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Fished Around Central Florida Report

March 10, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

Fished Around Central Florida Report

Thanks for reading this Fished Around Central Florida Report. Was fortunate enough to get out four days, and visited the dermatologist again. The weather maintains a fantastic level between fabulous and awesome.

Subscribers, if the photos don’t load, please visit my blog at https://www.spottedtail.com/blog/

Saturday

 

Bob Hosking and I went to the Econlockhatchee. It being Saturday, I was expecting a plastic horde, but we had the place to ourselves. We got quite a few fish, and while there were no monsters, a couple four-pounders came to hand. Bob used a plastic worm. I used a fly rod mouse and a Senko. It didn’t seem to make much difference.

Bob, average-sized Econ bass.

 

Monday

noting the water was low, I visited the Banana River Lagoon. The water makes up for its low level with a distinct lack of clarity. I got a nice trout blind-casting the Senko, and a couple shoreline redfish (the only way I could have seen them) on a black Clouser Minnow. Don’t need to go back for a while.

The fish threw saltwater all over my camera.

Tuesday

I tried Mosquito Lagoon again. I could copy and paste what I just wrote about the Banana River Lagoon. Low, dirty water, the only fish I could see were on the shoreline. Incredibly, managed three reds on fly. Took zero photos, somewhat of a relief, actually.

Thursday

Took a solo Econlockhatchee trip. It’s been good, the water is at the right level. Flies and soft plastics are what I’ve been using. Saw lots of gatorsaurusses.

 

Friday

my PA (I feel like we’re developing a relationship at this point) at the dermatologist froze another pre-cancerous lesion off my face. That’s what I get for spending so much of my life in the sunshine.

That’s the Fished Around Central Florida Report report. Thanks for reading!

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

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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2023. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: central florida fishing report, Fishing Reports, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

An Ode to Redfish

December 17, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

An Ode to Redfish Photo Essay, and a Merry Christmas to All

Thanks for reading this week’s post, Ode to Redfish. I only went fishing one day this week. Weather was fine when I left home, started pouring as soon as I put the boat in the water. I waited in the car for an hour, hoping it would stop. Then the boat resumed its place on my car’s roof, and we went home. No fishing.

And a Merry Christmas to all! And the Winter solstice 2022 in Northern Hemisphere will be at 4:47 PM on Wednesday, December 21!

Wanting to post this week because I won’t again until 2023, the Ode to Redfish idea struck. Here it is!

For subscribers- if the photos don’t load, click this link- www.spottedtail.com/blog.

The Copper Coated Crab Cruncher

By John Kumiski

The copper coated crab cruncher
just crunches crabs all day.
He’ll also eat some shrimp and fish
to while his time away.

You’ll find him sometimes tailing.
Sometimes he just sits still.
Sometimes he keeps a-cruising,
hoping his gut to fill.

He’ll sometimes be all by himself.
Other times he’ll be with friends.
No one can say why he does what.
On him it all depends.

They come sometimes as little rats.
They come as big bull reds.
I’d rather see them live and swimming
than in someone’s cooler, dead.

I catch them while I’m wading.
I catch them from my boat.
Some days I catch none at all.
But always I have hope.

I catch them with my spinning rod.
I catch them with my flies.
No matter how I catch them,
It almost gets me high.

I really love that redfish,
though he’s a simple beast.
Spending a day where redfish live
is a wonderful sensory feast.

I know this is a silly poem,
but I’m a silly boy.
One thing you can be sure of though,
redfish make me jump with joy!

I don’t know if Santa likes to fish. Rodney Smith, Banana River Lagoon. Merry Christmas!!!

 

Scott Radloff, off Cape Canaveral.

 

The late Joe Mulson casts, Tom Mitzlaff poles, Mosquito Lagoon.

 

The late Lefty Kreh, Indian River Lagoon.

 

River and Mike Conneen, St. George Sound.

 

Mark Marsh with a fatty, Indian River Lagoon.

 

Mosquito Lagoon tailers.

 

Son Maxx, first redfish on fly, Indian River Lagoon.

 

Patrick Phillips, Banana River Lagoon. I still use the kayak, 20 years later!

 

The inimitable Tamazon, Mosquito Lagoon.

 

George Allen, early morning Mosquito Lagoon.

 

My brother-in-law Richie Surprise, Indian River Lagoon. This image was a Florida Sportsman cover.

 

Laurel Boylen, Mosquito Lagoon.

 

Maxx and Alex, Indian River Lagoon.

 

Redfish portrait, Banana River Lagoon.

 

Bryan Carter, Ken Shannon, Plaqueman’s Parrish, Louisiana.

 

Austin Warmus, Mosquito Lagoon.

 

Bob Duport and Terri, Mosquito Lagoon.

 

Tom Van Horn, Mosquito Lagoon.

 

Alex and Maxx, Banana River Lagoon.

 

I forget this guy’s name, unfortunately. He got this big red and it squirted milt all over his legs. Indian River Lagoon.

 

Kevin is holding what looks like a redfish but is actually a trip to the Haunted House with Dad at Disney World.

 

Susan, Little Talbot Island.

 

Redfish school, Mosquito Lagoon.

 

Valentine redfish, East Bay.

 

The late Steve Baker, Mosquito Lagoon.

 

A deformed redfish, Mosquito Lagoon.

 

Charlie Chapman, Banana River Lagoon.

 

Marcia Foosaner, Indian River Lagoon. The Space Shuttle, carrying John Glenn, goes up behind her.

 

Redfish portrait, Mosquito Lagoon.

 

Redfish portrait, Indian River Lagoon.

That’s the Ode to Redfish. Thanks for reading! And a Merry Christmas to all!!!

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

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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2022. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Photo Essays, Uncategorized · Tagged: , , , , , ,

Three Lagoons Fishing Report

October 28, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

Three Lagoons Fishing Report

Thanks for reading this week’s post, Three Lagoons Fishing Report. Fished three days this week- one day for each lagoon! The three lagoons are on the east coast of Florida, wrapped around and extending north and south from the Kennedy Space Center. The length of the system is about 160 miles, so three days in a kayak is likely to leave a few spots totally unexplored…

October historically has the highest water levels of the year. A hurricane passed recently, dumping LOTS of rain. The water is high and dirty brown everywhere I went. Sadly, dirty brown has replaced crystal clear as the new normal.

I like the gauge to read below 0.5. Maybe after New Year’s…

For subscribers- if the photos don’t load, click this link- www.spottedtail.com/blog.

Monday

Sight fished with a fly.

The idea was to try and sightfish with fly tackle on Mosquito Lagoon. This required finding areas that are often dry during normal water levels. I wouldn’t say the trip was a resounding success, but it was a spectacular day, I had five or six shots, and actually hooked and released two fish. Mission accomplished!

Wednesday

This guy didn’t know it was a tarpon fly.

Indian River Lagoon was on the menu this day. I knew where there were baby tarpon, and had tied some new flies for the attempt. Regular readers may recall when last I fished these guys, I had a bite on the first cast and then nothing but one ladyfish afterwards. A classic tarpon fly called a Cockroach was tied onto the end of my leader. I saw some fish rolling, so cast it into the area (no seeing these guys in that water). A bite and I had… a redfish! A beautiful, nine-spot fish it was.

It had four more spots on the starboard side.

A while later the line came tight again. The fish finally jumped, and it was a tarpon. Small, five or six pounds. I was able to photograph it. It was the last fish the Cockroach would catch.

I went a long time without a bite.

I ran into another fly fisherman. He’d gotten a variety of fish on a weighted streamer, just chucking it. I kept tossing a Polar Fiber Minnow at rolling tarpon, and got a seatrout, a decent one.

I went a long time without a bite, again.

Changing tactics, I tried the spin rod with a DOA Shrimp. A bite! A snook! Another bite! A redfish! Tried a Closer Minnow, and got another redfish. And then, to complete my Indian River Lagoon Super Duper Fly Rod Grand Slam, a snooklet!

I went a long time without a bite, again. I tried the tarpon again- they all said no. I paddled back, loaded up, and went home.

Thursday

I tried Banana River Lagoon, launching at KARS Park. The gate guard told me no one had fished the previous day, and I was the first one there at 8 AM. So clearly the fishing wasn’t very good. Hurricanes have knocked a lot of trees into the water along the shoreline, and it looks extraordinarily fishy. Looks can be deceiving. I paddled all the way to Buck Creek, getting a trout while trolling, a snook while casting the shoreline (both on the rubber shad), and spotting one redfish and three black drum in all that distance, maybe four miles. Mind you, there was no wind. You could have seen a fish move from a quarter mile away.

You would think there would be oodles of fish here. How many does it take to make an oodle, anyway???

At Buck Creek, two or three tarpon rolled in almost an hour. Blind casting a streamer got me casting practice.

I got another trout dragging the shad behind me as I paddled back to the launch, at which point I loaded up, having gotten plenty of exercise. But I wasn’t skunked once in three days.

That’s the Three Lagoons Fishing Report. Thanks for reading!

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

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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2022. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

My Summer Solstice Central Florida Fishing Report

June 24, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

My Summer Solstice Central Florida Fishing Report

Thanks for reading my summer solstice central Florida fishing report. Hopefully all you pagans partied down! Personally, I just went fishing. I think I enjoyed a single bottle of carbonated malt beverage this week, too…

I visited three old friends this week- the Mosquito Lagoon, the Banana River Lagoon, and the Indian River Lagoon. I also spent two days dealing with insurance and car shtuff, such fun!

Monday

Found me kayaking at Mosquito Lagoon. Hadn’t been there in a while. Water is kind of gross, but in spite of that saw a few redfish. Had shots at four, two fled in terror. I caught the other two. Why can’t I always be that good??? See the photos for the fly patterns.

 

The water was kind of gross.

Took some time for wildlife observation, and to smell the ironweed, too. Always good ideas, both.

 

Tuesday

I tried the Banana River Lagoon. I go there so seldom any more that every trip is a search mission, even more so than everywhere else I fish.

The fish of the day.

I stood up and worked down the shoreline. In five minutes I’d seen a snook, a redfish, and two tarpon. I got out of the boat, tied the painter around my waist, and started wading, casting a rubber shad. In five minutes I had the fish of the day, a snook of maybe 20 inches. An hour later I got its twin. Kinda slow.

I tried the fly pole for a while. I got more bites from much smaller fish, eight or so snook and a redfish. Taken all together they would have made a decent sandwich-and-a-half.

Off the shoreline the water is dazzlingly clear. The bottom is covered with green stuff, an exotic plant whose name I can’t recall and am too lazy at this moment to look up. I hope it supports native invertebrates, but I’d be real surprised if it does.

Thursday

OK, a story here. A few years ago, I accompanied son Maxx on his move from Connecticut to California. We drove across the country, stopping at particularly interesting places along the way. One of them was the Meteor Crater in Arizona. Kind of pricey, but totally amazing.

Anyway, while there I was talking to a woman who travels and blogs about it (What a great thing to do!). I told her I lived in Florida. She said, “You should move out here! Isn’t this better than Florida?” Mind you, you could see forever, and it was all dry, brown desert. I said, “I’m a fisherman, lady, so no, it’s not!”

View from the Meteor Crater’s edge. Not a fish in sight.

Thursday I fished a place in the Indian River Lagoon where I had never fished before. I have been fishing here since 1984, and if I work at it, I can still find places I’ve never been. For fishermen, Florida is way better than Arizona!

Shoo that skunk!

That having been said, I hardly saw anything, and did not get a shot. I did catch a black drum blind-casting the rubber shad, a skunk-shooer for sure! We ate it for supper. Thank you, fish!

That’s My Summer Solstice Central Florida fishing report. Thanks for reading!

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

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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2022. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: central florida fishing report, Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

The Econ was On Fire Report and Photo Essay

May 14, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

The Econ was On Fire Report

Thanks for reading this Econ was On Fire report.

Monday

Early morning I drove to Brevard Zoo for a 7:30 rendezvous with Hope Leonard, who runs the restoration program for Restore Our Shores. I was a volunteer. We were going clam monitoring!

Measuring distance, digging clams.

ROS has research clam beds in the Indian River Lagoon throughout Brevard county. We went to five different sites to see how the clams were doing. You’d think with all the algae in the water, filter feeders like clams would have it made. But, crown conchs and other predators make clam life more dangerous than a casual glance would make it seem. Hope says the clams have about a 25 percent survival rate to this point.

The clams are protected by a net.

It was wet work in water that, if we’re being honest, didn’t make you want to jump in. But I got to spend a day with three strong, intelligent, and lovely women, doing some basic science that the lagoon needs done. Didn’t care for the drive to the zoo, but I’ll do it again. If you’re interested in volunteering, contact me and I’ll put you in touch with Hope.

Hope digs clams!

 

Wasn’t there a band called Counting Clams?

 

Tuesday

Had my eye surgery follow-up. Everything looks great- my eyes are 20/20 without glasses. When, as a 20-year old, I was at the rifle range at Fort Dix learning how to shoot, my buddies were hitting a Canadian bull target at 25 meters. I couldn’t see it. I’ve been wearing corrective lenses ever since, until two weeks ago. Now all I need are readers for close up. The adjustment should be easy!

Wednesday

We were under a small craft advisory. But the Econ river gauge was at 1.7, below my “threshold.”

Rod attached to bike.

 

The vehicle awaits.

Before I learned to drive, my bicycle was my transportation to my fishing spots- Mystic Lake, Wright’s Pond, the Malden Res, Brooks Pond, etc. I don’t often bicycle fish any more, but I did Wednesday, a mile-and-a-half each way, to go bass fishing in a place where the wind wouldn’t be a problem. The fish were biting! At the end of my line was a plastic Culprit worm on a 2/0 hook. I got five stumpknockers, big ones, on that rig, as well as a couple big redbellies. Bass to almost four pounds, and probably released 15 or so. And the missed strikes! I need to use that bike more often.

The river flowed through a beautiful cypress floodplain.

 

The Econ, kinda small.

 

Good fish, though!

 

Even the sunfish hit the worm.

Thursday

The kayak, perhaps a more “normal” way to access fishing spots, was used to access a different section of the river this day, even though we were still under the sc advisory. I figured with the low water, wading would be an option. I hate beating up the same place day after day, so to a different section I went.

One on fly…

The fishing was at least as good as the previous day, and I was able to use my fly rod, too. It worked better than the spin rod! Yeah, the Econ was on fire, just awesome.

…and one on plastic.

Friday

A bonus Banana River Lagoon report!

I launched at KARS. Within 10 minutes what certainly looked like a small school of fish, fifteen or so,  came down the shoreline towards me. I tossed a Clouser Minnow at them and got immediate gratification!

I got three of these in about two hours.

I followed that school for a couple miles and a couple hours, hooking three more reds and boating two- the other one bulled into the shoreline trees and cut me off.

After I lost them I just scouted, looking around for more fish (not many), checking out the water (astonishingly clean past the radar station- almost crisp!), noted the total lack of any green thing growing on the bottom, and then packed it in. Had the boat on the roof by 1130 hours. Darned good morning.

That’s the Econ was On Fire report. Thanks for reading!

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

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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2022. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: central florida fishing report, Fishing Reports, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays · Tagged: , , , , ,

Autumnal Equinox East Central Florida Fishing Report

September 24, 2021 by · Leave a Comment

Autumnal Equinox East Central Florida Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this week’s Autumnal Equinox East Central Florida Fishing Report. Got out four days this week- once to the beach, two solo trips by kayak, once with Tom Van Horn. In general fishing was more productive last week.
———————————————
I’ve been writing a travelogue for Global Outdoors. You can see those posts here- https://blog.globaloutdoors.com.
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Monday

The first fish of the day nailed an Electric Sushi streamer.

I went to the Indian River Lagoon by kayak. Early on I heard a fish bust along the bank. Got into position (so important) and flung a fly along the bank. Third cast the line came tight, a beautiful coppery top-of-the-slot redfish. Good start to the day.

The tarpon seemed to prefer the EP fiber minnow.

It wasn’t gangbusters though. After some time, I found some baby tarpon rolling. Through a few fly changes and a lot of casting I got a few bites, jumped and unhooked two. Tarpon of any size are the coolest of fish!!

The snook didn’t seem to care one way or the other.

A few more fish started busting along the bank. Turned out to be what Mark Nichols calls snooklets. Got a few on streamers.

An electric sushi did the red.

Last fish was another red, bottom of slot. It was by far the most productive day of the week.

Tuesday

Susan and I went to see the Orange County Public Schools Art Teachers exhibit at the City Arts gallery. If you’re in Orlando, it’s a worthwhile stop of an hour or so.

Wednesday-

the autumnal equinox, saw me trying the Banana River Lagoon again. It’s o-fish-illy fall! Determined to get some fish on fly, I made sure the leader was long enough (about 16 feet) that the line wouldn’t spook fish. It worked! Didn’t spook any! Of course, most of the reason for that was because there weren’t any fish to spook.

The only fly-caught fish of the excursion, took an electric sushi streamer.

Worked my butt off all morning blind-casting, got one small snook. I stood up and poledled (paddled and poled with the paddle) all along the shoreline heading back, saw nothing for a long way.

The spin rod was out, with a DOA Shrimp, when I spotted a slot trout. A cast, and the fish hit violently. As I played it, a dolphin appeared out of nowhere- I thought he’d take the fish off the line! He hung around waiting for me to let it go. I kept it in the boat, not wanting dolphins to associate fishing boats with food (although this one clearly already did). The fish, about 17 inches long, died while waiting for me to release it. That’s how long the darn dolphin hung around.

I love dolphins. They are magnificent animals. But they can outswim anything else in the water and certainly don’t need humans to catch fish for them. Please do not feed caught fish to dolphins!

Thursday

was the official son Alex’s birthday. Happy birthday, Alex! He’s currently in California, so not much special went on there. Except I went fishing with Ton Van Horn, in the Indian River Lagoon.

We saw exactly two redfish (no shot at either) and three or four tarpon roll. If not for the generosity of a pair of six-inch trout, we would have been completely skunked.

Friday

Susan and I went to Playalinda Beach. I tossed a jig and did not touch a fish. One hundred yards away, three guys were surf fishing conventionally, using cut mullet for bait. They caught bluefish steadily.

I thought this bird wanted me to pet it. It hung out right next to us until Susan mentioned having boiled eggs for lunch, at which point it bolted. Poor bird!

Soon enough the mullet should start their annual parade down the beach. Then my jigs will work as well as anything else.

After leaving the beach, we went looking for spoonbills on the Black Point Wildlife Drive. There were none there, and precious few birds of any kind. So that’s not in season yet, either, but should be soon!

That’s what I got. Thank you again for reading the Autumnal Equinox East Central Florida Fishing Report. Life is great and I love all my readers!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go hiking! Take a walk! Do SOMETHING!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide

Purchase a signed copy of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2021. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Trying to Get Back to Normal

September 10, 2021 by · Leave a Comment

Trying to Get Back to Normal

Thank you for reading this week’s post, Trying to Get Back to Normal. Whatever normal means!

I post this on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, in which almost 3000 people were killed, triggering nearly unanimous and well-deserved outrage from the American people.

Over 600,000 Americans have died as a result of COVID, and we still have cretins not wearing masks or getting vaccinated. I don’t understand it…
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Readers may know I’ve been writing a travelogue for Global Outdoors. You can see some of those posts here- https://blog.globaloutdoors.com.
———————————————

Traveling Epilogue, by the numbers

On our trip around the USA, which lasted 153 days (give or take one or two), Susan and I traveled a total of 15,783 miles in our Sienna van. The van used 702.5 gallons of gasoline to do that, which cost me $2271.91. The fuel economy for the entire trip came out to 22.5 miles per gallon. The miles per dollar amount was just under seven miles per dollar.

We used roads in 29 different states. Additionally, I flew to Alaska.

We did not count how many state and national parks we visited. It was quite a few!

The trip, a huge learning experience for both of us, was an epic adventure from any standpoint! We hope to do more trips in the future, so stay tuned…

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Responses to the Rant

Last week’s post generated the biggest response of any post I’ve made over 11 years. Need I say, not all were positive? I had numerous unsubscribes. Seeee ya!

Positive responses, on the other hand, were more numerous than the negatives. I would like to thank first all of you who did not unsubscribe, and then especially those of you who wrote comments of encouragement. Thank you!

Some of those comments-

“Your rant is very much on target. Kudos to you for speaking up on your website. The selfishness and stupidity out there is incredible. And the fact that people in high political office are promoting this is unforgivable. I had to let you know you are not alone in your beliefs.”

“Amen, amen. Keep on ranting—sadly, though, it seems to change the minds of fewer than 5% of my Alaskan friends. Some of the worst are the ‘personal liberty’ proponents who don’t seem to realize that they give up personal liberty for the common good ten times a day when they stop at a traffic light.”

“I agree with all you said in your rant. Having troubles these days praising Florida as my home state.”

“Appreciate the rant. I’m pretty sure my politics are to the right of yours (I’m a hopeless conservative.) But I am stumped by the stubborn, callous leadership of a governor who is charged with helping the people of his state flourish and by the decisions (and information sources) of some of my friends for whom I have great respect. Vaccines and social mitigation techniques have proven effective. Full ICU capacity populated by unvaccinated patients should be enough motivation for all. We’ve lost our minds.”

“The ‘we’re free to do whatever the hell we want’ argument is also flawed. No one has the right to walk around with a gun pulling the trigger while they point it at people all around them, thinking it’s unloaded. Essentially that’s what they’re doing if they’re unvaccinated. COVID can be lethal and the unvaccinated are playing Russian roulette with other people’s lives.”

“that was one of the best stated cases for being vaccinated that I have seen, well done and I pray it hits home with some of your friends and followers.”

“I also enjoyed the rant. All I can say is ‘Amen’. I live in Lake County and I think we are regressing instead of progressing. I have two grandchildren in public school and a great granddaughter in preschool. I want them safe and a mask is such a simple thing to wear.”

I’ll let it go now. Hopefully all my readers and their loved ones will stay COVID-free.

FISHING-

Labor Day weekend- I never fish, or even venture outside much. I hibernate until the craziness is done, then cautiously venture back out again.

Dawn Patrol

Tuesday– Mike Conneen and I had a dawn patrol trip (it’s still summer in Florida) on the Banana River Lagoon. Mike did OK with the spin rod, tossing his favorite lure, the Vudu shrimp. Trout, snook, and a redfish fell to the bait. He mostly cast around schools of rain minnows.

I mostly watched him, catching only two small trout and one smaller ladyfish on a redfish worm fly until Divine Intervention happened in the form of a pair of tailing reds. The cast was true, the fish responded like one hopes, and a short time later I released a fish near the top of the slot. Made my day.

Mike and River the Wonder Dog

It still gets real hot here under that sun come midday.

Wednesday– went to the beach on a dawn patrol trip, hoping for some action. I got it too- in the form of big rollers. Apparently there was a hurricane off the coast. The surfers were having a field day. It’s a fantastic time of day to be on the beach!

I, however, only hooked and lost three small bluefish on a jig. After an hour and a half of fighting waves fruitlessly, I went to the Indian River Lagoon, where Divine Intervention happened again, in the form of a tailing redfish. Again the redfish worm did the job, and I got a photo of this one.

A colorful redfish on a drab black fly.

Thursday‘s weather forecast kept me home, and Friday was an errands and maintenance day. Hope to do more fishing next week!

That’s the report for this week. Thank you again for reading the post, Trying to Get Back to Normal. Life is great and I love all my readers!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go hiking! Take a walk! Do SOMETHING!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide

Purchase a signed copy of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2021. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Three Lagoons Fishing Report

September 23, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

Three Lagoons Fishing Report

Finally, a more-or-less full week of fishing. Our travels this week brought us to the Mosquito Lagoon (twice), the Indian Rver Lagoon (twice), the Banana River Lagoon, the Econlockhatchee River (no fishing though) and a brief stop at Port Canaveral. So we have a three lagoons fishing report.

three lagoons fishing report

The boats wait for us to finish the shuttle.

Sunday I joined Tammy and Mike Conneen for a kayak trip down the still-flooded Econ. It had peaked earlier at 18 feet and on Sunday was at 12 feet (https://waterdata.usgs.gov/fl/nwis/uv/?site_no=02233500&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060), still mostly over its banks. The weather was awesome and everything was going fine until I took a “shortcut”, followed by everyone else.

three lagoons fishing report

Mike Conneen, navigator extraordinaire.

 

three lagoons fishing report

Off we go into the woods.

 

three lagoons fishing report

Don’t trespass!

Before long there was no current to follow and we were darn confused, paddling around in the woods. Mike got the phone out (GPS app). We followed him back to the river, losing about an hour in the process.

three lagoons fishing report

We’re definitely in the woods.

 

three lagoons fishing report

Still in the woods.

 

three lagoons fishing report

Tammy doesn’t care. She always enjoys herself.

When we got to the St. Johns there was no river, only a very large lake. It’s still lapping the sides of SR 46 and the CS Lee boat ramp is still closed.

three lagoons fishing report

Cheryl on the lake that once was the St. Johns River, near SR 46.

 

three lagoons fishing report

Remember to run at idle speed!

Monday Tammy and I went scouting on the IRL, launching at Parrish Park. The water is high (https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?02248380) and dirty in most places. We fished around some culverts and Tammy got snook, redfish, and ladyfish. She foul-hooked a trophy black mullet. She wanted a seatrout but we could not find one. The mullet may have weighed more than all the other fish combined.

three lagoons fishing report

We converted one redfish on a DOA CAL shad.

Tuesday Scott Radloff and I did a Mosquito Lagoon survey. This lagoon has by far the cleanest water of the three lagoons, and quite a few mullet too. We actually saw a handful of redfish, getting shots at two and converting one on a DOA CAL shad. I got six snooklets on a #6 Clouser minnow, beautiful little fish that would have looked great in an aquarium. We also got a half-dozen slot trout, one on a jig and the rest on a DOA Deadly Combo.

three lagoons fishing report

Scott got a trout on a jig.

Wednesday Miss Chellie Gentry joined me for a fly fishing charter on the IRL. In the morning we hit maybe ten culvert pipes. None of them had fish. She finally got her first saltwater fish, a tarpon, on a gurgler. It was a wonderful moment- I’m sorry I didn’t get a photo.

three lagoons fishing report

The magic pipe produced a couple dozen ladyfish…

Then we hit the pipe I had been looking for all day. The ladyfish were going crazy, and she got three redfish too. They were not very big but they were all on fly. We called the outing a success! Chellie, thanks for fishing with me!

three lagoons fishing report

…and several redfish!

Thursday Mike Conneen and I met to check out the Banana River Lagoon, the third lagoon in the three lagoons fishing report. The water was a soupy olive green. Nowhere could you see the bottom. There was a dearth of baitfish. Mike actually caught a slot trout by blind casting with a Vudu Shrimp. We had the kayaks back on our cars in a little less than three hours.

three lagoons fishing report

Mike battles a trout…

 

three lagoons fishing report

…which was actually a solid fish.

While in the neighborhood it seemed appropriate to check the ramp at Port Canaveral. They are operational, and in spite of the big seas there were several trailers in the lot. I didn’t see any mullet and asked a fisherman who had come in to the ramp if he had seen any. He said, “I fish here regularly. It was dead out there. I used mud minnows for bait all morning and did not get a bite. And no, there weren’t any mullet.”

The obvious question is, where are they? It’s certainly mullet time.

Friday found me back on Mosquito Lagoon with son Alex and his friend John. We fished a couple bars and caught a few trout on spin tackle, then went looking for redfish. We actually found a few (and a few black drum too) but did not convert, and did not get one. About noontime threatening weather caused us to race the storms back to River Breeze. We got the boat on the trailer just as the storms hit us, some darn close timing when lightning is involved.

That is this week’s three lagoons fishing report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2017. All rights are reserved.

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Week of the Black Drum Fishing Report

April 1, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

black drum fishing report

Week of the Black Drum Fishing Report

We caught other kinds of fish this week, but black drum were the stars. Thus the black drum fishing report.

Thank You!
Many thanks to all those folks who responded to my question about eastern Tennessee. I got more information than I could handle in a busy week!

Alaska
Mike Adamson shared this link by email- https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/03/150-years-ago-today-the-us-bought-alaska-from-russia-for-72-million/521340/?utm_source=nl-atlantic-weekly-033117 . Definitely worth the few minutes it takes to check it out.

Manatee Reclassified

Manatees Delisted
In a move guaranteed to generate controversy, the US Department of the Interior has removed the West Indian manatee from the endangered species list. You can read the entire press release here- http://www.spottedtail.com/blog/manatee-reclassified-from-endangered-to-threatened/Solo Skiff
Tom Mitzlaff posted a video that has gotten six million views! See it here- https://www.facebook.com/SoloSkiff/videos/1274846345945765/

 

Fishing!

black drum fishing report

Bass on RipTide.

Sunday I went to a pond in Oviedo and in the howling winds managed to spin fish my way to a handful of bass. The lure was the RipTide Sardine.

black drum fishing report

No trophies- the best fish of the afternoon.

Monday fly fisherman Jeff Leishman joined me for a fly fishing trip on the Banana River Lagoon. The weather was spectacular, a chamber-of-commerce kind of day.

black drum fishing report

Jeff with one of many black drum.

We weren’t out very long when we spotted a tail, and then another, and then the whole place was loaded with tailing fish. Jeff, tossing a crab imitation, did some serious work with those fish. We had five or six double hookups. If only every day were like that…

black drum fishing report

One of our doubles…

Tuesday’s kayak fishing trip happened out of River Breeze, with George White and his friend Mike. They were tossing those little shad tails I’m so fond of, and got a mix of seatrout and redfish. The fish made us work, though, no suicidal ones this day. There are long stretches of fishless water out there. And that water is beginning to rise again. It’s getting deeper.

black drum fishing report

Mike had never caught a redfish before.

Wednesday and Thursday I had the pleasure of hosting Jerry and Alex, a father-son team from the Chicago area, on the Mosquito Lagoon. Alex will be pitching for the Cubs in the World Series in another 15 years or so. But I digress…

black drum fishing report

Alex got this trout on a DOA Deadly Combo.

Wednesday the weather again was picture-perfect. The fish, however, were incredibly spooky. Redfish wouldn’t let us within two cast-lengths away. Since you can only cast one cast-length, we just couldn’t get a bite. We got a fair number of trout. All but one were short. We got one redfish, which may have been barely legal. We got a real nice puffer. We got to watch a herd of manatees in clear, shallow water. A beautiful day, kind of tough fishing-wise, though.

Thursday young Alex started us off with a fine 23 inch seatrout he got with a DOA Deadly Combo. BANG! Several more nice trout followed. Then we found a herd of black drum. Double!

black drum fishing report

More black drum doubles in a black drum fishing report week!

The fish let you know when they’ve had enough by swimming fast and not biting any more. We took the hint and tried a few other spots, getting another trout or two. We hardly saw any redfish. Yes, it was windy, but visibility was pretty good. I just couldn’t find any. We returned to the drum spot. They were still there and we got three more. At that point the wind was blowing close to 20 knots, so we called it a day.

That is the week of the black drum fishing report!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2017. All rights are reserved.

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Vernal Equinox Lagoons Fishing Report

March 26, 2017 by · 2 Comments

Vernal Equinox Lagoons Fishing Report

Monday was the vernal equinox. North of the equator length of day is now longer than length of darkness. It’s springtime, baby! So we have a Vernal Equinox Lagoons Fishing Report.

Ongoing Events-
The Save the St. Johns: Activate the River campaign aims to get people out on the water. Until April 2, 2017, boat tours, paddling trips, hikes and biking adventures are available from the headwaters of the St. Johns to the mouth. We are asking YOU to #GetYourFeetWet and explore the river somewhere new. Bring a friend, register today, and upload pictures using the #ActivatetheRiver to share your experiences! Visit www.savethestjohns.org for more information.

A Question for You
I have an assignment to write an article about fly fishing in eastern Tennessee, a place I’ve never been (but am making plans to visit). Does anyone have any information on this area that they could share? Use the “Leave a Comment” link above, or send an email to john(at)spottedtail(dot)com. Thanks in advance!

Fishing!
Between the small craft advisories and Susan being off this week I only got out two days.

lagoons fishing report redfish

Anthony got this red on a DOA CAL shad.

On the equinox Mr. Anthony Mason and his 83 year-old father, Mr. Rex Mason, joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon kayak fishing, out of River Breeze Park. Although the weather was beautiful the fishing was a little slow. They managed three redfish and two very solid trout between them.

lagoons fishing report redfish

Not to be outdone, Rex got this one!

Rex was pretty inspirational- I sure hope I’m still kayak fishing at 83, if I’m not already pushing up daisies!

lagoons fishing report seatrout

Nice trout, too!

Thank you for fishing with me, gentlemen!

On Friday, in spite of the forecast 20 knot east winds, I went scouting at the Banana River Lagoon. Gee, the forecast was correct. The lagoon looked like a washing machine.

Fishing was not fabulous, even though I opted for a six-weight. I did manage three reds on Steve Duckett’s bouncer shrimp fly, and had one fish who took the fly three times. Yes, I missed him all three. He finally realized something was wrong and vacated the area.

lagoons fishing report redfish

The bouncer fly certainly works.

The water was quite clean and there are even a few sparse tufts of manatee grass here and there, trying to mount a comeback. Finger mullet are starting to show up. Although conditions were less than optimal, I did not see a lot of fish, and had some pretty long stretches where I saw little or nothing. Maybe if the weather were better…

That is the vernal equinox lagoons fishing report!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2017. All rights are reserved.

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