Florida Trail Archives - the spotted tail

Another Central Florida Week Report

February 18, 2022 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Another Central Florida Week Report

Hi everyone, thanks for reading the Another Central Florida week report. I fished, I hiked, I paddled- nice week!

Guest blogger Patrick Young has another post this week, about buying gifts for campers. Some good tips in there!

I am selling off many of my lures. The ones that I have put up for sale first can be seen at this link…

On to the report-

Monday-

Valentine’s Day! Spent some time with my valentine!

Last week, talking about the Bang-O-Craft motor, I wrote, “Stupid motor. It needs professional help, I’m afraid.” I brought it to Ahoy Marine in Sanford. I’m tired of getting stranded. Other errands most of the day.

Tuesday-

More errands in the morning. In the afternoon I walked a stretch of the FT from Barr Street in Oviedo to Lockwood Boulevard.

I met a couple, through hikers who had come from Pensacola. Yes, from Pensacola, walking the whole way. They had met 20 years earlier at an AA meeting. Didn’t work for him- he was drinking vodka from the bottle when I encountered them. He was a piece of work. He said he knew everything, and was never wrong. He had also, earlier that day, almost been arrested by the Oviedo police for driving a motorized shopping cart from the Publix store at the corner of Lockwood Blvd. to the trail head. There’s more, but you get the idea, I hope. I got away from them as fast as I could.

Florida waterfall along the FT.

On a bluff overlooking the Econlockhatchee.

Wednesday-

Took a kayak to the Indian River Lagoon in spite of the small craft advisory. I figured I could wade, just using the boat for conveyance. The plan worked great, except there were hardly any fish. I saw six in five hours. Had two good shots, both of which should have worked. Neither did- the fish spooked off the shad (first shot) and fly (second shot). The water was pretty clean! Found a dead manatee, went to the FWC office there at the causeway to report it. The dispatcher told me, “Yeah, they’re everyplace.” “They” being dead manatees. That’s sad. No grass, no manatees.

Thursday-

That’s a small bass!

Took a kayak down the Econ, starting at 419. Brought a fly and a spin rod. Got one small bass on fly. Got several bass on the spin rod, along with a couple redbellies. Got a picture of one of the several mammoth gators I saw, too. Met Ben, the chef at Mission Barbeque. Beautiful day, not long enough!

A little larger…

They got bigger as the day went on. I lost the best one, of course.

And Godzilla!

Friday-

Boring stuff, including writing this. Hopefully I’ll at least get a walk in this afternoon.

That’s my Another Central Florida Week report. Thanks for reading!

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

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

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

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

Filed Under: central florida destinations, central florida fishing report, Fishing Reports, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: Bass fishing, Econlockhatchee River, Florida Trail, Indian River Lagoon, kayak fishing

Paddle Fishing and Hiking Report

January 16, 2021 by john kumiski · 1 Comment

Paddle Fishing and Hiking Report

Thank you for reading this Mosquito Lagoon paddle fishing and hiking report.

For the small audience that was interested in my Sienna van conversion, I have renewed that project, since the holidays are past. I posted a link about the start of the second phase (solar power installation) here-
https://www.spottedtail.com/blog/sienna-camper-van-conversion-phase-2-starts/

FISHING

I’ve had better weeks catching.

Monday- I went fly fishing by kayak on Mosquito Lagoon on Monday. I hoped the cold would have cleared the water. It did not. But it was low, 0.4 feet on the Haulover Canal gauge, so I could see a little.

I had three shots. Got the first fish, a red, on a brown slider, was ignored by the other two. Good thing the weather was awesome. Long day getting only three shots otherwise.

Thursday I took a five mile walk on the Florida Trail, from Barr St. to Snow Hill Road. Beautiful walking day, temperatures in the 50s. Trying to keep moving, so I can keep moving.

Friday I launched the kayak at River Breeze for the first time in almost a year, I had heard that the water was clean up there, and for the most part it was. There was no grass anywhere.

I paddled pretty hard, covering ground, looking for fish. I hit many of my favorite spots. I was thinking I’d be running another picture of Pepe le Pew in this post when, to my utter surprise, I got a bite while blind casting into a hole. It was a trout, close to 20 inches. A few minutes later I got another, smaller, one. I was spin fishing, using the 3″ shad.

Not huge, but it chased the skunk.

That was it for the day from a catching standpoint.

There was very little life in the water. I ran over a single redfish. Mullet were scarce. There were no crabs, no baitfish. All my favorite holes (with that one exception) were barren.

But the water was clean in most places I passed.

I passed a gentleman in a motorboat who told me the water temperature at that spot was 59F, the warmest he’d found that day. He hadn’t see much either. Now 59 is cold, but I’ve found and caught reds in colder water than that. I think that after six years of algae, no grass, etc, the food supply is mostly gone. No food, no fishies. Sad.

So it’s not an encouraging report, but that’s life and fishing in Florida in 2021.

Thank you for reading this Mosquito Lagoon paddle fishing and hiking report.

Life is great and I love life!

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

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

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

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

Filed Under: Fishing News, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: Florida Trail, kayak fishing, mosquito lagoon fishing report

Florida Trail and Mosquito Lagoon Report

December 12, 2020 by john kumiski · 4 Comments

Florida Trail and Mosquito Lagoon Report

At a Florida Trail head…

Thank you for reading this Florida Trail and Mosquito Lagoon Report.

If you want the fishing report, please scroll down past the hiking.

Tuesday– Regular readers of this blog know that my Mitzi Skiff was up for sale. It sold on Tuesday. While I still have a jonboat and three paddle vessels, I am now skiffless. I am out of the fishing guide business!

Mills Creek was full of water.

While waiting for the transaction to take place, I went for a stroll on the Florida Trail. Not too worried about ticks and chiggers when the temperature is in the 40s! Walked from Curryville Road to Brumley Road. Hawk, sandhill crane, and songbird calls filled the air. I saw, but was not able to photograph, a flock of about 15 turkeys. At least three had beards.

A designated FT campsite.

The trail was in good shape. Clearly a crew had been working recently. While the weather is cool and the bugs are knocked down, get out for a walk! It’ll do you good!

Unlike other seasons, there were not many flowers- a few purple asters, a few goldenrod. Most of the flowers had gone to seed.

I love the way the light plays through the cabbage palm leaves.

Wednesday– I visited the Orlando VA Medical Center at Lake Baldwin to see the optometrist. Always a good time! Yeah, I still need glasses. And it only took three hours or so.

Thursday– My mantra for winter fishing has always been, the best day is when the wind stops blowing after a cold front. This was the day! Would the water be clean?

The water is not close to clean.

The water, while fairly low, was not clean. At all. But I still managed to find a few happy fish, and even caught a couple. The fly was an old slider with rusty bead chain eyes. The fish didn’t seem to mind the rust.

Still got one on fly. Note the awesome beanie! Off the Trail Apparel.

Friday– another day filled with great weather. I went paddle fishing at Mosquito Lagoon again at a different spot. I had several hours of searching before finding anything, but managed to again catch a redfish on the same beater fly from yesterday. I should have taken a photo of it.

Today’s fish.

Thank you for reading this Florida Trail and Mosquito Lagoon Report blog!

Life is great and I love life!

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

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

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

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

Filed Under: central florida destinations, Fishing Reports, Photo Essays · Tagged: Florida Trail, fly fishing, hiking florida trail, kayak fishing, Mosquito Lagoon redfish, redfish fishing

Orlando Fishing Report

January 6, 2013 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Orlando Fishing Report

Upcoming Events-
-Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, January 23-28, 2013
-Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Clean-Up, February 9, 2013. Contact Nancy Corona, 321-861-0668 or nancy_corona@fws.gov
-Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, MINWR, March 2; Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar, March 3

Blog posts this week: Seven Must Have Lures for Winter Fishing in Florida’s Lagoons

New Website Department- http://johnkumiski.com -photography and a more literary writing sampler than I typically post here, even a few poems! Please check it out and tell me what you think. Thanks!

The coffee this morning is especially delicious.

On Tuesday Dr. Ken Unger, from Calgary, did some Mosquito Lagoon fly fishing with me from the Mitzi. Although the sky was overcast for much of the day, until about 1 PM the lagoon was slick calm. There were a lot of fish around, just lying around. I would have expected tailing everywhere but no, they wouldn’t do that. We ran over a lot of fish.

Ken did get a few reds on a crab pattern. We tried for trout. They had moved from some spots and were protected by copious amounts of floating grass in others. He got a few good strikes but none were converted.

Dr. Ken with a decent red.

It was a little frustrating but we had a good time and we did get some fish. Here’s what Ken said: “Wanted to thank you for the good day yesterday. Enjoyed the company. Learned a little which is something I always want to do in a new area. Caught some fish. A good start to the new year. I will be back. Thanks again.”

On Thursday morning I braved the fog, launching the kayak at KARS at about 730. I dared not get more than 150 feet from shore. There was no wind. I didn’t have a compass, or for you modern types, a GPS either. The sun hid behind the clouds. If I couldn’t see shore I would be utterly lost. It was very cool but very spooky at the same time.

Paddling steadily north I ran over the occasional trout. The object was to find big reds or black drum. Stopping at one place I cast a streamer for trout for a while but did not get bit. The quest continued.

The fog burned off around noon.

I went most of the way to the NASA causeway.

I did not find what I was looking for.

On the way back I saw a tail, as it turns out the only one found. I stalked the fish. It was a big black drum. It ignored my fly and swam off. I would not see another.

The final score was one shot, no bites, four fish seen- pretty disappointing. More searching needs to be done. It’s the right time of year.

Speaking of the right time of year, shad are being caught in the St. Johns River. I do not have any details. I wanted to go Friday but that 60 degrees and raining put me off. Too much like Alaska.

There are some shad in the St. Johns River!

Yesterday son Maxx and I went running along the Florida Trail, most of the way to Orlando Wetlands Park. Beautiful day, nice woods. Hamstring is kind of tight today, though.

And that is this week’s exciting version of the Orlando Area Saltwater 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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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: Banana River, Black drum, florida fishing, Florida Trail, fly fishing, kayak fishing, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Mosquito Lagoon, mosquito lagoon fishing report, Mosquito Lagoon redfish, orlando fishing report

A Short Walk Through the Woods- A Florida Photo Essay

October 16, 2012 by john kumiski · 1 Comment

A section of the Florida Trail passes by within a block of my house. I often go running along this two mile section, but today opted to carry a camera instead. The morning was awesome, with the exception of numerous spider webs in the face. I don’t like that!

Several deer and a red-tailed hawk were seen. A barred owl wondered who cooked the food? And I got the Florida photo essay below.