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Goodnews River Lodge, Alaska Fishing Report

August 28, 2012 by · 4 Comments

Silvers Already on the Downswing?? Rubber Raft Hatch Going On

Autumn, still a month away on the calendar, is in full swing here. The Arctic terns and swallows are already gone. Geese fly over in formation, honking loudly, heading south. The chums and most of the kings are dead, the pinks and sockeyes are dying off, and even a few colored-up silvers are being caught.

We are still catching plenty of silver salmon here on the Goodnews River. Perhaps, just perhaps, I’ve been spoiled by past runs. This run is weaker than recent ones and we actually have to do some work to find and catch them. C’mon! This is the Goodnews!

That having been said, fishing is excellent by any yardstick you could use, except for past runs here. Fish counters (and I am not crazy about fish counters) have been hitting 15-20 salmon by lunch.

Afternoons have been a little slower because all the spots got beat up in the morning. Still, 20 or more salmon a day is not bad by any standard except for our own history of excellence. silver salmon catch, goodnews river alaskaDollies- dollies are definitely slowing down. Dolly trips need to go way up the river to find success. The fish are more scattered now that most of the early salmon have finished spawning. You can still find and catch them, it just takes more effort.

dolly varden, goodnews river alaska

David Harris with a dolly varden.

Rainbow trout- again, more effort is required to find them. Flesh flies have been very successful. John Wilhelm got a nice fish while out with me fishing for silvers. The wayward rainbow hit a fly not intended for it.

rainbow trout goodnews river alaska

John Wilhelm with a beautiful rainbow trout.

Bears- Never showed up. I’ve seen only three all season, all running for the nearest bushes. I don’t miss fighting them off with rocks while I’m trying to clean fish, but it would be nice to see them fishing again. Maybe next year they’ll be back.

As close as I’ve been to a bear this year- Goodnews River, Alaska.

Rafters- Rafters fly into Goodnews Lake to float the river. We see them every year, and try to maintain a good relationship with them.

There are an extraordinary number of them on the river this year. They must get in each other’s way. They certainly get in our way sometimes.

Today there were nine rafts between camp and Upper Landing, about eight miles upstream. Everyplace I wanted to fish this afternoon was occupied. I know we don’t own the river, but sometimes it does seem a bit excessive.

Mosquitoes- crappy, rainy, windy, cold weather equals no bugs. We have not had any bugs to speak of this week, thank goodness!

And that is this week’s Goodnews River Lodge, Alaska 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 2012. All rights are reserved.

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Goodnews River Lodge, Alaska Fishing Report

August 12, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Silvers and Dollies and Pinks, Oh My!

The silver salmon run is picking up steam here on the Goodnews River. Boats whose captains pick the right spots are logging 25 and 30 fish days. The less fortunate souls have to hunt for two here, three there, none at this other place. One good thing about silvers is that if they are there they bite immediately. You don’t need to waste time fishing where they ain’t.

silver salmon goodnews river

Orlando’s Don Boardman with a fine silver salmon.

Fly casters generally use floating lines and weighted streamers in cerise, orange, chartreuse, blue, black, or some combination of those colors. When the run gets near the peak, gurglers and poppers will work, exciting fishing, but we’re not quite there yet.

Spin fishers usually use either Pixie spoons or Mepps Flying C spinners, although of course other lures will work. My favorite go-to lure, when I absolutely want to catch some fish, is a 3/8th ounce leadhead jig equipped with a soft plastic curly tail. I prefer those jigheads made by DOA because of the stout hook and the eye-catching eyes, but other heads work too. I also like the DOA CAL tails. They hold up fairly well to the toothy attacks of the silvers, and the elicit those attacks with startling regularity.

silver salmon on jig

Jigs are deadly on silver salmon.

Buzz Livingston borrowed one jighead and a couple of tails from me and boated 18 silvers in two hours while out with Kevin Rogers. Now, that’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout!

A staggering number of pink salmon are in the river. We don’t usually target pinks, but catch loads while fishing for both silvers and dollies. They annoy a few anglers when they’re fishing for silvers but I appreciate the bent rods. They are usually a hoot when caught while fishing for dollies because they give an excellent account of themselves on a six-weight or smaller. They are handsome little fish. I really like them.

Likewise dollies are everywhere. Some are getting their spawning colors, which are breathtaking. When you get a four or five pound fish with the spectacular colors of a spawning dolly you understand why you come to Alaska to fish. While streamers and beads are more effective, I still prefer to fish them with a gurgler. The visual aspect of the follows, misses, and occasional hooked fish are all part of fun of using the floating flies. Besides, how many dollies do you need to catch?

Dolly varden in spawning colors.

Mike got this beautiful Dolly in Barnum Creek.

Dead and dying chum and pink salmon are seen everywhere. Flesh flies will be effective on trout and dollies. We’re getting to the time of year when the river will start to stink badly at every bend.

Dead salmon are everywhere.

Long Fish Story of the Week-
Bob and Gennie Johnson, part of a four-couples group, were out fishing with me. Bob had some money riding on the big fish of the day.
I was working with Gennie, who was happily catching dollies. Bob had walked about 200 yards downstream, where he was casting a streamer fly for silver salmon.

Bob bellowed up to us, “Big Fish!” Fine, I thought, just beach it on the gravel bar. He clearly had some other idea though, because he kept yelling at us. So Gennie and I interrupted her fishing, trudged back upstream to the boat ,and got in. I pulled the anchor and proceeded to row downstream.

The water got shallow and the boat grounded, necessitating disembarking and pushing until it began floating again.

In the meantime not only had Bob beached the fish, he had unhooked it and gone back to fishing. He neglected to kill the fish, which did not wish to suffocate on the gravel bar. It flopped its way back into the water.

When Bob noticed his fish was escaping he took immediate action, throwing his fly outfit (Abel reel, Loomis rod) into the river so he could run down the fish. He was successful in this.

About this time we finally arrived on the scene. Bob was almost panicked because he could not find his rod and reel. Hell, the current is strong and the outfit could have been half a mile downstream already. Fortunately he was using a floating line, which he finally spotted. Rod and reel recovered, we got a photo of the fish.

All’s well that ends well!

silver salmon goodnews river

Bob got the fish, and even found his fishing rod.

And that is this week’s Goodnews River Lodge, Alaska 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 2012. All rights are reserved.

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Book Review- Knowing Bass

June 10, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Knowing Bass- The Scientific Approach to Catching More Fish by Keith Jones, Ph.D.; hardcover, 298 pages, Lyons Press, 2002 (released as a paperback in 2005).

Knowing Bass has been sitting on my bookshelf for years. Desperation for something to read made me finally crack it. I was a moron to not read it sooner. This book is wonderful.

Dr. Jones, whose research brought you Power Bait and Gulp, studies fish with religious zealotry. Every page explodes with his passion for the subject. If you have any background in the sciences and you have any interest in fish and fishing, you will find this book lively and readable, hard to put down, even.

Disclaimer- If you have a science phobia you’ll hate it.

Bass are pretty far down the list of my interests in fishing. In spite of that this book fascinated me. For example, I always knew fish were capable of learning. It never occurred to me that anyone had measured the speed at which different species learn. According to the study cited in the book, largemouth bass are pretty dumb compared to striped bass and carp.

Dr. Jones goes into great detail about the sensory system of the bass and how the fish uses that system to find food and avoid danger. Adult bass are hard-wired to prefer minnow prey of three to four inches long- darker on the back, lighter on the bottom. They can learn to prefer other things and are always opportunistic, but they come “out-of-the-box” with a preference for small fish.

In spite of the fact they are primarily sight feeders, bass have smells and tastes they like a great deal, and others they dislike tremendously. They can detect minute vibrations in the water. Some attract them, other scare them badly.

Anyone who fishes much knows the water temperature is very important to whatever species you’re targeting. The pH of the water, something most fishermen never even consider, is almost as important as the temperature to a bass.

Do fish feel pain? I’ve written a blog about my feelings on this. Dr. Jones pretty much validates everything I had to say about the topic and then some.

The book goes on in this same vein. It is very thorough.

This book is not an instructional tome on how to fish for bass. Beginning fishermen (or those with science phobias) may not get much out of it. It won’t tell you which lures to use in what circumstances. If that’s what you want, look elsewhere. There are plenty of instructional bass fishing books.

But, if you want to understand how the environment affects the individual fish, if you want to better understand how the fish responds to various stimuli, if you want to get a better feel for what the fish might be doing in any given situation, then this is a great book. Regardless of what kind of fish are your favorites, the book offers great insights into how they work. It’s going into my reference library- I’m sure I’ll be reading it again.

John Kumiski

Home- Spotted Tail Outdoors and Travel


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Flies That Spin

May 23, 2012 by · 3 Comments

As if fly casters didn’t have enough problems, some flies spin while you’re casting. They act like little propellers as the fly flies through the air during your casting strokes. These flies are BAD. You don’t want to use them.

What makes a fly spin? Probably more things than I have listed here, but here’s an at least partial list-
-an offset hook;
-a fouled wing;
-a fly that’s lopsided or off center, usually a hard fly like a popper.

Flies that spin often work well in the water. A streamer tied on an offset hook tracks just fine. A popper that spins during the cast can be a fish catching machine while on the water.

Why then are they bad?

Flies that spin during the cast cause your leader and fly line to get twisted. Once your fly line is twisted it won’t shoot any more. When it gets bad enough you have to stop fishing since the line has become uncastable.

twisted leader

If your leader looks like this, your fly is twisting your line.

The only way you can get the twist out of a fly line in a place without a strong current is to take the fly off, get in a boat, get moving, and drag the line behind you until all the twist has come out. In my skiff I like the tow to be at least a couple of miles at planing speed.

I haven’t tried towing a twisted line behind a paddle craft. I think it would take a long time to get the twist out that way.

If the current is strong you can just let the fly-less line out into the current until the twist comes out. Expect to be there a while, perhaps a long while.

With the exception of a fouled fly, flies that spin are sneaky. They look fine. You can’t see them spinning. The only evidence you have that they are spinning is a leader that’s all twisted, or worse, a fly line that becomes twisted while you’re fishing. If you notice either of these things, change flies immediately.

Flies that are fouled should be changed immediately. Not only do they mess up your leader and line, fish generally won’t take a fouled fly. Throw it away, or give it to someone you don’t like.

Flies that spin- they’re sneaky, and can wreck your fly fishing.

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

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Transporting Fishing Rods

April 25, 2012 by · 5 Comments

How do you carry your fishing rods for transport?

For local trips I usually carry mine in my van or boat, fully rigged. The rods are definitely at risk when carried rigged inside a vehicle, though, particularly since I don’t have a rack in the van. I just lie them in the back, over the back seat.

For airline travel a four piece fly rod stuffs into my suitcase. It’s hard (but not impossible!) to damage a rod inside a metal case.

If you want to carry a rigged rod ON your vehicle, one solution can be found at http://rodmounts.com/  I haven’t used their products so cannot recommend them, but they look like a good, safe solution to the problem of safely transporting fishing rods.

Let me know your favorite method. The best ones will receive a free copy of Flyrodding Florida Salt.

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com 

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Filed Under: Fishing Product News and Reviews · Tagged: ,

How to Use a DeHooker

April 2, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

We fishermen use incredible technology. Lightweight tubular rods, finely machined reels, strong, thin, invisible lines, it goes on and on.

A dehooker is a simple device, a piece of wire with a hook or loop on one end and a handle on the other. It can be easily overlooked among all the other more impressive tools you have. Don’t overlook the dehooker. It does more for your safety and the fish’s post-release survival than almost any other tool you have.

A dehooker is easy to use. You simply get the hook/loop on the dehooker on the fishhook’s bend, then flip the hook upside down. Gravity now works to pull the fish off of your hook. If the fish is at all reluctant, a shake or two almost always does the trick. This video will show you how it’s done.

I’ve watched fisherman catch dink trout after dink trout, grabbing them with a towel, unhooking, and then releasing them. Bad for the fish, this removes their layer of protective slime, making them susceptible to infection.

When a catfish or stingray is caught, grabbing it with a towel, or a bare hand, is at best a risky proposition. With the dehooker handling any fish you don’t want to touch, including said dink trout, ladyfish, crevalle, sharks, etc., is completely unnecessary.

Where I work in Alaska we do lots of catch and release fishing. Most of my colleagues net the fish (not good for the fish) and bring it in the boat. There it beats itself against the metal deck until the guide can get a pair of pliers on the hook and dislodge it. Then he’s got to pick the fish up and put it back in the water. Lots of handling, lots of trauma, all unnecessary.

I just get the dehooker on the hook, flip it upside down, and give a shake. The fish never comes out of the water and my fisherman is back in business almost immediately. Much better for the released fish, too!

There are several companies making dehookers. If you have rudimentary skills with tools it’s pretty easy to make one yourself. All of them work on lip-hooked fish. When the hook is down in the esophagus though, the ARC Dehooker is the best one.
My favorite one, which I believe is longer available, is the XTools Dehooker. It has a built-in float so if it gets pulled out of your hand, a not infrequent occurrence, it doesn’t plummet straight to the bottom.

If you use leaders lighter than 15 pound test AND you catch fish that are too big to just pick up by lifting the leader, you are going to break off some fish with the dehooker. That problem has a simple solution- use 15 pound test (or stronger) leader. Then the problem disappears.

Learn how to use a dehooker. They’re simple, inexpensive, highly effective. Every boat should have at least one.

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

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Effective Fishing Flies- Gartside’s Gurgler

February 16, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

In my last fishing report I mentioned using the late Jack Gartside’s Gurgler for seatrout with great success. I went to Jack’s website (yes, it’s still up and running, you can see it here) to see if I tied it anything remotely like Jack did. It’s modified quite a bit. I suppose that’s to be expected. Fly tyers always modify stuff to fit their own needs.

You tie these in the sizes and colors you need to match what your intended target is. For the seatrout I tie it as below, in white. I tie it on a #4 Gamakatsu SC-15 for baby tarpon. I use it in Alaska as tied below, but in pink, for silver salmon and on a #6 long shank hook in orange for Dolly varden. I tie little ones for bluegills. It’s a wonderfully versatile pattern.

Here’s how I tie it. Fishing instructions are below.

Gartside gurgler fly

What a finished gurgler looks like. Note the double layer of foam at the front.

Hook- Mustad 34011, size 2

Thread- flat waxed nylon

Tail- short piece of calftail, marabou, or Arctic fox

Body- Estaz or similar material

“Shell”- craft foam cut to about a 1/4-3/8th inch width.

1) Start the thread and wind back to hook bend. Tie in the tail. I find a short tail fouls much less frequently than a long one.

2) Tie in the Estaz, same spot.

3) Take the strip of craft foam and your scissors and taper the end to a “V.” Tie in the point of the V such that the strip extends out over the tail.

4) Wrap the thread up to a point about 1/4 inch behind the eye of the hook. Wrap the Estaz to that point. Tie it off and cut it.

5) Fold the foam over and tie it off at the same point.

6) Fold the foam back on itself and tie it off again, at the same point. The foam is now two layers thick. Drop the bobbin and use the scissors to cut the foam off 1/4 inch behind where you tied it off. The doubled foam increases the fly’s buoyancy, and makes it somewhat more durable.

7) Whip the head, then cement it.

When fishing for seatrout I try to make the fly pop and spit water. It does not make the commotion a popper will but it seems to make quite enough for the trout.

spotted seatrout caught on a gurgler.

Spotted seatrout caught on a gurgler. They seem to like it quite a bit, and it’s easy to make.

In Alaska when fishing silvers I fish it the same way.

For dollies cast it quartering downstream and give it little pops as it swings. There is no more enjoyable way of catching them.

Please let me know how it works for you.

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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Broken Gear? Call Customer Service

February 1, 2012 by · 2 Comments

We outdoorsmen types abuse our gear. Heck, most of us didn’t buy it to look at it. And if you abuse something long enough, it breaks.

Then what do you do?

The answer for many is, go buy another one. But wait! Maybe, if you send it back to Customer Service, they will repair or replace it.

Last month I returned a number of items. To wit:

-A Simms Dry Creek waistpack. The old one had completely fallen apart. The zippers had seized up. It was toasted. Done. Simms did not replace it, but they did give me $60 credit toward a replacement. The new one cost me $40 instead of $100.

-my Tilley Hat. Tilley Hats are guaranteed for life. You have to pay return shipping, about eight bucks. I wore my beautiful, new Tilley Hat yesterday. Tilley has awesome products and awesome customer service.

-a Scientific Angler System 2 fly reel. This reel is at least 20 years old and was beat, completely non-functioning. SA charged me $20 and replaced the drag mechanism and spindle. Great customer service.

-a Shimano Spheros reel. I get about two years out of one of these reels. Then the bail gets arthritis. Then the bail seizes up completely. Sometimes Shimano fixes it. Sometimes they replace it. Either way, awesome customer service.

-A St. Croix fly rod. The old rod was at least 20 years old. They replaced it with a nice new Avid four piece for $50.

-two Temple Fork fly rods. TFO requires $25 per return. I had the new replacement rods three days later. Awesome customer service.

-a Redington fly rod and a pair of Redington waders. Thirty bucks per item. Just got the new waders, Palix River waders, retail for $150. Haven’t heard about the rod, but I suspect it will be coming along shortly. 2/3- it came today. Good customer service!

-a Patagonia raincoat and Patagonia waders. Both these items were five years old, and had been to Alaska several times. In other words, they got some hard miles put on them. I’m waiting to hear the verdict on these. 2/3- Patagonia called me today to tell me the gear is worn out and the warranty won’t cover it. They would not offer a discount on replacement. Patagonia stuff is very nice, but very expensive. I’ll think long and hard before I buy any more.

My Hodgman waders are also out of warranty and leaking like a sieve. Today Hodgman offered me a 45% replacement discount.

New stuff is nice. It’s nicer when you don’t have to pay list price.

If you have broken gear hanging around, call customer service and see what they’ll do for you. You may be pleasantly surprised.

And please let us know about customer service you have had, both good and bad.

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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How to Tie a Bullet-Proof Saltwater Leader System

January 26, 2012 by · 15 Comments

tarpon baby

Fly fishermen from all over the world spend time on my boat. They have a lot of variation in their tackle. If I had my druthers their leaders would all be rigged the way I describe below.

Before we get there, though, let’s take a short historical perspective on fly rod leaders. For 2,000 years, fly tackle was used principally to catch freshwater trout. Flies were tied on tiny hooks, imitating small insects. Tippets had to be fine, so the fly appeared as though it were floating free. Leaders needed to be tapered, so the leader would straighten out. Energy had to flow smoothly from the rod, down the line, down the leader, and to the fly.

In trout fishing, leaders are typically connected to fly line with a nail knot. This works fine- for trout fishing.

About 80 years ago, some crazy guy got it in his head to try to catch saltwater fish on flies. Compared to trout, saltwater fish are big and strong. Saltwater flies are tied on relatively large hooks. They often have substantial amounts of lead added to them. If you get any kind of line speed at all, during the cast that fly will hit speeds of 50 or 60 miles an hour. Its inertia will straighten out almost any kind of a leader. You do not need a tapered leader for most saltwater fishing.

Tapered leaders have knots. Knots are not to be trusted. They seem to fail whenever a big fish comes along, unless you take pains to tie what are called 100 percent knots.

The leader system I use (not my invention) has a minimum of knots. At the single spot where a questionable knot is tied, the line is doubled. The only place my leader ever breaks is at a wind knot in the tippet, or at the fly. It’s bullet-proof.

You need to know two knots to tie this type of leader: either a surgeon’s loop (my brand) or a perfection loop, and a Bimini twist. Don’t freak out! The Bimini twist is not hard to learn or tie. It’s a 100 percent knot! The videos that the links go to will show you how to tie both.

Don’t just watch- get some 20 pound mono and practice along! Tie a half dozen and you’ll have it for life. Invest forty five minutes now and you’ll be able to make your own bullet-proof saltwater leader systems for as long as you fish.

Next, nail knots are not to be trusted in saltwater. They fail all too frequently. Many modern fly lines now come with a loop at each end. If yours doesn’t, either learn to whip a loop in the ends of the line or have someone reliable do it for you. There is no excuse for losing any fish because the line-to-leader, or even worse, the line-to-backing, connection failed.

Our assumption here is that we’re rigging an eight-weight. Adjust the butt section diameter up or down for heavier or lighter rods.

Take a spool of 30 pound nylon monofilament and pull off a wingspan, the distance from fingertip to fingertip when your arms are spread as wide as they go. In my case that’s a measured 69 inches. Tie a small loop in each end, using whatever loop knot you prefer. Make a loop-to-loop connection between this new butt section you have just made and the fly line. If you don’t knot it up it will last as long as the fly line.

Since most of my fishing is for redfish, we’re going to use 15 pound tippet. For bonefish you’d use lighter material. For snook you’d use heavier. Adjust the material as needed.

Take a wingspan of fluorocarbon leader material (I like Sea-guar). Tie a short (six to eight inch long) doubled line at one end, using a Bimini twist. In this doubled line tie a loop, using whatever loop knot you prefer. Make a loop-to-loop connection with this new tippet section you have just made and the leader butt. Your bullet-proof leader is done. Just add a fly.

You can tie a season’s worth of tippets in an afternoon while watching television. Coil them and place them in a labeled ziplock bag. While fishing you’ll never have to tie any knots. If a tippet gets messed up, just unloop it and loop on a replacement. Bullet Proof.

I find my best knot tying never happens when I’m surrounded by fish and trying to hurry. At home in front of a TV I tie great knots.

Test all of your knots before using them!

Once you learn to tie this you’re gonna love the bullet-proof saltwater leader system.

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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Banana River Lagoon Fishing on Fire!- Banana River- Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

January 20, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

The Orlando Area Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 1.21.12

Upcoming Events Dept-
-The Old Florida Outdoor Festival, Apopka, Florida, February 10, 11, and 12th. I will be there in the Coastal Angler Magazine booth, Saturday from 10-2, Sunday from 12-2.
-Merritt Island NWR Show and Tell Seminars- March 3 and 4. Read More Here… 

Fishing Tip Dept.-
I found this very important chart on the internet this week, Fish Temperature Preferences, by Bob Stearns. I suggest you go there and bookmark it.

I fished two days this week. Tuesday Scott Radloff and I went to the Mosquito Lagoon. We found good numbers of trout and redfish, although they were not eating very well. We got four slot redfish using cut mullet and nothing on anything else we tried.

Thursday I went solo to the Banana River Lagoon no motor zone in the Ocean Kayak. I had the place to myself. That may have been due to the 73 degree high temperature or maybe the almost 15 mph wind out of the north.

It was too windy to fish from the boat so I staked it out and waded where I thought there would be fish. I did not get a bite for several hours. Those few fish I threw to just spooked off whatever fly I tried, or completely ignored it (in the case of the black drum). Finally had a trout take a black bunny leech I’d thrown on a blind cast, breaking the ice.

A black drum that would not respond made me change to a wool crab, although he did not respond to that either. I must have dragged the flies past his nose 40 times.

Finally, a nice black drum took the crab. Got way into the backing, love that! Got and released him.

Shortly after I got another big black drum on the first cast I threw to him. Same wool crab did the trick. Into the backing again.

Feeling better now, I spotted a redfish, a nice big one. Tossed the crab in front of him. A solid thump resulted.

I got the idea (again) to photograph myself fighting the fish. While I held onto th rod with one hand I got the camera out and set it up with the other. Ha! I’m taking pictures of myself. Isn’t that cool?

Got the fish up close to me and was paying more attention to the camera than the fish. He ran between my legs and snapped off two feet of rod before I could even think about responding. Managed to get him anyway, and got a picture, too.

Redfish-Fight-Banana-River

Still fighting the fish with the suddenly stubby St. Croix.

Redfish-Banana-River-Lagoon

This is the destructive critter, finally somewhat subdued.

Hot Tip Dept.- When going to the no motor zone, always bring a spare fly rod.

Took out the spare fly rod (six-weight) and put the reel on it. Put the crab back on. Went looking for another fish. Ooh, there he is. Good cast— Thump! another big red. Let’s photograph him too. Got him, photographed him, released him.

Into the backing four times inside of two hours. I must be living right.

I hope I don’t drop my camera in the water while doing this stuff. It’s a real shaky setup.

And that is this week’s Banana RIver-Mosquito Lagoon FIshing Report!

Life is great and I love my work (and my days off, too!).

I keep saying it- life is short. Go Fishing!

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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