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Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report, Port Canaveral Fishing Report

October 5, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report, Port Canaveral Fishing Report

Upcoming Events-

Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, October 26
Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar, October 27
First Coast Fly Fishers meeting, November 4
Indian River Lagoon Paddle Adventure starts December 1. Paddle the length of the lagoon!

Four days were spent on the water this week, even had a charter.

Sunday Tom Yoshida and his wife Babette joined me for some fly fishing on the Indian River Lagoon. I would have preferred the beach but the northeast wind and three to four foot seas made me think better of that idea. First we looked on the south side of NASA causeway. The water was clean(!) but other than mullet we saw no fish.

We checked the new power plant. There were baby tarpon rolling there. We tried all kinds of flies for an hour without anything to show but a couple of small ladyfish, and then gave up. We got to watch a lot of dolphins working, though.

I ran north of the railroad trestle. It was a complete waste of time. The water was nasty looking and we did not see anything.

Our last stop was north of the NASA causeway. There were a few redfish there, although it was hard to see them until they were a rod length away. Those ten foot casts are hard to make with a fly rod. There were quite a few alligators there. Using my pushpole I poked the tail of one that was lying on the bottom. He surprised me by whipping around and trying to bite the pole, which I barely got out of the way. Oh, my Stiffy!

We did not get a good shot and ended the day with only the small ladies to show.

Monday Scott Radloff and I went to Port Canaveral. There were loads of mullet there. We anchored at the north jetty and got snook, redfish, crevalle, bluefish, and snapper. Once the bite slowed we went looking up towards the Cape. There were breaking fish all over Canaveral Bight. All of them turned out to be big ladyfish. Even at that, I love breaking fish. On a Chug Bug they were a blast.

mullet in surf, port canaveral florida

There were loads of mullet in the surf

We were hoping to find tarpon but did not, although I got a 60 pound blacktip shark on a light spin rod.

All in all it was a pretty entertaining day.

Wednesday I went back to the port by myself. The seas were at the limits of the Mitzi’s ability to cope, so I did not clear the jetties. As it turned out I just caught some mullet for future reference, then went home and took care of other business.

Friday Dr. George Yarko and I went back to the port. We anchored at the north jetty, where we got a snook, a seatrout, and a crevalle, and missed a couple of strikes. Then the bite died.

There was a shrimp boat off of Cocoa Beach. We ran down to investigate. Sadly, there was absolutely nothing in the way of fish behind it, to my surprise and dismay. Since we were already out a couple miles, and since we had been seeing Sargassum, we went looking for weeds, for breaking fish, for bait, for whatever. We found nothing until we came back close to the beach north of Cape Canaveral.

There were acres of breaking fish.

The Spanish macks were nice ones, and there were jacks and bluefish too. I broke out the fly rod while George threw DOA CAL jigs. We went through lots of baits, but it was pretty much a fish every cast. Both bluefish and Spanish mackerel are entirely capable of severing 40 pound fluorocarbon leader. They did just that repeatedly. Lure manufacturers must love those species!

Spanish mackerel, port canaveral florida

The Spanish mackerel were nice-sized ones.

It got too easy, so we headed down the beach, back towards the port. We found more breaking fish, this time with ladyfish thrown into the mix. We lost a bunch more lures and flies.

It got too easy, so we headed down the beach. I spotted some redfish and George got one over 30 inches on a live mullet, the best fish of the day.

red drum, port canaveral florida

This redfish was over 30 inches.

I spotted some snook and we doubled up. They were short and we released them, but it was awesome being able to sight fish them.

snook, port canaveral fishing report

A snook double along the beach. The weather was spectacular, too!

We got jacks and bluefish until we decided to hang it up at about 2:30. It had been an awesome day.

That is this week’s exciting version of the Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report and Port Canaveral Fishing Report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short. Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

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

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Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report, Banana River Lagoon Fishing Report

September 22, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report, Banana River Lagoon Fishing Report

What a week! A Harvest moon and the autumnal equinox, too! Both have an effect on the fishing.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

A moon like this affects the fishing for better or worse.

Upcoming Events-

Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, October 26

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

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

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report– On Tuesday son Alex and I went to the Mosquito Lagoon, getting a late start because I had to see the hygienist first. While it was a beautiful day (the weather has been awesome) as far as catching fish went we might as well have stayed home. We saw maybe ten redfish, all a rod’s length away, and did not get a shot.

Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report– Thursday Scott Radloff and I went to the Indian River Lagoon. After a short boat ride we saw diving birds. Breaking fish, one of fall’s pleasures. Ladyfish, bluefish, and gafftopsail catfish were in the mix. Nothing too thrilling there but it was certainly a fun way to kick off the day.

The new power station in Port St. John is up and running now. There are lots of ladyfish there. Didn’t see anything else.

Went for a ride and ended up poling miles of shoreline. There were enough slot reds to keep it interesting. The fish were spooky and it was a long time before we convinced one to bite. We ended up getting four on DOA CAL shad tails rigged weedless on a worm hook. One was a gorgeous thirteen spot fish.

Banana River Lagoon Fishing Report– Friday I went to the Banana River Lagoon, breaking out the kayak to do so. I hadn’t been in a kayak in months and it was great to be paddling again. I learned (again!) that stupid stuff can happen to you at any time.

Two hours or so of paddling were under my belt before I saw anything other than lots of mullet. Excited for having seen a redfish, I anchored the boat and got out to wade. The wind was blowing a little too hard to fish effectively from the boat.

The fish were not thick, but they were good sized. I had several poor shots and two good ones. None of the fish took the fly, which got changed a few times.

Working my way back to the kayak, I tied the painter to myself and kept wading, towing the boat behind me. Shots at fish continued coming sporadically, and I finally fooled one with a small grizzly Seaducer. I photographed myself with the fish. I should have noticed at that point that my paddle was gone but it did not register.

Banana RIver Lagoon fishing report

The lone biter of the entire affair.

After wading another hour or so without any more bites the clouds got thick enough I couldn’t see any more. The atmosphere was telling me it was time to bag it. I ate lunch, reeled in the fly line, and went to paddle back. Now I noticed the paddle was gone.

Crap. I had three or four miles to go. At least the wind was out of the north-northeast.

Human hands make lousy kayak paddles.

The wind blew the boat along at about one mile an hour, putting me back at the chariot about 4 PM. Fortunately the weather was still beautiful, and other than losing a nice Aqua Bound paddle it had been a wonderful day with a nice redfish on fly as a bonus.

Indian River Lagoon fishing report

I think I will tether my paddle while wading from now on, though.

Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report, Again– Saturday fly fisher DJ Montigny joined me for a 3/4 day. He had never caught a fish in saltwater before, so we went to the power plant and knocked that right out. Two regrets- the ladyfish were dinks, and there were no tarpon there.

After 30 minutes DJ had had enough of the little ladyfish. We went looking for redfish. It took us most of an hour but we found big ones, enough to keep us entertained for the rest of the day.

We couldn’t find a fly they would bite.

They were exhibiting strange behavior, swimming quite rapidly most of the time, but circling through the same area repeatedly. We found and lost a sizeable school. Other than that they were in small groups, from pairs to a half dozen. We saw a lot of fish in the 20-30 pound range.

DJ had some great shots and by all rights should have had three or four bites. We also saw a big school of crevalle and in an almost-unheard-of situation did not get a bite from them either.

If it hadn’t been for those dink ladies we would have gone fishless.

I think the full moon boogered up the fish this week. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

That is this week’s exciting version of the Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report, and Banana River Lagoon 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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Orlando Area Fishing Report

March 9, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Orlando Area Fishing Report

Upcoming Events–
Not in the Immediate Future Dept.- Rodney Smith and I are planning on paddling an Old Town canoe through the Indian River Lagoon from New Smyrna Beach to Jupiter (the city, not the planet, although THAT would be a heck of a trip), beginning December 2. More details will be forthcoming in future posts. We’re looking for individuals or groups who’d like to partner with us. Contact him or me for more information.

Orlando Area fishing report

Yes, we’ll get all that gear into a canoe.

—–

Son Maxx is on Spring Break from school. Monday he was able to squeeze enough time that we could go fishing. We took the Old Town out of River Breeze. It was cold, with significant breeze. The water was low and clear. The fish were plentiful but very spooky. There were reasonable numbers of tailers, lovely to see.

mosquito lagoon redfish

Maxx, preparing to release a nice redfish.

We managed six redfish, all in the slot, all on slider flies. Maxx couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten a redfish on fly. It was an awesome day with my son.

mosquito lagoon redfish

This fish took a slider.

Tuesday I went riding my bicycle in the Big Little Econ State Forest. Fortunately there were no crashes. I love doing that, it’s great exercise and great fun.

 

Wednesday son Alex and I got up early and drove to Jensen Beach. We met Marcia Foosaner and Mark Nichols a little after 9 AM, just as a cold front came through.

We did not catch any fish at the first or second spots, although I did lose much of my lure to a blowfish. Fortunately Mark had some more.

We again all went wading at the third spot. I got a few slot trout and a couple dozen small crevalle, using DOA Shrimp and CAL jigs. Mark did best, getting what I got but also getting three nice pompano.

It was wonderful getting out and fishing with both my son and old friends. Thanks to everyone involved.

 

Thursday Simms Outdoor Products held the first High Tide Guide Gathering at River Palms. Great event. Alex and I met a bunch of new people. I saw a lot of old friends. We spent some money, learned new things, and had a fine time. Thanks to Simms, Costa, Yeti, and Hell’s Bay for putting it all together.

 

Friday Tammy Wilson joined me for some scouting on the Indian River Lagoon. It was hugely disappointing.

The VAB flat across from Titusville used to have lush grass growth. It wouldn’t always hold fish, but you always knew they’d be back. Now it’s all bare sand, with blobs of algae rolling around here and there.

There’s nothing there to hold fish.

Grass feeds and shelters crabs, shrimp, worms, minnows, those things that redfish and seatrout eat. Without grass, no food. Without food, no fish. Those of us who fish around the Space Center should all be very, very concerned.

There’s no grass in the Banana River Lagoon. There’s no grass in much of the Indian River Lagoon. Is Mosquito Lagoon next?

I took Tammy to a spot usually good for a couple fish and we got three between us, two reds on a slider and a small trout on a spoonfly.

I won’t be going back to that section of the Indian River any time soon.

And that is this week’s exciting version of the Mosquito Lagoon 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: , , , , , , , ,

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

March 4, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
mosquito lagoon fishing report

This fish was NOT caught by me this week.

Upcoming Events-

-Titusville Surf Fishing Workshop, Wednesday, March 6, 6-8 pm. There are several other surf workshops coming up along the Space Coast in the next two months. For more information please email Rodney Smith irlcoast@gmail.com

Blog posts this week: Trip Planning

Sunday afternoon I went to the St. Johns River on a shad hunt. In a little more than two hours only two bites were had. Both were missed, and nary a fish came aboard. Rain chased me off the river.

Monday Steve Timmons joined me on the Mosquito Lagoon. The fish are continuing in their spooky ways and we only got a few trout.

Tuesday I was supposed to fish Sue Cocking. I called her Monday night and told her not to drive up. As it turned out it was a good call- the weather Tuesday was awful, windy and rainy.

Windy Wednesday fly fisher Eric Malmbourg joined me on Mosquito Lagoon. There were fish on Tiger Shoal that wouldn’t eat, in spite of a few excellent shots. The fish were gone from a couple other spots. At the end of the trip we found some reds on the south side of an island, where they were out of the wind. Again Eric had a few good shots but no bites. He ended up with one dink trout for our efforts.

On Friday the weather was marginal but I took the kayak out of River Breeze to see if it was still possible to catch a redfish on a fly. In spite of the overcast I found a school of fish in a big white hole and even wading I could hardly get near them. In three hours I did get two on a slider.

The clouds cleared, the sun came out, and I found some nice fish tailing. Although they were also pretty spooky I managed to get two more, much nicer fish. The bigger one was pushing ten pounds. After I got those two, though, all the other stopped tailing and apparently disappeared.

It turned out to be a beautiful afternoon. I did not want to leave.

On Saturday I had seven folks for the Show and Tell Seminar. It was cold and windy but otherwise it went well. Wendy Radwan emailed me, “I wanted to thank you so much for your time and efforts for the seminar yesterday.  You could see that I took copious amounts of notes, and I’m excited to read your book and to try out some sites along the dikes.” Thank you, Wendy!

On Sunday I had four folks for two on-the-water show and tell sessions. Oh yeah, it was Alaska weather, cold and windy. At least it wasn’t raining! We circumnavigated the Mosquito Lagoon once in the morning and again with a different crew in the afternoon. We didn’t see a fish either time, except when coming back into Haulover Canal at the end of the day we watched a nice black drum get caught..

And that is this week’s exciting version of the Mosquito Lagoon 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: , , , , ,

Trip Planning

February 26, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Trip Planning

trip planning

Hopefully we’ll see lots of this on our trip.

Rodney Smith and I plan to paddle a canoe the length of the Indian River Lagoon come December. For those unfamiliar with Florida geography, we intend to start in New Smyrna Beach and paddle to Hutchison Island, a distance of 160 miles plus change. If we average 10 miles a day, a very makeable distance, it will take us 16 days, assuming no lost time to weather. Yes, that is a ridiculous assumption.

It’s Rodney and me, so yes, we might be crazy.

A minor expedition like this requires some trip planning. I’ve already started.

Unlike a wilderness trip, where you must bring everything you need, we’ll be travelling through a densely populated area. This frees us from having to carry close to three weeks worth of food, since we can re-stock our larder along the way. That’s huge.

The same goes for water. If we were taking an Everglades trip we’d have to carry every drop of fresh water we would need. There will be lots of places to refill our water jug on this trip.

Where will we sleep? The men who dug the Intracoastal Waterway left big piles of dredged material as islands all along the trench. Camping is allowed on most of them.

So what will we be bringing? Here are the headings on my list, in no particular order:

-house
-boat
-fishing
-kitchen
-personal
-first aid
-clothes
-miscellaneous
-menu

If there’s any interest I will post the complete list as a web page. The same goes for our route and projected camping areas.

Rodney wants to raise enough money to establish an educational trust fund for students who wish to study the ecology of the lagoon. So he is actively looking for sponsors. Old Town Canoe is our first, putting a new Penobscot 17 at our disposal. Hurray for Old Town!

If you have any interest in helping us reach our goals, or know someone who might, please have them contact either Rodney or me.

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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Orlando Saltwater Fishing Report

February 16, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Orlando Saltwater Fishing Report

Upcoming Events-

-Titusville Surf Fishing Workshop, Wednesday, March 6, 6-8 pm. There are several other surf workshops coming up along the Space Coast in the next two months. For more information please email Rodney Smith irlcoast@gmail.com

-Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, MINWR, March 2; On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar, March 3


MINWR Launch Complex Update– rather than clutter up this report with all the correspondence flying back and forth, please visit this link for the latest updates. At the link I have a letter you can copy.


Florida has some fishery problems, but nothing like this:

Kentucky will unleash a full-court press against invasive carp during a tournament being held in March.

The Carp Madness Tournament will get teams of commercial anglers competing in a contest to corral the growing population of Asian carp in two of the state’s largest and most popular fishing lakes. Five teams that bring back the highest poundage of fish will split $20,000, with the top prize being $10,000.

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources is putting together this unique event for March 12-13 at Kentucky and Barkley lakes in the western end of the state.

A sighting by a commercial angler on Kentucky Lake last fall is giving officials a greater sense of urgency to tackle the problem. “Right about dusk, he saw a huge school of carp just underneath the surface,” Brooks said. “He reported there were fish from bank to bank, and as far up the lake and down the lake as he could see. That’s why this tournament is so important.”

Read the entire piece here…

Fishing!

This has nothing to do with fishing, but Sunday we went to a skeet range. I still can’t hit a clay, but I got a photo I never expected to- my bride holding a shotgun.

orlando saltwater fishing report

Monday I effected repairs to the aging chariot- no fishing.

Tuesday I had the pleasure of a visit from Rick DePaiva. We fished for about six hours in the Mosquito Lagoon. It was fairly windy with lots of clouds, which made sight fishing difficult. In spite of that Rick got a half dozen slot reds on the new DOA Airhead. We wanted a big trout too, and saw quite a few, but that prize eluded us. Perhaps next time. Thank you, Rick!

 

orlando saltwater fishing report

Ricky D. with a nice one.

 

orlando saltwater fishing report

Wednesday and Thursday I had no work. The weather was windy and rainy, so I worked around the castle. No fishing.

Thursday night I spoke to the Backcountry Flyfishing Association of Orlando about fly fishing and BFA history. I really enjoyed it, and apparently the club did too. Here’s what Tom Dyll emailed to me: “Great talk. Probably the best I have seen in the 3 or 4 years I have been with the club. Great mix of content and entertainment.” Thank you, gentlemen, I hope we can do it again sometime.

Friday I got a late start, leaving home near 11 AM. Went kayak fishing on the Indian River Lagoon. Hadn’t done that for a while. Should have been. Got a half dozen reds on a sparkle crab, and blew some shots too. All but one were cruising when I spotted them, the odd one being a tailer. All were in the slot. A very enjoyable afternoon.

More repairs to the chariot on today’s agenda.

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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Orlando Area Fishing Report

February 2, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Orlando Area Fishing Report

Upcoming Events-

– Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Clean-Up, February 9, 2013. Contact Nancy Corona, 321-861-0668 or nancy_corona@fws.gov

-Titusville Surf Fishing Workshop, Wednesday, March 6, 6-8 pm. There are several other surf workshops coming up along the Space Coast in the next two months. For more information please email Rodney Smith irlcoast@gmail.com

-Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, MINWR, March 2; On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar, March 3

If the state of Florida has its way the Merritt Island NWR cleanup may be completely unneccessary.

ENVIRONMENTAL ALERT!!!! DANGER! DANGER!

Reader Michael Adornetto writes, “I was wondering if you could make mention of the proposed Shiloh launch complex in your next fishing report. I fear that this launch complex will keep us from protecting the refuge and our beloved fishery of the Mosquito and north Indian River Lagoons. We need to get the word out to make people aware.

“Space Florida and Lieutenant Governor Carroll are trying to get NASA to give the State control of 150 acres where the Shiloh citrus area is north of Haulover on the west side of State Road 3 by north Indian River Lagoon. They want to build a commercial launch site outside of NASA so they don’t have the red tape and regulations of working with NASA.”

If you bird, fish, hunt, or paddle the lagoons I probably don’t need to explain the negative impact this would have on your recreation.

Links for more information:

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20130130/SPACE/130130024/Space-Florida-continues-push-land-state-run-launch-complex-KSC

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20130102/NEWS01/301020021/Florida-pursues-studies-new-commercial-launch-complex

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2012/09/24/space-florida-seeks-to-run-shuttle-landing-facility-build-commercial-launch-complex/

Obviously, a massive publicity and letter writing campaign needs to start immediately so we can keep this complex on either the NASA property or Canaveral Air Force Station.

If you think a new space complex on what is now national wildlife refuge property is a bad idea, send a short email to let your state senator and state representative know. You can find them at these links:

http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/Find

http://www.myfloridahouse.gov

Next week I will have a letter you can copy.

Blog Post this week: Life is Short

Fishing!

Monday Father Rick Voor and his friend Scott joined me for some kayak fishing out of River Breeze. My last trip there had been good so I was optimistic. The fish quickly crushed that optimism by not being there. We worked hard for over five hours. We got two rat reds and a micro-flounder between us.

Near the end of the trip we spotted what I at first thought was a couple of tailing fish. Casting to “them” proved fruitless. And, they started not looking like fish.

Investigation revealed a small sea turtle in distress. How much distress? Enough we could pick it up by hand. I called Layne Hamilton, Rob Leonard, and Jane Whaley to get advice as how to proceed. I didn’t get any of them. Rick and Scott tried a few calls too. We left the turtle there, probably to die, very sad.

orlando area fishing report

Father Rick’s turtle. The first person to correctly identify the species will win a free copy of Rodney Smith’s book Enjoying Life on the Indian River Lagoon.

Wednesday I went bike riding in Little Big Econ State Forest. Yeah, that’s a kick! Great thing to do when it’s too windy to fish.

Friday afternoon Alex and I went to the St. Johns for some shad action. It was a beautiful day and the fish were biting good enough that we had a couple of doubles, ending up with a dozen or so shad in less than three hours. Strangely, no other species of fish were caught.

 

Orlando area fishing report

One of many shad we caught.

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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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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Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

December 24, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Merry Christmas to All, and a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year to Everyone!

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

My bride had knee surgery. I spent most of this week taking care of her, as she can’t get around very well. She’s doing fine, thanks, and we expect a complete recovery.

Only three days were spent on the water this week but many other things got done.
-My website got hacked and crashed. It needed a complete re-build. That took some time.
-As long as I was at it I built a new website for my sister, the glass artist. See it at http://www.cherylkumiski.com

Blog Posts this week:

-A Christmas Gift to You

On Wednesday Tammy Wilson met me at Parrish Park. We spent four hours looking around the Mosquito Lagoon for fish. We did not see many, perhaps because we started late.

Tammy got a trout and a redfish, both out of the slot, while blind-casting with an olive colored bunny leech.

I got two smallish trout blind-casting with a DOA Shrimp.

 

A cold front came through Thursday night. The water level dropped six or seven inches, and the water temperature dropped by 10 degrees, between sunset Thursday and sunrise on Saturday. At that point I met Jason and Jonathan Brege, my fishermen for the next two days.

It was 38 degrees at the boat ramp and the flag was almost straight out. The Indian River Lagoon was covered with whitecaps. They wanted to go anyway so we launched the boat at Titusville Marina. That first boat ride was almost like the brain freeze you get when you eat ice cream too fast.

We fished in every dredge hole and canal I know. We came up with a grand total of three trout to 23 inches, all caught on jigs. Late in the day we found a bunch of fish, mostly trout but a few reds too, up on a flat. We could not get them to eat anything and didn’t get a bite there.

 

Sunday dawned much more placidly. With the winds forecast to be light and variable we went to Mosquito Lagoon with the intent of fly fishing. The first spot, which had been holding fish, was nearly barren. Playing a hunch I went to the spoil islands. Good call.

Both Jason and Jonathan got their first ever seatrout and redfish on fly. An imitation crab and a minnow pattern did the damage. They took turns fly fishing, so the “off” guy tossed a jerkbait, which also accounted for several trout.

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

The trout were running large…
Jonathan with a fine trout.

The trout were running large, between 20 and 25 inches. The best redfish was 26. We got enough of each that I lost track (three or four is enough for that to happen, though).

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Brother Jason with trout on fly.

The weather was spectacular, the fish were cooperative, my fishermen were great guys, it was a fantastic weekend. Happy Christmas to me!

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

The brothers with a fat Mosquito Lagoon redfish.

And that is this week’s exciting version of the Orlando Area and Mosquito Lagoon 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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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Spotted Seatrout- A Pictorial

November 30, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Spotted Seatrout

My favorite time for Spotted Seatrout fishing happens when the water gets cold and the big trout sun themselves over white potholes in the grassy bottom. Wait, that’s right now, man!

You can sight fish spotted seatrout now. The flies that work best are unweighted streamers. My favorite flies though, are surface flies- gurglers and poppers.

You will have by far the best results if you get in the water and wade. You will need waders- the water is cold, remember?

Although a big one will pull line off the reel, generally Seatrout do not pull very hard. They jump only rarely. Frankly, they’re not terribly exciting to catch, unless you get a real big one or you get them on a top-water lure. That visual strike is usually the best part of the fight.

Below are some of my favorite images of spotted seatrout. I hope you all get a chance to catch some nice ones of your own this winter. Please carefully release those big ones, too!

spotted seatrout

Son Maxx with a trout he caught many years ago in Everglades National Park. The fish took a DOA Bait Buster.

 

spotted seatrout

A few years later Maxx and Mike Brown got this seatrout double in the Indian River Lagoon. DOA Shrimp did the trick this time.

 

spotted seatrout

Mr. DOA himself, Mark Nichols, with a handsome Indian River Lagoon seatrout.

 

spotted seatrout

An unweighted streamer fooled this big Mosquito Lagoon seatrout.

 

spotted seatrout

Vic Attardo and son Alex with a Banana River Lagoon seatrout double.

 

spotted seatrout

Capt. Chris Myers with a handsome seatrout from Mosquito Lagoon.

 

spotted seatrout

This seatrout nailed a gurgler.

 

spotted seatrout

This trout nailed a foam popper, and chewed it to pieces.

 

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

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

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Filed Under: Fishing Tips, Photo Essays · Tagged: , , , , , , ,
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