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An Everglades Retrospective

November 10, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

An Everglades Retrospective- A Photo Essay

Thanks for reading this week’s post, An Everglades Retrospective. Couldn’t fish this week because of the weather. Since “official” camping season (to me) kicks off at the end of this month, I thought I’d pay some homage to my favorite Florida place to camp- Everglades National Park. My first trip there, a six-day canoe/camping trip, was in 1980,

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

Got my kids started early. Maxx with a Snake Bight seatrout.

 

Maxx running the Bang-O-Craft.

 

Alex in the mud at Lake Ingraham. Hey, he wanted out of the boat!

 

Me at Lostman’s Key. This photo ran in the very first magazine article I had published, around 1985.

 

Tarpon on fly, Coot Bay.

 

Maxx, Matt Van Pelt, and Alex, in Lake Ingraham. Matt was one of my students, back when I was a public school teacher.

 

Maxx, Pavilion Key.

 

Anhinga, on the Anhinga Trail.

 

Alex got this trout on the Middle Grounds, near east Cape Sable.

 

Don Causey paddles across Coot Bay.

 

Put-in at Hell’s Bay.

 

Maxx going mano-a-mano…

 

…with this guy, Mud Lake.

 

Alex, different day, same place.

 

Campsite on New Turkey Key.

 

The beach at Cape Sable.

 

Paddling on the Buttonwood Canal.

 

A dragonfly, a Halloween Pennant, sits on a mangrove leaf.

 

Waiting for the storm, Jewell Key.

 

Maxx, Jewell Key.

 

Alex, Bear Lake.

 

Nesting ospreys near Tiger Key.

 

Fish on, Garfield Bight. Courtesy Mike Conneen.

 

Rabbit Key.

 

This guy came up right next to the boat, checking us out long enough for me to get a shot.

 

Mike Conneen and River, somewhere near Everglades City.

 

American crocodiles, behind Cape Sable.

 

Campsite, Tiger Key.

 

Where are we??? Mike Conneen tries to see his phone screen.

 

Hand propelled craft only.

 

Mike Conneen and River, Jewell Key.

 

Along the Anhinga Trail.

 

In a tiny creek…

 

Where are we??? Behind Cape Sable. Courtesy Mike Conneen.

 

Mike Conneen and River, Jewell Key.

 

If memory serves, this is the south Joe River chickee.

 

One of the reasons I go!

 

Mike Conneen on the Shark Point Chickee.

 

Campfire on Cape Sable.

 

One of the reasons I go!

 

Campfire on Jewell Key.

 

Jack Radloff, Bear Lake.

 

This snook swam right past our boat.

 

Hooked up, Whitewater Bay. Photo courtesy Maxx Kumiski.

 

Got ’em! Maxx holds the beast.

 

Little blue heron, Anhinga Trail.

I’m looking forward to my next visit! Anyone want to go???

That’s An Everglades Retrospective. Thanks for reading!

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

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

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

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

Southwest Florida Travel Post

March 6, 2021 by · 1 Comment

Southwest Florida Travel Post and Photo Essay

Thank you for reading this week’s Southwest Florida Travel post.

Yours truly was a guest on the Fish Untamed podcast. I listened to it half expecting to be embarrassed and was pleasantly surprised that I came off as well-informed and perhaps even thoughtful.

Thanks for having me on the show, Katie!    https://fishuntamed.com

——————————————————-

Monday morning found me driving to Everglades City in the wee hours of the morning. I wanted to catch the outgoing tide all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, and low tide was at 11 AM. I mostly made it.

The kayak on the return trip, after eating and drinking for a couple days.

Paddlers need to know how to time the tides. Paddling against the current isn’t hard if the current doesn’t run fast. The moon phases where the highest volume of water moves are the new moon, closely followed by the full moon. Much less water is moving on quarter moons.

Another good thing to know is that 1/12th the total water volume moves during the first hour of the tide. One-sixth the volume moves during the second hour. During the third and fourth hours, half the total volume that’s moving does so. During the fifth hour the flow slows again, with 1/6th the total volume moving. And during the last hour, 1/12th, all that’s left, moves.

So if you must paddle against tidal flow, the best time to do it is on a quarter moon, near the top or bottom of the tide. If only the wind speed were so predictable.

I got out to Jewell Key near mid-day. Other campers were there, but there was plenty of room for me. After setting up camp I tried fishing. At my favorite spot the water was too deep to wade, and too rough to fish from the boat. So I tried other areas.

My favorite spot at low tide. These rocks usually hold fish. Not this time…

It was slow. I managed a couple each of jacks and ladyfish and one small snook, all on plastic shad.

Same area, same tide, different angle.

By the time sunset came around, I was ready to get horizontal. It had been a long day!

Sunset, into the Gulf.

Tuesday morning’s low tide found me in my favorite place. I worked it hard, both on foot and from the boat. The fish were not there. I managed four trout in four hours, and it’s not like they were big ones. I tried several other spots, and got nothing. By then it was high tide, when I typically don’t do well anyway. So I returned to camp and took a nap.

Did some stargazing and star photography.

That evening I stayed up and did some stargazing, always an enjoyable pastime. The wind was sufficient that the bugs were near non-existent.

Praise the Lord for a new day!

Wednesday the wind was blowing hard, and the sky looked like rain. After the previous day I figured fishing would be a wash. Bag it, John! Go see something new! I paddled back to Everglades City, then drove to Fakahatchee Strand, where I had never been.

Lots of clouds around for the sunrise.

The Big Cypress boardwalk was a tremendous one-mile walk. Most cypress in Florida are second-growth. But this place has massive, virgin cypress trees. My regret was the walk wasn’t longer.

The boardwalk.

 

Beautiful, big cypress trees.

 

The strangler fig killed this cypress.

 

Little blue? tri-color? heron along the trail.

From there I went to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, another place I had long wanted to visit. I got there and the gate was chained. Oops!

I ended up in Cape Coral, camping in son Alex’s driveway.

Getting ready for the tour.

Thursday I took an three hour ecotour with Kayak-Excursions. It was fun and educational, and the mangrove tunnel at the end was one of the nicest I’ve seen, just awesome. I highly recommend their services, https://kayak-excursions.com.

Launching!

 

Paddling amongst the pelicans.

 

In the mangrove tunnel.

Friday? Clean-up on aisle 4. After that trip the van was trashed. Now it’s nice and clean, as is all my gear.

Thank you for reading this week’s Southwest Florida Travel post!

Life is great and I love life!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! or take a kayak ecotour!!

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

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

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

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays, travel blog · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Everglades National Park Report and Photo Essay

December 4, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Everglades National Park Report and Photo Essay

Thank you for reading this Everglades National Park report and photo essay. I’m afraid it may be rather lengthy.

To paraphrase Lynyrd Skynyrd- They call me Mr. Cold Front…

Drove down to the Gulf Coast Visitor Center in Everglades City on Saturday to pick up our backcountry permit. Met my associate in mild insanity, Mike Conneen, Sunday morning. He was accompanied by River the Wonder Service Dog. I had hoped to launch the boats by 7 AM so as to catch the last of the outgoing tide to Jewell Key. HA! We paddled against the current the entire way. It was still a lovely paddle with great weather.

Mike and River, on the way to Jewell Key.

After unloading our vessels and setting up our new temporary home, we went on a fishing expedition. The Gulf side of Jewell Key boasts an extensive live worm rock reef. While I enjoy sight-fishing over the reef, when we got there the tide was too high for this. Blind-casting with a plastic shad netted me several trout and ladyfish and a redfish. Mike prefers a Vudu Shrimp, the new weedless version. He got what I got and a few snook too.

Trout…

 

…and redfish made up my catch.

Late in the afternoon, on the falling tide, I switched to the fly rod. Using a plain chartreuse and white Clouser minnow I got more trout and ladyfish and a snook too, giving me what turned out to be my only slam of the trip. It was beautiful out there. I fished until after sunset.

Got one on!

 

And then it was released.

Monday morning it was blowing like snot, coming off the Gulf. We fished on the inside, the lee side, of several islands, with a few small fish to show for it. Mike wanted to range further. I thought it was a bad idea with a front on the way. We worked our way back to camp.

Here comes the front.

 

Here we are waiting for it.

 

Got some nap time in.

 

My tent kept the water outside, where it belongs.

Good thing, too. The front blew in with hard wind and heavy rain. It continued to rain on and off into the evening. We spent a lot of time in our tents.

Surprisingly, Tuesday morning was not that cold, although it blew like snot. I left Mike and River in camp and went walking the now uncovered reef, intending to cast from the edge.

The uncovered by low tide worm rock reef.

There were a lot of raccoons working that reef.

Silly raccoon, thought it was hiding.

One would expect that when a human being approached a raccoon on a wide open area, the raccoon would flee for the woods. Certainly, many of them did exactly this. But several just kept doing what they were doing. When I got close, they would attempt to “hide” in the rocks. It was hilarious. Watching where I was walking, I nearly stepped on one. Had I been carrying a decent camera, some fine raccoon photos might have been had. As it is I used the point and shoot to get a few snapshotty pics.

The rising of the Beaver Moon.

That evening the Beaver Moon rose. We got to watch an awesome sunset, then an awesome moonrise, within an hour of each other. Jewell Key allows one to do both, which is very accommodating on its part.

Sunrise from Jewell Key. Thank you, God, for another glorious day!

Wednesday morning was cold. The wind still blew, too. Mike and River spent the entire day in camp. I spent the entire day walking the reef. Fishing was hard- remember the cold front? I did kill two trout that we fried up for dinner. They were SO delicious!

Mike and River spent the day in camp.

More sunset watching and moonrise watching happened. Some stargazing got thrown into the mix, too.

The sun has set on another day.

For me, fishing is the prime reason for making a trip like this. But enjoying the sunrise, watching the birds, the dolphins, the raccoons, stargazing, all of that stuff is at least as important as fishing. I enjoy moving my boat by my own power. I just love the elemental nature of moving and camping out in remote areas!

Watching the birds, a wonderful way to spend some time.

We decided that, rather than getting up before sunrise on Friday and fighting the outgoing tide to get back to Everglades City, we would leave at the bottom of the tide on Thursday and fish the incoming all the way back. It was a good strategy for the well-rested Mike, who got a nice red and a nice snook, too!

Mike and River collaborated to get this snook.

After loading up we had dinner at the restaurant-that-used-to-be-the-Oar-House. Then we hit the road. I pulled into my driveway at 9 PM. My messy car and gear are sitting out there right now, waiting for the clean-up.

All things considered, it was a pretty spectacular trip.

Thank you for reading this Everglades National Park report and photo essay blog!

Life is great and I love life!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! or paddle!

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

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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2020. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Fishing Stories, Paddle Fishing Florida, travel blog · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tiger Key Fishing Report and Photo Essay

April 20, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Tiger Key Fishing Report

A blessed Easter to everyone. Thank you for reading this Tiger Key fishing report.

FANTASTIC OFFER
Three of my book titles are now available for five cents each, only from my website.
-Flyrodding Florida Salt
-How and Where to Catch Redfish in the Indian River Lagoon System
-Fishing Florida’s Space Coast
Shipping is still $5.95 each. The mailers cost money, the post office wants a cut, and the mail boy has to bring the package to the post office. But you can have each of these titles delivered to your door for six bucks until June 15. Act now!

FISHING!

MONday
Last week I wrote- “Thursday loaded up the expedition kayak (Ocean Kayak Prowler 15) and went to Spruce Creek, which is not much of an expedition.” Monday I took it on an expedition, maybe short, but an expedition none the less. Drove to Everglades City, leaving mi casa at 0400, arriving 1000. Self-issuing camping permit in hand, I loaded up the boat with food, gear, and tackle (fly only) and paddled eight miles out to Tiger Key.

The wind was honkin pretty good out of the northwest and the water, near the top of the tide, was riled up. I did not see any fish other than black mullet on the way out, and did not get a bite after setting up camp. Did not hit it hard, was fairly drained from all the travel.

Campsite, Tiger Key. Nice.

I could not help but notice the army of fiddler crabs, way more than I’ve ever seen anywhere. Why is nothing snacking on them?

Good thing these guys don’t attack people. There were thousands of them.

Tuesday
Beautiful weather! No bugs! Southeast wind made fishing the outside of the islands the thing to do. Cast right off the campsite before breakfast or coffee, getting two small jacks and two small ladyfish on the Bouncer shrimp. Would have liked something sexier but these days be happy with what you get, John!

That’s quite a modest jack. First fish of the trip, though.

After a quick breakfast bite went boating- not far! Saw a place that said, Fish here! So I did. Second cast garnered a strike, a snooklet. Released him after a quick photo and went back to casting. A few casts later hooked a snook that was four pounds, maybe a little more. He went through the #20 Seaguar. Put on an Electric Sushi, 2/0.

The snooklet spit on my lens.  🙁

 

 

Everything was sized modestly.

Before the bite stopped there I’d gotten a redfish (small) and 10 or so trout in the slot. Spent the rest of the day hunting for fish that I didn’t find. There was no bait anywhere. Saw a single snook on top of a bar, did not get a shot. Saw one shark on the same bar. Blind-cast in places that screamed, Fish here! Did not touch a fish all day until I went back to the morning spot, where a half-dozen more trout fell to the Sushi fly.

After supper got another jack fishing by the campsite, for a nice circular ending to the day. Stayed up barely long enough to see some of my favorite constellations, tough under an almost-full moon. Slept well.

Beseeching the fish gods to toss me some crumbs.

Wednesday
Thinking that the outside didn’t work too well, went looking inside. Had a low outgoing tide to start, perfect for hunting shallow bays. Those bays had a few black mullet and the tiniest of fry minnows and nothing else.

There were lots of ospreys, good to see!

The only birds around were ospreys. There were no ibis (didn’t see one in four days!) and very few herons or egrets. No bait, no birds, no fish. I’m going back to where I got the fish yesterday.

Another snooklet.

Once there I had the same conditions as the previous day. Again, a snooklet attacked the Sushi fly almost immediately. A while later I got another. A while later I got another rat red. Then nothing. I stayed longer than I should have, hoping the trout would show. They didn’t. I hopped in the boat and went hunting again.

I worked another point real hard and again got nothing until a flounder took pity on me. It wasn’t much of a fish, but it was a fish.

Deciding a picnic on Picnic Key would be appropriate, I paddled over there. The beach is long and beautiful. The sun was high, the water clear. I walked toward the far end, high on the beach, hoping to spot a snook or redfish.

The beach at Picnic Key, home of the mighty houndfish.

When I got to the far end I reversed field. To my amazement, where there was nothing a few minutes earlier there was a fish. But it was almost bright green! What was it?

I cast too far in front. Hoping the fish would move toward me I let the fly sit there. The fish was not moving. When I tried to recover the fly it was discovered it had found a root. Pulling it off the root did not bother the fish, but it did bend the hook. While straightening it I broke the barb off.

The next cast landed a foot in front of the fish. He immediately came over to check. One twitch and BAM! It was a houndfish. He almost beached himself when he jumped, a pretty spectacular 1.27 seconds. Then the barbless hook came free. I suspect they’re hard to hook anyway, what with the bony beak.

While I was picnicking a guide boat with four tourists came to look for shells and whatnot. The captain was a crusty Chokoloskee Island native, knew Edgar Watson’s son. While we chatted he said something which was pretty obvious to someone who’s fished Florida for very long- “There sure ain’t as many fish as there used to be.”

No fish here.

I checked three more islands, saw a single redfish on two big stingrays. Did not get a shot.

No fish here, either.

The day was getting old when I went back to my “spot.” A few trout had come in, got a half-dozen to three pounds. One, once hooked, came in, did not fight until I tried to grab him. Then he thrashed like crazy. “Fish, please don’t do that, you’ll attract a shark.” No sooner did I release him than a six foot bull swam by a rod length away. It wasn’t a soil-your-shorts moment but it could have easily turned into one.

Did I have nice weather or what??

This evening had no breeze. The no-see-ums were a minor annoyance. I didn’t use bug spray once the entire trip, choosing in this instance to retire early.

Thursday
Got up at first light, had breakfast, broke camp and packed up, paddled back to Everglades City, getting there at 1000. Loaded up the chariot and drove home, thinking about no ibis, no gulls (NO GULLS), no bait, can I go to a planet that’s not being ravaged please?

That’s this week’s Tiger Key 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 2019. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays, travel blog · Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

South Florida Exploration Fishing Report

March 1, 2019 by · 2 Comments

South Florida Exploration Fishing Report

I visited the Keys and Everglades National Park this week. It’s a south Florida exploration fishing report.

Upcoming-
–Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Seminar, March 23. An all-day fishing seminar that takes place in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, with the express goal of helping you catch more fish in the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoons. For more information, http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/
–On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar, March 24. Fun, educational four hour fishing seminar that takes place in my Mitzi on the waters of the Mosquito Lagoon, with the express goal of helping you catch more fish. For More information, http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

For Sale– Canoe Creek racks, fit any pickup truck (except Dodge RAM with toolbox). https://orlando.craigslist.org/pts/d/oviedo-tuff-truck-rack-by-spring-creek/6791721077.html

First off, the traffic in south Florida is out of control. This reporter does not wish to inflict that on himself ever again. South Florida fishing has declined to the point where it’s certainly not worth that kind of aggravation.

Saturday I helped Allison Bowman, official girlfriend of Alex Kumiski, move to Rockland Key to be with Alex. Even making the drive as pleasant as possible with snacks, music, etc., it was awful. On Islamorada I watched an old man who was walking slowly pass me and disappear into the distance.

I learned (or re-learned) a couple of things during that drive:
-any time is a good time for oral hygiene. The GUM Proxabrush is a fine little tool; and
-a harmonica makes traffic jams more enjoyable. Mine is a Hohner Progressive Special 20 tuned to C. For $40 it’s a portable entertainment system. The world needs more harmonicas and fewer guns.

Sunday John Napolitano took Alex and I out into the Keys backcountry. He stopped the boat and started poling. Before I finished getting my fly line out he shouted, “Permit!” There were a half-dozen fish at one o’clock. I could have spit on them. Needless to say they evacuated the area in a hurry. Additionally we saw a tarpon roll, a single bonefish, and another pair of permit (I did not see these fish, nor the bone). We wrapped it up early since Alex had to go to work.

In the afternoon I paddled out into the Saddlebunch Keys to do some exploring. I found lots of Cassiopeia jellyfish (they seem to be doing fine everywhere down there). I also saw one small permit (no shot), four or five barracudas (no shots), and a single blacktip shark.

A Cassiopeia jellyfish.

Monday Alex took Allison and I out into the same area as the previous day. We looked and looked five or six hours worth. We did not find much. I cast a plastic shad about 1000 times, got one small snapper and one small grunt. We did not see any crabs, did not see much bait.

The Keys are the most over-rated inshore fishing spot on the planet. Not only have I never done particularly well by myself there, I have fished with the following guides with the following results:
-Tommy Busciglio, with Steve Baker. We jumped two big tarpon (no complaints there!)
-Ben Taylor- skunked
-horrible guide (Ah-chee-wa-wa) at Hawk’s Cay- skunked
-Dexter Simmons- skunked
-a week in the Marquesas with Rick DePaiva, Blake Matherly, and Paul Hobby- one bonefish, one permit, and one tarpon between the four of us
-wade fishing Long Key with Bruce Chard- one bonefish between three of us
-Mike Gorton, twice- one large barracuda
Maybe I suck, but I seem to catch fish most other places.

Excuse my rant.

Four AM on Tuesday I got up and drove to Flamingo, hoping to get the boat wet by 8. I was out at nine, not too bad. Blame that Anhinga Trail stop.

This purple gallinule was feeding on a water lily flower.

 

Morning glories are lovely.

 

The soul of the Everglades.

 

Anhingas photograph well!

It was windy. Concerned about crossing Coot Bay on the rebound, I stayed and fished it’s lee, catching a lot of snook on fly rod poppers. I was glad I brought a four weight- it was probably too heavy for the fish I got. The largest was 18 inches or so. Two 12-inch tarpon succumbed to my wiles, too.

Lots of snooklets I caught.

 

Tarponitas too!

Spent some quality time on my back on a picnic table watching clouds dance. They are so graceful for being so large! They boogie to the music of the planet. Truly a wonderful hour spent there.

The waltz of the clouds. Still photo can’t do justice.

 

Home, under a mahogany tree.

Wednesday saw perfect weather so I put on my paddling shoes and hit it. My spot, a long-time favorite, was pretty barren, by its own lofty standards, anyway. Five snook were fooled by my popper with the largest weighing about four pounds. That fish was worth the price of admission- stunning strike, ridiculous acrobatics, the whole schlemeile. Awesome! Saw a few crocodiles, paddled through some mangrove tunnels, had a great time, and was glad I went.

I love paddling through the mangrove tunnels.

 

The fish of the trip.

Thursday at 0530 I got out of the tent so as to hit the road early- going home! The stars demanded I spend some time watching. Scorpius and Sagittarius were in the southern sky. The crescent moon was in Sagittarius, flanked by Jupiter and Venus. The Big Dipper pointed at Leo (whose nose was almost touching the western horizon), Polaris, and Arcturus. It was SO freaking spectacular I didn’t want to stop watching. But mosquitos reminded me I had places to go.

That’s this week’s South Florida Exploration 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 2019. All rights are reserved.

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

A Rare (for me) Flamingo Fishing Report

March 28, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

A Rare (for me) Flamingo Fishing Report

Ken Shannon and Bob Stearns were both on my mind a lot this week, as I fished out of Flamingo with my son Maxx (thus the Flamingo Fishing Report). It would have been nice to have either or both of those gentlemen with us. I’ve had many great trips down there with Ken, and learned more fishing there one day with Bob than I had in a dozen trips on my own. Great human beings, both of them.

And of course, a blessed Easter to all.

News of the Week
The year 2016 is shaping up to be the roughest yet for the Indian River Lagoon system. There was a total fish kill in the Banana River Lagoon this week. My understanding is that the biological collapse was nearly complete. Zero dissolved oxygen in the water asphyxiated everything there that needs to extract dissolved oxygen from that water to stay alive- all the fish and shellfish, all the other invertebrates, all the rooted plant life that had managed to survive to this point. Air breathers like dolphins and manatees won’t be faring too well either, as there is absolutely nothing left for them to eat there. Interested readers can get more information here: http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/environment/2016/03/23/what-we-know—-and-dont-know—-fish-kill/82163574/

A tragic bit of news.

Fishing!
Tammy had given me a glowing report of her Econ trip last Saturday. I went by kayak on Tuesday and managed two sunfish in almost five hours, an ill omen for my charter the next day.

On Wednesday Wisconsin fly fishers Vic Gulla and his son Daniel joined me for a St. Johns/Econlockhatchee trip. Fishing was embarrassingly slow. In an all day trip they got a few sunfish, two gar, and two small bass. These guys are good anglers, too.

Early Thursday morning I pointed the chariot towards south Florida with the Mitzi in tow, meeting Maxx in Florida City at about 930. At Flamingo we got our backcountry permit, although we could not do what we wanted, which was to set up a base camp on the Oyster Bay chickee for three nights. No, we had to break camp and move every morning, a big waste of time and fuel, but park rules is park rules.

Our first night was at south Joe River chickee. Fishing in that area we got a couple ladyfish, a couple snapper, a small trout, a trophy lizardfish that I wish I’d photographed (don’t have any lizardfish photos), a few puffers, and some big, ugly gafftopsail catfish. The catfish would be a recurring theme on this trip.

flamingo fishing report

Maxx casts as the sun sets at south Joe River.

 

flamingo fishing report

Be it ever so humble. And they just cleaned the port-o-potty, too.

In general the water down there looks terrible and Coot Bay, which in my experience had always been clear, looks how the Mosquito Lagoon currently looks. I’m glad our state government is doing everything it can to keep Florida’s water quality at its historically high levels. Anyway…

Day two was spent moving camp to campsite B. We fished along the way, nabbing several more handsome sailcats. While casting a shoreline along which I was poling, Maxx also got a nice 27 inch snook on a pot-gut jig Bob Sterns had given me.

flamingo fishing report

Maxx about to boat his snook.

 

flamingo fishing report

A happy young man with a handsome fish.

We dropped off our gear at the second campsite and went looking for tarpon, the main focus of our planning for this trip. We found some, big, happy, rolling fish. One soon nailed my black and purple streamer and tried to kick my ass. It took thirty minutes of straining and grunting but Maxx finally leadered and lipped it, after which we used the trolling motor to revive it enough until Maxx couldn’t hold it any more. Awesome!

Maxx jumped an even bigger one on a deep-running DOA Bait Buster but it only stayed on for a couple jumps before tossing the bait.

flamingo fishing report

Tarpon on fly, it does not get any better!

 

flamingo fishing report

Yes, it was a solid fish.

Night two was spent at the Shark River chickee. There Maxx and I experienced the heaviest no-see-um concentration that I personally have ever been fortunate enough to witness. I got utterly devoured while making supper. We jumped into the boat and rode around while eating our spaghetti and no-see-ums (I guess we got them back just a little bit there) just so we could relax, after a fashion of speaking, in bug-free comfort.

The bugs were waiting for us when we got back.

We got into the tent as fast as we could. So we would have something to do in there about 800 of the tiny bloodsuckers came in with us. It was about an hour until dark, and we killed diminutive, biting nuisances the entire time, actually ending up with a relatively bug-free sleep.

The bugs were waiting for us when we woke up. Several clouds of no-see-ums, each with thousands of individuals, hovered outside our tent. The diabolical midges knew we had to come out, I guess. There was no wind to disperse them, so they just bided their time.

We broke down camp in record time but in that time they bit the snot out of us. A fast boat ride blew them all away. All that was left were the welts.

We went back to where the tarpon were the previous day. Most of them were gone. We sat down to wait, a nice breeze keeping the bugs away. A school of fish came, obviously going someplace. We followed and fished them for about thirty minutes, without a bite, then gave up and returned to the “spot” and waited.

Another school came. Maxx jumped one on the Bait Buster. Two jumps and it was off. We followed and fished them fruitlessly for about 20 minutes, then returned to the “spot” and again waited.

Another school came. I got a bite on a Bait Buster, a big fish. One jump and it was off. We followed and fished them for about 20 minutes, then returned to the “spot” and again waited.

No more came. We eventually gave up, since we had to go to the Joe River chickee for our final night.
On the way we caught a few seatrout, keeping two 16 inch fish for supper. The catfish again made an appearance. No shortage of catfish down there, that’s for sure.

Joe River chickee has a double platform. Our neighbor this night was an 83 year old gentleman who was down there fishing by himself. Right on, baby! I can only pray that will be me in 20 years, and there will still be such a thing as wild fish to fish for.

flamingo fishing report

Joe River sunrise, Easter morning.

And that, dear reader, is this week’s Flamingo 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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Flamingo Everglades Kayak Fishing Report

December 7, 2014 by · Leave a Comment

Flamingo Everglades Kayak Fishing Report

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Kumiski is having a two-yard sale on December 13. See the partial list of items here…

– – – – –

Mike Conneen started the entire affair with an email. It had been way too long since I had participated in a real adventure.

This is where the adventure started.

This is where the adventure started.

Monday morning found us launching kayaks at Coot Bay Pond. Our destination was Cape Sable. Our goals were similar but different. Mike wanted a 30 inch snook, and to catch a fish with a fly rod (something he had never done). I wanted a seatrout, a redfish, a snook, a tarpon, and a crevalle jack, all on fly.

Mike carried two spinning rods and one fly rod. I had a six-weight only.

Flamingo Everglades Kayak Fishing Report

I brought some luck, too!

We’d been out maybe an hour when I spotted a snook layed up in ten inches of water. The gurgler landed about a foot in front of it. I popped it once and the fish was on! Releasing that fish was very satisfying, and an auspicious beginning to our trip.

Flamingo Everglades Kayak Fishing Report

This snook really took the gurgler.

I blew out every other fish I saw in that bay.

In the meantime Mike had jumped three baby tarpon, using a DOA Tiny TerrorEyz.

The bay ended and we paddled through an overgrown tidal creek into another bay. A hard wind was blowing from the east. Fortunately we were heading west. The wind and waves precluded any fishing here, though.

We passed through another creek into a small pond. The water was murky and I blew up every fish I saw. I couldn’t see them until I was on top of them. Mike cast blindly, without success.

Mike hit a snoozing crocodile with his kayak. Ten feet of panicked reptile threw water and mud in every direction. Was that mud on the seat of Mike’s pants?

Soon enough we were more concerned with navigation than fishing. The sun was low in the sky and we did not want to spend the night in the kayaks. With the help of his telephone Mike found us a small patch of dry land just as dark was settling in. My dinner was a granola bar and an orange.

In the morning a five foot shark found my kayak to be an object of his curiosity. At least I could see him coming.

Flamingo Everglades Kayak Fishing Report

One shark, coming right up.

We came to a place where there were at least a dozen large crocs all laying around. Our appearance sent several scurrying into the water. Some just remained where they were, unconcerned. We took some photos.

Flamingo Everglades Kayak Fishing Report

These guys were not concerned by our presence. If I were them I wouldn’t be, either.

crocs too

The current was flowing hard the wrong way at the next creek we came to. We ate lunch, then Mike took a cast with the Tiny TerrorEyz. BAM! Nice snook. He got five on six casts. I got a jack and a small snook, but no way could I keep up with Mr. On Fire. He got at least a dozen fish, maybe more. Then the current slacked off, and we paddled down the creek.

Flamingo Everglades Kayak Fishing Report

He got some bigger ones. They were beautiful, healthy fish.

We camped that night and the next on Cape Sable.

Flamingo Everglades Kayak Fishing Report

It was low tide at sunrise.

Flamingo Everglades Kayak Fishing Report

The ibis enjoy the low water.

In the morning we paddled back to the snook spot. I got a small redfish on a pink Clouser Minnow, as well as a couple snook. Mike did even better than the previous day. He had his 30 inch snook right by the kayak, where it broke off. But he pulled the fly rod out, hooking two snook with it. The first broke off. The second he boated and released. How many people can say their first fish on fly was a snook?

Flamingo Everglades Kayak Fishing Report

This ugly pink fishair fly got me quite a few fish.

Flamingo Everglades Kayak Fishing Report

The first fish Mike caught with a fly rod was this snook.

That night we were sitting at a small campfire made of very dead mangrove branches. I mentioned that old mangrove wood frequently contained scorpions. Later that night while trying to sleep, Mike felt something crawling on his back. When he went to grab it, it stung him twice, once on the back and once on his hand. It was a scorpion, which had apparently climbed into his clothes while he tended the fire. After killing it he packed up his gear, not wanting to risk a second encounter with another beastie. I heard him making noise and got up to see what he was doing. Once informed, I packed up too.

We launched the kayaks just after midnight, paddling under a nearly full moon the 11 miles back to Flamingo. It was beautiful out there, a great tactic for beating the east wind that just didn’t quit while the sun shone. After the moon set we had an hour of spectacular star gazing, complete with meteors and satellites. I do not know the words to describe just how fantastic that hour was.

Fortunately Mike did not swell up like a balloon or suffer any other lasting effects from his scorpion encounter.

As it got light we fished in the dredge hole behind the Flamingo Campground, catching several jacks and ladyfish. Some big tarpon rolled but did not bite our offerings.

We spent Thursday in Flamingo unpacking, cleaning, and repacking, preparing for Phase Two.

Friday morning we launched the kayaks at West Lake, heading to Shark Point. We travelled through a series of lakes, ponds, and tidal creeks. Fishing was slow, although Mike jumped a baby tarpon on the Tiny TerrorEyz.

Once we reached Garfield Bight, Mike proceeded to just crush the snook. I had three great shots at redfish. All three spooked off the fly.

We camped on the Shark Point chickee. Don’t go there if you have a guano allergy.

Flamingo Everglades Kayak Fishing Report

The chickee was covered in bird droppings.

Saturday offered the best weather of the week, a light east wind instead of the 20 knots we had experienced the rest of the week. We gently floated across Snake Bight, getting shots at spooky snook and redfish the whole way. I got one snook. Mike hooked three reds on a shad tail, catching one. At the Snake Bight channel I hooked, and lost, another snook. We were back in Flamingo at 3 PM, and back in Palm Bay at 9. I pulled in to my yard about 10. I still need to empty the chariot and clean up my gear.

Flamingo Everglades Kayak Fishing Report

Saturday’s weather was spectacular.

Flamingo Everglades Kayak Fishing Report

This was the last fish I got.

Our goals were not completely met. Mike did not get the 30 inch snook, and I did not get a seatrout or a tarpon. I suppose a return trip is in order.

That, my friends, is Flamingo Everglades Kayak Fishing Report. It was a fantastic week of fellowship and adventure.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
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 2014. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Fishing Stories, Paddle Fishing Florida, travel blog · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,