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Nearshore Port Canaveral Fishing Report

June 8, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Nearshore Port Canaveral Fishing Report

This is a nearshore Port Canaveral fishing report, my last Florida fishing report until September. I write this on an Alaska Air Big Bird, headed to Alaska’s Katmai Lodge on the Alagnak River.

Tunny will shake. Tunny will bleed.

Monday Mike Conneen joined me on Spotted Tail for some spin fishing. We headed out of the Port and went off down the beach. Near the fishing grounds I threw the net once, got all the bait we might need. It’s nice when that happens!

Tunny were breaking all over the place, as were Spanish mackerel. We got a few Spanish for my aunt, then went a-tunnying.

Mike got this kingfish without using wire.

It was borderline ridiculous, fish breaking everywhere. We used white CAL jigs and Sting Silvers. I broke out the seven-weight and got a couple on a Bouncer streamer.

This was as much jump as I got.

Mike wanted a tarpon, so once our appetite for tunny was sated we went searching. We found a place with scattered rollers, and so deployed the baits, what I believe were scaled sardines. Big tunny loved them. Crevalle jacks loved them. Blacktip sharks loved them. King mackerel really loved them, cutting us off repeatedly. Mike hooked a 20 pounder on the back of the head and so landed it. I put on a stinger rig and got one about half that size.

Mike has the beast near the boat.

We got a lot of bites. Finally I jumped a big tarpon. One jump and it was off. I was not sorry.

By this point I was ready to head back, but Mike really wanted that tarpon, so I made one more drift. A dinosaur-sized tarpon took his bait. Let the games begin!

It was a BIG fish.

I did not time the length of that fight, but it was a big fish and not jumpy at all. All thoughts of heading back were gone. I stood by with the cameras, waiting for jumps that never came.

Mike finally got the fish close to the boat. I leadered it six times, the last one getting the hook back. I could not hold onto that fish though, and the photo Mike wanted so badly did not get taken.

Breaking fish, fly rod. Life is good.

Tuesday Tammy joined me, same time, same station. Similar action, minus the tarpon. Tammy and I were both more interested in fly fishing, and whacked more than a few Spanish macks and tunny. When the surface action slowed we deployed scaled sardines. Tunny and jacks, with sharks and king macks taking turns cutting us off.

Lift that fish!

We would have liked a tarpon, but there were fewer rolling and we did not jump one. It was still another ridiculously good day though.

Tunny will shimmy. Tunny will vomit.

This one was better behaved.

This one was well behaved, too!

Wednesday Tom Finger joined me. We ran down the beach, got the bait, went looking for breaking fish. Nothing. I had called him telling him how great it was, and now had a major sinking feeling. The bazillions of fish that had been there the previous two days were all gone.

Tom’s tunny. All his buddies were gone 🙁

We went out to deeper water looking for jacks, tunny, and king macks. Not much there, either. Tom got a tunny on a sardine. We missed several strikes.

Heading back north we found a sizable area of breaking Spanish macks. We each got one before they disappeared. Then lightning started flashing and we headed back to the ramp at all possible speed.

Thanks to Mike, Tammy, and Tom for sharing these days with me!

And that is my Nearshore Port Canaveral Fishing Report! Next report will be from Alaska- trout and salmon!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2018. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Orlando Fishing Report, Photo Essays, port canaveral fishing report · Tagged: adventure fishing, fly fishing, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, Port Canaveral, tarpon fishing

Orlando Area Fishing Report

May 5, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Orlando Area Fishing Report

A pretty mellow week this week because I had no work :-(. This is an Orlando Area fishing report.

Monday I got a late start. How late was it? It was so late, lunch had happened first. The kayak went to the Econlockhatchee. In an unusual occurrence, it brought a spin rod. Four bass and a stumpknocker fell for a Riptide Sardine. Then the fly rod came out, which accounted for a couple more bass. All fish were modestly sized.

Stan, who could be a professional fish model, his Fenwick, and his bass.

On the way back I ran into a fly fisher named Stan Mercer. He was using an old Fenwick fiberglass rod, and almost on cue caught a bass for me to photograph.

The redfish bit a Riptide Sardine.

Wednesday I went paddling in a place on the Indian River Lagoon I had never paddled before. To my surprise I found some clean water with sparse grass growing. There were a few redfish around (I saw ten or so), I had a few shots, and got one to bite the Sardine. O, successo! I got the fly pole out and walked 1/2 mile or so looking for a fish, but no dice.

Econlockhatchee paddler.

Thursday was Tom Van Horn’s birthday. We celebrated by floating the Econ, casting our fly poles. Tom is in Alaska training mode. The fish were not suicidal but came steadily- bass, bluegills, redbellies, stumpknockers. Tom was using a foam mouse, I a small popper. They seemed to work equally well.

Econlockhatchee fly fisher.

The ferocious stumpknocker. If these things hit ten pounds, nothing near the water would be safe.

Tom’s birthday present.

Friday Scott Radloff joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon exploration from the Mitzi. We found some small patches of clean water and some redfish, and Scott caught one. We found some spots that had nothing, and other spots where the fish were sparse. We saw a few tailing fish. All things considered, I saw more fish this day than the entire year prior combined, very encouraging.

Radloff hooked up. You can actually see the bottom.

About to boat the beast.

O, successo!

And that is the Orlando area fishing report!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2018. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays · Tagged: adventure fishing, Bass fishing, Econlockhatchee River, florida fishing, fly fishing, Indian River Lagoon, kayak fishing, mosquito lagoon fishing report, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, redfish

Home Again Inshore Fishing Report

April 14, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Home Again Inshore Fishing Report

The Panhandle trip got wrapped up with a day of epic fishing, at which point I called it and drove home. Then I fished two days here, for the Home Again inshore fishing report.

Sunday
When it started getting light I left the B&B and headed east. I thought if I made it to Panama City early on Sunday, there wouldn’t be any traffic. I was right!

Got to Port St. Joe about 9 AM. Folks were going to church. I parked a short distance away and dropped a kayak in the bay. A short time later, while listening to the church bells ringing, I landed my first fish of the morning, a nice red that took a DOA CAL jig.

A nice red took the jig.

By 1 AM I’d gotten another red, a nice trout, a flounder, and a Spanish mackerel.

A rare break in the clouds yielded this red.

I need to get a new model.

I tried sight fishing, but only saw three sharks and two reds. All the fish were taken while casting blindly into deeper water.

This flounder bit during another short break in the clouds.

Checked into the campground, got set up, and then fished the south side of the bay. In three hours I saw only three fish and did not get a bite.

Monday
Drove to St. George Sound and launched the ‘yak. In two minutes I had a decent trout on a jig. Put the spin rod away and started blind casting with a Clouser Minnow.

Spanish on fly while wading, into the backing. Awesome combination!

The fish were not suicidal but they came steadily, nice ones, trout to four pounds, reds to eight. Got a nice Spanish mac and had another cut me off. Could not sight fish due to clouds but it didn’t matter.

Reds on fly over shell bottom- great stuff!

When I tired of casting the fly in the wind I switched back to spin tackle and a weedless jig. If anything it was even more effective. It was by far the best day of the trip. And I did not see another fisherman the entire day.

Trying to be creative with a fish and a camera while by yourself can be challenging.

Fortunately the camera is “waterproof.”

The Riptide weedless jig and Sardine accounted for several fish.

Tuesday
Got up in the rain, broke camp, tossed the soggy tent into the car, and drove home. It rained most of the way.

Wednesday
Had wet, messy mess to clean up, correspondence, etc.

Thursday
Took the Mitzi to River Breeze for scout duty. Water is pretty dirty. Did not see a lot. When I found clean water it was devoid of life. Got two trout the Riptide jig, one nice, the other spectacular. Hoped I would be able to find them the next day.

The other one was much bigger. I didn’t remove it from the water.

Friday
Met Kacky Andrews at 7 AM. While launching the boat I began conversing with a crabber on the other side of the dock. He said the crabbing right now is the best he’s seen in a 56 year career. He said one reason for that is the hurricane that passed. Another is that most of the redfish are gone, and you know how many little crabs they eat. Funny, his observation exactly reinforces my own. Only it’s sad, not funny.

Kacky and I went hunting for fish. She fly fished for four hours or so without a bite. Of course during that time we saw maybe a half-dozen fish. She switched to the spin rod. In the next four hours we saw maybe another half-dozen fish. She managed one very modest seatrout, our only fish. Tough day. She was awesome, though.

Thanks for fishing with me, Kacky!

And that is the Home Again inshore fishing report!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2018. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays, travel blog · Tagged: adventure fishing, florida fishing, fly fishing, kayak fishing, mosquito lagoon fishing report, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, redfish, RipTide Lures, seatrout fishing, St. George Sound, St. Joe Bay

Fishfull Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

March 12, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Fishfull Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

The report name may be slightly misleading. We spent five days on the Mosquito Lagoon this week, and although we caught some fish every day, we weren’t covered up every day. But three days we saw a lot of fish- thus the fishfull Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

The Indian River Lagoon Chronicles is now available as a paperback book, either from me or from amazon…

In reference to last week’s report about the Rock Springs Run, I got the following email from subscriber Tony Magner, which he graciously allowed me to publish here:

“I wanted to comment on this weeks report on fishing Rock Springs Run. Last Friday we had family in town from Vermont. My wife found King’s Landing online and thought it would make for a great paddle for us all. We had never been here before. I must say that Hurricane Irma definitely left her mark. Big time!! We elected to take canoes as we were expecting a leisurely cruise down the river. This was far from what we found. Portions were very difficult to navigate. Especially in a canoe. Two members of our group elected for single kayaks. They had much better luck. I felt that a report of the difficulty of this trip would have been appreciated with your report.”

Point made, sir. There were downed trees all over the place, although someone had been there with a chain saw and cleared a path. I’ve been on trips like that where the trees were down and no one had cleared a path, which is probably why I neglected to mention it. Anyway, Rock Springs Run requires maneuvering, so be ready for that if you go.

This is really tough maneuvering…

…as is dragging your boat over fallen trees. The things people do for fun!!!

Upcoming Events–

-Florida Fly Fishing Association meeting, Kay’s Barbeque, Cocoa, March 27, 7 PM.

Tuesday

Old friend Kevin Linehan and I went scouting on Mosquito lagoon. In five hours I saw one redfish. The half-dozen trout we got were all short. Not very fishfull.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

I had the pleasure of hosting Bob Elliot, a fly fisher from Rochester, on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Thursday morning we started out of River Breeze. It was cold. The wind screamed, out of the north 20+ with gusts. That first boat ride was painful.

I poled from north of JB’s Fish Camp to Bissett Bay. The wind may have helped a bit. Bob got two reds along the way. Both were shorties. Both took the same olive and white Clouser minnow. It never did warm up much. We never lost our good spirits, an excellent development considering we had three days still to fish.

Friday morning we started out of River Breeze. It was cold. The wind screamed, out of the north, pushing 20 with gusts. That first boat ride was painful, more so than the previous day.

It warmed up to almost comfortable fairly quickly, and we found some fish. We could not get them to bite, but we at least saw them, slot reds, honker trout, nice fish.

Bob got a rat red on a Bouncer streamer.

We changed locations and found more fish, got some good shots but no takers. When the sun was nearing our quitting time Bob tossed a Slider at a fish I saw. The cast was good, the redfish took. Bob set the hook- twice. The second hookset broke the leader. Ouch. That was the last bite we got.

Saturday we launched at Beacon 42 ramp. The weather was nice. We stayed at the first spot for hours. Bob got two nice trout there on a Bouncer streamer, but the redfish just did not want to play. There were a lot of them! They laughed at everything we tried! Finally succumbing to frustration, we tried two other spots. The first lacked fish, the second had a sparse selection of uncooperative specimens. The two trout were it for the day.

Sunday we launched at Beacon 42 ramp. The weather was awesome. We stayed at the first spot for hours, the same spot where we could not get a red the previous day. They cooperated just as readily, and we did not get a bite in spite of the significant time investment and several fly changes.

Spot 2 looked awesome with a minor biological desert problem. I’ve caught lots of fish there before.

At Spot 3 there were trout, redfish, and small black drum. Clouds kept turning off the lights. Bob had easily 50 shots in the 10-15′ cast range, always tough to convert. Using a Redfish Worm he got a rat red on a blind cast. In spite of being in fish most of the day that was the only bite he got.

So we saw hundreds of fish over three days and got a handful of fish to show for it, tough, tough fishing. A good time was had by all in spite of some frustration!

And that is the fishfull Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2018. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: fly fishing, mosquito lagoon fishing report, orlando fishing report

Blown Away Orlando Fishing Report

March 5, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Blown Away Orlando Fishing Report

Three straight days of fishing in 20 mph plus winds, no surprise we have a blown away Orlando fishing report.

Bad news for all Lagoonatics– this year’s installment of the algae bloom has already started in the Banana River Lagoon. See this link for all the gruesome details-

The Indian River Lagoon Chronicles is now available as a paperback book, either from me or from amazon…

Upcoming Events–
-Paddle Fishing Seminar, Kayaks by Bo in Titusville, March 17, 5 PM. Please call to reserve your space. 321.474.9365.
-Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar, March 18, 8:30 AM. Please visit this link for more information…
-Florida Fly Fishing Association meeting, Kay’s Barbeque, Cocoa, March 27, 7 PM. We’ll post more details as we get them.

Monday- Rock Springs Run

Mr. Conneen rollin’ down the creek.

This painted turtle let me get surprisingly close.

Mike Conneen and I went a-paddlin’ on the Rock Springs Run, starting at King’s Landing and finishing at Wekiva Marina. At this central Florida gem, it’s more about the aesthetics than the size of the fish. You’ll find plenty of brilliantly colored fish here, but they tend to be small ones- stumpknockers, redbellies, even the bass run small.

Rock Springs Run stumpknocker. Yes, it’s small.

Mike, still rollin’.

Use ultralight tackle and small, weedless baits (I like the Beetle Spin or a three-weight fly rod)) and you will have fun racking up the numbers if not the poundage. A bruiser will surprise you on occasion.

One of many ibis we saw.

Mike got a dozen or so bass, the largest was (being generous) maybe two pounds. It’s an awesome trip- the scenery and the wildlife are so nice, who cares about fish size?

One of the larger fish we caught.

A stream-side blue flag iris.

Wednesday
Last week I said this about the shad- “I think they’re done for the season.” PDM, whose name will not be revealed, sent me an email complete with maps telling me he had his best day of the season the same day I caught exactly one. So following his very specific instructions (which I really appreciated- thank you!) I went there on Wednesday. It was not great. I had to work, but I got ten or twelve in a few hours. It was enough that I figured I could use it again of Friday if needed.

Thursday
Went scouting solo out of River Breeze. The places I had been finding fish were devoid of life. On my good friend the 3″ plastic shad I got two slot trout and a few dinks. The slotties were delicious, pan-fried in coconut oil.

Friday , Saturday, Sunday
I had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Dan Carr, a fly fisher from Atlanta, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. He warned me ahead of time that he brings bad weather.

If you were a kite flyer or a windsurfer the weather over the weekend was incredible. It was kind of windy for fly fishing, though.

Friday morning we started out of Haulover. By noon we had seen exactly five redfish with nary a shot. Dan had caught a rat red on a plastic shad, which was the extent of the action.

I pulled the boat and went to the St. Johns River. Shad were the goal.

In four hours plus Dan got one hickory shad and one small channel cat. I pulled the boat near sunset and went home to get ready for the next day, and lick my wounds. So much for the shad. They are done.

Saturday we met at River Breeze, armed with a fly rod and a canoe. River Breeze has seldom been more aptly named.

Dan with one of the many rat reds he caught. Note the breezy-looking water behind him!

I poled the canoe about ten miles in that gale, exhausting myself in the process. Dan did catch some fish on the fly, though, both trout and redfish. No big ones, mind you, but still, fish on fly in 20+ mph is not to be sneered at. He done good, enough so that he wanted a repeat the next day.

Sunday we met at River Breeze, armed with a fly rod and a canoe. River Breeze has seldom been more aptly named.

The fly of choice. Actually, he used several different patterns.

I poled the canoe about ten miles in that gale, exhausting myself in the process. Dan did catch some fish on the fly, though, all redfish. No big ones, mind you, but still, fish on fly in 20+ mph is not to be sneered at. He done good!

We got 15 or so redfish in three days and not one would have held batter. We did get a few legal trout, though. And a good time was had by all!

And that is the blown away Orlando fishing report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2018. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: adventure fishing, florida fishing, fly fishing, mike conneen, mosquito lagoon fishing report, mosquito lagoon fishing seminar, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, redfish, Rock Springs Run, seatrout fishing, shad fishing, St. Johns River

Belated Space Coast and Forgotten Coast Fishing Report

December 2, 2017 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Belated Space Coast and Forgotten Coast Fishing Report

This is a belated space coast and forgotten coast fishing report.

Once again, the observant among you probably noticed I skipped the report last week. Bad John! In my defense, I packed Friday, worked and finished packing Saturday, and went out of town Sunday morning (see below). A weak and puny mortal, I need sleep. Otherwise, I could have gotten last week’s report done.

Bumper Sticker of the Week-

Last Week, on Monday I worked a two canoe charter in the Banana River Lagoon with Tom Vanhorn. Our fishermen, father and son, were Mike and Mike!

The water is borderline gross but we caught quite a few solid trout. Mike got the fish of the day on a jig, a lovely snook of seven or eight pounds, on a jig. Go, baby!

Mike the son with a beautiful snook.

Tuesday Tom and I had Mike and Mike again, out of River Breeze. We searched a lot of water and did not see much, catching a total of two redfish and one trout, a tough day. And, we got dumped on bigtime when a front came through. Mike got the fish of the day with a fine redfish that took a plastic shad imitation.

Mike the dad with a handsome redfish!

A word about the shad imitations- for years I used the three inch CAL shad made by DOA. Last spring Damon Albers at RipTide sent me his shad, the three inch RipTide Sardine. I have been using them interchangeably, and love both of them. They are some fish-catching lures! So I don’t confuse myself I will just write “shad” whenever using either of them.

Wednesday Mike Briola and I went out into Mosquito Lagoon looking for a Thanksgiving redfish. He had one on, but it came unbuttoned. So we had to settle for a turkey and barbecued pork shoulder for Thanksgiving dinner. Poor us!

Saturday long-time friend Dr. Todd Preuss and I went searching Mosquito Lagoon for some fish suicidal enough to take a fly. A couple trout is all we found! We saw a few redfish and a few black drum, but they just laughed at us.

Sunday morning at 0-dark-thirty Mike Conneen showed up in his black truck. We loaded my kayak on top of his, tossed my baggage in, and off we went to St. Joseph State Park.

A St. Joe bay bluefish, fooled with a shad.

I had not fished St. Joe Bay in about 20 years. Remarkably, it was just like I remembered it- crystal clear water, thick, lush grass, and fish you can (and cannot) see. Sight-fishing flounders is difficult unless you’re spotlighting them at night!

This fatty flattie nailed a DOA Shrimp.

In two days of fishing the bay we caught trout, redfish, flounder, lizardfish, bluefish, and ladyfish. It was so nice fishing in such clear water, so full of life!

A battling redfish, St. Joe Bay.

The red lost the fight, but was released anyway. We released every fish we caught.

In spite of that, after two nights at St. Joe we went to St. George Island State Park. We fished in St. George Sound for three days. The water was slightly less clear, and loaded with oyster beds.

St. George Sound was loaded with oyster beds. The pinfish were a bonus…

…as were the lizardfish. On fly, though!

I got six species of fish on fly (Clouser minnow exclusively). Surprising to me, I could not get a bluefish, even though I was getting them on the spin rod (with the shad, some on just a hook, some on a jig head). The trout fishing was almost too easy.

The trout fishing was outstanding.

Redfish were involved.

The fly worked well, sight fishing. Awesome stuff.

A Clouser Minnow was all I used.

Both parks were beautiful, although the RVs are a bit much to my taste. We ate out one night at the Pesky Pelican https://www.facebook.com/Peskypelicanep/, and although pelicans aren’t on the menu there, both the oysters and the grouper sandwich were excellent. The brownies were too!

The Clouser Minow fooled flounder…

…seatrout…

…and snagged a few oysters!

We lucked into awesome weather and very solid fishing. I always enjoy the time I spend with Mike Conneen. Not only is he an outstanding angler, he is an outstanding human being. I had, and I hope he had, a fantastic trip.

Mike paddles along a St. George Island shoreline.

And that, dear reader, is the belated Space Coast and forgotten coast fishing report. Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2017. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays, travel blog · Tagged: adventure fishing, canoeing story, DOA Lures, florida fishing, flounder fishing, fly fishing, kayak fishing, mike conneen, Pesky Pelican Eastpoint, redfish, RipTide Lures, seatrout fishing, St. George Island, St. George Sound, St. Joe Bay

Pine Island Sound Fishing Report

November 7, 2017 by john kumiski · 2 Comments

Pine Island Sound Fishing Report and More

Thank you for reading this Pine Island Sound fishing report.

Non Fishing-
The Butter Bike trip is awesome! Read about it here- https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/bicycling-biologist-pedals-10000-miles-along-the-monarch-butterflys-migration-route/ar-AAukzJm

Monday

Karen got the best trout of the day.

Mark Wright and I fished six people from Sweden on Mosquito Lagoon. In my boat we worked it hard all day, tossing soft plastic baits (20 minutes of mullet chunking during lunch netted a couple hardhead cats).

Roger got trout, too.

We got a few trout and a couple redfish, and had many refusals from uncooperative fish. It was a beautiful day if a little frigid at first, and we had a good time. I’m now a brewski boys guide!

Yanne with his redfish.

JK is now a brewskis boys approved guide!

Thursday
I climbed into the new chariot and towed the Mitzi to Pineland Marina, where I met Jake Bishop. Jake and I worked together in Alaska during the past summer. I hoped to show him some Florida fishing. We loaded up the boat with camping and fishing gear and went to Cayo Costa State Park, where we set up our tent. Then we went fishing!

Our tent site on La Costa Island.

I don’t fish that area much, and we did not find any exciting game fish. We did find a load of ladyfish by Johnson Shoal, and spent about 40 minutes getting a fish on every cast, using ugly flies. We got cut off by mackerel or bluefish a couple times, and saw some healthy sharks.

A little go juice in the morning helped our motors start.

The snook that never bite are still where I left them 10 or so years ago.

Friday
We went out looking for fish again, poling miles of grass flats. We saw a couple redfish, one tailing. Jake hooked and lost a snook, the only one we would get to bite. We caught a lot of 15 inch seatrout, and more ladyfish.

We visited Barnacle Phil’s. It’s gone way upscale, and there wasn’t a table available when we got there. We left and ate what we had in the boat.

We saw a string of four or five tarpon over a shoal off the beach. Wasn’t ready for that!

Ladyfish were breaking on top of Johnson Shoal. We caught fish for 30 minutes or so.

It was a long, tough day, fishing-wise.

Saturday
We went out looking for fish again, poling miles of grass flats, checking sand shoals and oyster bars, mangrove shorelines, anywhere I could think of to look for fish. We saw a few but did not get them to bite. We found a good lizardfish hole.

The island boasts miles of spectacular beach.

Shells litter the beach.

Late in the afternoon we saw a couple fat redfish on a flat. The sun was low, the wind blowing. The fish spooked before we could react. While trying to recover we floated over a sandy hole and flushed out about 20 nice reds. They just fled to deep water.

Peeps probe the sand at the surf line.

I suggested that we return the next morning, hope they were there again, and wade-fish them. Then we returned to camp.

I think this is a willet. If any birders out there can confirm I’d appreciate it!

After dinner we went onto the beach and watched night fall, watched the stars blink on. By itself that was worth the entire trip. What a highlight!

We live on an incredible planet!

Jake and I watched night fall.

Sunday

En route to the redfish spot. The fish were no-shows.

We returned to the redfish spot, anchored the boat, got out, and waded around looking for the fish for about an hour. Although conditions were perfect, the fish weren’t there. Jake got a small snapper. I got a trophy puffer.

Eat your heart out!

We tried fishing from the boat for another 30 minutes or so. We saw and did not catch a couple fish. Then we returned to Pineland, loaded up the boat, and went our separate ways.

In spite of the tough fishing it was an awesome trip. The weather was great, the scenery awesome, the companionship sublime. Let’s do it again soon, Jake! The fish will come…

I’m sorry this report is late, but I was out of town.

And that, dear reader, is the Pine Island Sound fishing report. Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2017. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Fishing Stories, Photo Essays, travel blog · Tagged: adventure fishing, cayo costa state park, florida fishing, fly fishing, pine island sound, pine island sound fishing report, pineland marine

Fishing Bear Lodge Fishing Report 3

August 6, 2017 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Fishing Bear Lodge Fishing Report 3

This is the August 6 Fishing Bear Lodge fishing report.

It rained all this past week, every day. We got wet, stayed wet. Wah wah. The fish didn’t care much, except for one creek that got blown out. We fished elsewhere.

Ethan Price got this fine rainbow trout on a mouse fly. Yes, it was raining.

Mousing for rainbow trout has continued great, with fish running to over 20 inches, If the mouse action slows, switching to streamers has worked too. The egg-sucking leech has worked well.

This rainbow also took a mouse. Yes, it was raining!

The char fishing has not picked up yet. Salmon have begun to spawn. Where are the char?

Dry fly fishing for grayling has been a dependable and entertaining way to spend a few hours. Caddis and mayfly imitations both work well. Grayling are such lovely little fish!

Greg used a caddis imitation to entice this grayling. You know it was raining!

The pike have been reliable and entertaining. AND, I didn’t cut my fingers this week, which is awesome.

I should write an ode to sleeping bags. At the end a long day in the rain, nothing feels better than climbing into a delicious, warm sleeping bag.

That is this week’s Fishing Bear Lodge fishing report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2017. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: fishing bear lodge fishing report, Fishing Reports · Tagged: adventure fishing, Alaska fishing, Alaska fishing report, alaska grayling fishing, alaska rainbow trout fishing, fishing bear lodge, fishing bear lodge fishing report, fly fishing, grayling fishing alaska, rainbow trout fishing alaska

Solo Chokoloskee Fishing Report- A Photo Essay

May 5, 2017 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Solo Chokoloskee Fishing Report

We could have called this report, “Last White Man Without a GPS Goes to the Everglades.” I have been to Chokoloskee before of course, but not for a long time. I took my skiff and a kayak, by myself. Thus the Solo Chokoloskee fishing report.

No GPS. These are my navigational aids.

Last Saturday I checked the calendar for the coming week. Holy cow! I have no work! What to do?

“Go to the Everglades,” said a voice in my head. My bride said, “You’re going by yourself?!” “I don’t know anyone who could just take off for four days on the spur of the moment,” I replied. Sunday I packed my stuff. Monday morning about 4:30 I was on the road.

The ranger at Everglades City was a cute redhead with lots of freckles. I should have gotten her picture.

Kenny Brown is still behind the counter at the Outdoor Resorts, probably in his third decade there. Talk about a rock of stability!

That Kumiski guy about to leave the dock at Outdoor Resort in Chokoloskee.

I had a magnificent campsite, waterfront with a view of the sunrise, on the Gulf of Mexico. While there were mosquitos, they weren’t anywhere close to what I thought they’d be. Minor problem.

This was an awesome campsite, but there wasn’t much in the way of shade.

The Mitzi and the OK wait patiently to go fishing.

This black skimmer was one of my neighbors…

…and the terns were in the high rent district.

All of my Everglades camping has been during the winter. A solar day in May lasts much longer than one in December. Just sayin’. And it was hot at the end of the day, which was a bigger problem than the bugs.

Unloading the skiff in my temporary home in Paradise.

Construction of the Taj Mahal…

Monday afternoon I tried fishing. The tide was high. The wind was out of the west, blowing like it was in a hurry to get somewhere. The water was dirty. I wasn’t quite sure of where I was (no GPS), and certainly had some self-doubt creeping into my consciousness. Fatigue and lack of cooperation from the fish did not help.

Casting in high water did not work for me.

I took some time to smell the bay beans…

Beat up from the travelling, fishing, and heat, getting horizontal in my hot Taj Mahal of a tent felt heavenly. An extended rain shower cooled things off. I still love the sound rain makes on my tent fly!

A good night’s sleep and a good cup of joe made the morning much brighter.

Tuesday morning, newly optimistic, I headed for Lostmans’s, hoping to work out the 12-weight. Halfway there the sea was getting rough. Discretion spoke up. “If it gets any worse…” He didn’t need to finish the sentence. I pulled in to the nearest shore line and started looking.

First fish of the trip. Nice little fishy!

There’s a shark. Oh, there’s a snook! And another one! It’s a little pack of them! I managed to scare them all with a large hair bug. It got switched for a streamer that produced two strikes. The second fish was healthy and took the fly with him. A second streamer fooled several more snook. I was pleased with the start.

Streamers worked well.

Red mangroves, the unofficial plant of the Florida Everglades.

I ran to a spot closer to camp and started looking again. Pop! A snook hit some bait in really skinny water. “That’s why you brought the kayak, John.” I paddled over, saw the fish, and tossed a little foam popper at it. He had an argument with himself about whether or not he should hit it. Unfortunately I lost that debate.

I flushed at least two dozen snook in the half mile of shoreline I paddled, scraping bottom much of the time. I just could not see them first. But I knew where to fish the next day.

At one spot I stopped all I caught were some photos.

When the tide got right the next morning me and the fly pole went paddling again. The bite was good, producing several snook, a nice red, several missed strikes, and a couple of break-offs. Then the water got really skinny again, and the fish stopped biting.

Snook on a gurgler, always exciting!

This red was my first on a fly rod popper in several years.

Breaking down camp took minutes. On the way back to Chokoloskee I learned where to look for tarpon, for future reference. I felt my way through Rabbit Key Pass with a Top Spot chart, managing not to break anything, or even really hit the bottom. Slept in my own bed Wednesday night, after what was a really enjoyable, if somewhat short, trip.

The sun sets on my mini-vacation…

I enjoy fishing with that John Kumiski guy. He has a weird sense of humor, but he also has a good heart.

—————————————-
Last week I wrote, “One of Benjamin Ashworth’s birthday presents was a day with me (?!), fishing in Mosquito Lagoon. Girlfriend Chely was along too.”

I emailed Benjamin’s mom a thank you note. This was her response-

“They were so pleased with the fishing and had a wonderful time. They raved about you and how it was such a great fishing trip. As well as the bonus of seeing a good variety of wildlife! They felt you were a great and knowledgeable guide and would love to go fishing with you again. Thank you again for making it a special birthday gift for Benjamin and Chely.”

Once again, I would like to thank everyone who fished with me this week. John, thank you for fishing with me!

That is the Solo Chokoloskee fishing report!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2017. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Fishing Stories, Photo Essays, travel blog · Tagged: adventure fishing, chokoloskee fishing report, everglades fishing report, florida fishing, fly fishing, fly fishing for snook, kayak fishing, redfish, snook fishing

Week of the Black Drum Fishing Report

April 1, 2017 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Week of the Black Drum Fishing Report

We caught other kinds of fish this week, but black drum were the stars. Thus the black drum fishing report.

Thank You!
Many thanks to all those folks who responded to my question about eastern Tennessee. I got more information than I could handle in a busy week!

Alaska
Mike Adamson shared this link by email- https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/03/150-years-ago-today-the-us-bought-alaska-from-russia-for-72-million/521340/?utm_source=nl-atlantic-weekly-033117 . Definitely worth the few minutes it takes to check it out.

Manatees Delisted
In a move guaranteed to generate controversy, the US Department of the Interior has removed the West Indian manatee from the endangered species list. You can read the entire press release here- http://www.spottedtail.com/blog/manatee-reclassified-from-endangered-to-threatened/Solo Skiff
Tom Mitzlaff posted a video that has gotten six million views! See it here- https://www.facebook.com/SoloSkiff/videos/1274846345945765/

Fishing!

Bass on RipTide.

Sunday I went to a pond in Oviedo and in the howling winds managed to spin fish my way to a handful of bass. The lure was the RipTide Sardine.

No trophies- the best fish of the afternoon.

Monday fly fisherman Jeff Leishman joined me for a fly fishing trip on the Banana River Lagoon. The weather was spectacular, a chamber-of-commerce kind of day.

Jeff with one of many black drum.

We weren’t out very long when we spotted a tail, and then another, and then the whole place was loaded with tailing fish. Jeff, tossing a crab imitation, did some serious work with those fish. We had five or six double hookups. If only every day were like that…

One of our doubles…

Tuesday’s kayak fishing trip happened out of River Breeze, with George White and his friend Mike. They were tossing those little shad tails I’m so fond of, and got a mix of seatrout and redfish. The fish made us work, though, no suicidal ones this day. There are long stretches of fishless water out there. And that water is beginning to rise again. It’s getting deeper.

Mike had never caught a redfish before.

Wednesday and Thursday I had the pleasure of hosting Jerry and Alex, a father-son team from the Chicago area, on the Mosquito Lagoon. Alex will be pitching for the Cubs in the World Series in another 15 years or so. But I digress…

Alex got this trout on a DOA Deadly Combo.

Wednesday the weather again was picture-perfect. The fish, however, were incredibly spooky. Redfish wouldn’t let us within two cast-lengths away. Since you can only cast one cast-length, we just couldn’t get a bite. We got a fair number of trout. All but one were short. We got one redfish, which may have been barely legal. We got a real nice puffer. We got to watch a herd of manatees in clear, shallow water. A beautiful day, kind of tough fishing-wise, though.

Thursday young Alex started us off with a fine 23 inch seatrout he got with a DOA Deadly Combo. BANG! Several more nice trout followed. Then we found a herd of black drum. Double!

More black drum doubles in a black drum fishing report week!

The fish let you know when they’ve had enough by swimming fast and not biting any more. We took the hint and tried a few other spots, getting another trout or two. We hardly saw any redfish. Yes, it was windy, but visibility was pretty good. I just couldn’t find any. We returned to the drum spot. They were still there and we got three more. At that point the wind was blowing close to 20 knots, so we called it a day.

That is the week of the black drum fishing report!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2017. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing News, Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: adventure fishing, Banana River, Bass fishing, Black drum, DOA Lures, fly fishing, kayak fishing, mosquito lagoon fishing report, Mosquito Lagoon redfish, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, redfish, seatrout fishing

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