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Election Week Central Florida Fishing Report

November 5, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Election Week Central Florida Fishing Report

This is the Election Week Central Florida Fishing Report.

Rain and the Lagoons

Back a few weeks we had a near-miss from Hurricane Matthew. Several people asked me if the storm’s heavy rains would have a clearing effect on the lagoon. The short answer- no, it won’t.

The drainage area of the Indian River Lagoon system has increased three-fold since Henry Flagler built his railroad around the turn of the 20th century. That increase in watershed size has come mostly from drainage ditches that drain sugar fields, orange groves, and cattle pastures, drainage ditches that drain subdivisions and shopping areas, storm drains, etc. All that freshwater draining into the lagoon carries loads of nutrients and pollutants. So the rain, rather than increasing the water quality in the lagoon, actually decreases it.

If the water were pure rainwater it would be great. But it’s polluted storm runoff. It won’t be clearing the lagoon, ever. Rather than solving the problem it just makes it worse.

Outside Reading

Reid Bryant has a brilliant essay about social media’s blurring effect on fly fishing reality in the November/December issue of American Angler. It’s worth getting the magazine just to read it.

Blog Posts This Week

Go Macro Macrobars Review- http://www.spottedtail.com/blog/gomacro-macrobars-review/
CEP Merino Socks Review- http://www.spottedtail.com/blog/cep-outdoor-ligh…ino-socks-review/
—————————————————-
FOR SALE
Still trying to find a good home for my old EZ Loader Trailer- http://orlando.craigslist.org/bpo/5764303987.html
—————————————————-

Yes, we did go fishing this week.

central florida fishing report

Mr. Conneen works the Lox.

On Monday Mike Conneen drove and I rode along to Jupiter, Jonathan Dickinson State Park, to fish the Loxahatchee River. Beautiful mangroves lined the river with pine trees right behind them. The water was dark but pretty clear. High water. We saw a half dozen or so tarpon, no takers. We did not see any snook, the main reason we went. We did not see much else in the way of fish, and rare in a Florida waterway, no manatees.

We saw lots of birds of various water kinds of species, and some alligators, and caught maybe ten crevalle between us. Mike got the lion’s share of those.

It was a pleasant enough day to be paddling on a lovely river. Fishing was disappointing though.

Tuesday errands called, not the least of which was early voting. Man, I’ll be glad when the election is over, regardless of what happens. I digress. A small retention pond lies near the polling place. Thirty minutes of casting a red shad culprit worm netted me one small bass. Then the errands continued. Thank you, little fish! Please discharge your civic responsibility by doing some research and then voting!

You may have pieces of water you drive by all the time on your way to fish elsewhere. Thursday found me undecided about where to fish. High, dirty water in the lagoon makes me not want to fish there. The Econ is still very high. The St. Johns is still high. Some time looking at maps gave me an idea. “You drive past here all the time and have never stopped. Go check it out.”

I hooked up the Bang-O-Craft to the chariot and rode off to joust with windmills at the new spot (two in one week!). The new spot was beautiful, near SR 46 but surrounded by marshes. There were fishies breaking all over the place. I could not catch one on spin or fly and never figured out what they were.

Deciding to ignore them I started tossing a Culprit worm (same one as on Tuesday). Boom! Boom! Boom! Three yearling bass in quick succession. A long dry spell followed. Looking at the place you just knew there were fish there. But I couldn’t find any more.

central florida fishing report

Three yearling bass in quick succession…

I stumbled into a small creek with a little bit of current. The fish were “stacked up like cordwood” in there (I have waited a lifetime to honestly use that old cliche.) The Culprit worm got torn apart. The the DOA CAL worm I put on got torn apart. Then the DOA CAL shad I put on got torn apart, although what was by far the biggest fish I hit (three pounds, maybe a little more?) took that and tossed it, heartbreakingly, on the first jump.

It finally dawned on me that I had a fly pole and this might be a good place to use it. For close an hour I caught a bass on almost every cast on a cream-colored Matuka Bouncer. Yes, the fish were small, 12″ ones. But it was a bass on every cast. It has never happened to me before. It was fun. It was fabulous. It was by far the most bass I ever caught in one day in a lifetime of fishing.

The place was Loughman Lake. It must have some bigger fish and I’ll be going back.

Friday George Allen joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. Speaking of little fish…

We got numerous trout on DOA CAL jigs, only one fish in the slot. We went looking for redfish. We found some spooky tailing fish and never really got a good shot at one. We poled some shorelines. Shortly before we left George hit one while blind casting. That fish maybe went 18 inches, took a DOA CAL shad tail, and was the only red we got.

central florida fishing report

Redfish on the DOA CAL Shad, an awesome little bait.

The manatees are still everywhere. Please navigate with caution- GO SLOWLY!

You may have restaurants you drive by all the time on your way to eat elsewhere. There’s a relatively new place on US 1 in Titusville called Loyd Have Mercy. Soul food, seafood, and Bar B Cue. Susan and I went there Firday evening, not really knowing what to expect. I got garlic butter crabs with cole slaw and carrot souffle. Sue got shrimp with the same sides. OUTSTANDING! My only complaint concerned crab size- they were kind of small. But as far as the quality of preparation, everything was wonderful. We’ll be going back. Do your taste buds a favor and check it out.

central florida fishing report

What’s left of the crabs after I got going…

And that is the Election Day Central Florida 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 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

High, Dirty Water Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

October 22, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

High, Dirty Water Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

The gauge reads two feet (I like it below 0.5). The water is full of microscopic brown algae. It’s the High Dirty Water Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report!

BLOG POST THIS WEEK-
Kayak Fly Fishing Mosquito Lagoon Redfish- The New Reality http://www.spottedtail.com/blog/kayak-fly-fishing-mosquito-lagoon-redfish-new-reality/

FOR SALE
Still trying to find a good home for my old EZ Loader Trailer- http://orlando.craigslist.org/bpo/5764303987.html

===============================

Sunday I ran my On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar on the Mosquito Lagoon. We ran the Mitzi around the lagoon from Haulover Canal down to Max Hoeck Creek, up to the north entrance of the Pole-Troll area, and back to Haulover. The water is dirty everywhere, but it’s dirtiest down south.

There are almost-ridiculous numbers of manatees around. We’re seeing them in places we never used to.

We saw a float in the water, the kind used on the DOA Deadly Combo. The first thing that came to mind was, “I wonder if there’s a fish on it?” Slowing to idle, we approached the float. When we got close, it went down!

I put a jig head on one of my lines, then hooked the line between the float and the fish. It turned out to be a redfish of about four pounds! We released the fish and the float was added to my tackle stash. That was all the fishing we did, and the only fish we saw.

Monday Scott Radloff joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing from the Mitzi. We started behind some islands in the pole-troll area. We couldn’t see the bottom, but I quickly got a slot red on a Johnson Minnow. Scott hit a small trout on a Deadly Combo a few minutes later. We stayed back there over an hour, but those were the only bites we got.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Scott with our only redfish.

Fishing along various bars we picked up about 15 seatrout using the Deadly Combo. Most of them were short, with a few decent ones. We did not see a redfish all day. The boat was on the trailer about 2 PM.

Tuesday son Alex and I went bass fishing together at a pond in Geneva. It was slow. He got one on a popper. I got four on Culprit worms.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Alex with the best fish of the day.

 

mosquito lagoon fishing report

During the battle the worm got torn off.

Wednesday I took the kayak to River Breeze. In one way it was a crazy idea, since the water was high and dirty. I figured I could get into low traffic areas and look around. As it turned out, that was true.\

I looked in new spots and favorite spots. I tried sight fishing and blind casting. I used a spin rod, something I almost never do when kayaking. The water was cleaner up there than farther south. You could see the botton sometimes in almost two feet of water. I did not see a single fish, nor did I get a bite. I ran across two other kayakers who had the same report.

The boat was back on the roof of the car at about 230 PM.

Friday Dr. Greg Scible joined me for a day’s fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. Using Deadly Combos we picked at mostly undersized trout- one here, one there. We found a flat with fairly clean water. On that flat were just enough redfish to keep us there for over an hour. They were hard to see and although we had several not-particularly-good shots we did not get one, did not get an eat from one.

We ended the day using the Deadly Combo again. On the last cast of the day Greg got the best trout of the day, a fish that was maybe 19 inches long. He released it before I could get a picture.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

None of the trout would be considered trophies.

And that is the High, Dirty Water Mosquito Lagoon 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 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Small Craft Advisory Orlando Fishing Report

October 15, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Small Craft Advisory Orlando Fishing Report

Since Hurricane Matthew passed us we have been under a small craft advisory for an entire week, with constant 20 knot winds out of the east-northeast. So we have the Small Craft Advisory Orlando Fishing Report.

BLOG POST THIS WEEK-
Kayak Fly Fishing Mosquito Lagoon Redfish- The New Reality http://www.spottedtail.com/blog/kayak-fly-fishing-mosquito-lagoon-redfish-new-reality/

FOR SALE
Still trying to find a good home for my old EZ Loader Trailer- http://orlando.craigslist.org/bpo/5764303987.html

I certainly don’t want to drag this blog into the quagmire of election politics, but this makes an excellent Bumper Sticker of the Week:

orlando fishing report

===============================

I’m looking for a publisher for my latest book. Much of Monday was spent working on that. I am also making an attempt to join the 21st century social-media-wise. Yes, I am kicking and screaming. But Tuesday morning found me working on that. After being in the house since last Wednesday cabin fever was building.

Tuesday afternoon two retention ponds in Oviedo helped dispel the urge, helped scratch the itch. Eight largemouthed black bass were caught on DOA CAL bass worms and Culprit worms from those two ponds, along with a single missed strike. Not exactly fly fishing in the wilderness, but it was fishing, and fish (although not particularly large fish) participated. Life is good.

orlando fishing report

BASS on CAL

 

Orlando Fishing Report

BASS on Culprit

The storm knocked some trees down in my neighborhood. Wednesday morning I collected some of that newly available firewood. After that I visited a ditch that drains into the St. Johns River. In ten minutes those same plastic worms that worked so well the previous day fooled five bass to three pounds who were hiding in that ditch! A brief spurt of hot fishing, indeed!

Orlando Fishing Report

BASS with some old guy

Continuing on to the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, I discovered that:
-the water is very high, although it’s been higher;
-all the boat ramps appear to be operational;
-the dike roads are all closed; and
-I must postpone my show and tell seminar because the dike roads are all closed.
There were some trees down but all in all it could have been much worse.

With the intent of netting some mullet for future bait use I took the Mitzi to Port Canaveral on Thursday, knowing we were still under a small craft advisory. One thing I was forced to notice right away is that the storm has deposited tar balls along the beaches and in the port. I unknowingly stepped on one and tracked tar all over the deck of the Mitzi before noticing it. A rag dipped into my fuel tank and used to scrub all of the offensive areas removed it.

Before I reached the end of the jetty waves were coming over the bow. The boat nosed back into the port, which we circumnavigated.

Other than canvas awnings, hurricane damage seemed minimal. I am reluctant to say the mullet run is over, but I don’t think I saw two dozen in the port. The net never came out of the bucket. Rodney Smith thinks we’ll get another wave of bait coming through.

Friday I went to see Rodney. He, I, and Mike Conneen visited the Turkey Creek Sanctuary in Melbourne. On the way home I stopped and cast a line into a couple of pieces of open water. It would be great to report I found killer fishing in some new spots, but I did not get a bite.

And that is the Small Craft Advisory Orlando 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 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, port canaveral fishing report, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Lone Ranger Orlando Fishing Report

May 13, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Lone Ranger Orlando Fishing Report

Somewhat self-fishly, I fished alone every day this week. Thus the Lone Ranger Orlando Fishing report.
I fish alone, yeah, with nobody else.
You know when I fish alone, I prefer to be by myself!
My apologies to George Thorogood.

Fishing alone lets me try new techniques and places I probably wouldn’t try if someone else was with me. So this week was an opportunity for personal growth. Yeah, that’s it.

My old EZ Loader trailer has been rebuilt. It is now for sale. Details at this link- http://www.spottedtail.com/sale-rebuilt-aluminum-ez-loader-trailer/

Some fascinating reading about dinosaurs here-—

orlando fishing report

I would love to tie some flies with these feathers!

Who doesn’t love reading about dinosaurs? I would like to tie some flies with dinosaur feathers. Probably won’t happen…

Monday, went out in the Mitzi on the mightly Atlantic. I wanted two things- Spanish mackerel for my aunt and a neighbor, and tarpon for me. Got the macks, at least. There was a load of them out there. Yes, the Sting Silver from Haw River Tackle is probably the best mackerel lure on the planet.

I did see one tarpon roll- talk about the Lone Ranger! My booby prize was a mongo crevalle jack that crushed a DOA Bait Buster. I got to try my new fighting belt, it worked quite nicely. It was an awesome day that I enjoyed tremendously.

orlando fishing report

This fishie crushed a deep running Bait Buster.

Tuesday morning found the kayak on the Econlockhatchee. Of course I was expecting it to be as good as the last time I was there and of course it was not. Five hours, five small bass, a missed strike or two, and again, one redbelly that managed to impale itself on the bass bug. The river looked great, running low and clear. It was an awesome day that I enjoyed tremendously.

Wednesday found the kayak on the Mosquito Lagoon. It had been wet all of five minutes when my somewhat disbelieving eyes spotted a pod of eight or ten redfish, tailing. The cast, the bite, the 16 inch trout that spooked all the other fish.

A few minutes later a pair of tails appeared, but disappeared before a cast could happen. Splash! Crash! Something chasing a shrimp. The fly (a rootbeer colored Sparkle Crab) fell there and an 18 inch trout bit. So I’ve been out ten minutes and have already released two fish. Before lunch I would release four reds, all in the slot, all sight fished.

After lunch six or seven more would get released, with a couple at the top of the slot, excellent fishing. Plus there were missed strikes and blown shots. It was going on! I got to that wonderful point where you say, “I do not want to fish anymore.” And I passed up a bunch of shots paddling back to the launch. It was an awesome day that I enjoyed tremendously.

orlando fishing report

For the fly tyers, here’s a photo of the very simple Sparkle Crab.

Thursday, doing something I don’t often do. I went to Playalinda hoping to pull a fish or two out of the surf. This involves walking the beach, as far into the water as I’m comfortable going, and casting a pair of bucktail jigs (rigged tandem) into the waves.

The surf was high enough that conditions were marginal. So was the fishing. In a little over an hour I had jumped a single bluefish.

Since I had the kayak and a fly rod, I went to a different spot in the Mosquito Lagoon than the previous day. Of course I was expecting it to be as good as the last time I was there and of course it was not. There were fewer fish and they seemed more spooky. But eight or ten decent shots came my way, and two handsome, seven pound redfish were released, still on the same Sparkle Crab. It was an awesome day that I enjoyed tremendously.

Friday I went to my favorite spot on the St. Johns River. Before launching the kayak I knew it would be tough fishing- there was no fishy activity going on. The bullfrogs were ribbeting, the birds were chirping and scolding, the coots were being goofy as always- but no fish. I never thought I would get skunked there, but that’s exactly what happened. I was out of there before noon. I had the whole place to myself, and it was still an awesome day that I enjoyed tremendously.

orlando fishing report

Hard to believe you could get skunked in a place like this, but there you go.

So fishing was a mixed bag this week, and I learned a few new things. The weather was great all week. I am so lucky to be able to do what I do.

Still have open days this month. Give me a call if you want to go fishing!

And that is the Lone Ranger Orlando fishing report from Spotted Tail.

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 2016. All rights are reserved.

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

One Day Fishing Orlando Fishing Report

May 7, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

One Day Fishing Orlando Fishing Report

For a variety of reasons, some of which were entirely out of my control, I only fished one day this week. So we have a one day fishing Orlando fishing report.

My apologies if this reads a little like an infomercial, but a couple things need to get moved.

One of the things I did other than fish, which took up most of a day, was to finish rebuilding the EZ Loader trailer. It is now for sale. Details at this link- http://www.spottedtail.com/sale-rebuilt-aluminum-ez-loader-trailer/

orlando fishing report

For sale cheap!

Another thing that took up most of a day was publishing a new ebook, Practical Flies for Spotted Seatrout. You can see it at these links- www.smashwords.com and www.amazon.com.

Seatrout flies ebook cover copy 2

I took my long-time friend (one of the longest!) Kevin paddling on the Econ on Thursday. We used to play baseball and ride bikes together as kids. The weather was spectacular, the river beautiful. The water had come up a foot in two days from the rain, but was still pretty clear.

orlando fishing report

The water level rose a foot, like right now.

Redbellies are on their beds, although we hardly fished. We saw several alligators, including some big boys.

orlando fishing report

Kevin and the tool of propulsion.

 

orlando fishing report

Me and my good luck charm.

I visited a couple other long-time friends on Friday. I am certainly blessed to have friends that I’ve known for 20 years or more.

My fishing day was Tuesday. The spot was the Econ. The vessel was a kayak. The method was fly fishing with a deerhair bug. The fishing started off slow, built to a thundering crescendo, and then completely died. The bass were mostly small ones, but I got one pushing four pounds that was blind in one eye (photo below) and an even larger one that I did not get a photo of. The sunfish were aggressive, smacking that big bug. One even managed to impale itself on the #2 hook. It was a beautiful, very enjoyable day. One weird thing, I did not see an alligator. Where were they???

orlando fishing report

His name wasn’t Polyphemus, but he had only one working eye.

And that is the One Day Fishing Orlando fishing report from the Spotted Tail.

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 2016. All rights are reserved.

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

A Fairly Boring Orlando Fishing Report

April 23, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

A Fairly Boring Orlando Fishing Report

One charter this week, combined with high, dirty water, did not make me want to go to the lagoon. Howling east winds all week prevented me from visiting the ocean. Most of my fishing was in retention ponds. So it’s a fairly boring Orlando Fishing report.

Sunday morning found me at a new (for me) retention pond. I tried the black matuka streamer first and got a dink bass, then nothing. I switched to a popping bug and got three more dink bass. All this in about an hour.

I checked out a three other ponds. One was almost inaccessible, the other apparently fishless. The third produced five fish in about 45 minutes, all on a Z-Man worm. They were all decent fish, with one striving to be something more…

orlando fishing report

It’s something less than five pounds, but it’s the best bass of the week for me.

Monday I was at the auto mechanic’s all day. Got quite a few flies tied.

Tuesday found me scouting the St. Johns and the Econ. Nothing was happenning in the St. Johns, and in four hours on the Econ I got two redbellies. Talk about slow fishing! Word on the street was that the bass were schooling at daybreak.

Wednesday found Dick Dolloff and Chris Jones in the Mitzi with me, at daybreak, on the St. Johns. The bass were in fact schooling, chasing minnows. We did not have their number, getting only two or three bites and boating exactly one small bass.

At 830 we pulled the boat and drove to the Mosquito Lagoon. If you check the gauge you’ll see the water has been rising steadily for about a week. It’s still dirty. So places where I could see the bottom last week are now featureless because you can’t see the bottom any more.

Chris got a slot red on a sparkle crab, casting blindly. Dick managed to see one and worked it for almost 15 minutes before the fish finally took. He said it was the single most difficult fish to get a bite from in his life. Unfortunately I did not get a photo of either fish. And that was it for the day.

Thursday I got this idea that if I were going to fish retention ponds, some black Culprit worms should be in my repertoire. So I went to get some. The store didn’t have any. The closest I could get was red shad.

Friday and Saturday I fished eight or nine different ponds. The bass seemed to like the red shad worms quite a bit, although from some ponds I got nothing at all. The good ponds made up for the bad ones, though.

The search for ponds and the thrill of getting some nice fish out of unlikely-looking places is surprisingly enjoyable.

orlando fishing report

This bass-producing retention pond is in an industrial park.

And that is the fairly boring Orlando fishing report from the Spotted Tail.

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 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , ,

The Mudfish Orlando Fishing Report

April 16, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

The Mudfish Orlando Fishing Report

We fished all over central Florida this week, thus the Orlando Fishing Report.

One of the features of fly fishing in the midwest is the farm pond. One of the features of fly fishing here in Florida is the lowly retention pond, a mostly ignored resource. Lawn and street yuck drain into a hole that was dug in some neighborhood so the dirty water has a chance to clean up before moving into the local watershed. In spite of the yuck fish live in them. Fish are pretty adaptable creatures. Because not many folks fish them, the fish that live in these ponds tend to be unsophisticated and aggressive. I like my fish that way!

Sunday evening after dinner I went to a retention pond in Oviedo for maybe an hour’s casting. On a black matuka I got five strikes and unhooked and released four chunky bass, all of which were about a foot long.

Monday morning after visits to the bank and post office I went to a different retention pond and cast a new fly I needed to test. There was a strike on the second cast, and another shortly afterwards. I tried five flies in that pond and the new one was the only one that worked. Five chunky bass fell for it, decent if not exceptional for a couple hours of casting.

Monday evening after supper I tried still another pond. I did not see anything or get a bite. Click here to read more about fishing in retention ponds…

Tuesday morning found Scott Radloff and I searching the mighty Atlantic for denizens of the deep. We could not find any bait. But we did (after significant searching) find some breaking fish- Spanish mackerel, with an occasional bluefish mixed in. The fishies were thick enough that I broke out a six-weight and caught a bunch of fish, as well as lost several flies. White bucktail jigs and Sting Silvers were effective with the spin rod.

orlando fishing report

We ran into macks and blues intermittently all day, only seeing a few leaping spinner sharks for variety. The weather was outstanding, a gorgeous day.

With a fly trip coming up on Friday, I went scouting on the Mosquito Lagoon Wednesday. The water level is about the same, and its color is exactly the same. A dozen or so real shots came my way and I converted three of them, landing and releasing two slot redfish. One fell for an olive Bouncer minnow, the other two for a root beer sparkle crab. The weather was really nice and the day was extremely enjoyable.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Thursday found me sitting in my kayak on the St. Johns River. The morning started foggy, spooky, mist enveloping me and limiting visibility to maybe 100 yards. Bullfrogs croaked an impromptu chorus. I wish I could say the fish were on fire, but that was not at all the case. The first fish was a small chain pickerel that released such a flood of memories I had to write about it (read the piece HERE).

orlando fishing report

I worked it hard, getting a dozen bass. The largest maybe hit 12 inches. Or I might be being generous. A couple bluegills fell for my fakes, too.

orlando fishing report

But from a size perspective the fish of the day came on an almost terrifyingly violent strike on the popping bug. The fish jumped four or five times, putting up quite a respectable battle.

It was a mudfish, two or three pounds. They’re not very pretty. But I certainly enjoyed our encounter.

orlando fishing report

Friday found my fly charter, Bob Wikan and his friend Mike (just Mike!) and I out on Mosquito Lagoon. Oi vey, what a day! Cloudy, cool, and windy, with dirty water, the perfect combination for sight fishing with a fly rod.

Sometimes I wonder why I scout. Of course the fish were not where I found them Wednesday. A search mission ensued, largely unsuccessful. By lunchtime we had seen a total of three fish and had not gotten a shot at any. It was looking pretty bleak.

The afternoon continued that trend, until I looked someplace I seldom look. Holy cow, there’s a tailer! Wow, there’s another one! Since I could not control the boat in the gale, we abandoned it and went at the problem on foot. Bob got one of the most extended shots at a tailer I’ve ever seen, following and casting to the same fish for 10 or 15 minutes. In spite of the effort he did not convert. The fish simply disappeared to end the drama.

Mike got a nice slot fish by blind casting the root beer sparkle crab, the only bite and fish we would get.

As I loaded the boat on the trailer the rain hit with a vengeance. It was so nice of it to wait until then! Thank you gentlemen, it was a blast fishing with you!

And that is this week’s Mudfish Orlando fishing report from the Spotted Tail.

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 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, port canaveral fishing report, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Vernal Equinox Orlando Fishing Report

March 20, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Vernal Equinox Orlando Fishing Report

Sunday March 20 is/was the equinox, thus the equinox Orlando fishing report. Check out this cool video!

Remember, the equinox is a great reason to have pagan celebrations!

News of the Week
I wish I’d found this earlier, but still lots of great festivals- https://www.allaboutbirds.org/birding-festivals/

To those readers who go through Titusville, Bagel World has “rebranded”. I think this is a ten cent marketing term that means they are changing things. Why would you change Bagel World? It was awesome! They have changed their name (to what I don’t know) and moved down the street. Maybe the new place will be better. Somehow I doubt it.

Fishing!
What a busy week!

Sunday fly fishing engineer Bill Ruland joined me for some St. Johns River fishing. We looked unsuccessfully for schooling bass, then tried shad fishing. The shad are almost done. We fished for them almost all morning. Bill hooked and lost a couple, but it was s-l-o-w. After lunch we went up the Econ hoping for bass and sunfish. Although we got a few of each, that was slow too.

orlando fishing report

What the fish lacked in numbers they also lacked in size. At least this one was aggressive.

We ended up shad fishing again, and Bill got his first ever, finally, and then one more on his last cast.

orlando fishing report

Mr. Bill battles the mighty shad.

 

orlando fishing report

The mighty shad is vanquished.

 

orlando fishing report

The victor exhibits his trophy before release.

Monday fly fishing doctor Mike Sweeney joined me for some St. Johns River fishing. We looked unsuccessfully for schooling bass, then tried shad fishing. The shad are almost done. We fished for them almost all morning. Mike hooked and broke one off almost immediately, but it was s-l-o-w. After lunch we went up the Econ hoping for bass and sunfish. That was even slower than the previous day, with no sunnies at all and only two bass being fooled in over an hour.

orlando fishing report

Who is this guy with the bass?

We ended up shad fishing again. Mike hooked one and had it on for a spirited battle, but the fish jumped off before we could corral it. So ended our fishing.

Tuesday George Allen joined me for a trip out of Port Canaveral. I was finally able to get out there after weeks of hard east winds. We had visions of cobia and tripletail dancing in our heads. We headed south down the beach, finding a mass of menhaden before reaching the Cocoa Beach pier. Livewell stocked, we headed out to sea.

It was a virtual biological desert.

Finally I saw a large black spot in the water. A ray! I idled close enough to cast, and the ray started to sound. A cast over the spot with a menhaden yielded nothing.

A while later I saw a large brown spot in the water and went to investigate. It was close to an acre of mongo crevalle jacks. They have a hard time saying no to a live pogie and somewhat foolishly we cast two out. Bam! Bam! double hookup!

orlando fishing report

George battles the truly mighty crevalle.

A 30 pound crevalle is as manly a fish as you could ask for. They don’t know the word quit and it was a long tough fight for both of us. While the battle raged I spotted another ray, but there was nothing we could do about that. Both fish were eventually boated and released.

orlando fishing report

Said battle was long and tough, and quite exhausting.

We saw quite a few small pods of big jacks after that but used discretion. In other words, we wanted no further part of the big jack action. We saw little else.

orlando fishing report

The victor and the vanquished.

Late in the day we found an area with spinner sharks free-jumping. George hooked what I think was a lemon shark, about six feet long. I leadered the beast, which used the opportunity to cut the leader. And so ended our adventure.

Wednesday morning Shane Thomas and his friend (Sir?) Rob of York met me at Port Canaveral. I was cautiously optimistic I could find the jacks and sharks again, and knew there were bluefish around. I had seen the rays the previous day and thought we still had a shot at a cobia.

We couldn’t even find the bait. All the pogies that had been along the beach were gone.

Running back north up the beach we saw good numbers of pelicans diving on menhaden and one throw of the net there did the trick. Now, let’s go find those jacks!

They were all gone. We looked for hours and did not see a jack, a shark, a guppy. It truly was a biological desert.

Just so we would not get bored, though, the bow of the Mitzi decided to plow into a wave and do an imitation of a diving submarine. We were a couple miles off the beach, no one else was around, and the boat was literally half full of water, as close as it could get to sinking without actually sinking. We would have been in seriously deep doo-doo had the boat gone down. But it didn’t. We got the water out with the help of the bilge pump, a bucket, and a distinct lack of panic, then continued searching.

I think it was about 230 PM when Shane finally spotted a fish. It was a small hammerhead shark, four or five feet long. We tossed a pair of pogies out and waited.

That shark took his sweet time zeroing in on one of the baits. He’d swim up next to the boat, then swim away. We would think we lost him and then he’d come back. This happened several times. And then while we watched he finally took Rob’s bait.

We weren’t rigged with wire and I knew we might not leader the shark. As it turned out we didn’t. But Rob had it on for about ten minutes, fighting a noble battle. Finally, after eight hours of looking, a fish!

We found a school of pogies in Canaveral Bight. There were a load of bluefish with them. Rob broke out his fly rod and managed a couple blues on a Clouser Minnow. Shane got a few with the spin rod.

That was pretty much our fishing for the day. Just so we wouldn’t get bored, the Mitzi ran out of gas near the jetty. No problem, I said, I have more gas. After pouring it into the tank we could not get the motor going. I put the trolling motor in the water and started to the dock.

At five PM every boat in the ocean was coming back to port. The chop and the wakes were rocking and rolling us, and it was slow going. A kind soul came over and offered to tow us back, an offer we gratefully accepted. And so ended our day, one of my more unusual charters.

The boat started right up without a problem while sitting on the trailer in my yard Thursday morning.

It also started Friday morning, at the Haulover Canal. My childhood friend Kevin Linehan was with me for a boat ride on the Mosquito Lagoon and forsooth a fish. We did not see much, a couple tailing redfish. The water is so dirty it’s REAL hard to see them if you don’t get some surface indicator.

In spite of that I saw a redfish, in the dirty water, when it swam right up to the boat. I don’t think they can see us either, since I made about a six foot cast with a mullet chunk. The fish took it. I handed the rod to Kevin and he skillfully duked it out with the beast, a 27 inch beauty.

Orlando fishing report

They don’t grow these in Phoenix.

On Saturday Paul Dachoff and his friend Alex the Vet joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. Paul has lived in central Florida for 30 years and said he’d never seen the lagoon look so bad. We worked it hard with cut mullet and Deadly Combos for almost eight hours. One redfish and several seatrout fell for our offerings.

Orlando fishing report

The hand just appeared to help Alex hold his fish! AMAZING!

Paul spotted the reds tailing despite the rain. There were three or four of them, pretty darned relaxed, I thought. They gave us multiple shots and finally one ate.

Orlando fishing report

Our redfish of the day, about 25 inches long.

Paul and Alex were great on the boat and it was a good way to wrap up a busy week. Thanks to everyone who fished with me this week.

And that is the vernal equinox Orlando 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 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, port canaveral fishing report, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Daylight Savings Orlando Fishing Report

March 12, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Daylight Savings Orlando Fishing Report

Sunday March 13 we go back onto daylight savings time, thus the daylight savings Orlando fishing report. Don’t forget to put your clock ahead tonight!

calvin

News of the Week
This winter about to end next week was the warmest on record- http://www.iflscience.com/environment/its-been-warmest-winter-united-states-records-began

News Flash! Honeybees Are Adversely Affected by Pesticides! http://www.iflscience.com/environment/honey-bees-suffer-severe-learning-and-memory-problems-when-exposed-widely-used-pseticide

Fishing!
Sunday we ran two On-The-Water Show and Tell Fishing Seminars on the Mosquito Lagoon, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. I would like to thank everyone who attended. It was very windy and wavy and everyone was very accepting of the situation, very gracious. Thank you all!

Rose Mary Berg sent me the following note-

“I wanted to take a minute to Thank You again for the seminar yesterday for Justin.  He thought you were just ‘awesome’ and filled with so much knowledge. I cannot Thank You enough for sharing your knowledge and afternoon with us.  It was a blessing.”

We checked both side of the lagoon, from Max Hoeck Creek to Tiger Shoal. There was no clean water anywhere.

Monday I took the Bang-O-Craft scouting on the St. Johns River, launching at SR 50. Fishing downstream of the bridge for three hours I got two shad on crappie jigs. I did not see another fisherman.

Tuesday I took the Bang-O-Craft scouting on the St. Johns River, launching at CS Lee Park. I had received a good report about shad in the Econ but did not get a bite there. I did get quite a few in the St. Johns on crappie jigs and on shad flies. I ran into Ron Rebeck and Jon Cave, man, it’s been a long time since I saw them! They look good, appear to be doing well, and it was good to see them.

Wednesday morning Curtis Duffield met me at CS Lee Park. We first went to where the stripers were biting last week. They are not there any more, unfortunately.

orlando fishing report

Curtis hooked up to Mr. Shad.

We responded by going fly fishing for shad. We fished two spots and probably got close to 20 in about eight hours, steady if slow fishing. I hadn’t seen Curtis in a couple years, and it was a good, long conversation with enough fish to make it interesting. The river is still high, and the shad are probably close to being done for this season. And Curtis got his first shad on the fly rod, a cause to celebrate!

orlando fishing report

Mr. Shad, resisting.

 

orlando fishing report

Resistance is futile.

Thursday I had some errands to run in Oviedo. I brought a fly rod. There’s a retention pond near downtown Oviedo I have been wanting to fish for a while. The water was dirty (but cleaner than Mosquito Lagoon) and the wind was blowing 20 (as it was all week), but I caught two bass on a chartreuse rattle rouser. One was small, but the other was pretty chunky. Retention ponds are an underutilized resource for fly fishers.

Friday, after running some errands, I launched the kayak at Snow Hill Road for some Econlockhatchee fishing. The water level is dropping (2.8 on the gauge that morning) and the temperature is rising. I had fairly high expectations. Unfortunately they were not met.

The river looked beautiful. The gum trees, red maples, and willows are all leafing out. The air plants gave the still-bare oaks some red color, too. But in three hours I only got one bass about a foot long, my first Econ bass of 2016, and a few aggressive sunfish popped my bass bug. Just did not see many fish.

What I did see were two or three tons of alligators. There are plenty of big reptiles on that stream.

orlando fishing report

A big Econ reptile…

Saturday I renewed my CPR/1st aid card, something everyone with sense should do.

And that is this week’s Daylight Savings Orlando 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 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Noodled Trout Orlando Fishing Report

March 5, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Noodled Trout Orlando Fishing Report

This is the Noodled Trout Orlando Fishing report, covering the Mosquito Lagoon and the St. Johns River.

Upcoming Events-
Saturday, March 12th Beach ‘N Boards Fest Paddle Board Catch & Release Tournament Ramp Road Park, Cocoa Beach, Florida. Registration and other event information at
https://racehubhq.com/races/BeachNBoardsFestSUPFishingTourney

What is the impact of Big Sugar in your life? Check out this new video on the sugar industry! http://www.sierraclub.org/florida/BigSugarVideo

Mystery Photographer
The Mystery Photographer sent me these photos of Nautilus Fly Reels. As you can see they are gorgeous reels…

orlando fishing report

That is a fine looking fly reel.

orlando fishing report

 

Fishing Story of the Week
It’s been way too long since we had a fishing story of the week. I am the principal in this one, too.

Sunday Tammy and I went kayak fishing out of River Breeze. The water is no longer clean up there. I went to a hole I know and started casting blindly. A couple of small reds were caught and released. Then I saw what I mistakenly thought was a crawler red up near the bank. I waded into range and made a few casts. The fish did not respond to the fly at all. Stranger still, it didn’t change its position.

Starting to think it was distressed I waded still closer. It turns out to be a really nice trout, six or seven pounds. Curiosity driving me, I got closer still. Now in range to simply strike like a blue heron, I reached down and grabbed the fish.

It wiggled and broke my grip, but could not swim away. I just picked it up again, while fumbled for the section of nylon cord I keep for such occasions.

I went noodling for trout in the Mosquito Lagoon! The fish I grabbed was boatkill!

The poor fish had been hit by a boat and had four prop cuts, starting on its head and moving down its port side. Somehow, it wasn’t yet dead. I cut its gill arches and carried it around on the string for the rest of the day.

orlando fishing report

My noodled trout, boatkill.

At the boat ramp as I was cleaning the fish I could hear some of the folks in other boats saying, “Wow, look at the size of that guy’s trout!” I didn’t have the heart to tell them I caught it with my fingers, hardly more difficult than picking up a squashed ‘possum off the side of the road. Tammy and I had a good laugh about it afterwards.

News of the Week
A Record 6,250 Manatees Counted Off Florida Coast
http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/record-6250-manatees-counted-florida

I am so sorry I missed this news item- http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/watch-porn-and-help-save-whales-month . We live in a crazy world.

Fishing!
As already noted, on Sunday Tammy and I went kayak fishing out of River Breeze. So far as I could tell, all the clean water that had been in this part of the lagoon is gone. Now it looks as nasty as the rest of the lagoon.

orlando fishing report

Tammy having fun in the mud.

I got a handful of reds blindcasting a streamer. Three were short, two were low-end slot fish. One short trout took the same fly. Tammy got a redfish on a jerk bait, a fish she spotted and cast to. No one else we saw had anything. The day was absolutely perfect, the kind of weather you dream about, but fishing was slow. The water finally was at a winter level, though, nice and low. Now if the algae would just disappear…

Having three fishing charters scheduled for this week, Tuesday I used the Mitzi and went scouting out of River Breeze. I could not find any clean water, and ran aground twice. The water was very dirty, as the algae-laden water from the south lagoon drained north towards Ponce Inlet as the water level dropped. I saw exactly two fish and did not get a bite, and wondered how my fishing season can possibly work when the place I fish is apparently ruined, at least for the foreseeable future…

Wednesday’s charter was a fly caster who lives in Virginia, Dr. Ross Thomas. We launched at C.S. Lee Park on the St. Johns River. A strong bite of hybrid stripers kicked off our morning. Minnow imitating streamers tossed on sinking lines worked very well, as we were into double digits numbers-wise, fish that ran two to three pounds.

orlando fishing report

Dr. Ross with a bass.

When that action slowed we went shad fishing. By now the wind had come up, about 15 knots from the north, making fishing more challenging. Ross got a couple shad on a green shad fly. We went up the Econ to try for bass and bluegills but the water is still too high and we did not raise a fish. Still, we had a good day. As Ross wrote, “Good fishing, excellent conversation and a splendid time. Left ’em with some sore mouths too! Thanks and we will fish again!” Thank you, Ross!

orlando fishing report

Dr. Ross with a shad. He seems happy!

Thursday’s charter was Mr. Tom Finger and Mr. Bob Trapp, both of whom live in central Florida. They had also booked me for lagoon fishing, but also agreed to try the St. Johns. The striper bite was not as hot as the previous day, but we still got ten or twelve on DOA CAL jigs on which were threaded 3″ DOA CAL shad.

orlando fishing report

Bob with a fine bass.

Again, when the striper action slowed we went shad fishing. Using 1/16th ounce crappie jigs with 1″ curly tails rigged in tandem they caught shad steadily for three hours or so. Tom got at least one double hookup on his line, and as a team they had several doubles, good, steady action. As Tom wrote, “Thanks for the pics and a GREAT day. We will be in touch.” Thank you, Tom and Bob!

orlando fishing report

Tom with one of his American shad.

Friday’s charter was set on fishing Mosquito Lagoon. My report and the weather forecast caused him to cancel the day. 🙁

Because no one signed up for the Show and Tell seminar, Thursday night I booked a charter for Saturday, Mr. Dave Phillips. We launched at Haulover Canal. The plan was to circumnavigate the lagoon, check it all out. We looked on both sides of the lagoon from Max Hoeck Creek to River Breeze. The water was low but very dirty. I managed to hit bottom numerous times because I could not see it. It was a beautiful if breezy day, but we didn’t see anything. We did manage to get a few trout on soft plastics, and one would have even held batter. Thank you, Dave!

And that is this week’s Noodled Trout Orlando Fishing report, covering the Mosquito Lagoon and the St. Johns River. Tight lines, everyone!

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 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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