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Water Still Dirty in Mosquito Lagoon- Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

October 8, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 10/9/11

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

In the wee hours of Monday morning son Alex and I climbed into the chariot and drove to new Smyrna Beach. We launched the boat at about 2 AM. The tide was high, and slack.
Our plan was to visit lit docks and fish them. We didn’t have much success at first, but then the water started moving.

On one hand it seems strange that one dock will have fish boiling all around it when nearby docks have nothing, but that’s always how fishing is. So it was this night.

We hardly kicked fish butt. We got many undersized trout, many ladyfish. Alex got a rat red and I got a decent sized bluefish. We used DOA CAL jigs and 3″ DOA Glo Shrimp. Nothing photo-worthy came aboard. Everything was released.

After it got light we caught a few mullet and ran out of the inlet. It was too rough to ride around, so we just anchored near the tip of the north jetty. There were redfish there. Using mullet chunks we caught two decent ones in an hour and saw several other people catch some too.

If you want to soak bait there are quite a few fish like this at Ponce Inlet right now.

The mullet are supposed to be running. I’d like to know where they all are.

On Wednesday Luiz, Sergio, and Messias, all from Sao Paulo, joined me for a day’s fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. We tried fishing with lures. We tried fishing with bait. We caught nothing other than three catfish. The water is still dreadfully dirty. You can’t see anything.

Finally I anchored at the jetty at Haulover Canal. Soaking mullet chunks there we got two redfish in about three hours, very slow fishing. At least we weren’t skunked!

Luiz got this nice redfish. You can see how dirty the water is.

They were fun guys to be around and I certainly needed to brush up on my Portugues.

On Friday Dr. George Yarko joined me. The forecast was for hard east winds. Holy cow, it was correct! We anchored at the west end of the Haulover Canal and soaked mullet chunks for four hours, chewing the fat the entire time.

There were lots of dolphins around. There were lots of manatees around. Apparently yacht season has started. Out of the wind it was a lovely morning.

We did not see many mullet. This time of year they should be everywhere you look. We did not catch anything other than one over-aggressive sting ray. We left at noon.

Embrace simplicity.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- go fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com/

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

 

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High, Green Water- Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report

September 25, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 9/25/11

Upcoming Events- Show and Tell seminar on November 5 and 6. The 6th will be an on the water seminar. Details and the signup will be posted 30 days prior.

Monday I decided it was high time to check out the lagoons. I got a late start, launching the boat after 10 AM. The water was high, and green. Although there were a couple of fishing rods aboard, the plan was just to ride around and look for fish.

The water in the lagoons looks like the water in this ancient bath.

And I did find some. There weren’t any schools, but rather some areas where there were decent numbers of singles. Most of the time you could only see their wakes, but in some places you could actually see their bodies. Approaching thunderheads convinced me to load the boat at about 130.

Tuesday Mr. Erik Penfield joined me for a half day fishing. I was confident we’d get into a few even though we didn’t start until 930. Unfortunately that confidence was misplaced. We went to the places where I had seen the fish the previous day, but due to the clouds and ripple we couldn’t see anything. Blind casting with a variety of lures produced only one small ladyfish and a pinfish. We tried chunking mullet for a while, but got only a single spider crab. I was disappointed we didn’t do better. The boat hit the trailer at 130.

Wednesday at 7 AM I launched the boat at Port Canaveral. Rodney Smith was my guest. He was looking for a flounder for supper. By the cruise ship basin we found some jacks busting on mullet and got three or four on Chug Bugs. Then we netted some finger mullet and headed to the jetty.

The rollers were 3-4 feet with some chop. There was a lot of sargassum weed. We anchored the boat and started fishing, trying to ignore the waves coming over the bow periodically. In over four hours of fishing we got a couple more jacks, a ladyfish or two, and a bluefish. And Rodney did get his flounder, not a real big one, maybe a couple pounds though. We used egg sinker rigs with the mullet, strictly bait fishing. It was surprisingly relaxing and fun.

Thursday I got up too early and drove to Stuart for a fishing date with Mark Nichols. We went wading, tossing a variety of DOA products. Although it was fairly slow, the glow shrimp worked best, accounting for four or five seatrout in the 18-20 inch range. The fish were fat and healthy. It was great seeing and fishing with Mark, it had been way too long since I did that. The water in Stuart looks better than the water around Titusville. I can’t say that very often.

Embrace simplicity.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- go fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com/

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

 

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Alaskan King Salmon Season Ends at Goodnews River Lodge; Silver Salmon Beginning to Pick Up

July 31, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Report from Spotted Tail 7/31/11

King salmon season ended on July 25. Fish are still coming into the Goodnews River, and some are still being caught. All caught kings are being released.

Willie was fishing for salmon when this log took his fly. It was the biggest piece of wood I've ever seen taken on fly.

Chums, pinks, and sockeyes are busily digging redds and dropping eggs. Dollies and rainbow trout are sitting just downstream gorging themselves. These fish are suckers for a dead drifted bead or glo-bug.

Dolly fishing has been sensational with the average fish over 20 inches long, and some reaching almost 30. While beads take the most fish, a small orange gurgler tied on a #8 long shank hook is the ticket to the most fun you can have with a Dolly (other than maybe eating one). Friday morning Randy and Allison Blackman got a couple dozen fish while out with me, all on gurglers. Allison had the biggest, a fish of 27 inches. Most are just starting to color up. A few are already sporting fall colors.

This Dolly fell for a Polar Shrimp, another good pattern for Dollies.

The “biteyness” of the chums is dropping fast. Lots of them are starting to look cheesey, a sign that the numbers coming into the river are dropping. Dead ones are beginning to appear along the banks. There are still LOTS of chums coming into the river, though.

Mudfoot "Chum King" Church with a beautifully colored chum salmon. This fly works well for silvers, too.

The other day John and Dean hooked three silvers while fishing for chums and pinks. Two jumped off. We ate the third. By this time next week they will be coming in in force, thousands of them.

Fly casters throw various weighted fly patterns on #2 hooks, in cerise, hot pink, orange, chartreuse, and blue. Poppers and gurglers can be used to “wog” silvers, some of the most fun you can have fishing. Yesterday Mike Hummel wogged up four of them on a cerise popper, only to lose all four. He and his grandson Joe Foley managed dozens of chums and three silvers on streamers, however. It was a spectacular afternoon of fishing in spite of the weather, with double hookups happening all afternoon.

Spin fishermen will take lots of silvers on Mepps Flying Cs and Pixie spoons. I like to use 3/8 to 5/8 ounce DOA jigs with soft plastic twisty tails (CALs) in chartreuse, hot pink, orange, and other colors as available. Not many folks throw jigs for salmon but they are extremely effective.

Jigs offer great opportunities for catching silver salmon. This one attacked a Road Runner.

Embrace simplicity.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- go fishing!

John Kumiski

Home- Spotted Tail Outdoors and Travel

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

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Big Redfish in Mosquito Lagoon- Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

June 4, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 6/4/11

Upcoming Events-
-June 11, free fly tying lessons at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, starting at noon. The Clouser Minnow is the fly of choice this time.

Bumper Sticker of the week department:

On Memorial Day my family drove to the Villages to spend the day with more family. It was Uncle Don’s 75th birthday! My two boys were the only adult males there who weren’t veterans. A moment of silence please, for all those who did not come home.

Party Day at Uncle Donald's. It didn't get real crazy.

Tuesday I went walking/running on the Florida Trail. Couldn’t help but notice numerous redbellies spawning in the Econ River.

Thursday Rick Roberts and I went out on the Mosquito Lagoon. He got a red on a Johnson Minnow. We got numerous trout on DOA Shrimp. All were small. I got a nice flounder on a DOA Shrimp and lost another one right at the boat.

Friday Dr. George Yarko joined me for a day on the Mosquito Lagoon. We hooked three redfish by using mullet chunks. Only one was boated, but it was a pig, about 30 pounds.

Dr. George battles a big redfish on Mosquito Lagoon

Mission accomplished!

The water in the Mosquito Lagoon is still very low and it’s getting kind of dirty- not as bad as the Indian River but not like winter time. Between the clouds and the murky water it’s getting hard to sight fish.

Embrace simplicity.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- go fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com/

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

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Orlando Area Fishing Report- One Fish, Two Fish, RedFish, BlueFish

May 29, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Orlando Area Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 5/29/11

Upcoming Events-
-June 11, free fly tying lessons at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, starting at noon. The Clouser Minnow is the fly of choice this time.

Last Sunday wife Susan and I went to Playalinda Beach, sans fishing tackle. I’m always looking, though. There was no bait along the beach, an observation reinforced by the fact we saw exactly one pelican there in almost four hours. Conversation with fishermen along the beach revealed that a few had caught a smattering of pompano and whiting.

Monday Rodney Smith and Rick Roberts joined me for a day’s search along the beach north of Port Canaveral. Based on my observations on the previous day I wasn’t expecting anything.

I got a flounder by the north jetty on a DOA CAL jig. Working our way north we didn’t see anything, but Rick got a nice whiting, also on a jig. A couple small jacks and a bluefish also fell prey to our approximately 10,000 casts.

North of Cape Canaveral there were quite a few menhaden but no fish eating them.
Back at the jetty Rodney got another flounder, again on a jig. The day was enjoyable but fishing wasn’t very exciting.

Tuesday I went kayak fishing, launching at River Breeze about 9 AM. I paddled along shorelines for miles. I found a few redfish off the shorelines in white holes. Blindcasting into a hole with a redfish worm I got a low end slot red.

I found one shoreline fish, a crawler, that gave me an excellent shot. It took the redfish worm and was released a few minutes later. It was about five pounds.
I had one other decent shot but the cast was less than perfect and did not work. It was a lot of paddling for only two shots but it was a gorgeous day and I had the whole place to myself. And I did get two reds on fly.

Cody Zimmer got this Mosquito lagoon redfish a few weeks back. I just recently got the image.

Wednesday afternoon I hiked up the Econlockhatchee and fished my way back, using a green foam spider. Because I switched to a six pound tippet I kept the same fly the entire way- amazing! Many redbellies popped that spider and at least a dozen were released but they were running small. One small bluegill was fooled too.

The river is very low right now, awesome for wading and fly casting. Maybe if I went at either end of the day rather than during the hottest part of it I would do better.

Friday Dr. George Yarko joined me for some flats fishing on the Indian River Lagoon. We launched at Kennedy Point Park. Using DOA Shrimp we caught trout after trout. None would hold batter, as they were all short. We tried sight fishing for a bit but the water is real dirty and the clouds made it impossible to see. So we went back to trout fishing.
We also got a ladyfish and a bluefish. Although nothing of consequence was caught I’d guess we released two dozen fish. Thank goodness for the dehooker!

Cody got this trout the same day, same place, as the redfish above. George and I didn't get any like this on Friday.

Yesterday I helped Rick Roberts put together a powerpoint presentation for Angler Action (www.angleraction.org). This worthwhile endeavor is putting together an angler-owned database of fish population data so anglers will have their own data to use in shaping regulatory policy. Check out their website and consider submitting your catch data. It’s for the best of causes- fishing in our future.

Embrace simplicity.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- go fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com/

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

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High Pressure, Full Moon Reds, and Endeavor Blasts Off- Orlando Area Fishing Report

May 22, 2011 by · 4 Comments

The Orlando Area Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 5/22/11

Upcoming Events-

-June 11, free fly tying lessons at Mosquito Creek Outdoors.

The quick and dirty fishing report for the week of the full moon!

Monday, Mosquito Lagoon. Eric Robbins used DOA Shrimp during a half day trip to get a slot red, numerous trout, a couple of bluefish and a bunch of ladyfish. We also watched space shuttle Endeavor blast off. We didn’t see a lot of reds but really didn’t spend much time looking for them.

Endeavor blasts off on a cloudy Monday morning.

Tuesday, Mosquito Lagoon. Keith and Myrna Daugherty used DOA Shrimp to catch a bunch of seatrout. At the end of the day a mullet chunk produced a nice red for Keith. We didn’t see a lot of reds.

Mosquito Lagoon seatrout

One of many trout Myrna and Keith caught.

Keith got this nice red on cut bait.

Wednesday, brothers Steve and Dave Ritchie, Mosquito Lagoon. We tried flyfishing for reds. Spot #1, the fish were there in decent numbers. The fish wouldn’t let us into casting range, and the Ritchie brothers can cast. Spot #2, a school of fish bolted and waked off when we were about 150 feet away, no chance at them. So far the fish were not uncatchable, they were uncastable. Spot #3, we had some shots at spooky big reds. One actually checked out the fly, a black bunny leech. That’s as close to a bite as we got. Subsequent spots had no fish. On the bright side it was a beautiful, windless day. We ended up with a suicidal eight inch trout and a small pinfish.

Thursday, Ritchie brothers, Indian River Lagoon. Scouted large portion of IRL looking for a redfish school or tarpon. Didn’t find either, despite incredible weather. Found an area with some singles. Dave struck first, getting a slot red on a Merkin crab, his first redfish ever. Steve got another one on the same pattern a short time later, his first on fly. We had a couple shots at 20-30 pound class fish that were tailing, and numerous shots at black drum, none of which were converted. Dave hooked and lost another slot red. Not a great day but an improvement over Wednesday.

Indian River Lagoon Redfish

Steve's first fly rod red. A Merkin did the trick.

Friday, Ritchie brothers, Indian River Lagoon. Heavy fog early. Clouds hampered visibility but it remained almost slick calm most of the day. We fished the same area as the previous day and did not get a shot until almost noontime. The fish were lying in the thick grass. We would only see them after we ran them over. There was no tailing, there were no busts. It was like they were comatose. It was very frustrating.

Steve started throwing a Zara Spook and got a nice trout, over 20 inches.

I finally spotted a push coming at us. Dave made a perfect cast and hooked a fish, Hallelujah! It was a black drum of tem pounds or so, fooled by a Merkin. Steve hooked another one a short time later but the hook pulled, on the same fly pattern.

Indian River Black Drum

Dave used a Merkin to get this black drum.

Nearing 2 PM some breeze came up. Shortly afterwards I spotted a big red tailing. Dave had a shot at it but did not convert. Later Steve had a shot at another big red, made a perfect cast. The fish took the Merkin. Steve fought it for 20 minutes and then the hook pulled again, heartbreaking. We tried to find another without success. The boat was back on the trailer about 3 PM.

On Saturday Tom Van Horn and I gave a tarpon fishing seminar at Mosquito Creek Outdoors. There were about 30 seats there and most were filled, a nice bunch of people. There were raffles and prizes given away, and lots of good information was exchanged.

Embrace simplicity.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- go fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com/

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

 

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Hot Mosquito Lagoon Trout Bite This Week- Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

May 14, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 5/14/11

Upcoming Events-

-Space shuttle Endeavour’s launch, Monday, May 16, 8:56 a.m.

-On May 21, Fly Fishing for West Coast Tarpon seminar at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, starting at 10 AM. Tom Van Horn will also be giving a tarpon seminar aimed at east coast fish.

Bumper Sticker of the Week Dept:

On Monday I finally got onto the Atlantic, accompanied by Scott Radloff. Our goal was to find some bait, then search for tarpon first and giant crevalle second.

We found bait, both mullet and menhaden, near and past Cape Canaveral. While we were fishing around the mullet we noticed a very dark spot moving north off the beach. It turned out to be a school of crevalle, not giants but rather fish of about five pounds. There were thousands of them.

We chased them up the beach for several miles. We didn’t count but we caught a lot on DOA CAL jigs.

When we finally gave up on them we fished around the menhaden schools they had led us to. The bluefish were thick, but there was not much else. We saw one shark and three or four barracuda, nothing more. All we caught were blues.

It turned out to be a 50 or 60 fish day, but nothing spectacular in the way of size. Still, it was beautiful out and even the smaller fish were quite entertaining.

On Tuesday I was back in Mosquito Lagoon, joined by fly fishing Canadians Mark and Cody Zimmer. We found loads of big redfish tailing. They would not take any of the flies we tried. We had a bright moment when Mark cast a crab fly into a small school of big tailers and his line came tight. The fish he caught was a red of maybe 16 inches. In the middle of all those big ones, too!

Cody wanted a fish bad so the last 30 minutes we chunked with mullet. He got a four pound and a six pound trout, then a red of about 15 pounds. I forgot my camera, so there are no photos of these fish. 🙁

Again, it was a beautiful day and tons of big fish were spotted, but it was frustrating not being able to convince them to eat anything.

Wednesday Steve Kas and Jim Trub came up from Boca Raton, bringing Steve’s Archer Craft. I joined them and we went looking for all the fish I’d seen the previous day. They flat out disappeared. We looked from Pelican Island to Georges Bar and saw one redfish all day.

On the bright side the trout bite was pretty strong. We got a couple dozen to about 20 inches by casting jigs around the outside of several different bars.

Jim Trub with one of the many trout we got.

Steve Kas with another Mosquito Lagoon trout

Still, they wanted redfish. It was maddening not being able to find any after seeing so many the previous day. Ya shoulda been here yesterday!

Spotted Tail was on the Mosquito Lagoon again on Thursday, joined by Karl Dienst and his friend Brad. Tossing DOA Shrimp and CAL jigs we got a lot of trout, ranging from eight inches to almost 20. There were a lot of ladyfish around, too. We concentrated on trout fishing most of the day. With about an hour to go we went looking for reds. We found a few slot fish and Brad got two on ladyfish chunks.

Brad got a bunch of these seatrout on the DOA Shrimp.

Every fishing guide loves scenes like this- ready to boat a Mosquito Lagoon redfish.

A cheesy grin for the best fish of the day.

On Friday Jim Shwartzentruber and his friend George, fly casters from Utah, joined me hoping to bag a big red or two. It was not to be. We searched all day, me poling and them blind casting with a black bunny fly, and saw maybe a dozen reds. Once the wind started cranking the fishing got very tough too. They did get three of four decent seatrout, but again, those were not the target.

I hope the reds start cranking again like they did on Tuesday. I have every day this coming week booked up.

Embrace simplicity.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- go fishing!

John Kumiski

Home- Spotted Tail Outdoors and Travel

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

 

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Clouds and Wind Make for Tough Week on Mosquito Lagoon

May 1, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Report from Spotted Tail 5/1/11

Upcoming Events-
-Space Shuttle Endeavour is now targeted to launch around 2:30 p.m. EDT, May 2.
-On May 7 I’ll be giving free fly tying lessons at Mosquito Creek Outdoors in Apopka, starting at noon. We’ll be tying Clouser Minnows. Come out and see us, and walk out with some new flies!
-On May 21 I’ll be giving a seminar called Fly Fishing for West Coast Tarpon at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, starting at 10 AM. Tom Van Horn will also be giving a tarpon seminar aimed at east coast fish.

Bad News Dept.- the love bugs are back in all their I-can’t-see-out-my-windshield glory.

It’s Monday afternoon. It’s cloudy and windy. I’m sick of looking at the computer.

I grabbed a three weight and six foam spider flies and drove to the Econ River. In two hours I lost all six flies, caught some handsome panfish, fished around a large alligator, had a good time, and learned, or I should say re-learned, a few lessons.
-Use at least 8 lb. test for tippets. The five pound test I used just breaks too easily when you hang up. In the Econ, hang-ups are expected. Sunfish aren’t very leader shy.
-Don’t tie your spiders in black. You can’t see them! When you can’t see where your fly is you hang up more often.

Redbelly Sunfish

This green bug is much easier for the fisherman to see than a black one.

The water in both the Econ and the St. Johns is low, at a perfect fly fishing level. Sunfish ought to be bedding soon if they’re not already. So tie up some spiders and go try it.

Tuesday Scott Radloff and I went looking for fish in the Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River Lagoon. We got quite a few trout on DOA Shrimp, but didn’t see very many redfish anyplace and only got one junior leaguer on a wiggle jig. There was a fair wind blowing out of the south and it didn’t help us at all. The only school of reds I know of right now is down the south end of the Mosquito Lagoon, which is closed to entry until that shuttle blasts off.

Seatrout Head w/ DOA SHrimp

A DOA Glow Shrimp has been a hot lure this week.

Wednesday Dr. Lou Payor and his son Steven joined me for some fishing. We started in the Mosquito Lagoon. We fished around, using DOA Shrimp and Johnson Minnows, getting a few trout and ladyfish and seeing very little else. We went through the canal into the Indian River Lagoon and looked in a lot of places, none of which had any fish at all. Again, a fairly hard south wind didn’t help us. While we didn’t get skunked, it was hardly scintillating fishing.

On Friday afternoon Paul and Janet Moase joined me for some fishing and a space shuttle launch. We launched at Scottsmoor. My, what a crappy place to launch! The wind was howling (20-25) out of the north and it had blown all the water out of the north end of the lagoon. We barely made it out to Turnbull Basin. My outboard overheated on the way, all gunked up with mud and decaying vegetation.

Once we got out into the basin we started by casting DOA Shrimp. We got some trout and ladyfish, all fairly small. We looked along the edge of the flat for redfish but only saw one. Between the clouds and the wind though Moby Dick could have been there and we would have missed him.

Then Tom Van Horn called to tell me the launch was scrubbed.

We fished for almost four hours. Our best fish was a 19 inch trout we got on a DOA Shrimp. Tired of battling the wind we quit a few minutes early.

The shuttle is supposed to go up on Monday. It’s going to mess up my Monday charter, but a launch will make it all good.

Embrace simplicity.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- go fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com/

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

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Two Days Fishing, Two BIG Lagoon Redfish

April 23, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Report from Spotted Tail 4/22/11

Upcoming Events-

-Space Shuttle Endeavour is targeted to launch 3:47 p.m. EDT, April 29. I am actively soliciting a charter for this date. Rumor has it that this will be the final Space Shuttle flight EVER. Watch the launch and fish, simultaneously!

-On May 7 I’ll be giving free fly tying lessons at Mosquito Creek Outdoors in Apopka, starting at noon. We’ll be tying Clouser Minnows. Come out and see us, and walk out with some new flies!

-On May 21 I’ll be giving a seminar called Fly Fishing for West Coast Tarpon at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, starting at 10 AM. Tom Van Horn will also be giving a tarpon seminar aimed at east coast fish.

Tuesday night at 9 PM I made a last check of the answering machine. There was a message on it that I immediately responded to. Because I did I had a charter on Wednesday with two delightful young men. Austin Warmus and his buddy Jonathan, both 17 years old, both from Raleigh NC, joined me for a day on the Mosquito Lagoon. Austin had been on several fishing charters prior to this one and had never really caught anything. Nothing like a little pressure on the guide.

For most of the day we did not have great success. Redfish were fairly scarce and those we did find were uncooperative. We got several trout (mostly small) on DOA Shrimp, a couple ladyfish, and a bluefish. I stashed the ladies for future reference.

orlando fishing, orlando fishing trip, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing guide

Austin Warmus, Jonathan, and a Mosquito Lagoon Trout. Don’t mess with these guys.

With 30 minutes left I went to a chunking spot, staked out, and chunked some ladyfish pieces. Pinfish ate us up. On the last piece, almost out of time, the rod went off. Austin grabbed it and the battle was on.

Austin won. Here he is with the conquered. The fish was released. Austin kicked his bad luck in the teeth.

orlando fishing, orlando fishing trip, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing guide

Austin was a little more animated after catching this specimen.

Friday morning I dragged my butt out of bed at 115 AM and drove over to Tom Van Horn’s house. On the way to the Indian River Lagoon we picked up Scott Radloff. We launched the boat before three and went plugging. I had several bites that I missed before we got a decent trout. Tom decided that since the surface plug bite was slow we should chunk. Good call.

orlando fishing, orlando fishing trip, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing guide

An intense looking Mr. Radloff with an Indian River Lagoon seatrout.

orlando fishing, orlando fishing trip, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing guide

Same fish, close-up of plug.

orlando fishing, orlando fishing trip, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing guide

Capt. Tom Van Horn shows off a handsome redfish from the Indian River Lagoon.

We got five reds, one in the slot, the rest well over, and one Buulll that I subdued with a new Stradic and an old Cape Fear rod.

orlando fishing, orlando fishing trip, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing guide

A big ugly Indian River Lagoon redfish and that fisherman ain’t so pretty either.

So I was only out two days and didn’t touch a fly rod this week. Still haven’t caught a fish on any of the new rods I bought a couple weeks ago. Have tied a lot of flies though!

Embrace simplicity.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- go fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com/

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

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A Mosquito Lagoon Seatrout for His Birthday…-Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

April 17, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

…but the redfish got away!  🙁

The Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 4/17/11

Upcoming Events-

-Space Shuttle Endeavour is targeted to launch 3:47 p.m. EDT, April 29. I am actively soliciting a charter for this date. Rumor has it that this will be the final Space Shuttle flight EVER. Watch the launch and fish, simultaneously! Call me soon- time is short! Early bird gets the worm, and all that!

Imagine yourself in this scene. April 29, be there!

-On May 7 I’ll be giving free fly tying lessons at Mosquito Creek Outdoors in Apopka, starting at noon. We’ll be tying Clouser Minnows. Come out and see us, and walk out with some new flies!

-On May 21 I’ll be giving a seminar called Fly Fishing for West Coast Tarpon at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, starting at 10 AM. Capt. Tom Van Horn will also be giving a tarpon seminar aimed at east coast fish.

I thought the Bang-O-Craft was ready to rumble, so I took it for a spin on Wednesday. It made it about 300 yards and then it dies. Had to pole back to the ramp. Arrrrghgghhh- so aggravating. No scouting accomplished.

Friday my fishermen were Shane Arline and his friend Lieutenant Colonel Big Ed, both from North Dakota. It was cloudy and windy, hard out of the southeast. We started in the Mosquito Lagoon. Ed caught a redfish almost immediately on a gold Johnson Minnow. Then we went a good while without a bite so we moved to deeper water and tried trout fishing. Using DOA Glow Shrimp we got quite a few, although they were all small. We also got a couple bluefish and a few ladyfish. I tossed a ladyfish into the bucket for future reference.

The bite slowed so I took the boat through the Haulover Canal and tried the east side of the Indian River Lagoon, thinking we could get out of the wind. HA! no chance. We fished all the way up to Griffis Bay with a few small trout and ladies to show for it.

We ran back to the Mosquito Lagoon and put out a couple of cut ladyfish lines where we had seen a few reds earlier. The action wasn’t hot but we got two more to about 28 inches. Considering the weather I thought it was a pretty fair day.

Today, Sunday, John Ramsey bought the birthday boy Alejandro aboard for a nice birthday present of a fishing trip. Alejandro was 14 years old today- Happy birthday, buddy! We started by fishing for trout, again using DOA Glow Shrimp. It was a pretty good bite. Although most of the fish were undersized, we did get a few decent ones. There were no blues today, but a few ladies came aboard. I again threw one in the bucket for future reference.

One of the many seatrout Alejandro got for his birthday. The redfish escaped, however.

Toward the end of the fare I poled in close to shore and tossed a couple ladyfish chunks out. Alejandro was rewarded with a strong bite from a surprising large redfish. I was considering chasing it, as the fish ran a long way and the line level on the spool got dangerously low. However, and very sadly, the fish broke off before I could put my plan into action. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how we ended our fishing trip.

Embrace simplicity.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- go fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com/

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

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