Orlando Area Fishing Report

April 5, 2014 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Orlando Area Fishing Report

The Mitzi is still for sale!

Blog Posts This Week– Poppers for Seatrout

It’s April and I’m thinking about tarpon. Friends on the west coast have already seen some.

On Monday I went bass fishing. I threw the same bluegill popper I threw last time I went, with much the same result- three or four bluegills and about 20 bass, mostly little ones with a couple decent specimens thrown in for variety. It was a beautiful day and a very enjoyable several hours.

Tuesday was Tammy Tuesday, so let me just copy her facebook post:

“Yesterday’s original plan was to fish the lagoon. Last second change had us going offshore. My faithful companion and mentor and friend John Kumiski had some issues getting across the bridge to port because of a bad accident.
“Change of plans again. He called and we decided to fish the IRL instead. So I left the port and headed to Port Saint John and we launched. Got into some jacks and trout and talked about what a beautiful day it was. As we could see the bridge from where we launched we saw traffic moving again. Next thing I know John is motoring to the ramp. Boat back on trailer and off to the port we go.

“It was a long day of hunting for anything out there. A whole lot of nothing until a lone undersized tripletail appeared. We finally caught and released it. We looked everywhere and found nothing. Finally john decided to pull a Hail Mary and head to a spot a good bit away but likely unbothered yet for the day.

“The lone tripletail on that structure was dinner last night. Just as we were giving up and admitting to and accepting the suck, though…. Divine intervention in the form of a huge ray leaping from the water 100 yards away.
“One rod set up and one cast made. A few minutes later there was much celebration aboard the Mitzi. We looked for that ray again hoping to pull another cobia off of it but it was not to be. So glad john never gives up! Another adventure toosday with John Kumiski in the books.”

In spite of the beautiful weather, did not fish Wednesday.

Thursday Brad and Greg joined me as part of a two boat trip on Mosquito Lagoon. It was slick when we got there and although we saw a decent number of fish we could not get near them. In the third spot we tried Brad got a bluefish on a DOA CAL Shad. We then tried the DOA Deadly Combo out at the edge of the flat and got a few trout, small ones. At the last place we looked we found a school of big reds. In spite of having cut mullet in them numerous times over the next 45 minutes we did not get a bite. Stomachs growling at us, we gave up, ran up to Goodrich Seafood, and had quite the delicious lunch, after which we returned to the dock and pulled the boat.

Friday Scott and Ryan joined me for a half day on the Indian River Lagoon. Ryan got a rat red right away of the CAL Shad. Then we just spooked a bunch of fish. Ryan wanted to try fly fishing so I took them to the small trout spot and gave him a lesson. He was good enough to get two or three while Scott railed them with a barb-pinched-down DOA Shrimp.

We changed spots and saw some nice, spooky reds and trout. Ryan got a hit on the CAL Shad from a nice red but missed it. On the way back to the dock we saw birds diving. Breaking fish, how lucky was that? Ladyfish and bluefish, we got a few of each before the frenzy stopped. We were happy to have run into a bunch of fish to end our day.

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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Second IRL Paddle Adventure Report

December 14, 2013 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Second IRL Paddle Adventure Report

Gray sky, howling wind. The whitecaps were breaking over the gunwales of the canoe. The shoreline was only inching closer. The “adventure” part of the IRL Paddle Adventure made its presence felt in an all-too-real way.

The IRL Paddle Adventurers left Samson’s Island after a pleasant two night stay. A pair of great horned owls serenaded us to sleep each evening while we were there. We observed that they were a mating pair. Apparently the actual act of mating occurs very quickly in great horned owls, taking approximately three seconds in this particular case.

These owls serenaded us.

I thought I might find owl pellets at the base of the tree they were in. What I found was an active beehive. I left the area as quickly as possible.

The Trip to Lagoon House was uneventful. There was not a lot of camping space there and several of us were literally at the water’s edge, But the Lagoon-Palooza was well attended and MRC garnered several new members. The IRL Paddle Adventurers would like to sincerely thank everyone who came out to see us.

On the next day’s paddle we stopped at Honest John’s Fish Camp and ate our lunch. Honest John’s represents the finest of what’s left of old Florida- funky, laid-back, gracious, a cool place. We chatted with Elliot, who worked there, and Barbara Arthur, a wonderful lady, one of the owners. She has several IGFA world record seatrout to her credit, quite the woman.

Honest John’s Fish Camp

Our next stop was Long Point Park, near Sebastian Inlet. The park graciously donated two campsites to us for our stay. It was sad getting there in a way because that’s where Dee Kaminsky was leaving us. Mike Conneen’s brother Matt came by with two pots of vegetarian chili with all the fixin’s and fed the lot of us, the sort of kindness that has made this trip so outstanding. The IRL Paddle Adventurers would like to sincerely thank Matt Conneen for his delicious contribution.

The storks hoped for handouts that never came.

On the bright side of this particular stop, Karen of Karen’s Kayaks joined us for the overnight and the next day’s paddle and Brian the kayak fisherman joined us for three days.

Brian brought a cheering section.

A half-dozen wood storks hung around waiting for handouts. Since we had hardly caught any fish (a recurring theme on this trip) we had nothing for them. Feeding the wildlife is never a good idea anyway.

We paddled through miles of stinky water the next day. The seagrass has been replaced by a red alga that collects in depressions on the bottom where it rots. The rotting algae stinks. It was like that for miles.

This stuff collects and rots, raising quite the stink.

We thought we would catch some fish in the vicinity of Sebastian Inlet but no one did. Nearing Wabasso Rodney managed to get a slam- redfish, two snook, seatrout, and a crevalle thrown in for good measure. All the fish combined maybe would weigh two pounds.

The larger of Rodney’s two snook.

Our best redfish of the trip- so far.

Evening found us at the Environmental Learning Center at Wabasso, the nicest of this type of facility that I’ve seen. They allowed us to camp there, take showers, and wash our nasty clothes. Then, Lou and Laurie of Chive in Vero Beach came out with a portable kitchen and cooked us an amazing dinner- steak, shrimp, three-beans and rice, condiments, sauces, truly amazing stuff. The IRL Paddle Adventurers would like to sincerely thank Lou and Laurie for their delicious contribution.

I got confused navigating the next morning and missed the route I wanted to take. Because of that error we got to meet Dr. Grant Gilmore, who had come out to see us. We stopped and conversed about IRL fisheries and their protection. Apparently the county wants to put in a boat ramp at the location of the best seatrout spawning habitat remaining in the south end of the Indian River Lagoon. Dr. Gilmore does not think this is a good idea, and I agree with him.

Dr. Grant Gilmore makes a point.

Just north of the north causeway in Vero Beach the most amazing thing happened- we began seeing seagrass again. With the seagrass came all kinds of bait, too. Crabs, no. Large fish, no. Rays, no. But there was still grass there, and we’ve seen it more or less all the way to Jensen Beach.

Rodney’s son James and two of his friends joined us on the south side of Vero beach. They camped with us that night on the best spoil island of the trip. There was a pocket of deep water on the north side of it and we caught jacks and ladyfish there, most of us catching at least a few. I even broke out the fly rod and caught a ladyfish.

James was happy to see us too.

Sunset was spectacular, a gorgeous, calm evening.

James photographs the sunset.

Dusk at Home Sweet Home.

Morning broke gray and windy, a solid 15 from the north. Mim, a kayaker from Sebastian, joined us for the duration of the trip.

Mim truly is epic.

Rodney and I tied our canoe to Nick’s and we put up sails. We made great time to Fort Pierce and without thinking it through too well kept right on going. We stopped at a speck of dirt south of the causeway. Suddenly the wind doubled in intensity, pushing up big, ugly whitecaps. We had to leave- our speck would be underwater at high tide. So we made for the nearest shore. It was a tense, scary ride but fortunately everyone made it safely.

But now we had to find a place to stop.

The entire shoreline there is mangroves behind which are mosquito impoundments. There is no place to stop, much less camp. We got to Little Mud Creek just before sundown and that’s where we spent the night, wind howling, surf crashing.

There were miles of mangrove shorelines south of Fort Pierce.

We got going as early as possible the next morning. Our destination was Jensen Beach.

Both Caribbean Shores and River Palms Cottages offered us donated lodging. We ended up at River Palms, from where I type this. The IRL Paddle Adventurers would like to sincerely thank both facilities for their generous donation. My only regret is we couldn’t manage to stay at both places.

Mim bought all the Paddle Adventurers dinner last night. The IRL Paddle Adventurers would like to sincerely her for her generous donation!

Speaking of donations, you can still sponsor a paddler and donate to the MRC Education fund at this link…

We are scheduled to give a presentation at the Florida Oceanographic Institute in an hour. Tomorrow we recommence our adventure.

Life is short- go fishing.

Life is great and I love my work!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2013. All rights are reserved.

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Indian River Lagoon Paddle Adventure launches Dec. 1
Paddlers heading out on 19 day Indian River Lagoon adventure

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Fishing Stories, Photo Essays, travel blog · Tagged: adventure fishing, fishing story, florida fishing, Indian River Lagoon

Port Canaveral Fishing Report

October 12, 2013 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Port Canaveral Fishing Report

Upcoming Events-

Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, October 26 

Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar, October 27

First Coast Fly Fishers meeting, November 4

Indian River Lagoon Paddle Adventure starts December 1. Paddle the length of the lagoon with us!

The forecast for Tuesday was NW at 5-10, seas 2-3 feet. I went out of Port Canaveral in the Mitzi. The forecast was not exactly correct. The seas were at the limit of the Mitzi’s capabilities. I got exactly one crevalle before turning around and bagging it.

Wednesday after the colonoscopy I was too wrung out to do much of substance. Regular readers may have read about this long canoe trip Rodney Smith and I (and others!) will be taking in December. The Coleman stove came out for testing, since we’ll need it and it hadn’t been used in several years.

After oiling the pump that baby started right up.

I then went into the cook kit to see what was in there. As strange as it might seem it was like reuniting with an old friend.

A long time ago I lost my favorite camping spoon on Cape Sable while on a canoe trip. As stupid as it was I almost went into mourning over that spoon. For years I looked for another one just like it without success.

A fan took me out to dinner at an Italian restaurant in Somerset NJ while I was at the Fly Fishing Show. To my joy that restaurant had my spoon. I told the guy about losing my other one and said I was taking one, which I put in my pocket. Then I started feeling guilty. “I’m 53 years old, I shouldn’t be stealing silverware from a restaurant.” So I put it back on the table, and left with a clean conscience.

My friend gave me a ride back to the hotel. When I got out of the car he had a present for me- he had stolen the spoon.

It was in my cook kit, along with a cooking pot I bought in LaPaz and many other treasures filled with memories. It was like opening a time capsule.

I am so looking forward to that canoe trip.

Thursday I took a long bike ride through the state forest by the Econlockhatchee River. It was glorious. The river was still a little high but has dropped a lot. It looked good.

Friday I went out of Port Canaveral with Steve Butrym and his nephew Steve. It was a gorgeous day. The water was pretty dirty in most places, cleanest in the Bight.

We ran down the beach all the way to Satellite Beach without finding any bait. Once there I caught a single Spanish mackerel.

We headed east and went out four or five miles looking for anything that might indicate fish, heading north and heading past Cape Canaveral. We found nothing.

At that point we got close to the beach again. The water was close to nasty, very dirty. Once we cleared the tip of the Cape it cleaned up a little. I netted about 15 mullet and we started casting them into the surf. We got exactly two small jacks.

The bluefish ought to be nuisance thick right now, and there should be all kinds of fish in the surf. There wasn’t much bait, and there were hardly any fish. Is the mullet run over already??

That is this week’s not-so-exciting version of the Port Canaveral 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 2013. All rights are reserved.

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Port Canaveral ‘welcome center’ opens in Nov.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Fishing Stories, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: Econlockhatchee River, fishing story, florida fishing, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, Port Canaveral

Mosquito Lagoon Redfish Fishing Report

September 14, 2013 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Mosquito Lagoon Redfish Fishing Report

Oh yeah, it’s GREAT to be home! Fishing has been outstanding, too!

Upcoming Events– Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, October 26
Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar, October 27
Indian River Paddle Adventure starts December 1

Before the local report, an Alaska fishing story, my favorite from the season just past. No names have been changed to protect anyone.

The lodge had a guest named Ray. Nice enough guy. Apparently the IGFA just opened a new class of world records based solely on length. Ray wanted to get a record dolly varden, and needed a fish of only 24 inches. For this quest he brought a 12-weight. No, I don’t get it either, but I took him dolly fishing one day and he threw it all day. Must have a huge arm. Anyway…

He used said 12-weight for silver salmon one day. In spite of the tackle a silver somehow got into his backing. He had had the line rigged at a Bass Pro Shop. No, I don’t get it either. Of course the backing and fly line separated. He lost the line, in spite of spending quite a bit of time looking for it. At Goodnews 12-weight fly lines are not something we keep in stock, so the 12-weight rod was out of business for a while.

Later that same day another guest who we will call Gary caught Ray’s line. The fish who had done the damage was still attached to it. Gary caught that too. But when he got back to camp he did not tell Ray about it. No, mum was the word.

Every Tuesday night the Lodge has a little awards ceremony. The guys who get the biggest fish don’t get awards. The guys who get the most fish don’t get awards. The guys who fall into the river, they get awards. The guy who breaks the most fishing rods, he gets an award. You get an award if you manage to catch a dead salmon, or a rock. So you know when Tuesday night came rolling around, Ray got an award, and he finally got his fly line back. To say he was surprised would be a large understatement. There was a lot of laughter. A very funny, very entertaining episode it was.

But I digress from the business of writing about the fishing here.

Tuesday I put the Mitzi in the St. Johns for a water test. Steering worked, bilge pump worked, anchor light worked, all systems go. I wanted to visit Mosquito Lagoon on Wednesday but my son needed my car to get to school- his car was in the garage. So I didn’t get out until Thursday.

I did not get a bite on my first cast. After that it was pretty much wide open.

I found slot reds finning at the surface and popping baits as the opportunity arose. I tossed a 5.5 inch DOA CAL twice and a fish whacked the bait on the second cast. Another whacked it on the fourth cast. I lost track of my casts pretty quickly but I had a third fish before five minutes of fishing had elapsed.

This fish nailed the lure on the second cast.

I strung up that fangled fly-pole thang, tied on a grizzly seaducer. The fly hit the water and a fish nailed it, first cast.

My first cast with a fly resulted in this little feller.

Damn, it’s good to be home.

The sun cleared an offshore cloud and the surface activity at that spot stopped immediately. Within 300 yards I had found a 200 fish school of 15 to 20 pound reds. My first cast spooked them. I just backed off and let them calm down. A fatty whacked the fly on the next cast. I watched it all, very cool. After releasing the fatty I hooked and lost another.

The fish got bigger quickly…

At this point I decided I had come to look around and had only worked one half-mile-long stretch of water. It was time to look around.

I found a school of big redfish. I threw a four inch DOA CAL jerkbait at them and Mamoo ate it. I was calm enough to photograph myself. I wanted to try with a fly but I lost them while tussling with Mamoo. The wind had come up enough that I couldn’t find them again.

…and the last fish was the fish of the day.

It was raining all around me. Having had quite the morning already I decided to bail. The boat was loaded before noon.

On Friday Dr. George Yarko and Dr. Dave Nickerson joined me, again on Mosquito Lagoon. I was expecting a repeat of the previous day’s success.

How foolish of me.

The fish were not behaving the same, nor were they in the same places. We burned some fuel searching, and finally located a school of redfish.

None of them bit. They quickly vacated the place once they realized we were there.

Dave managed to catch the only tailer we saw, a beautiful 27 inch redfish, using a 5.5 inch DOA CAL jerkbait. George got a handsome 22 inch seatrout using a DOA Airhead. We got some other minor stuff not worth reporting.

Dr. Nickerson got the only tailer we found…

…a lovely 27 inch fish.

It was a lot of work for only two fish. On the other hand we have all had worse days. The weather had been superb and everyone except perhaps me was quite satisfied.

That is this week’s exciting version of the Mosquito Lagoon Redfish Fishing Report.

Bonus Report! Port Canaveral, Saturday 9/14

George Yarko and I launched the Mitzi at about 8 AM, ran south along the beach to Patrick AFB. The menhaden were solid from the pier south, as many as I have ever seen. We did not see any other kind of fish, which was very surprising and very disappointing.

At Patrick we took a left and headed out about three miles, then headed north. We saw one small pod of tunny briefly. There was lots of sargassum out there but no fish that we found. We continued north all the way to Cape Canaveral. We saw a small pod of breaking fish, Spanish mackerel. I got one on a Sting Silver. George got a bluefish on a DOA CAL jig. We did not see any other fish around the Cape or the shoal.

On the way back south down the beach we saw several schools of mullet, some quite large. No other fish. Near the port entrance there was a school of menhaden. I cast our last one to them and hooked a shark of maybe 30 pounds.

The weather was spectacular and it was great being out but fishing was disappointing. We met a guy at the boat ramp who had gotten one fish, a fat tripletail. At least someone got one!

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 2013. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: DOA Lures, fishing, fishing story, florida fishing, fly fishing, Mosquito Lagoon, mosquito lagoon fishing report, mosquito lagoon fishing seminar, Mosquito Lagoon redfish, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, redfish

Redfish- Presenting the Fly

April 17, 2013 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

This is an excerpt from the book, Redfish on the Fly, by Capt. John Kumiski

Redfish- Presenting the Fly

It was a redfish fisher’s dream, a school of at least 500 fish, swimming fast, up on top, crashing bait all around us, one of the finest sights in all of angling, and one that one doesn’t see very often in the Mosquito Lagoon. Rob Ricks was trembling with excitement. He had caught exactly one redfish on fly in his life, and badly wanted another. It was practically certain that the deed would now be done.

“Cast out in front of them, and just make it look alive,” I told him. Rob was a weak caster. When he got the fly in the water, not very far away, there was so much slack in the line that the cast was useless.

“Try it again,” I said. “Lead them, put it where they’re going and let them swim into it.” Rob tried again with the same result. And again, and again, and again. Finally the fish disappeared. We’d caught exactly none.

The moral to this story? Your casting must be second nature in order to take advantage of opportunities, especially once in a lifetime opportunities like this one was. But it’s a great segue into this section’s premise- after locating the fish, how you present the fly to them is the single most important variable in getting one to bite, much more important than what’s at the end of your leader.

The Strike Zone
When I was younger and just getting into saltwater fly fishing, I was fortunate to get a copy of the finest instructional fishing video ever made, the late Billy Pate’s Fly Fishing for Tarpon (which I recommend highly). In this video Billy explains the concept of strike zones as it relates to tarpon fishing. We’re going to revisit this concept and then relate it to presenting the fly to redfish- cruising fish, laid-up fish, and tailers.

The strike zone is an area around the fish where, if the fly is properly presented, you have a reasonable chance that the fish will take it. This area is roughly shaped like a half a football, extending with the wide part at the mouth of the fish to the apex out in front of it. Since their mouths point down, redfish prefer to feed down, but they show little hesitation in coming up for a fly unless they are heavily fished or have been disturbed by boat traffic.

Understand that the strike zone changes in size constantly though, going from non-existent to huge and back again, and occasionally even goes behind the fish. Over the years I’ve seen a few fish do about faces to take a fly. It’s rare, but it does happen. Our assumption here is that in order to get a bite, the fly must be in the strike zone.

Hopefully it’s obvious that the longer the fly is in that strike zone, the more likely the fish is to take it. This brings us to presentation angles.

Read the rest of the article here, or buy the book!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2013. All rights are reserved.

How Not to Catch Redfish

Filed Under: Fishing Stories, Fishing Tips · Tagged: fishing story, fishing tips, florida fishing, florida fishing tips, fly fishing, fly tying, redfish

The Art of Fibbing

April 2, 2013 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

The Art of Fibbing- A Guest Blog By Tammy Wilson

Any angler worth their salt knows the value of a good fib. It’s the difference between a skunking and an 8-pound bluegill, after all. It’s how a 10-inch brook trout becomes a 20 incher over the course of an afternoon, and a world record over the course of a lifetime. It’s what makes a slot sized redfish a trophy bull when the story is retold over the campfire.

There’s a definite art to the yarn, and some folks don’t give that fact enough credit. Some don’t understand the fine nuances, the unspoken rules or the definite boundaries that go along with a really great fish story. Amateurs may delve right in with stories of a 700 pound black drum that got away down at the inlet when any seasoned story teller will readily admit it’s a known fact black drum don’t grow over 539 pounds.

An experienced angler knows to truly appreciate the one that got away. The one that was caught and witnessed or photographed or seen by the angler is a fish with a diminished potential for growth. The lost fish, on the other hand, has an uncanny almost otherworldly ability to morph into astonishing sizes. Some of these growth spurts take only mere hours, while some grow indefinitely, depending on how many times the incident is rehashed squared by the amount of single malt scotch gone from one’s flask.

Before mastering the distortion of truth, it’s equally important anglers keep buried in the recesses of their brains an entire library of excuses and be able to conjure seven to nine of them up at any given time. Fast thinking and the ability to keep said excuses neatly organized depending on method and location of fishing is crucial. One simply cannot have caught any trout on the stream because the tide was all wrong, after all.

The invention of the digital camera has really taken away from the art of fibbing in a drastic and sad way. The ability to CPR (catch, photograph, release) a catch has taken imagination right out of the fishing tale. Immediate proof with the ability to instantly show off one’s catch on the World Wide Web if one chooses has cut into the fine moral fabric of the fish tale. It’s why in most cases, the dog ate my camera, the batteries were dead, I left it in my car and I hit the wrong button.

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2013. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Stories, Guest Blogs · Tagged: Angling, fishing, fishing story

the everglades- an excerpt

March 12, 2013 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

the everglades

First Trip

My first trip to the everglades was a five-day canoe trip in March 1980. A friend from Massachusetts and I drove down for spring break. We dropped the boat into Coot Bay Pond and paddled to Cape Sable, then back to Flamingo. I think we saw four other boats during that time. It was a wild, unforgiving place- hot, no fresh water, bad bugs, hellish sun. There was no one around. If you had a problem you were on your own.

I loved it.

The birds were incredible. We caught a chunky fish with a big spot near its tail. We didn’t know what it was but we ate it. It was good.

the birds were incredible

We left the Joe River chickee at dawn one morning. We had to catch the last of the tide to the Gulf. We got to the mouth of Little Shark River just after sunrise, at almost dead low tide. Tarpon rolled everywhere. I’d never seen one before. Each fish we saw just added to the magic and excitement of the moment.

Three hit my Rebel. Of course, all jumped right off. It was a watershed moment for me in my fishing career, simply a spectacular, unexpected, amazing event.

In spite of all the fish we had to keep going. There were many miles left.

When we got to middle Cape Sable there was a small aluminum skiff beached there. The lone fisherman walked the beach, casting. Not much was said at first.

The moon must have been at the right phase because the current ran so hard off the point that a whirlpool had formed. You didn’t need to be Joe Brooks to know that fish were there. I cast a jig over and over but did not get a bite.

Read the rest at http://johnkumiski.com/the-everglades/

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John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2013. All rights are reserved.

Trip Planning
Protecting the Everglades
Park targets boater damage

Filed Under: Fishing Stories, Fishing Tips, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays · Tagged: adventure fishing, Cape Sable, everglades, fishing, fishing everglades national park, fishing story, Florida, florida fishing

Tamlet Pitched a Fit- by Tammy Wilson

December 26, 2012 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

A Guest Blog by Tammy Wilson

Once upon a time, in a land very, very near to where I sit writing this, a wee little Tamlet pitched a fit. It was a great fit. It was the kind of fit only a five or six year old girl can pitch. It was beautiful, something to behold as far as fits go. I was pissed.

My two older brothers, also known as the monsters, were in Grandma’s back yard, on the edge of the lake. They were fishing. I didn’t know a single thing about fishing. I only knew that the monsters were doing it, they were having fun, and I wasn’t. That simply would not do. I had asked them if I could fish with them, but as the monsters always did, they said no. They said girls don’t fish. Then they said the one thing that was pretty much going to guarantee that I was GOING to do this fishing thing… they said I “couldn’t”.

Since I was a wee little Tamlet, that word has been a trigger. Don’t tell me I can’t do something. You may as well be daring me to do it. I’ve always been the kind of person who will not only do it out of spite, I’ll show you fifty ways that I CAN do it. It’s not always a good trait to have.

The monsters had said no. And then they had gone so far as to dare me. I couldn’t beat them up, the monsters were big… so I did the one thing that any five or six year old girl knew how to do. I pitched a fit. Not two minutes later my father was yelling at the monsters to let their little sister fish and I was standing there with my tongue hanging out. I had won! Ha! Take that.

And so the monsters did the same thing they did every time that happened. They let me fish. They didn’t show me how, they didn’t help. Oh no. They simply just stopped keeping me from it. I had been watching, though, and I thought I could pull this off. I found myself a good stick, and took it in the house and my father tied a piece of line on it and stuck a hook on the end. The monsters had some bread out there and so I grabbed a piece off the table and I was out there in no time.

It took a little while to figure it out. The monsters were letting no secrets out. I had NO idea how to put the bread on the hook. I used that first piece of bread in about ten minutes and had to go in for more. I knew better than to pitch another fit. As a master of the fits, I knew you could only use them so often, or they lost their effectiveness. I was not a stupid child.

Eventually the monsters got tired of watching my failure and went off to do something else. I’m sure I wanted to do whatever it was they were doing, but I knew that I had been as much as dared to catch a fish at that point and that I could not stop until that mission was accomplished. Oh the tongue sticking out I was going to give them! If only I could figure it out.

Lucky for me, bluegill aren’t smart fish, or very hard to catch. I finally somehow managed to screw up and actually catch one. I was so proud of myself. I had done it! I had done it all by myself and I sure showed those monsters. But when I did show my beautiful catch to them, they laughed. Smallest fish they’d ever seen they said. They howled in laughter. They knew something else I didn’t know. I had to get that fish off the hook. After poking myself several times and freaking out over the moving slimy fish on the end of my line on my stick, I finally had to walk it inside where the grown-ups were sitting and have someone take it off. That poor fish didn’t survive.

That poor fish, though, wasn’t the only thing hooked that day. I was hooked. I had learned that there were living things under that water. I had learned that you could actually catch them. I put another dough ball on that hook and bam! Another fish. I hauled that one out of the water and this time when I stuck my tongue out at the monsters they didn’t laugh. It was huge by “Grandma’s Lake” bluegill standards. That was it. That was the end of my sweet little girl days.

Another monster had been born that day. From that day forward, it was always about the fishing. Oh occasionally I’d have to do something else the older monsters were doing. I spent my fair share of time in the woods sitting with my sack waiting for snipe to run into it. Didn’t matter to me, though. I had shown the monsters, and I was going to keep showing them. Spite is as good a reason as any to go fishing, really.

Tammy Wilson, a talented fly fisher and writer, lives in Cocoa. This is her second guest blog with us.

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2012. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Stories, Guest Blogs · Tagged: fishing, fishing story, Tammy Wilson

Secret Spots

May 10, 2012 by john kumiski · 2 Comments

Most fishermen have secret spots, ones they don’t even tell their best friends about. I have a couple myself. They’re really not secrets, as I see other fishermen there sometimes, but I certainly don’t go around advertising them. Mine provide me with a little oasis of quiet when I get to go out fishing by myself.

I went to one the other day. I took the kayak. I hadn’t been there since last spring and so wasn’t sure what I would find. What I found was six fine redfish tailing.

The first fish was clearly a nice one. Fly fishing from a kayak demands precise boat positioning in order to garner success, so I first got upwind and up-sun of the fish. Once in position I made my cast. The first missed, but he charged the second and nailed it. Bingo! The fish weighed about 15 pounds, the nicest one I’d gotten in months. I’d been out only 15 minutes and the day was already an outstanding success.

The next four shots were not as fruitful. The fish either spooked off the fly or ignored me completely. Finally another fish took the fly. He ran through some weeds, which collected on my line. I don’t know if that had anything to do with the loud CRACK that scared the daylights out of me, but next thing all I had in my hand was the butt of the rod. The rest had broken off and slid down the line.

Although I got the fish, my fishing for the day was done. Just as well. It’s one of my secret spots. I treasure it, and I certainly don’t want to abuse it.

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

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Filed Under: Fishing Stories, opinion · Tagged: fishing, fishing story, florida fishing, florida fishing tips, fly fishing, Mosquito Lagoon redfish, orlando fishing

A Float Down the Econlockhatchee

April 19, 2012 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

The river ran low and clear. Whoever designed the put-in was not a boater- a couple hundred yards separate the river from the parking lot.

Maxx pulls up. I give Cheryl my keys and they drive off to do the shuttle. I drag the boats down to the riverside.

The kayak feels wonderful, as it always does. Light and responsive, it’s a joy to paddle.

Every flood on the Econ drops trees. Of course they fall across the river, creating obstacles for boaters. Those obstacles start while the road is still within earshot. Fortunately, the kayaks are light and responsive. Fortunately, both Cheryl and I know how to paddle. In spite of that, several small river spiders soon share our boats with us.

We come to a deep hole. The fly line shoots out, dropping a foam spider near the bank. Again. Again. Bloop! The little rod bends. A redbelly comes to hand.

“Cher! Come look at the colors on this fish!” They are one of the most beautiful fish you’ll ever see. Cheryl makes stained glass windows. This fish may be a model for one.

The redbellies are bedding. We see their bowls all the way down the river. In spite of not working it very hard, I catch many more, and some bluegills too. Strangely, the stumpknockers never put in an appearance. I wonder where they are.

We see many bass. They are not interested in my spider. I try a streamer, and soon lose it on a backcast to a riverside bush. Karma, telling me to enjoy the sunnies and ignore the bass. I put the spider back on.

Cheryl wants to know if we’ll see alligators. I’m surprised we haven’t seen any yet. We needn’t have worried- we end up seeing at least a dozen big ones.

We have to get out and drag the kayaks, over logs, around fallen trees, again and again. In between we float over shallows, through deep pools. Songbirds call. We hear a barred owl. I call back. We converse briefly, then it tires of the game.

We travel leisurely, stopping to snack, to converse. I haven’t seen Cheryl in a long time. It’s good to be on the water with her.

I notice our shadows getting longer. I’m surprised it’s gotten so late so quickly. I put my fly rod away, and we start paddling like we mean it. We still have several miles to go.

I hear voices before I see the speakers. Some teens are enjoying the afternoon. One does a spectacular flip off a rope swing. I can hear cars in the distance.

We load the boats onto my van. Our paddling is done. A float down the Econlockhatchee River is a wonderful way to spend a day.

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2012. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Stories, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays · Tagged: Econlockhatchee River, fishing story, florida fishing, fly fishing, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter

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