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Memorial Day Orlando Fishing Report

May 23, 2015 by · 1 Comment

orlando fishing report

Memorial Day Orlando Fishing Report

Please take some time this weekend to consider the sacrifices made by so many, so that we can enjoy the lifestyle we have. And have a happy and safe Memorial Day Weekend.

As seems to be the habit lately, I did some fishing around this week. Generally it was good. A tactical error prevented many fish from being caught one day.

I apologize for the quality of the photos. We did not have any beautiful models available. No offense, Aubrey!

Monday found Anton Faith and I out in the Bang-O-Craft, on the Indian River Lagoon. Some snook had been discovered last week and I wanted another crack at them. All the fish at that spot were gone, including the snook. Sad!

We went to another spot I had been wanting to check. Bingo! No snook, but lots of nice seatrout. This is where the tactical error occurred. Anton doesn’t fish much and I brought frozen mullet for bait. I filleted them, then cut the fillets into strips. You can’t throw them very far. The fish were spooking before we could get into range. The one fish we got came on a 3″ DOA CAL Shad tail.

Tuesday morning Scott Radloff and I launched the Mitzi at Port Canaveral. There was a lot of Sargassum in the water. I was guardedly optimistic. There was almost no bait and we did not find any fish. The water off Cocoa Beach is very dirty. We pulled the boat at 10 AM and went to the Indian River Lagoon.

orlando fishing report

The jerkbait was an almost brilliant choice.

Remembering my tactical error from the previous day, I opted to try a 5.5″ DOA CAL jerk bait, since the fish eat it and I can throw it a long way. It was an almost brilliant choice. Between us we got over a dozen nice trout and reds. We were done a little after 2 PM.

orlando fishing report

No fish were harmed in the making of this photo.

Has anyone noticed how hot it’s been? Thunderstorms are becoming a daily affair. It will start cooling off around October. Welcome to the long, hot, Florida summer!

Wednesday found me up at the Villages, at the request of the Tri-County Fly Fishers, a very active and nice group of people. We discussed fishing opportunities in the Indian River Lagoon system for an hour or two, after which I drove home again. Thanks to all of you for having me up there.

A couple months back I blogged about the Sevylor inflatable kayak, which had been purchased to access a remote spot on the St. Johns River. For some unfathomable reason I decided to drag an Ocean Kayak Prowler back there on Thursday. I would drag the boat 100 yards and stop to catch my breath. Then I would do it again. And again. Ad infinitum. It took way too long. The entire time this song flowed through my mind:

I got a mule. Her name is Sal.

Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal.

She’s a good old worker and a good old pal.

Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal.

It was a feasibility study. I think if I were 26 instead of 62 it might be feasible. As it is I won’t be doing it again, I don’t need exercise that badly. I’m no mule! Anyway, the bass were biting, but they were all small ones. The best one I got maybe hit 13 inches, all but one hit the gurgler in the photo.

orlando fishing report

This fish was not worth dragging the kayak a half mile.

orlando fishing report

The killer fly, a gurgler.

 

On Friday Aubrey Thompson, Ph.D., fly fisher, joined me on the Indian River Lagoon. Man, we saw some fish. They were not eating very well. Aubrey managed a half dozen bites, only one of which posed for photos. It was a right solid trout, right at 26 inches!

orlando fishing report

 

 

orlando fishing report

Come to me!

 

orlando fishing report

A solid trout at 26 inches.

orlando fishing report

And the release shot.

And that is this week’s Memorial Day 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 2015. All rights are reserved.

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

Mystery Tackle Box a Winner

April 17, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Mystery Tackle Box a Winner

An email came in that wasn’t spam! It asked me if I wanted a Mystery Tackle Box. Yes I did. The MTB came in three flavors- bass, panfish, and saltwater. Which did I want?
I wanted all three of course but I chose saltwater, then forgot about it. A few days later, though, a Mystery Tackle Box came in the mail.

mystery_tackle_box_logo
Frankly I expected junk from a Chinese knock-off factory. Much to my surprise and delight everything in the box was something I could use, to whit:

-a package of Big Bite soft plastic saltwater baits, shrimp imitations;
-a package of Pintail soft plastic baits, jerk baits;
-a package of Mustad Power Lock Plus size 3/0, 1/8th ounce hooks;
-a Strike Pro surface plug, walk-the-dog type;
-a Hyper Striper jig, something like a Road Runner;
-a package of Knot 2 Kinky nickel-titanium leader wire.

Heck Yeah!

So, now it was time to see what Mystery Tackle Box really was. A visit to their website (http://mysterytacklebox.com) ensued. This is what I found:
“Mystery Tackle Box is a monthly subscription service that introduces both beginner and expert anglers to new fishing lures and tackle. In addition to receiving fishing lures, you will also receive a “About Your Box” card that will explain a little more about each bait you received in your box as well as a unique link to our website to watch videos, read product reviews, learn different rigging options and much more information about each of the products in your box.

“Each month you will get a variety of quality fishing products from both large and small manufacturers. We do our best to send a variety of brands and products types in each box to ensure that you have the best chance of discovering and trying new products. We have product specialists who are experienced tournament fisherman reviewing each bait that we put in the box to make sure it is good quality.  Every box will have at least $20 worth of products and most boxes have $23-$27 worth of retail value.”

You can subscribe for yourself or as a gift subscription for someone else. The testimonials page on the website is full of glowing letters from folks who were happy with their boxes.

Check them out at http://mysterytacklebox.com and see if a Mystery Tackle Box subscription will work for you.

 

John Kumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2015. All rights are reserved.

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Acres of Bluefish Orlando Fishing Report

April 12, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Acres of Bluefish Orlando Fishing Report

Last week an attempt was made to almost poetically describe how lucky those of us who live and fish in central Florida are. This week again re-emphasises that fact. Fact! Not fiction! Not opinion! FACT!!!

So Monday the Sevylor inflatable kayak got pumped up and somewhat unceremoniously dumped into my favorite St. Johns River location. The Sevylor reminded me again how lucky we are to have fairly rigid plastic kayaks for most of the paddling we want to do. That thing paddles so badly. Anyway, the bite was not hot. Five bass came to hand, all on surface flies, in about four hours. The place was just too quiet. No surface activity, no alligators, it just didn’t look right. That’s OK, I’ll be back.

About noon on Tuesday the Ocean Kayak was dropped into the Econlockhatchee. Shortly afterwards I hopped in and we went off down the river.

Godzilla lives there, no kidding. There are some gawdawful big alligators there.

The bass bite again was not hot, although I certainly caught some. Once I switched to streamers I did a little better. Certainly the redbellies and stumpknockers were aggressive.

orlando fishing report

Redbelly on Electric Sushi. What else could happen?

 

orlando fishing report

How about redbelly on sexy fly?

At one point the kayak was pulled up on the bank so I could wade along a sandbar and cast to the shoreline. When the bar ended I turned and headed back upriver to where the kayak waited patiently for me. As soon as I had turned around a fat garfish glided gracefully across the bar, only about 15 feet away. The streamer landed a foot in front of him. One twitch and WHAM! He hit it like a barracuda, just an awesome strike. I actually hooked and landed him, one of two I got.

orlando fishing report

How about spotted gar on sexy fly??

With a small bluegill popper or rubber spider you could easily have 40 or 50 fish days there right now. Please let me know if you’d like me to show you.

orlando fishing report

This bass took an ugly foam gurgler.

orlando fishing report

Same fish, different angle. It was a decent sized one.

Wednesday the Bang-O-Craft was launched at River Breeze for some scouting for my Thursday/Friday charter. The water is low, but in most places it’s also kind of dirty. I saw a fish here, a couple fish there, and managed to successfully sight cast two nice redfish into submission using a silver Johnson Minnow. I got a lot of fish on the DOA Deadly Combo but all of them were small ones. Still, enough fish were observed that I thought we had a reasonable chance of catching a few over the next couple of days.

Thursday Dr. Jim Colgan and Dr. Bill Thomas joined me for a day’s fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. Good guess if you said we launched the Mitzi at River Breeze. With the exception of a single anemic seatrout caught using the Deadly Combo, we got our only fish, a rather anemic-looking 15 inch red, at about 2 PM, on a Johnson Minnow. We maybe saw a dozen fish all day. Yeah, it was not a skunking but it was dangerously close, certainly a real tough day. The good doctors decided that they had had enough fun and declined the option on Friday.

With my newly opened up Friday I decided to use the kayak to really explore a place I had unsuccessfully dabbled in several years earlier. My Friday attitude was, “If there are fish here I will find them.”

The paddle was lovely with lots of birds. I got to watch skimmers skimming, coots cooting, and bald eagles bald eagling. The only fish I found, however, were Gambusia and mullet. The experiment, although extremely pleasant, failed.

 

My friend Tammy has a job and can only fish on weekends. Even though I don’t like fishing weekends I do like fishing with Tammy, so Saturday morning an 830 we launched the Mitzi at Port Canaveral and went out onto a somewhat snotty Atlantic hoping to find tripletail. We did not find one. But we did find acres of bluefish, with lots of crevalle jacks and a few big ladyfish thrown in. All these denizens of the deep attracted a load of big sharks, too. We lost a couple hooked fish to shark attacks and hooked several big sharks on chunks of ladyfish.

Tammy used a big ChugBug until a shark relieved her of it, then used a Mirrolure. A jack tore the back hook off and she kept right on catching fish with it. I used several Upperman jigs. I’m pretty sure anything with a hook would have worked. The fish were REAL numerous and REAL aggressive. We had a wonderful time.

orlando fishing report

The fish were plentiful and aggressive.

And that is this week’s Acres of Bluefish 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 2015. 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: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Finally Got Cobia Orlando Fishing Report

April 3, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Finally Got Cobia Orlando Fishing Report

A blessed Easter to all the Christians out there.

Although it’s not saying much, we found way more fish this week than last.

It started on Monday, when on a solo trip the kayak was launched on the Banana River Lagoon. The wind was light and there were no clouds. In some clean water, holy cow, there was an honest-to-God school of redfish, at least 100. They were small ones, about 24 inches, but I got four- two on a pink Electric Sushi and two on a brown slider. Then they made themselves scarce.

Orlando Fishing report

For those wondering what Electric Sushi is, here’s a real bad picture of one.

Orlando Fishing report

Sushi would not be my first choice in redfish flies. This red did not know that.

Orlando Fishing report

Another red, on the more traditional Slider.

In the meantime I had seen some nice seatrout lying sunning themselves. The next several hours were spent sight-casting to fish that were averaging about 25 inches long. Four different flies were tried, all unweighted minnow imitations- Electric Sushi, Polar Fibre Minnow, EP Streamer, and SexyFly. All worked. It was an awesome day that came to an end too quickly.

Orlando Fishing report

Speaking of bad pictures, here’s one of a fly-caught seatrout.

Orlando Fishing report

The fish splashed water all over the camera, but you can see the Electric Sushi fly.

Tuesday the now retired Dr. George Allen joined me for a Port Canaveral excursion. The weather was awesome, light winds, hardly any clouds. A couple of weeks ago I had found a big school of black drum out there. I went back to the place because that’s what you do. It’s not like I expected the fish to be there weeks later. But to my surprise and joy they were. George got one, a brontosaurus-sized beast, on a jig.

Orlando Fishing report

George and the brontofishsaurus.

We went along the beach looking for surface activity. Spinner sharks kept jumping out of the water. We saw a ray swimming. I got one cast off before the ray dove. That cast did not get a bite. Did not see much else.

After a few hours of looking without success, we tried blindly casting towards the surf. Bam! Bam! Ladyfish, bluefish, jack crevalle, all on bucktail jigs, steadily. No big fish, but some solid action. I kept four bluefish for the smoker.

Finally we reversed course, moving farther out off the beach. I spotted a ray and moved to intercept. It dove. George spotted a ray and we moved to intercept. It dove. They were very spooky. We couldn’t get close enough to cast at them. I spotted a ray and moved to intercept. It maintained its course, and a well-placed cast resulted in a nice cobia coming up and eating the jig, plainly visible to us, a beautiful thing to see. George fought the fish up to the boat where I netted it and bingo- we finally got cobia, the first of the year, a nice fish of 30 pounds or so!

Orlando Fishing report

Coe-Bee-Ahhhh!

Wednesday the Brinkman was busy, as I sat there and fed it charcoal and wood chips for four hours while the fish smoked. Yum-mee! We’ll be eating smoked cobia and smoked fish dip around here for a little while, at least.

Thursday the Reverend Jay Bergstresser and his brother Hank the Mercenary joined me for a half-day’s fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. We were taking it easy, just fishing for seatrout. We used DOA Deadly Combos in some of my favorite spots. The bite was not on. We caught quite a few fish, but all but one were undersized. Still, the weather was nice and the company was good, and we enjoyed ourselves. Hank got de-stressed, an important consideration. And of course we all got closer to God, a real important consideration.

On Friday the USGS gauge on the Econlockhatchee at Snow Hill Road read just over two feet. Time to go fishing!

While the river was low and clear and the weather was awesome, the bass bite was relatively slow. Although I missed a couple strikes, I got three bass in five hours. I also got a sunfish slam, and a spotted gar, all on a white foam popping bug. The river is so beautiful…

Orlando Fishing report

You have to love how aggressive the stumpknockers are.

Orlando Fishing report

The best bass of the day.

Those of us who like to fish are lucky we have such a wide variety of fishing we can do in central Florida. Even with the continuing onslaught of progress there’s still lots of incredible fishing here.

And that is this week’s Finally Got Cobia 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 2015. 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 Variety Pack Orlando Fishing Report

March 13, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

The Variety Pack Orlando Fishing Report

Sunday, a lovely day, found Chip, Casey, and Robert in the Mitzi skiff as we searched for hungry fish in the Mosquito Lagoon. We found lots of fish. They were not hungry. At the first spot we cast to fish for a couple hours but did not get a bite. At the second spot we cast to fish for a couple hours but only got one bite. It was missed. At the third spot we cast to fish for a couple hours. Chip got a decent trout and two rat reds on a DOA CAL shad tail. Robert missed a strike on a Johnson Minnow. Other things we tried included DOA Shrimp, jerk baits, and live shrimp. It was a beautiful day, but frustrating from a fishing standpoint.

Monday, likewise lovely, found Chip, Casey, and I in kayaks on the Banana River Lagoon. We did some fairly serious paddling. We found a school of black drum. Casey had a bite but lost the fish, then they would not bite any more.

We went looking for other fish.

I found another school of black drum. My fishermen were not nearby, so in order to get their attention I hooked a fish, using a black Bunny Leech. Chip and Casey came over PDQ. 

Orlando Fishing Report

Casey battles a fish.

 

orlando fishing report

It was the first black drum he’d ever caught.

 

orlando fishing report

It took a DOA Shrimp.

 

orlando fishing report

Then Chip got one on a black Bunny Leech, tied by Steve Baker.

 

orlando fishing report

Aye, ’tis a handsome fish!

Casey got one on a DOA Shrimp. Then Chip got one on a black Bunny Leech tied by Steve Baker. Then Casey got another on a DOA Shrimp. Then the fish would not bite any more.

We had a chance to cast to some tailing manatess. We did not take it.

We had more shots at fish before we left but did not get any more bites.

Still working the run of awesome weather, Rodney Smith and I went out of Port Canaveral on Tuesday on a cobia mission. The waves were running three to five feet, but it wasn’t very windy. The Mitzi handled it beautifully.

orlando fishing report

Rodney works a tripletail in close.

 

orlando fishing report

We saw more turtles than cobia.

The first fish we saw was a tripletail, sitting under a small clump of sargassum. Rodney threw a shrimp over and the fish gobbled it. We ended up seeing quite a few tripletail and hooked five or six, boating four legal fish ranging between five and ten pounds. I found myself wishing I had brought a fly rod because catching a ‘tail on fly would have been pretty straightforward. We did not, however, see a single cobia. 

orlando fishing report

Some delicious eating on display. The fish. I mean the fish.

Back at the Port we ran into Fred Cisneros. He had also been searching for cobia and had seen only one. I guess they are not here in force yet.

The Kumiskis had tripletail fillets sauteed in coconut oil for dinner Tuesday. Very delicious it was!

Thursday I water-tested my new boat, a Sevylor inflatable kayak (read the review here…). This is not a terribly seaworthy little boat. Its main function for me will be small pond fishing for bass and sunfish. It passed that test admirably, as I got five bass on surface flies.

Sevylor Quikpak K1 Review

The Sevylor Kwik Pak K-1, ready for launch.

 

Sevylor Quikpak K1 Review

This was the best trip of the morning’s feasibility study. This boat will help me find a bigger one.

So in four day’s fishing this week I handled seatrout, redfish, black drum, puffers, tripletail, and black bass. I wish I had gotten a couple of sunfish, too! And that is this week’s Variety Pack 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 2015. All rights are reserved.

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Sevylor Quikpak K1 Review

March 12, 2015 by · 3 Comments

Sevylor Quikpak K1 Review

Sevylor Kwik Pak K-1 review

The Sevylor Quikpak K-1, ready for launch.

So this fairly inaccessible pond used to have a boat on it. When I visited the pond a few weeks ago, the boat was gone. GONE! How could I fish there now? The bottom is soft, the pond full of big alligators. That’s not a good wading combination.

Some research on-line led me to the Sevylor Quikpak K1 One Person Inflatable Kayak. I contacted (three times) the media representative at Coleman (Coleman owns Sevylor) to inquire about obtaining said vessel. They never responded to me.

Since the boat with shipping was less than $120, I just bought it. But I am wondering what customer service will be like, should I need it.

The boat arrived in a large carton. In the carton was the boat, a hand pump and hose, a paddle (which I just threw away), and the pack to carry the boat in. And of course there were instructions.

I took the boat into my yard and blew it up. The literature says this will take five minutes. It’s more like ten, not a deal-breaker if you’re the type who would carry the thing for a mile or two to get it to a body of water. Pumping up the boat is only a small amount of work, but enough that my aging butt had to take a break in the middle of it.

The valves and the hose nozzles are not brilliantly engineered. By being a little fussy one person can still get all five chambers filled up with air in minutes. The hose appears to be the weakest link in the system- guaranteed to be the first item to break.

The pump also sucks all the air out of the boat when you’re finished using it. That’s a good thing- that way it fits back into the pack.

This morning I gave the boat the on-the-water test. I carried it a mile and a half to the pond, filled it up with air, put it in the water, and climbed on.

By the way, since I have other kayaks I also had a decent paddle already. I did not need or want the chintzy one that came with the boat.

The K1 paddles kind of like a doughnut, or a big inner tube, might. Every paddle stroke turns the bow of the boat the other way. There is a lot of effort wasted going laterally.

I kept telling myself if not for this boat I would not be there at all. I don’t suppose one can expect a finely designed and built boat for $120.

In its defense, the boat stayed filled with air. The material from which it’s made appears sturdy enough to last for multiple trips. The quality of the (Chinese) construction appears to be more than adequate.

I found myself wishing I had an anchor. I believe an eight ounce lead pyramid on a thin nylon line would be adequate. As it was I parked it on top of weedbeds and fly fished from that stationary position.

Sevylor Quikpak K1 Review

This was the best fish of the morning’s feasibility study. This boat will help me find a bigger fish!

I caught five bass from the boat this morning, and made it back to the put-in without incident. It passed the water test! With some maneuvering I was even able to pee from it. I think my limit for sitting in the thing will be four hours or so.

I’ve always regarded kayak fishing as an exercise in minimalism, but this boat takes it to the extreme. Outside of my pockets (in which was a small fly box, a leader wheel, and a multi-tool) I had a paddle, a one-liter water bottle, a banana for both good luck and a delicious snack, and a five-weight fly outfit.

The boat lets me access a place I would not otherwise be able to fish. I will adjust to its idiosyncrasies and continue using it as time and weather permits.

The Sevylor Quikpak K1 One Person Inflatable Kayak- it’s not the perfect boat, but it does allow one to fish otherwise inaccessible water.

 

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 2015. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Product News and Reviews, opinion, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: , , , , ,

Orlando Area Fishing Report

May 30, 2014 by · Leave a Comment

Orlando Area Fishing Report

Blogs This Week:

Fishing Streamsong- A Photo Essay

I expanded the Orlando area fishing report this week all the way down into Polk County. It’s not a bad drive…

Monday morning found me out on the Mosquito Lagoon with fly fisher Gerry Dizinno, from Texas. I thought it odd that when I pulled into the Haulover parking lot on a holiday there was no line at the boat ramp and plenty of parking spaces. Then the fish explained it.

It was a little breezy and there were lots of clouds, not the best fly fishing weather. But the fish I had been working were mostly gone and a search mission did not turn up many more. Ominously, I saw quite a few dead ones. We did not get a bite.

Gerry emailed, “I had a good time, especially if the guide is as hard a worker as you, regardless of fish caught! When back in Orlando, if time allows, I’ll definitely arrange another trip.” Thank you, sir, very gracious.

Tuesday son Alex and I drove to Polk County to fish in the phosphate pits at Streamsong Resort (see the blog here). Tuesday evening guide Bill Read led us to about ten bass in a couple hours, including the biggest one I have ever seen caught, boated by Alex. That’s my boy!!

fishing streamsong

Alex with his prize.

Wednesday morning we got a couple dozen fish to about five pounds. All fish but one were caught on Texas-rigged soft plastics. The accommodations are beyond outstanding. If you like big bass, a plush room in which to sleep, and outstanding cuisine, then this is a place you must visit. And Bill the Guide was first-rate, too!

fishing streamsong

Bill with a nice, chunky fish. Most of our fish came on soft plastic baits Texas-rigged.

Early Friday morning long-time friend Rodney Smith joined me for some scouting on the Indian River Lagoon. It was good to see him- I hadn’t since the paddle trip ended. We quickly got three species of fish in the shallows (redfish, seatrout, and ladyfish) on jerkbaits, and then went searching for tarpon. Sadly, we did not find any, even though we found a big school of menhaden.

IRL redfish

These fish pull harder than bass do.

The boat was on the trailer at ten o’clock.

And that is this week’s Orlando Area Fishing Report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short. Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2014. All rights are reserved.

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

Fishing Streamsong- A Photo Essay

May 29, 2014 by · Leave a Comment

Fishing Streamsong

Fishing the phosphate pits was something I’d heard about ever since I got to Florida. This week I finally got a chance to try it.

Alex and I went to Streamsong Resort on Tuesday for some fishing and R&R. In a mastery of understatement, it’s quite the place.

We fished Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning with Bill Read, one of three guides on staff. Bill was everything you want your guide to be- knowledgeable, patient, personable, with a sense of humor. We immensely enjoyed fishing with him.

If you enjoy bass fishing and plush accommodations you need to try fishing Streamsong.

On to the photos.

fishing streamsong

Fossilized shark teeth set in jaws.

 

 

fishing streamsong

Close-up of said teeth.

 

fishing streamsong

Overlooking one of the ponds on the property.

 

fishing streamsong

View inside the main building.

 

fishing streamsong

One of the fine restaurants on-site.

 

fishing streamsong

The bookshelf in our room was custom made for these books.

 

fishing streamsong

Some of the other guests had nice wheels.

 

fishing streamsong

Bill Read on the morning run.

 

fishing streamsong

Alex slings some line.

 

fishing streamsong

The only bass that fell to fly.

 

fishing streamsong

Bill with a nice, chunky fish. Most of our fish came on soft plastic baits Texas-rigged.

 

fishing streamsong

Alex trying to finish the job.

 

fishing streamsong

This was a nice fish!

 

fishing streamsong

Alex with his prize.

 

fishing streamsong

Alex and Bill do a little celebrating.

 

I certainly hope I get another chance at fishing Streamsong!

 

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2014. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing News, Fishing Stories, Photo Essays, travel blog · Tagged: , , , , ,

Orlando Area Fishing Report

May 24, 2014 by · Leave a Comment

Orlando Area Fishing Report

It was a weird week. And even though I do not like to fish on weekends, especially Memorial Day weekend, fishing Saturday made up for almost all of the other weirdness.

Monday was a no fishing day and at this point I can’t even remember why not. On Tuesday morning I met Tammy and we paddled to a Mosquito Lagoon fishing spot. Fishing was not hot. I did get a seatrout of five pounds of so on an Electric Sushi streamer. I missed the three larger fish that bit prior to the one I caught. There were also blown shots and fish that weren’t spotted in time, etc.  I was not on top of my game.

Wednesday morning I went to the Econ. I had a new fly, a sexyfly tied in a fire tiger color, I was sure would kick bass butt. I got one bite, a bass that, if I were being generous, I would say was a foot long. Two others followed the fly but did not bite. The experiment did not work, although to my credit I stuck with it until I left at about noon.

Lighten Up for Black bass

These are some of the flies I throw for bass. The fire tiger one that failed is on the lower right.

Wednesday evening, Thursday, and Friday I had the pleasure of sitting in Florida Hospital with my mom and her husband, only to be told in the end that they couldn’t find anything wrong. She’s home again doing what she was doing before the hospital stint. If you should find yourself in this situation bring LOTS of stuff to do. And a sweater. You could hang meat in there.

Scott Radloff and I got to Port Canaveral at about 7 AM Saturday morning. The parking lots were already almost at capacity and it was a zoo at the boat ramp. Anything less would have been disappointing.

We got the Mitzi in the water and the car parked and went looking for bait. From a half-mile south of the Cocoa Beach pier south to Patrick AFB the menhaden are solid all along the beach. The first toss of the net came up empty but the second had more fishies than I could lift. We let most of them go.

I would have been happy with anything but I was looking for tarpon. We put six in the air and leadered four, along with bites from several moderate to large sized sharks of various types. The weather was warm and sunny. The best part was, all those hundreds of boats that had been launched were nowhere near us. I don’t know where they went but no one bothered us.

orlando area fishing report

There goes one hospital day!

 

orlando area fishing report

There goes another hospital day!

Catching four tarpon will make up for a lot of strangeness, that’s what I know.

orlando area fishing report

What hospital???

And that, gentle reader, is this week’s Orlando area fishing report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short. Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2014. All rights are reserved.

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

See How Easily You Can Lighten Up For Black Bass

May 22, 2014 by · Leave a Comment

Lighten Up For Black Bass

A short time researching “fly rods for black bass” on the internet will find recommendations for bass rods between six-weight and eight-weight. And for beginners these are good recommendations. However, if you’ve been fly fishing a while, if you’re a good caster, and if you understand how to use your rod to fight bigger fish efficiently, you can use smaller, lighter rods than this quite effectively in many situations. Let us discuss the places little rods are appropriate.

I live in central Florida, and fish rivers and shallow areas on lakes with the fly. These places are made-to-order for a little rod. My own favorite is an eight foot three-weight equipped with a weight-forward number four floating line. With this outfit unweighted streamers, small poppers, and gurglers up to size 2 are tossed at likely targets when the wind is less than about 12 knots. When the wind comes up, or if I want to throw a larger or a weighted fly, then I go up to a nine foot five-weight. Either way, the leader is nine or ten feet long, tapered to a 10 pound nylon tippet.

Lighten Up for Black bass

Flies like these can be thrown with a small rod.

Why should you Lighten Up For Black Bass? Several reasons present themselves.
– It forces you to become a better caster. At first casting your typical bass fly* with the little rod will be difficult. If you stick with it will get easier because you will get better.
– You will present your flies with less commotion. The words “delicacy” and “black bass” don’t often appear in the same sentence, but bass can be spooked just like any other fish. A five-weight line makes considerably less splash than an eight-weight line does.
– You can fish longer. That little rod causes less fatigue than a bigger one.
– Those little bass became more fun. A ten- or twelve-inch bass on an eight-weight isn’t very challenging. Put him on a four-weight though, and Boom!- he’s a real fish.
– Those bigger bass are suddenly angling trophies. The five-pounder on the eight-weight was a nice fish. On the four-weight though, you have some serious bragging rights.

orlando area fishing report

If you fish in thick weeds or timber you will lose a few fish. I submit you will catch more overall though, because you will spook fewer. You will enjoy the ones you catch a lot more, too.

Try to lighten up for black bass. If you don’t take to it you can always go back to using your more conventional fly gear.

*You may want to down-size your typical bass fly by a hook size or two.

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

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Filed Under: Fishing Stories, Fishing Tips, Flies and Fly Tying, opinion · Tagged: , , , , , ,
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