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Canoe Camping at Canaveral National Seashore

November 3, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Thanksgiving hurtles towards us. This holiday kicks off Florida’s finest camping season.

At the north end of the Mosquito Lagoon a labyrinth of islands, channels, and shallow ponds hosts loads of  wading birds, dolphins, redfish, and seatrout. Canaveral National Seashore administers a dozen National Park Service campsites here. Accessible only by water, these are “wilderness” sites. A few have a fire grate and a picnic table. The others have space for your tents, and that’s about it.

A spectacular sunrise over the Mosquito lagoon.

I’ve gone camping here by canoe and kayak many times over the years. While sometimes the fishing hasn’t been good, other times it has been outstanding. Either way, I always have an enjoyable time.

A Typical Trip
Obtain the necessary camping permit from Canaveral National Seashore, Turtle Mound station. Launch your boats at River Breeze Park in Oak Hill, or at Turtle Mound on the east side of the lagoon.

After dinner roast marshmallows and watch the sun set. After it gets dark you can stargaze for hours. During the winter months Orion (the easiest of all constellations to recognize), Gemini, Taurus, and Canis Major are all clearly visible. Sirius, in Canis Major, is the brightest star in the sky! If you’re lucky you’ll see satellites, or a meteor streaking across the heavens. You certainly don’t get to see meteors every day.

A lovely Mosquito Lagoon sunset, from a different vantage on a different day.

After breakfast go fishing. Fishing being fishing, sometimes it’s great and sometimes you’ll get skunked. But the wading birds will be thick. You will see pelicans, ospreys, and maybe a bald eagle, and dolphins are commonly encountered. If you don’t catch any fish, cook some hot dogs over a blazing campfire. When you roast a wiener on a stick over an open fire, they are as good as hot dogs can be!

A Warning
You can expect raccoons to visit your campsite while you’re here. Make sure to pack your food in raccoon proof containers. A hard plastic cooler with a rope tied around it works well. On one trip we left our s’mores fixings in a shopping bag, unattended on a table, for less than five minutes. A raccoon quickly found and tried to steal the bag. The chocolate and crackers fell out as he ran off, but he made a successful getaway with all of our marshmallows.

A Quick Look at the Fishing
The most common gamefish here are redfish and seatrout. A ten pound spinning outfit is appropriate. Effective lures include soft plastic jerkbaits, weedless gold spoons, and small popping plugs. The area is shallow with a lot of grass, so weedless lures are a must. Popular natural baits include shrimp and cut mullet. Small crabs can also be effective.

A younger Maxx casts to a redfish in the Mosquito Lagoon.

I kayak fish this area a lot, ordinarily using fly tackle. The preferred technique is to paddle along shorelines, searching for fish to which to cast the fly. Particularly during the cooler months (when camping is most enjoyable) fishing for both reds and seatrout can be excellent.

On the very first camping trip my boys and I made here we paddled over a school of at least 200 redfish. We continued on to our campsite and dropped off our gear, then went right back to where the fish were. Between us we got a dozen fish, many on fly tackle. If you spend some time hunting for fish here usually you will find some.

Redfish this size are quite typical of what you will find here.

Florida saltwater fishing laws apply here. If you choose to fish you will need a saltwater fishing license.

Nuts and Bolts
Canaveral National Seashore lies northeast of Orlando about one hour’s drive. To camp there you must obtain a permit (fee required) from their office at Turtle Mound, on Florida route A1A south of New Smyrna Beach. They accept reservations by telephone one week in advance, and especially during the busy spring season reservations are strongly recommended.

Their website URL is http://www.nps.gov/cana/. Click on the “Activities” button. Then click on the “camping” button to see their camping brochure. The phone number at the Turtle Mound station for more information about camping or reservations is 386-428-3384 Ext. 10.

The different campsites have varying capacities. Some sites, like the two on Orange Island, can fit three small tents maximum. Others, like the spoil island campsites, could hold 20 or more people. Remember, these are unimproved sites with no fresh water, electricity, or toilet facilities. If you don’t bring what you need you won’t have it out there.

Another point to keep in mind is that adjacent to Canaveral National Seashore is the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. No camping is allowed here at any time. So if you intend to camp on a spoil island in the Mosquito Lagoon, be sure to find the right one.

While this piece emphasizes paddling to the campsites, there are no restrictions on motor vessel use here. You can easily use a boat with a motor to gain access to any of the CNS campsites, or to go fishing. You will still need the national park service permit to camp, of course.

The Mosquito Lagoon wasn’t named on a whim. The bugs can be nasty when the weather is warm, so the best time to camp is from about Thanksgiving through about Easter. The prudent camper will bring bug spray at whatever time of year they camp, anywhere in Florida.

Remember to bring sunblock and plenty of water. Have fun, and enjoy your trip!

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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Everglades, Naples Fishing Report

October 29, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Everglades, Naples Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 10/30/11

Upcoming Events- Last call! Show and Tell seminar on November 5 and 6. The 6th will be an on the water seminar. Details and the signup are now posted at this link- http://www.spottedtail.com/category/Schools-and-Seminars-13.

The Florida Fishing Road Trip- Installment 2

October 27
Dear Diary-
On the 25th we got up early and drove off of Sugarloaf Key at 6 am. Our destination- Flamingo, Everglades National Park.

We got there a little after 10 am, and launched the boat in the Buttonwood Canal. We ran to the entrance to Mud Lake, dropped the canoe in the water, and paddled through the creek into the lake. We were hoping to find snook.

Running through the Buttonwood Canal.

The water was high. It’s always dirty in there. So sight fishing was again going to be difficult.

We saw a redfish right away as it blew out when we ran it over. A while later Alex spotted a red, close to the canoe. Using a four weight TFO he smartly dropped a small chartreuse Clouser Minnow right in front of it and BAM, he’s on. Darn nice work by Alex.

Alex fights a redfish in Mud Lake. Look at the color of the water.

A short time later a crash along the shore indicated the presence of another fish. As it turned out there were two. They were swimming away, but Alex threw the Clouser in front of them and one immediately jumped on it for redfish number two.

Sight fishing in the high, stained water worked well enough for a couple of these.

We didn’t see anything else in Mud Lake.

We paddled through the creek into Bear Lake. Fish were crashing at the entrance. We got a couple ladyfish, again on the Clouser.

Paddling down the lake yielded no chances at snook or reds. Some baby tarpon were rolling. We changed to the baby tarpon gurglers. In spite of missing a bunch we got four between us, including a tarpon double, on fly. Nice! Yes, they were micro-tarpon, but they are still tarpon, my favorite fish. And we got them on surface flies. So we counted the trip as a success.

Your intrepid blogger got this micro-tarpon on a gurgler.

Alex also used a gurgler to get this slightly larger specimen.

On the way back through Mud Lake Alex was blind casting along the mangroves and that chartreuse Clouser got him a little snook. So he got two reds, two tarpon, and a snook on fly in one day, certainly some kind of Everglades slam.

The snook was small but it completed the slam, all on fly.

We camped in Flamingo that night. The mosquitoes were thick. But the stars were beautiful. We saw two satellites. Fireflies flashed intermittently. We were asleep by eight thirty. I slept like a log. Man, I miss camping.

On the 26th we fished some ponds behind Cape Sable. The water was really high and dirty. I spotted a redfish working some mangrove roots and Alex got it on that same Clouser. It was the only shot we would have.

We got back to Flamingo about four thirty, loaded the gear up, and headed to Fort Myers. The drive was fortunately uneventful.

Today we launched the boat at a public ramp near Wiggins Pass. Once on the Gulf we headed south. The hope was that diving birds would give away the location of feeding Spanish mackerel and little tunny.

The hope was not realized. Plenty of bait, plenty of birds, no fish.

Along the beach were loads of mullet, oddly enough swimming north. We hoped to find tarpon with them but what we found were blacktip sharks. Several bit the mullet we tossed at them, and Alex got one of 50 pounds or so to the boat. With the exception of a couple of ladyfish and a small jack it was all we would catch.

There were lots of sharks like this blacktip, right along the beach.

Blacktips are magnificent animals.

Reach in there and get that expensive hook out, will you?

I’d never been to this section of the Florida coast. It was quite nice and I would like to visit again.

October 28
Dear Diary-
Last night Rick took us to Café Brazil. They have Brahma and Antarctica now! I had Alex try both. Alex and I had muqueca. It was so delicious. Sometimes I miss Bahia, I’ll tell you.

The last day of our trip is here. Alex sleeps while I write this. Our intent is to head to Sarasota and see if the little tunny are along the beach there. It’s on the way home.

The weather forecast today is iffy at best. A tropical storm churns in the Gulf, headed this way. So if it’s pouring the deal is off. We can only go out there and see.

October 29
Dear Diary-
An anticlimax. We got to Sarasota and it was pouring water from the sky. I was all for going out anyway but Alex would hear none of that. So we drove home, cleaned up the car and boats, and put stuff away. The trip was over.

A day later it’s still raining. Alex made the right call.

Next week- back to the lagoons!

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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Stuart, Sugarloaf Key Fishing Report

October 27, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Stuart, Sugarloaf Key Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 10/23/11

Upcoming Events- Show and Tell seminar on November 5 and 6. The 6th will be an on the water seminar. Details and the signup are now posted at this link- http://www.spottedtail.com/category/Schools-and-Seminars-13.

My apologies for the late report. In the Keys and Everglades I had no internet access. I spent my time fishing rather than searching for an internet cafe.

October 17, 2011
Dear Diary-
My alarm clock was set for 4 o’clock. I woke up at ten to three and couldn’t fall asleep again. After having some cereal and a cup of tea I woke Alex. We left for Stuart at about 4:40.

I had to fight to stay awake the whole way. Must have been because I wasn’t in bed. Alex was no help. He slept the entire distance.

We met Marcia Foosaner at the boat ramp a few minutes after seven. We left the boat and drove to Bathtub Beach. With a solid east wind the surf was UP. There weren’t a lot of mullet, or much obvious activity at the Bathtub. Still, we all managed a snook and several crevalle by tossing shallow running DOA Bait Busters.

We went to several other beach access points with no results. The wind was hard from the east, and it spit rain all morning. I’ve had great fishing along these beaches this time of year, but today was an off day.

We had lunch at the new bagel place. Mark Nichols joined us. He had Morris the Dog with him. Then we all went to DOA World Headquarters. Marcia and I both needed some Hot Heads for our new lines of flies. (A new blog with photo and tying directions coming soon!)

Alex and I are at River Palms now. He mustn’t have gotten enough sleep ’cause he crashed as soon as we finished supper. I’m hoping to watch some of the football game tonight, but I’m pretty sleepy myself.

Tomorrow we go fishing with both Mark and Marcia- a double feature!

October 18
Dear Diary-
We woke up to torrential rains, pushed by a strong southeast wind. In spite of this both Marcia and Mark were right on time. We launched the Mitzi at the Jensen Beach ramp and Mark navigated us to a flat on the south side of the Jensen Beach causeway.

We got out and waded in the pouring rain and chilling waters for three hours. Marcia threw a jerk bait, Alex a DOA Glow Shrimp, I a jig, and Mark a prototype of a new bait he’s working on. Between us we got four small jacks in three hours.

By this time I was starting to shiver, soaked through in spite of the raincoat. We wisely decided to call it and went to have breakfast.

Alex and I then hit the turnpike and drove to Sugarloaf Key, where we met Mike Gorton. It rained most of the way, and started raining very heavily after we got here.

We are in a house, very nice. Alex got a little tarpon in the canal behind.  I hope the weather gets better.

Alex got this baby tarpon on a DOA Glow Shrimp.

October 19
Dear Diary-
The house was shaking all night from thunderclaps. It was fitful sleep, with lightning going off every 30 seconds and all the thunder. It’s still raining as I write this but at least the sparks have subsided. We’re going to Mike’s now to see what he’s up to.

October 20
Dear Diary-
Mike saw my boat and said it needed gel coat work. Next thing Alex and I had sanders in our hands. We sanded the interior deck for hours. It was not fun. We were not fishing. I’m still itchy. On the other hand my deck is newly gelcoated and looks nice, plus it’s waterproof again.

Once the new gel dried we put the boat in the water. I netted a few pinfish and we went to a creek to go snapper fishing. It took me a while to find it. Then when we got there the water was milky. It was running at least eight knots. The wind was blowing right onto us at about 20. My anchor didn’t hold the first time. We finally got set and tried to fish.

It was ridiculous. I was going to move the boat to a calmer spot but more rain was coming, and it was getting dark. I’d say we were there about 20 minutes, had one bite (missed), and then ran out of there with our tails between our legs.

Today we went out of Key West with Jack Walker. While it was good to see Jack, we shouldn’t have bothered trying to catch fish. The water was milky dirty around Key West. We couldn’t find any bait. We finally had to sabiki up a few blue runners.

We got out to 200 feet of water and the water was still all milky. In four hours of bouncing around we had one bite. Alex got an amberjack of about 20 pounds, his first ever. It beat a sharp stick in the eye but was pretty pathetic, not at all what you think of when planning your Keys trip.

A solid amberjack for Alex, first he'd gotten.

Tonight we’re going to try night fishing for tarpon and snook. I so hope we get a few fish!

October 21
Dear Diary-
We met Jack and Willie and went to the Key West pier, getting there about 10 pm. Three friends of Jack’s were already there. The tide was low, the water was dirty, and not one bite was obtained between seven of us.

The reality of fishing is that sometimes it’s not too good. We traveled down here during a massive storm, and it’s boogered things up. But today is another day. We’re going out with Mike. We’ll see if that changes our luck.

Hope springs eternal in the heart of a fisherman.

October 22
Dear Diary-
We picked Mike up at his dock at about 10 AM to better catch the tide right. We went through a maze of creeks and ponds to oceanside. While the flat looked great, other than sharks it was devoid of life.

We fished for sharks for a while. I got a bonnethead on a bonefish fly and Alex got a small blacktip on a wiggle jig.

We kept hoping that the incoming tide would bring warmer water and some bonefish but no, that didn’t happen.

We went to a back country spot and looked but there weren’t even sharks there.
We went to a couple of different backcountry spots and fished for snappers for a little while. We missed a couple, got one little one, and gave up around 4 PM.

We’re going out with Mike in his boat today. He says the fish will start showing as it warms up again.

October 24
Dear Diary-
Permit are hard to catch. I have heard people say that they’ve caught them on fly. I’ve never seen it done. I’ve certainly never done it. After the past two days I think they’re all just making it up.

Mike showed us a lot of fish. We had shots at dozens of permit. Alex and I took turns with the fly rod and with a spin rod baited with a live crab. It didn’t much matter what we threw at them. They ignored us or fled in terror. Either they’re impossible to catch or we are really, really bad. Probably a little bit of both.

We spent two days searching for and casting to fish and didn’t get a bite.

Today Alex and I are going out in the Mitzi. We intend to target everything we see- sharks, ‘cudas, jacks, snapper, whatever. I want to hear the drag go out before I die.

Last night the Gortons had a barbeque at their house. It was Goodnews south- Mike, Kim, and Faith, Charlie Mudfoot and his girlfriend Lauren, Jack Walker, Willie, and Alex and me. It was good to see everyone together, not in Alaska. Hey, we exist elsewhere! What a discovery!

October 27
Dear Diary-
Mike led and Alex and I followed in the Mitzi. Charlie and Lauren rode with Mike. We had 25 knot winds out of the north and actually tried to find some bonefish. No success there!

Giving up on that idea we went to some creeks to fish for snappers. We got some pretty nice ones, a few crevalle, and at least everyone caught a few fish. Alex got to run the boat in some really crappy weather, too.

Miss Lauren got this nice snapper in a creek in the Keys backcountry.

As the Keys portion of our trip wound down we realized we had hit some terrible conditions. Nine inches of rain changed the salinity and dropped the temperature of the water by 11 degrees, and it boogered up the fish. We didn’t catch a lot, but Alex got a small tarpon, and an amberjack, and we got some snappers, and had shots at a bunch of permit. I’ve had worse trips.

Coming up- road trip, installment two.

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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Gamefish of the Goodnews River, Alaska

September 7, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Here in one place find images of the major gamefish found in Alaska’s Goodnews River.

Of the anadramous fishes, the first to appear are the king salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Kings reach weights in excess of 50 pounds on the Goodnews, making them the largest type of fish found in the river.

Your average "nice" Goodnews River king, a fish of about 25 pounds.

King salmon get quite large.

You'll also find king salmon jacks, precocious males that, despite their small size, are sexually mature.

Sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) come in next. When they come into the river they are bright silver (see the photo of the silver salmon below). As they prepare to spawn they become bright red with a green head. The males develop a hump.

Sockeyes, hard to catch when they first appear, become aggressive once colored up.

Chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) come into the river a few days after the sockeyes start. Like the sockeyes, they come in by the tens of thousands. Unlike the sockeyes they strike flies aggressively.

This chum shows some color.

Pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) come into the river every year, although alternate years have a larger then a smaller run. When they’re thick they almost become a nuisance.

This pink salmon threw mud all over Calene.

The last salmon specie in are the silver salmon, (Oncorhynchus kisutch). They may be the most popular fish among anglers coming to Goodnews River Lodge.

A bright silver salmon, early in the run.

Later in the run some of the silvers color up. This phenomenon happens to all the salmon.

The Dolly varden char follow the salmon up the river, hoping to gorge on their eggs. They range in size from little “micro” Dollies to fish over ten pounds. They also color up once in the river.

This nice Dolly varden is still quite bright.

This Dolly varden shows lots of color.

We also have two resident species in the river. The Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) is a lovely, delicate fish. A big one is three or four pounds, and could be in excess of 20 years old.

The Arctic grayling sports a showy dorsal fin.

Finally, the river hosts a population of beautiful leopard rainbow trout, (Oncorhynchus mykiss). These are also very popular among Goodnews River Lodge anglers. We release every trout we catch here.

An average sized Goodnews River rainbow trout. A big one will push 30 inches.

a detail of a pectoral fin, rainbow trout

That completes my pictorial roundup of Goodnews River gamefish.

John Kumiski

Home- Spotted Tail Outdoors and Travel

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2011. All rights are reserved.

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Still More Bears and Silvers on Alaska’s Goodnews River- Goodnews River Fishing Report

September 4, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Goodnews River Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 9/4/11

Upcoming Events- I will be available for charter in my usual stomping grounds in central Florida around the 15th of September. Word is the water is very high and very dirty, hardly ideal conditions. But the mullet will be running, so fishing along the beach could be outstanding if Katia doesn’t mess things up too much. Stay tuned…

Also, I hope to be running Show and Tell seminars on October 29 and 30. The 30th will be an on the water seminar. I will post more details when I get better internet access; i.e., after I get home.

Now, back to the Goodnews!

This is my last week here. We have only two guests this week and several staff members have already gone home. We’ve been getting camp ready for winter, pulling boats and attending to other necessary chores. In spite of that we have still had some time to fish.

A few days ago Jeff Arnold took Alex and I up the south fork for some trout fishing. The stream is just gorgeous. It was overcast and cold with intermittent showers, not an ideal trout day. The water temperature was only 44 degrees. In spite of that Alex got a couple of nice fish on streamers. I got one redded up silver salmon on a flesh fly, on my four-weight, pretty cool.

Even the more modest rainbow trout here are visually stunning.

Bears are searching hard for food. When we fillet fish gulls show up. They make a lot of noise, screaming excitedly, waiting for us to feed them. The bears hear them and come running. We are not cleaning fish by ourselves, and we keep a Remington handy in case Mr. or Mrs. Bear tries to get too intimate.

This bear was fishing for salmon carcasses. I had just finished filleting at this spot.

I nevr see bears catch a beaver but it's entertaining watching them try.

Yesterday Chris and Debbie, two school teachers from Goodnews, joined me for a day of salmon fishing on the middle fork. We caught a lot of fish, on both fly and spin tackle, many of which still had sea lice. Silvers are still coming in in good numbers.

Chris got this slob Goodnews River silver salmon while spey casting.

Chris used a spey rod with a sink-tip and unweighted flies, I used a seven-weight with a floating line and weighted flies, and Deb used a spin outfit with a Pixie spoon. We all caught fish. Late in the day Chris tried the Pixie for a while and got what may have been the smallest fish of the season. We vacuum packed it so he can eat it later this winter (just kidding).

This fish? A trifle more modest.

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 Bears and Silvers on the Goodnews River- Goodnews River Fishing Report

August 29, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Goodnews River Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 8/29/11

Upcoming Events- I will be available for charter in my usual stomping grounds in central Florida around the 15th of September. Word is the water is very high and very dirty, hardly ideal conditions. But the mullet will be running, so fishing along the beach could be outstanding if Irene didn’t mess things up too much. Stay tuned…

Also, I’ll be running Show and Tell seminars on October 29 and 30. The 30th will be an on the water seminar. I will post more details when I get better internet access; i.e., after I get home.

Now, back to the Goodnews!

Bears are searching for that last hurrah of summer, trying to fatten up before the salmon disappear. We are seeing them almost every day. They get very close to camp and a few have felt the sting of non-lethal rubber slugs from JA’s shotgun.

This bear is searching for fish. She's got mouths to feed.

Fall is definitely here. We’ve had frost, seen stars, and are watching sunrises and sunsets, things you just don’t see here in June.

The rivers are full of silver salmon. Some of them aren’t so silver any more. They color up like the other salmon species, turning a beautiful shade of red. Silver, pink, or red, they are hitting the same stuff as always. The epic run of 2006 saw 42,000 fish pass through the weir on the middle fork, and this year’s run are the progeny of those fish. So we’re in the middle of another epic season of silver salmon fishing. Fishing has been outstanding.

Rob got this silver salmon on a fly.

Most of the chums and pinks are lying dead along the banks, as are many of the sockeyes and kings. Shawn, one of my fishermen today, caught a nice sockeye while fishing for silvers.

Shawn got this sockeye while fishing for silvers.

Finding dollies and trout is more difficult than it was last week, although we got some nice specimens of both species today, on both egg-sucking leeches and flesh flies. Ross’s anglers used beads and bobbers, and while I don’t like to fish that way his fishermen got more fish than mine. To each his own I suppose.

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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Brown Bears of the Goodnews River- A Pictorial

August 25, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Goodnews River Lodge sits in a remote part of southwest Alaska, in the middle of bear country. We live in brown bear (Ursus arctos) habitat, and see them daily during the latter part of the season. Large, magnificent, goofy, dangerous, awesome, stinky, these and many more adjectives describe them. I love watching them and of course I’ve been photographing them as much as I can.

Rather than copy from another website the facts about these fascinating animals, I’ve included this link http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=brownbear.main for those who want more information. I will be satisfied with sharing a few of my photos.

This bear posed briefly on a gravel bar. Barnum Mountain forms the backdrop.

Another bear, another gravel bar. This one eats a chum salmon.

These bears possess an incredible sense of smell and can see as well as we can.

Bears will tear a beaver lodge apart in minutes.

A bear family strolls along the banks of the Goodnews River.

One cub had something the other wanted. Possession did not change.

The bear watches us while it secures its prize, a chum salmon.

Live is short. Get outdoors!

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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Dollies and Silvers and Bears, Oh My- on Goodnews River- Goodnews River Fishing Report

August 22, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Goodnews River Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 8/21/11

This week and next mark the peak of the Goodnews River silver salmon run. Some fly fishers are tallying 50 fish days and we’re finding fish everywhere. Fish run up to 30 inches or so and strike streamers, poppers, gurglers, spoons, spinners, and jigs, with chartreuse, cerise, hot pink, orange, and various combinations of those colors being most effective. While most fish caught in the lower river have sea lice, a few are starting to pink up already.

This silver salmon just missed the popper.

A couple days ago Steve and Julie Butler, fly casters from California, joined me for a day of silver salmon fishing on the middle fork. They brought a Pyromid charcoal grill with them, a super neat little device. We got a small salmon, which I filleted. In spite of a steady rain they got the charcoal burning and we enjoyed a very civilized lunch of freshly caught, steaming hot grilled salmon while sitting in camp chairs in the rain. A thermos of hot tea was a nice addition. They caught so many fish…

Reaching for a silver salmon.

On Saturday Phil and Linda Shmerda, from Texas, joined me for some Dolly fishing. We went up the north fork a way and started off by tossing little crappie jigs. They ought to be illegal. Phil even got several silver salmon on them, quite the battle on his 6 pound spin outfit.

This fine dolly took an orange tube fly.

Phil had interest in trying for Dollies with fly tackle. I had a couple six weights aboard and set him up with a gurgler. To use a Lefty-ism, it was like rolling a wine bottle into a jail cell. The Dollies were all over it, and he got a couple rainbow trout as well.

We came to a braid that I have a history with. A deerhair mouse imitation was tied onto the leader of the six weight, then well greased. We walked over to the braid and Phil made a few casts. Wham! Suicidal rainbow trout. Another cast or two and Wham! That one was big, and of course he got away.

Linda and I went looking for unusual stones on a gravel bar. The sun was out and it was just beautiful, wonderful people, awesome day.

We’ve been seeing bears every day. I was cleaning fish on a gravel bar a few evenings ago and here comes a bear up the river heading my way. Oh, crap. I put all the fish back in the boat and launched it asap. The bear came over to the side of the river I had been on and went swimming for one of the salmon carcasses I’d discarded. I waited patiently in my boat, watching. The bear finished its snack, then re-crossed the river and wandered back the way it had come, so I went back and started cleaning fish again.

Of course the bear came right back.

The bear came up the gravel bar.

I said the heck with this, packed up the fish and my gear, and ran up the river a couple miles to finish the job in a more bear-free environment. Bears are wonderful critters, but I wouldn’t want to get in an argument with one, especially over a few fish.

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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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Goodnews River- Alaska Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Gravel

August 15, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Most folks fishing with me in Alaska walk on gravel all day long but never look at it. Rocks is just rocks to them.

A small sample of Goodnews River gravel.

When I walk on gravel I see a kaleidoscope of color, form, shape, texture. I feel a deep sense of geology, history, archeology, biology. In the right light the visual richness of Goodnews River gravel almost overwhelms me.

Millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions of years ago sediments settled. Magma cooled. Volcanoes erupted. All these processes form rock. Heat and pressure change rock that’s already there.

Mountains were thrust upward by the motion of continents. Erosion wears them down. The river carries pieces of mountains towards the sea, shaping and polishing them as it goes. The river deposits the pieces in enormous piles we call gravel bars. I find pieces of mountains when I walk on those bars.

I wonder how long it takes a piece of gravel to travel from a mountain top to a riverside bar where I might find it. No one has started a gravel tagging program.

This fish, or what’s left of it, was not processed by a bear.

I find beautiful pieces of rock in the gravel. Unusual shapes and intrusions fascinate me. And occasionally, if you look enough, you find aboriginal artifacts.

Men have lived here in Alaska from the time of the Bering land bridge, about 12,000 years ago. Until Columbus arrived, these people lived in the stone age. Their tools and implements look much like the rest of the gravel. You have to look at a lot of rocks before you begin to notice those that are different, those that look worked.

I find a curiously hollowed out rock. Mike Gorton tells me it’s a whale oil lamp. It almost certainly predates Columbus’s arrival in the new world.

I find a stone. The working of men on one side is obvious. I take it back to camp and ask Mike what it might be. He says it’s an anchor stone, used by aborigines to anchor their skin covered boat. Thousands of years have passed since it was last used. Did the owners lose it when its tether snapped while anchored, or was it dropped, broken, and then discarded?

Footprints in the gravel indicate a large mammal has passed. Most of the time those mammals are bears. Their scat and footprints litter every gravel bar in the Goodnews River system, hundreds of miles of shoreline.

You find bear tracks on every gravel bar in the Goodnews River system.

Bear scat releases nutrients into the environment that salmon have carried into the river from the Pacific Ocean. Salmon act as an enormous nutrient cycling system, although that system is nowhere near as efficient as it was before dams, logging, agriculture, mining, and commercial fishing brought Pacific salmon perilously close to being endangered.

Salmon lay their eggs in gravel. It’s astonishing how they alter the river bed, digging the holes we call redds in which to lay their eggs. On the downstream side of the redds big humps of gravel alter the current flow, and at low water nearly form hazards to navigation.

As the hen salmon drop their eggs and buck salmon their milt, dolly varden and rainbow trout dart in to partake of the bounty of eggs. Salmon develop those gnarly teeth to fight off the egg predators. Apparently they work well enough that salmon continue returning to rivers that have not been too severely altered.

As I walk on a gravel bar, looking for interesting stones, all these thoughts and others only half-formed pass through my mind. A gravel bar is so much more than just a pile of rocks.

Purple asters, or a close relative, on a Goodnews River gravel bar.

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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Filed Under: Fishing Stories, Photo Essays · Tagged: , ,

Flesh Flies, Silver Salmon, and Dolly Varden on Goodnews River- Goodnews River Fishing Report

August 15, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Goodnews River Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 8/14/11

A fogbow down at Goodnews village.

The silver salmon bite is going strong on the Goodnews River. We’re still using weighted salmon flies on size 2 hooks dressed in pink, cerise, orange, and/or chartreuse. Pixies, Mepps Flying Cs, and 5/8 ounce jigs with twisty tails all work, too. Although the run certainly hasn’t peaked yet anglers are increasing the excitement quotient by fishing with poppers. The fish will be found in soft water all through the Goodnews River system. As always, the freshest fish in the river get caught in tidewater and still have sea lice on them. We caught the first colored silver of the season today.

Leon Martuch with a fat silver salmon.

Dead chum and pink salmon litter the banks. Fishing around the dead salmon requires a certain tolerance for stink. Trout and dollies are still eating salmon eggs but flesh flies are taking a good number of fish. I have to admit to being prejudiced against beads, since they are not flies, but the flesh flies are tied with zonker strips. In other words, they’re real flies.
In a related vein one of my fishermen, Ed Bowman, caught a dead chum while fishing in the middle fork. Appropriately, he was using a flesh fly. He also managed to catch several live rainbow trout and dolly varden.

A gratuitous picture of Drew for his mother. Hope you like it!

Dolly fishing is still sensational. The size of the average fish has is still about 20 inches long. Most of the bigger fish have moved far up the river. I still prefer a small orange gurgler tied on a #8 long shank hook, but flesh flies, egg sucking leeches, and of course beads are all working.

Fishing story: Before his arrival at Goodnews River Lodge our breakfast cook, Chris Robb, was not a fisherman. He bought a $50 fly fishing outfit before coming here. Yes, rod, reel, and line, all for fifty bucks. Needless to say, it was a complete piece of crap. I cast it myself just to see how bad it was.
Anyway, I took him out for silvers with said piece of crap and he managed to get not only his first salmon ever, but several others besides. He kept saying, “I can’t believe that rod didn’t blow up! That was the best fifty bucks I ever spent!” Crap outfit, happy ending. Good stuff.

Chris Robb battles a silver salmon on the Goodnews River.

We’ve been seeing more bears, eating salmon on the river banks and berries on the hillsides. Bears are way cool, but don’t mess with them. Here at Goodnews River Lodge we have never lost an angler (or a guide) to a bear!

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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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Goodnews River- Alaska Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , ,
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