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Redfish- Presenting the Fly

April 17, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

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

Redfish- Presenting the Fly

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.

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Solo Skiff Review

March 23, 2013 by · 1 Comment

Solo Skiff Review

solo skiff review

The chance came along today for me to “test drive” a Solo Skiff in the Mosquito Lagoon. I jumped on it.

The fertile boating mind of Tom Mitzlaff gave birth to the Solo Skiff. Tom brought us the Mitzi Skiff (I own one and could not be happier with it) and the Inshore Power Boat. So I was expecting wonderful things.

The boat delivered.

From a purely aesthetic standpoint, it looks cool. It’s tiny (14 feet, 40 inch beam), with very clean lines. There’s no transom. When (and it’s when, not if) a wave comes over the bow, it just runs right off the stern.

solo skiff review

Tom carries the boat rigged and ready in the back of his pickup.

The boat weighs a whopping 120 pounds and drafts a mere one inch of water when empty, maybe two with someone on board. For those who think this has to be BS, Tom poled his skiff through places where my kayak ran aground. It literally draws less water than the kayak. If you can’t get there in a Solo Skiff, you need a bicycle.

Tom has a 3.5 HP Tohatsu on the boat we used. He assures me you can easily push it with an electric motor. He carries the spare fuel for the Tohatsu in a one quart bottle. The gas in the fuel tank combined with the spare quart gives him a running range of 10 miles, more than adequate for a day’s fishing in most places.

The motor sits on a motor mount forward of the stern, which has two sponsons (Tom calls it a “split tail”). The boat really has a clever, well thought out design.

solo skiff review

The split tail of a Solo Skiff.

Tom launched the skiff unassisted out of the back of his Frontier. Watch the video  launchsoloskiff! We tied the kayak painter to the stern rail. Then I got in the skiff with Tom, cranked the Tohatsu, and off we went.

 

So immediately we maxed out the load capacity of the vessel, running the Solo Skiff down the Intracoastal Waterway with the two of us aboard and with my kayak in tow. It worked fine. We didn’t set any speed records but it was lots faster than paddling.

 

solo skiff review

The author running the skiff with kayak in tow.

When the water got too shallow for us to run I trimmed up the Tohatsu, then used my kayak paddle and paddled it. We were both still in it, and the kayak was still being towed. It did not paddle as easily as my kayak does. No surprise there- I ride in the kayak by myself. It was paddle-able, though.

I wanted to pole it, so we untied the kayak. Tom got in the ‘yak and off I went in the skiff.

The Solo Skiff poles more easily than my canoe. It poles more easily than anything I’ve ever poled. It was easier to pole the Solo Skiff than paddle a paddleboard.

Wow.

You could effortlessly pole it all day. You almost have to make a conscious effort to not go too fast. And it is silent as it moves through the water. My kayak makes more noise.

solo skiff review

Tom poles the skiff through a mosquito canal.

Tom wanted to show me it could be fished with two in a pinch, so I moved to the front of the cockpit and he stood in the stern and poled me. The sponsons were under the surface of the water. My feet were really too close together for me to feel comfortable. It could be done in a pinch, but the boat is not designed for two.

It’s a SOLO Skiff.

Storage space is more than adequate. A single, watertight hatch amidships gives access to the interior of the vessel. Required safety gear, spare fuel, water, tackle, phone, raincoat, etc., will all fit in here if packed carefully.

Tom’s skiff is anchored with a Wang Anchor. Stoppage is instantaneous.

So the vessel is beautiful, highly functional, and very affordable.

I told Tom I loved the boat today but will hate it in 10 years, when everyone is using one to get into my farthest-back, most secret fishing spots.

If you’re a fan of small boats you gotta check out the Solo Skiff. Visit their facebook page or their website at http://www.soloskiff.com.

And that is my Solo Skiff review.

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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Enjoying Life on the Indian River Lagoon

December 26, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

A Guest Blog by Rodney Smith

Enjoying Life on the Indian River Lagoon

 

Enjoying Life on the Indian River Lagoon

James Smith with some fine Indian River Lagoon crab claws.

My oldest son, James, has been getting on me to write a blog entitled “Enjoying Life on the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) Coast.” As much as I write, you’d think it would be an easy task, but at the end of the day, I felt like the task of writing a blog was about as exciting as being flogged with a soft-shell blue crab. Useless!

But then again, James reminded me why I should be communicating more frequently with other folks who also love and cherish the Indian River Lagoon coast. So, to restart my blog I have a question for you:

Why do you love the IRL coast in winter?

Please answer at irlcoast@gmail.com . If I get feedback on this question I’ll know some of you out there are reading this blog, and this will help me judge my course, blog-wise, moving into a new year!

Funny what a difference a month can make. It’s been the opposite of what you would typically consider standard conditions; in mid-November water temperatures along the entire Indian River Lagoon coast were in the mid-sixties in the north-central inshore ocean waters, well below normal. It looked like we were in for a long winter, but the weather flipped between Thanksgiving and Christmas and ocean temperatures rose nearly ten degrees.

The mild late fall weather guided thick schools of Atlantic menhaden toward the beaches along the north-central IRL coast. This, along with a steady stream of late season mullet still lingering near ocean inlets, attracted a smorgasbord of gamefish.

Because of the mild weather, tripletail, cobia, king mackerel and shark could be caught not far from where the Atlantic Ocean met the beaches. Tarpon by the hundreds flocked to Sebastian Inlet, snook packed the Ft. Pierce area and flounder and red and black drum roamed the beaches and inlets. Large schools of pompano, pushed south by the early cold and dirty water surged north, creating plenty of happy anglers from Sebastian to Hobe Sound.

Yes, December can be a fickle weather month along the Indian River Lagoon coast; tropical one day, winter-like the next. But as I found from going back to my twenty years of journals on the outdoor history of the IRL coast, much of the time the fishing and catching are above par this time of year.

If you’re interested in learning more about what to expect each month of the year along Florida’s IRL coast, check out my book Enjoying Life on the Indian River Lagoon Coast.  It touches on a wide range of topics, from shrimping and crabbing, to fishing for snook, tarpon, pompano, spotted seatrout and a large number of ocean pelagics. This book is jam-packed with useful information concerning the IRL coast for every month of the year.

Visit rodneysmithmedia.bigcartel.com for more information, or to order.

Rodney Smith is a writer and author, and currently director of Anglers for Conservation. He lives with his family in Satellite Beach.

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Wire Leaders for Toothy Fish

December 13, 2012 by · 1 Comment

Wire Leaders for Toothy Fish

Regardless of how you fish or what you fish for, at some point you will need to use Wire Leaders for Toothy Fish. Bluefish, mackerel, barracuda, and sharks all require wire leader use. Or, you could donate lots of hooks, lures, or flies to the fish in question.

For a long time, leader wire came in two flavors, single strand and plastic coated cable. Single strand users used a haywire twist to attach the terminal tackle to the wire leader. At the other end they had a choice of again using a haywire twist to attach a swivel, or using an Albright special to attach the fishing line, usually monofilament.

Single strand’s advantages are that it’s inexpensive and relatively thin. It kinks though, and breaks where those kinks form. If, like me, you don’t use it very often, making a decent haywire twist is slow and hard to do. Making those twists well takes practice.

Cable doesn’t kink. But it needs sleeves and a crimping tool in order to make the connections. This type of leader lacks elegance.

Additionally, cable is more visible than monofilament or single strand wire, fish teeth or abrasion can shred the nylon coating, and saltwater can get inside the nylon coating and cause corrosion over a period of time. Cable is still the choice for most big game fishing, though.

A few years back a new type of plastic coated wire leader cable appeared on the market, sold under the names of Surflon  and Tyger Wire. They were the first stainless steel knottable wire leaders for toothy fish. You can tie this stuff using the same knots you use with nylon or fluorocarbon. It’s a wonderful product for someone who doesn’t need wire very often. Needless to say, it was more expensive than other products available at the time it was introduced.

I carried Tyger Wire around for years without using it. On a recent trip to the Florida Keys we went fishing for cero mackerel. My having that wire was the only reason we caught any fish.

Wire Leaders for toothy fish

The teeth on this critter demand the use of wire.

Recently, a new wire leader product has appeared, made from titanium alloy. This new leader wire stretches and recovers to set hooks and prevent bite-offs. You can tie titanium wire to hooks and line using the Clinch and Albright Knots. Two manufacturers of this product are knot2kinky and American Fishing Wire. It sounds great! Of course it costs more. I haven’t used this product yet, but I am looking forward to doing so.

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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Black Drum Images- A Pictorial

November 21, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Black Drum.

Thanksgiving blessings to all. The holiday lies a few hours off. To central Florida fly fishers that should mean black drum begin appearing on shallow flats of the Banana River Lagoon.

We sight fish for these brutes, using seven-weight (some folks like more rod) fly rods with such flies as black Clouser Minnows, black bunny leeches, or Merkin crabs in brown. My preference is for size two hooks. a 1/5oth ounce lead eye. Weed guards are essential.

First you search for the fish. There are no guarantees you will find them. Sometimes it’s a long day, lots of water covered, nothing to show for it.

black drum

Searching for black drum in the Banana River Lagoon.

Sometimes, though, you hit the jackpot.

black drum image

John Thompson with a big black drum.

The best days for them are warm and sunny with little or no wind.

black drum image

The first time Barry Kent fished with me he got this black drum.

The water is cold though. You need waders unless you’re tough.

black drum

Greg Ritland fights a black drum.

Many moons ago I brought one of my students, a seventh grader, fishing there. He had a brand new fly rod. This is the first fish he caught with it.

black drum image

Matt Van Pelt broke in his new fly rod with this fish. He’s in his thirties now.

No one will mistake these fish for a bonefish or a rainbow trout. But they are probably the largest tailing fish in North America, reaching sizes over 100 pounds.

black drum image

It’s a face only a fisherman could love,

My good friend Rodney Smith and I had a banner day on drum one time.

black drum

Rodney Smith, when he had time to go fishing.

Another good friend, Rick DePaiva, has had more luck there than anyone else I know.

black drum image

Ricky D with one of the many big black drum he’s taken there.

 

black drum

This was the first fish we saw this particular morning.

 

black drum

We photographed the daylights out of this fish, taking advantage of a good fish and great light.

 

black drum release

We took several more fish this day, but this was the best one.

 

Black drum should be on the flats until about Easter time. Make some time to get out there and pursue these unusual fish.

 

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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Fishing and Other Odds and Ends

October 30, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Fishing and Other Random Stuff That Popped Up This Week

We postponed the fishing trip scheduled for yesterday. I went around the entire Mosquito Lagoon during Sunday’s On The Water Show and Tell and did not see a single fish. Thank goodness that’s a pretty rare event.

fishing, black drum

With the temperature dropping into the 40s, can this action be far off??

Here’s a link to a blog that found me. It’s not about fishing but it is honest. There’s lots of conservation in there, and nice photography- http://pejorativejinx.blogspot.com

I chose today to go vote. It was not a good day to go commando. I froze while waiting in line. I couldn’t believe how many people were there.

The emotional response I had to voting almost overwhelmed me. We are so very, very lucky to live here.

Please take the time to research the candidates and to vote. Democracy works best with an informed, responsible citizenry.

With our suddenly chilly weather, it seems like a good time to re-visit this article on my website- http://www.spottedtail.com/free-fishing-article-flats-fishing-after-a-cold-front/

As always, thanks for reading.

John Kumiski
http:www.spottedtail.com

Copyright © John A. Kumiski 2012. All rights reserved.

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Flies for the Mosquito Lagoon and Adjacent Waters

October 10, 2012 by · 2 Comments

Flies for the Mosquito Lagoon and Adjacent Waters 

Redfish Flies

A selection of effective flies for fishing the east central Florida lagoons.

It occurred to me while working on my Goodnews River fly series that one needed to be done for the local Florida waters. This is it!

Which flies work best when fishing the Mosquito Lagoon? What day are we talking about? Accept the fact that the fish have moods. Some days they’ll eat anything. Other days they’ll eat nothing. You need to cover the water column, and you need to think about what your target species eats. For fishing in this lagoon, flies need to have weedguards or they will not work.

Redfish eat crabs, small fish (generally two inches or less) and shrimp. They have an inferior mouth, and prefer to feed down. Seatrout eat small fish, shrimp, and occasionally crabs. They have a superior mouth and prefer to feed up. They will take a much larger baitfish than reds typically do.

Mosquito Lagoon Redfish

A small Merkin will take reds when nothing else will work. Black drum like it, too.

For reds I like flies on #4 and #2 hooks, lightly weighted, and equipped with weedguards. Patterns include Clouser Minnows, my version of Borski’s sliders, Merkins, bunny leeches, and similar types of flies. I always have some unweighted bendbacks (same sizes) for when the plop of a weighted fly landing spooks them.

Indian River Seatrout

Sliders work on many different species. This one uses synthetic “hackle”, but an actual hackle feather works well, too. Note the obvious two-pronged weed guard.

For seatrout I like minnow-type flies, similar to the popular Puglisi patterns, in sizes 2, 1, and 1/0. Small gurglers, poppers, or sliders are also good to carry. There’s quite a bit of crossover between the two species in terms of what flies they’ll take.

Mosquito Lagoon Seatrout

Big trout eat smaller fish. This one took a bendback. A minnow pattern is a necessity.

Colors are more important to fishermen that fish most of the time. That having been said, my redfish flies are typically black, brown, tan, gray, green, or purple. My trout flies imitate the natural coloration of small fish, or are hot pink and chartreuse.

Lastly, for days when blind casting is needed, I like the Dupre Spoonfly and the Rattle Rouser in addition to a few popping bugs.

If you carry a selection of the types of flies mentioned you’ll be ready for almost any situation you’re likely to encounter here.

Please feel free to comment and let all of us know what your favorites are. You might even consider writing a guest blog about it!

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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Secret Spots

May 10, 2012 by · 2 Comments

redfishMost 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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Effective Slow Trolling for King Mackerel

April 12, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

King Mackerel, cocoa beach, fl

 

One of the true pleasures of living through the heat of a central Florida summer is spending time in a boat, slow trolling for king mackerel. When the weather cooperates and the fish are in tight to the beach you can be successful doing this from a johnboat.

Since kings prefer water temperatures between 70 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit, they don’t typically show in numbers in central Florida waters until April or May. When the word gets out that the kings have showed up, the parking lots at Port Canaveral fill up early.

Read the rest of this article here…

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