out there. We joined the fleet anchored up in the fishing spot and sat. And sat. And sat. We did not see a fish, did not get a shot, and finally at 5:00 left and went to Captiva Pass. There were a few crabs floating through and lots of boats. We only saw one fish and did not get a bite in two floats through. We then decided to bag it and returned to Pineland not having gotten a bite in two days.

 

Tarpon Lodge under a full moon.

Tarpon Lodge under a full moon.

That is this week’s exciting version of the Tarpon Fishing Report.

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 2013. All rights are reserved.

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Mosquito Lagoon and Tarpon Fishing Report 518

May 18, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Mosquito Lagoon and Tarpon Fishing Report

Bumper Sticker of the week:

 tarpon fishing report

This week’s Mosquito Lagoon and Tarpon Fishing Report:

Monday morning Scott Radloff and I braved 20-25 knot winds and thick overcast to try fishing in the Mosquito Lagoon. I got a redfish on my first cast. I would love to say “then it got better.” That may be a bit of an exageration. We did get a half dozen each of reds and trout though, including some very solid fish. And the overcast broke up, and the sun came out! The wind just kept a-honking, though. My lure of choice was an old Riptide Weedless jig outfitted with a four inch DOA CAL jerkbait. The last two fish we got on mullet pieces. We did better then we had any right to expect, that’s for sure.

Scott said I look scary while wearing the Sun Armor. That may be true, but who looks scarier, me…

Tarpon Fishing Report

I got several trout. This was the nicest.

…or Scott?

 

tarpon fishing report

Scott was real happy with this 28 inch redfish.

Wednesday saw another 4 AM wake-up call and four hours of driving to fish with friend Rick again. I had shots at tarpon all day long (wasn’t sick this time either). On the best shot I had three fish closely examined the fly. All said no. I pulled it in and looked. It was fouled. 🙁   I hooked two small cobia that were following rays and lost both of them. Thus the day ended.

Thursday we tried again. Again I had shots most of the day. I had several “almosts” and got one bite on a black and purple streamer. I broke the fish off after beating it. It wasn’t very big, only about 50 pounds, but I got a real tarpon on a fly, something that had been missing from my repertoire lately. Gracias a Deus! They are such incredible fish!

tarpon fishing report

Tarpon and I, mano a mano.

That is this week’s exciting version of the Mosquito Lagoon and Tarpon Fishing Report.

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 2013. All rights are reserved.

 

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Tarpon Fishing Report

May 4, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Tarpon Fishing Report

Monday morning my alarm clock went off at 4 AM. I turned it off, thought about going back to sleep. I had a sore throat, never a harbinger of a bright, rosy day. But I told Ricky I’d be there so I got up, did what I had to do, and hit the road.

Thoughts of Kim swirled in my head as I drove. She’d looked so good last time I saw her. Now she’s fighting for her life? It wasn’t right. Didn’t make sense. Along with the sore throat it colored my mood a somber shade.

I pulled into Ricky’s driveway at nine o’clock. We had to go to the vet before we could fish. Danae’s cat is diabetic and they needed syringes for the insulin injections. When we got back to Rick’s he hooked up the boat and we were finally off.

tarpon fishing report

This guy wants a handout.

The first spot we checked was a laid-up tarpon spot. There were a few fish there and I had a couple shots, crossing a streamer in front of their scaly faces. No eaters, though.

Clouds showed up, always a great help when tarpon fishing. Being facetious there, folks. We made a run to another spot, anchored the boat.

Fish started showing up immediately. Sometimes we could see them well, sometimes not very well at all, depending on how the clouds were configured at that moment, depending on where they were in the water column. None of them made any attempt to eat my fly.

Rick had a brand new rod. He asked me if I minded if he tried it. Heck, no, I didn’t mind. I’m out in his boat, using his expertise. Fish away, bud!

He rigged it up, got on the bow of the boat. A single fish came along. He throws to it. It eats. WTF? I can’t get a sniff and he hooks up on the first cast? I must be way more rusty than I thought.

tarpon fishing report

Rick hooked the first fish he threw to.

But that’s how the day ended, one bite for Ricky, none for Johnny. Try again tomorrow.

Tuesday we again went to the laid-up tarpon spot. Again I had a few shots and again no one was interested in my streamer. Yes, my throat was still sore. Definitely not at 100 percent.

tarpon fishing report

How can you not love these fish?

We again made the run to the other spot, anchored the boat.

The fish did not show up immediately. We didn’t see any for three hours. I put a different streamer on. Ricky said what Ricky says. “They’re not gonna eat that.” Like the fish can tell his flies from mine…

tarpon fishing report

The clouds make seeing the fish much more difficult.

A pair of fish come. I throw my fly out there. One of the fish gets behind it, follows it ten feet or so. The bite comes. I set up. The line goes slack. The Hufnagle has come apart, something that had never happened before. Ricky rags on my knots, my leaders. New stuff has come along while I wasn’t paying attention. OK, I’ll learn the Slim Beauty. Just not at this moment.

I tie on a Cousin Itt. It feels like I’m trying to cast a raccoon. It doesn’t sink very well. But here comes some fish. I’m throwing it out there.

A tarpon comes up for the fly in an explosive surface strike. I react with a trout fisherman’s rod pull, popping the fly right out of the mouth of the fish. The strike was amazing, my response considerable less so.

Some fish come around the back of the boat. Rick gets a bite, can’t come tight. The fish shakes off.

Rick gets another shot a few minutes later, sticks the fish well. The fish takes off, the line goes slack. The fly line has broken.

tarpon fishing report

Yes, tarpon can break things.

The sun gets low. The fish stop coming, or maybe we just can’t see them any more. At any rate I am completely drained. We call it. Try again tomorrow.

tarpon fishing report

These clouds moved in carrying rain. They hung around for days.

The next morning a storm system moves in. We call it before the boat leaves the yard. The ride home is in the rain the whole way. It rains for the next three days.

I visit the doctor. I have a fever and a respiratory infection. No, I wasn’t at 100 percent. But I’m going back to try those fish again.

And that is this week’s exciting version of the Tarpon Fishing Report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short. Go Fishing!

John Kumiski

Home- Spotted Tail Outdoors and Travel

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2013. All rights are reserved.

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Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

April 19, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

It’s a casting platform. It’s a seat. It’s a dry box. It’s my new Yeti.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Ordinarily my feeling is that lure color is way more important to the fisherman than to the fish. Sometimes though, the fish just completely shatter than notion.

On Sunday Rick Schooler and his friend Dave joined me for a full day’s fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. Rick was throwing a 5.5 inch DOA CAL jerkbait, new penny color. Dave was tossing the DOA CAL airhead, red with gold glitter. Fishing was not particularly hot, but after Rick got his third fish Dave wanted what Rick had. Oh my God, I only have two left!

mosquito lagoon fishing repot

Rick, a fish, and the magic lure.

In the meantime, as circumstance allowed, I tossed a Deadly Combo. Over the course of the day I made dozens of casts with it and did not once get a bite.

Dave got his new penny jerkbait and proceeded to catch right up with Rick, both numbers and size-wise. The bite was principally from 20 inch-plus trout, two of which swallowed the baits.

mosquito lagoon fishing repot

Not to be outdone, Dave gets into the act.

Rick had a puffer mangulate his bait. In an effort to stretch the new penny supply out I had him try a jerkbait in the greenback color. While he used it without success Dave got three beautiful fish. Rick understandably wanted a new penny bait. I switched him out and he immediately nailed one.

The new penny color was the only thing on which we caught a fish. We ended up with two reds and ten or so trout, all but two of which were over 20 inches in length. Pretty fair day for a weekend.

mosquito lagoon fishing repot

The smallest fish of the day, a very aggressive little guy!

Took Monday off. Had to see the optometrist. Love those dilation drops into the eyeball.

Tuesday my eyes had recovered sufficiently to go scouting on the Mosquito Lagoon. Launched at Beacon 42, headed south.

The trout were awesome, got eight between 20 and 25 inches. And although the new penny jerkbait worked extremely well, I also got fish on a DOA Shrimp and a DOA CAL shad tail. Four redfish were silly enough to bite too, even watched one do a 180 to take the new penny jerkbait. And I missed a half dozen strikes. Weather was great, fishing was great, and I was by myself, in which there is an element of great!

mosquito lagoon fishing repot

Who is that masked man??

Thursday I went scouting again in Mosquito Lagoon. Launched the boat at Beacon 42 and went north.

I don’t think the trout were quite as thick as they were down south. On the other hand, different day, different result. I still got several nice ones, and saw many more than I got. A pair of dolphins started shadowing me, hoping to eat my released fish. I pulled up the MinnKota and took my business elsewhere.

moasquito lagoon fishing report

One of the beggars, waiting for a handout.

There were a lot more redfish up north than down south. I got one on the first cast to the first school that I saw, using a DOA CAL shad tail, Arkansas shiner color. I didn’t see fish everywhere I looked, but I saw enough to keep anybody busy. It helped that the weather was close to perfect!

UWMosquitoLagoonRedfish

On Friday Dave Arcury and his 16 year old son Nick joined me for a half day on Mosquito Lagoon. I felt extremely prepared, until I saw all the whitecaps. The wind was coming hard out of the south.
I went to the redfish spot first. I could really only go one way, and the fish moved before we were close enough to cast- four times in a row. At that point it was obvious we wouldn’t get a fish there so we went after trout.

They weren’t terribly cooperative although Nick got two on the new penny jerkbait. The larger one was above the slot, a handsome fish.

We decided to soak a couple baits to see if we could get a red. Less than five minutes later one of the rods went off and Nick battled a 26 inch red to the boat. All of today’s fish were photographed (by Dad, I forgot the cameras in the car) and released. Before we knew it time was up.

It was a veritable manatee orgy at the boat ramp. I shot a few- photos, that is!

mosquito lagoon fishing report

You’d have to be at sea a real long time to think these were mermaids.

And that is this week’s exciting version of the Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report.

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 2013. All rights are reserved.

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Orlando Saltwater Fishing Report

March 30, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Orlando Saltwater Fishing Report

A blessed Easter to all the Christians out there. I hope the pagans and infidels have a nice day too.

 

We caught a few fish this week.

On Monday three gentlemen, led by Mr. Peter Scribner, joined me for an eight hour kayak fishing extravaganza out of River Breeze. It was a beautiful day but windy and not at all warm.

Orlando Saltwater Fishing Report

It was beautiful out if you didn’t mind the chill wind.

We had to do some searching, as fish were not concentrated anywhere we looked. I’d guess we paddled at least ten miles. Neither Peter nor Rich caught a fish. Chuck got seven redfish and a beautiful trout, all on a small Johnson Sprite.

orlando saltwater fishing report

Chuck, my 76-year old role model, with another fish.

At 76 years old Chuck is a role model for all of us. He easily kept up with me all day. I can only hope I can still kayak fish all day if I’m lucky enough to reach that age.

 

Wednesday Scott Radloff and I took the Mitzi on a scouting trip out of Haulover Canal. It was cold. It was windy. There were no fish in the first place we looked. Spots two and three had quite a few nice trout. Spot number three had a few reds too. We got a trout about 24 inches long on a juicy piece of mullet.

orlando saltwater fishing report
Spot number 4 had some black drum and a few reds. I sightfished up a 30 incher on a juicy piece of mullet.

Orlando Saltwater Fishing Report

The last spot was seatrout city. Using five and a half inch DOA CAL jerkbaits we got a half dozen 18 to 22 inch trout, a nice way to end the day.

Thursday Mr. Brian Burns joined me for a day’s Mosquito Lagoon fishing. He got three nice trout on the five and a half inch DOA CAL jerkbait at the first spot. None of the fish at the second spot would bite. Muds everywhere, but no action.

Orlando Saltwater Fishing Report

At the third spot Brian went to work. Switching back and forth between a DOA Airhead and the CAL jerkbait he got seven or eight more trout and a slot red besides. The fish were spooky and not very bitey but there were so many that he got a bunch anyway. It was not too windy and was just beautiful out.

Orlando Saltwater Fishing Report

Friday son Alex and I launched the boat at Port Canaveral. We hoped to find tripletail and if we got lucky a cobia. When we cleared the jetties it was beautiful, clear sky, hardly any breeze.

We ran south to Satellite Beach, then out about 2.5 miles. I had heard there were weeds out there. We didn’t find any. But someone had turned on the wind machine. I came about to start looking for fish and there were whitecaps everywhere. Three waves in succession poured into the cockpit. Yikes!

It’s hard to spot fish cruising at 3000 rpm, but that’s what we did so the bow would stay up above the waves. Eventually I stumbled onto a tripletail. It was a real one. Alex hooked it up and it just swam away, breaking the 20 pound power pro after about 20 seconds. Fish 1, anglers 0.

We saw another one, fairly small. It refused the delicious hand-picked shrimp we used to tempt it.

A while later I spotted another one. This one must have been hungrier, because it immediately inhaled the shrimp. Alex fought it up to the boat, where yours truly dipped it up. A fine ‘tail it was, and one delicious broiled fillet was more than three of us could finish. But I digress…

Orlando Saltwater Fishing Report

We saw two other tripletail as we ran them over. We decided we had had enough fun at about 2 PM.

Saturday James Cran and his friend Mike came all the way from Ontario to fish in the Mosquito Lagoon. The fish could not have been much less hospitable. We spooked several hundred fish over the course of six hours with only two bites all day. Both were missed.

At the last spot Mike fooled a slot redfish using a Road Runner with a four inch DOA CAL jerkbait for a tail, the first fish of the day. Shortly after James got a dink trout on a jig. That was it.

Orlando Saltwater Fishing Report

And that is this week’s exciting version of the Orlando Saltwater Fishing Report.

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 2013. All rights are reserved.

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Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

March 23, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Bumper Sticker of the Week:

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Blog Posts This Week:

–Paddleboard Fishing Mosquito Lagoon
–Celebrate World Water Day
–Solo Skiff Review

It was an interesting week in a number of ways. The weather was unsettled, to say the least.

Monday Tim Baker of East Coast Paddle took me paddleboard fishing for three hours on Mosquito Lagoon. I had never been on a paddleboard before. They are very cool. Read the blog here.
The wind was running between 10 and 15 mph though- not good for paddleboarding. Tim got a trout on a jerk bait. I saw six or eight fish as I whizzed by. I should have worn either shorts or waders. Live and learn.

Paddleboard Fishing in Mosquito Lagoon

Tim got this trout from his paddleboard.

Tuesday was very exciting with trips to both David Maus Toyota and the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center in Orlando. Arch criminals stole my arches (that’s a joke, folks). There are podiatrists in my future.

Wednesday I got caught in the rain while running on the FT. It was fun.

Thursday was errand and other minutia of life day.

Friday Tom Mitzlaff took me for a spin on his new Solo Skiff boat. It’s an awesome little boat. Read the blog here.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

We found quite a few redfish, very spooky ones. They were the kind that you lead six feet with a small, non-descript fly, and when you twitch it when they get close they spaz out and flee at a high rate of speed. Both of us had several shots and all of them ended in identical fashion.

We wanted tailers. We got nervous wrecks.

And that is this week’s exciting version of the Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report.

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 2013. All rights are reserved.

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Paddleboard Fishing in Mosquito Lagoon

March 19, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Paddleboard Fishing in Mosquito Lagoon

An email led to my going paddleboard fishing in Mosquito Lagoon today.

My host, or I should say my gracious host, Tim Baker, is principal at East Coast Paddle. Before we went fishing Tim explained his company’s focus to me:

-first, they build the world’s highest quality paddleboards in Edgewater, supporting 15 families right here in central Florida;
-they build various types of paddleboards for fishing, surfing, and ecotouring;
-they are a paddleboard service company, providing guided fishing, guided ecotours, and rentals;
-they give paddleboarding instruction to everyone using their services.

Tim has a specially built pontoon boat he uses to transport paddleboards and paddleboarders to the destination at which their activity will take place. I stepped on and off we went.

paddleboard fishing in mosquito lagoon

Tim Baker with his paddleboard transport vessel.

As he was explaining the hows and whys of paddling a paddleboard, Tim took note of the fact that the wind (at 10 to 15 out of the south) was really a bit strong for paddleboard fishing. Having been forewarned, I hopped on the board.

I was a little shaky at first, for all of 30 seconds. Then it was fine.

Like any smart paddler, Tim went upwind first. He chugged right along. I got on my knees to lower my wind resistance.

Tim looking for fish from his paddleboard.

Tim looking for fish from his paddleboard.

I saw a redfish tailing in a lee. On the approach I hit the board with the paddle. The fish stopped tailing. You still need to be quiet.

We paddled upwind a while. Tim told me ordinarily they drop the fishermen off with a guide, then move the big boat to a position downwind. That way the paddleboarders never have to fight against the wind.

It was windy, and we sailed. Always the sight fisher, I looked for fish to which I could cast. Tim opted to just cast into potholes. His strategy worked better, as he caught the only fish we got.

Paddleboard Fishing in Mosquito Lagoon

Tim got this trout from his paddleboard.

I could see the potential for stealthy fish stalking when weather conditions were favorable were enormous. A paddleboard is a quiet, maneuverable platform from which you can silently approach wary fish.

Tim said big tarpon from the board were his favorite target. I can only imagine how exciting that must be.

Tim has made a video about paddleboard fishing for redfish in Mosquito Lagoon which you can find here http://youtu.be/Q7y5sUOfRYs .

After watching it I’m more than ready to go try paddleboard fishing  in Mosquito Lagoon again.

For more information about East Coast Paddle, or to inquire about a paddleboard trip, call Tim at 407.406.0742, or visit the website at East Coast Paddle.

Paddleboard Fishing in Mosquito Lagoon

Loading the board after the trip.

Life is short. Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2013. All rights are reserved.

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the everglades- an excerpt

March 12, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

the everglades

the everglades john kumiski

First Trip

My first trip to the everglades was a five-day canoe trip in March 1980. A friend from Massachusetts and I drove down for spring break. We dropped the boat into Coot Bay Pond and paddled to Cape Sable, then back to Flamingo. I think we saw four other boats during that time. It was a wild, unforgiving place- hot, no fresh water, bad bugs, hellish sun. There was no one around. If you had a problem you were on your own.

I loved it.

The birds were incredible. We caught a chunky fish with a big spot near its tail. We didn’t know what it was but we ate it. It was good.

the everglades john kumiski

the birds were incredible

We left the Joe River chickee at dawn one morning. We had to catch the last of the tide to the Gulf. We got to the mouth of Little Shark River just after sunrise, at almost dead low tide. Tarpon rolled everywhere. I’d never seen one before. Each fish we saw just added to the magic and excitement of the moment.

Three hit my Rebel. Of course, all jumped right off. It was a watershed moment for me in my fishing career, simply a spectacular, unexpected, amazing event.

In spite of all the fish we had to keep going. There were many miles left.

When we got to middle Cape Sable there was a small aluminum skiff beached there. The lone fisherman walked the beach, casting. Not much was said at first.

The moon must have been at the right phase because the current ran so hard off the point that a whirlpool had formed. You didn’t need to be Joe Brooks to know that fish were there. I cast a jig over and over but did not get a bite.

Read the rest at http://johnkumiski.com/the-everglades/

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John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2013. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Stories, Fishing Tips, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays · Tagged: , , , , , , ,
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