Indian River Lagoon Archives - Page 12 of 13

Orlando area and Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

November 17, 2012 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Orlando area and Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Upcoming Events- Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, January 23-28, 2013

Last week I was off on a rant about pretentious marketing for beer. A forum reader responded-
“You mention the beer label being pretentious and say it would be so even if it was on a bottle of wine. Well dear sir, beer is MUCH more complicated than wine, both in production methods and in complexity of flavor. Beer takes on a much broader spectrum of flavor and craft beer is only now beginning to be appreciated like fine wine here. Look for the price of select beers to go up up up over the next several years.

“You are right in saying marketing has taken a turn for the worse, with many beers being overpriced and severely overhyped. In some cases you can go to a limited release and buy a bottle for $20, then turn around and sell it to some ebay collector for $100+, I’ve seen some local cigar city beers go for $350 per bottle. Keep in mind most wines are incredibly easy to make and materials cost is less than beer, but they sell for much more due to the stigma of being a high brow beverage.”

And there you have it. I appreciate the response, sir.

Fishing, oh yes. For a lot of folks fishing and beer go together. But on to the Mosquito Lagoon fishing report…

On a windy Sunday fly fisher JB Walker joined me for a day on Mosquito Lagoon. We had sun a good part of the day and saw reasonable numbers of redfish, including a 20 pound class fish and a school of about 50 or 60 fish. Neither hung around very long. The fish were not bitey at all, very spooky actually.

JB got one small one which we both worked very hard to get. It was a tough day.

Alex and I joined birthday girl Tammy Wilson (now 29) for some kayak fishing on Tuesday. Overcast made it tough to see, except for the rolling tarpon. I got two bites (they weren’t very bitey, either) and caught one.

This tarpon fell victim to a small polar fibre minnow.

Alex fooled three, hooked one, landed none. Tammy got one (in her words) “pecker trout.” I imagine that means it was monstrous.

We watched an eagle harass a flock of hundreds of coots. They were fleeing for their lives and the volume of the sound they made flapping was remarkable. The eagle left them alone after a while. The whole thing was very cool, unless you were one of the coots.

Overcast again on Wednesday morning. I went running along the Florida Trail. There was a new sign that said “panorama parking .4 mi.” Not having seen too many panoramas along there I went to check it out. There were eleven turkeys in the field when I got to its edge. They saw me and left in a hurry, but again, very cool.

Several whitetails were also spooked by my passing.

Birthday girl Tammy (she’s birthday girl for the week) met me for a Banana River Lagoon kayak expedition on Thursday morning. It was solid overcast all day, with a wind from the northwest at 10 mph or so.

We paddled a long way without seeing anything.

One redfish actually tailed near me at one point. I tried but failed to catch it. But blind casting in that area quickly netted two other redfish (black bunny leech, #2).

Tammy bummed a leech from me and she started catching fish too. We ended up with around ten reds to about 27 inches, three snook, a half dozen trout, and a single black drum, all casting blindly with fly rods. Pretty amazing for central Florida. I can’t remember the last time that happened to me.

One of many fish fooled by a black bunny leech.

After catching a bunch of fish I pulled out and devoured my secret good luck charm.

On the way back we met kayak fishing guide Dee Kaminski. Quite a lovely woman, and a fishing guide to boot.

Friday Dr. George Yarko launched the Mitzi at River Breeze. The sun was out but the wind was honkin at about 15 out of the north. The water is too high (check the gauge here). We only saw one fish all day. George got an out of the slot red on a DOA Shrimp. I missed one strike on a Johnson Minnow. That was it for five hours of effort.

Saturday JB Walker joined me again for some fly fishing. While it was not as windy as Friday, the wind made fishing more difficult. The water is too high. We saw a marginal number of redfish but many of them weren’t spotted until we were almost on top of them. You just can’t see them in the depth of water currently there. We had a few shots but did nor get a bite.

I sure hope the water level drops soon.

Three pictures of me in one report. How scary is that? Halloween is over, John!

That is this week’s 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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Redfish Photo Essay

October 22, 2012 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Redfish- A Photo Essay

Chasing redfish has occupied a lot of my time since 1985. Good fortune has allowed me to search for them all over Florida and in every state where you can reasonably expect to find one, except Virginia.

Below is a selection of my own favorite redfish photos from the digital age.

Hungry redfish search for food in a North Carolina salt marsh.

A small shrimp makes a desperate, acrobatic leap to escape a hungry redfish.

Several cruising redfish, pushing a distinct wake.

Tiny shrimp scatter through the air in all directions as a hungry redfish explodes on them.

An egret follows a redfish school hoping for some free lunch. Many kinds of birds do this.

Ken Shannon on the fly rod, Chuck Naiser on the push pole, Aransas National WIldlife Refuge, Texas.

Ken Shannon with a redfish on the fly rod, Kevin Carter with a pair in his hands. Plaquemines Parrish, Louisiana

Five year old Kevin was trading this redfish for a trip to Disney’s Haunted Castle. No wonder he’s happy! Mosquito Lagoon, Florida

This was Makoto’s first redfish. As he held it for the photo, it was squirting milt all over his leg. Indian River Lagoon, Florida

Redfishermen all love to find tailing fish…

Tailing redfish, Mosquito Lagoon, Florida

Tailing redfish in a Georgia salt marsh.

Stalking a tailing red in a Georgia salt marsh.

He’s on! A black bunny leech did the trick.

Aye, ’tis a handsome redfish!

This is the ugliest redfish I’ve ever seen. I caught it in the Mosquito Lagoon.

Kayaking is a favorite way to hunt for redfish. Here my son Maxx is surrounded by them. Indian River Lagoon, Florida

A beautiful redfish on a spectacular afternoon. Banana River Lagoon, Florida

This fish was pushing 20 pounds. Banana River Lagoon, Florida

My son Alex with a handsome redfish. Banana River Lagoon, Florida

Winter ordinarily provides outstanding opportunities to sight fish for redfish here in central Florida. I look forward to another great season!

That is the end of the redfish photo essay.

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

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

Filed Under: Photo Essays · Tagged: Banana River, fishing photography, florida fishing, fly fishing, Indian River Lagoon, kayak fishing, Mosquito Lagoon, Mosquito Lagoon redfish, orlando fishing, redfish

Flies for the Mosquito Lagoon and Adjacent Waters

October 10, 2012 by john kumiski · 2 Comments

Flies for the Mosquito Lagoon and Adjacent Waters

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

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

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Filed Under: Fishing News, Fishing Tips, Flies and Fly Tying, opinion · Tagged: Banana River, Black drum, fishing tips, florida fishing tips, fly fishing, Indian River Lagoon, john kumiski, Mosquito Lagoon, Mosquito Lagoon redfish, orlando fishing, redfish, seatrout fishing

Orlando Area Saltwater Fishing Report

October 6, 2012 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Upcoming Events

Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, October 27. Click here for more information/registration.

Mosquito Lagoon On-The-Water Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, October 28. Click here for more information/registration.

While on YouTube looking at music I typed my name in out of curiosity. To my surprise a 37 second piece featuring my photos popped up. You can see the piece here…

Fishing-

-Monday found Jim Manual and his friend Zack out in the Mitzi with me, on the Mosquito Lagoon for a morning’s fishing. Fishing was not great, but we did manage a couple redfish and a few trout. The water has so much loose grass in it that about the only lures you can use effectively are jerk baits. DOA’s Deadly Combo works well for trout in the deeper areas.

I ran down to the south end of the lagoon after I dropped them off. It was very nasty on the east side, a dirty, brown mess. No need to go down there for a while.

-Wednesday Howard and Hodges Haycock (some good alliteration there!) joined me for a six-hour trip on the Mosquito Lagoon. Fishing was good, with a solid bite from both seatrout and redfish. Although all the reds were in the slot, they were all at the lower end. The trout ranged from 10 inches to over 24. All but two fish were caught on either jerk baits or a DOA Shrimp. We got about 20 or so fish altogether, a solid outing.

-Thursday Tammy and I launched at Port Canaveral. First thing that happened was a rocket went up! It was mostly downhill after that.

The rocket launch was the highlight of the day.

We couldn’t get past the jetties because the ocean was too rough. I spent some time catching mullet. Our next idea was to go through the locks and fish the Banana River Lagoon.
Wrong.
The locks are under repair and only open every two hours. We had just missed the last opening, so a two hour wait was needed. We pulled the boat and went to the Indian River Lagoon.
We looked in several places in the IRL. The fish were fairly scarce. Tammy had one good hit from what I think was a redfish that nailed a DOA Shrimp. The fish came off and that was it for the day as far as catching fish went.

-Friday Dave Carlson and his son-in-law Marshall joined me for a morning’s fishing. Dave wanted to fly fish for redfish. I went to where we had gotten all the fish on Wednesday. Most of them had gone. We had a couple shots in a couple hours and no conversions.
We went into the Indian River Lagoon to a spot I had been finding fish. There were many fewer there than last time. Again, only a few shots resulted and again, there were no conversions.
Marshall got a couple dink trout on a jerkbait and that was it. The boat was on the trailer at about 1 PM. It was a pretty tough day.

And that is this week’s Orlando area saltwater fishing report. I hope it’s better next week!

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: DOA Lures, florida fishing, Indian River Lagoon, mosquito lagoon fishing report, mosquito lagoon fishing seminar, Mosquito Lagoon redfish, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing report, redfish, seatrout fishing

Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River Lagoon, and Goodnews River Fishing Report

June 26, 2012 by john kumiski · 1 Comment

Monday- Rodney Smith joined me for some scouting in the Mosquito Lagoon. A “hot tip” had been had about fish in the Glory Hole. The tip proved unfounded, although Rodney did get a nice trout there on a Chug Bug.

We found a school of fish at another spot, big reds, about 100 of them. Rodney tossed a faux crab at them. I would like to report that the fish eagerly gobbled the fly but that, sadly, would be untrue. They fled like scalded dogs. We got exactly none.

I got a few trout on a DOA Shrimp at another spot and exactly nothing at the final spot we checked. The Mitzi was cradled at noon.

Tuesday- Dr. Patrick Campbell, intrepid fly caster from the great state of Ohio, joined me for some fly fishing. It was windy, 15+ out of the east, and quite cloudy most of the day.

Of course we started where the big reds had been the previous day. And of course they weren’t there. “Ya shoulda been here Yesterday!”

We fished the shoreline near Vann’s Island. Patrick got a small slot red on a slider.

I soon put the boat on the trailer, relaunching at Parrish Park. We fished for a couple of miles along the east side of the Indian River Lagoon. It was hard to see, although slot redfish were present in fair numbers. Many fish were flushed by the boat, a few were harassed with casts, and one succumbed to a Son of Clouser that Patrick dropped right on his face with a cast that was all of 12 feet or so.

It was a tough day that Patrick took with good grace. Nice guy, that Patrick. Hope he comes back.

Wednesday- the first day of summer, AND the dreaded flight to Alaska via US Air, through Phoenix. Left Orlando at 530 PM. Got to Anchorage at 1230 AM Thursday, and had four hours time change. Crashed in the airport, had a rotten night.

Thursday- 640 AM Alaska Air flight to Bethel, then a layover and a Yute flight on a Cessna to Goodnews. Getting to the Goodnews River Lodge is not the most fun part of my summer. Was in the lodge at about 1 PM

The Lodge presented many of the usual suspects and a cast of new characters. In many ways it was good to be back, it was certainly good to re-unite with son Alex. But I already miss Susan.

Spent the afternoon unpacking and cleaning, settling in. And of course anticipating wetting a line in that most fabulous of rivers, the Goodnews.

Friday- Alaska has outlawed the use of felt-soled waders in its waters. Goodnews River Lodge has about 30 pairs of said waders. G and I spent Friday morning pulling felt soles off of boots, a sad and ridiculous task.

Alex, Taylor the cook, and I got out on the water for a couple hours of plug pulling in the afternoon. Not many king salmon are coming into the river yet. We did not get a bite.

Saturday- The Hunt Brothers, Chuck and Tom, joined me for an excursion up the Goodnews to Barnum Creek. They had been there a week earlier and done well on grayling and rainbow trout. I was looking forward to seeing both.

: Tout fisher extraordinaire Chuck Hunt with a beautiful rainbow trout.

Alas, it was not to be, as they did not catch a grayling. The trout bite, however, was pretty darn good and both of them got fish in the 24 inch range, solid, fat, beautiful leopard rainbows, using black streamers. It was a wonderful morning. We were back at camp by 2 PM to help with the many chores still needing completion before camp opens for guests on Wednesday.

: Tom Hunt got this fine ‘bow.

And that is this week’s Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River Lagoon, and Goodnews River Fishing Report. All reports until mid-September will be from the Goodnews River.

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, Goodnews River- Alaska Fishing Report, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: Alaska fishing, Alaska fishing report, florida fishing, Goodnews River, Indian River Lagoon, Mosquito Lagoon, mosquito lagoon fishing report, Mosquito Lagoon redfish, orlando fishing report, rainbow trout fishing

Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report

June 15, 2012 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

The Jensen Beach Area Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 6.16.12

On Sunday, friend and neighbor Tom Van Horn and I made a trek to Jensen Beach to stay at River Palms, to do some fishing on Monday and Tuesday.

On Monday Doug Pike and I went out with Capt. Squeeky Kelly. Fishing with Doug was awesome. He was once editor of Tide magazine. He was one of my favorite magazine editors when I was writing a lot, so it was a pleasure getting to spend the day with him. And Squeeky is quite the character. We spent a lot of time laughing at stupid stuff.

We got about 20 trout to about 22 inches or so, not particularly hot fishing. Most of the damage was done with a DOA Bait Buster, shallow running version.

Capt. Squeeky holds the best fish of the day, caught on a DOA Bait Buster.

Several of the other boats had a similar problem as far as getting fish. Although tough fishing-wise, it was still a great day, wonderful weather, fantastic company.

On Tuesday Willy Le and I went out with Capt. Marcia Foosaner, one of my oldest friends from that part of the world. Usually when I fish with Marcia I watch her catch fish. She typically schools me pretty well.

It was another fairly tough morning. We went wading, all three of us tossing the three inch DOA Shrimp in various hues. I hooked a nice snook, which cut me off. A smallish crevalle and small flounder followed. Marcia hooked, then lost, a redfish. Willy and I each got a mangrove snpper. Then I hooked another snook, a five pound fish that I caught. We photographed and released it.

WIlly Le holds a snook fooled by a DOA Shrimp.

I hooked another snook and got cut off again. Then Willy hooked and lost the fish of the day, a solid snook which tossed the hook during a head shake.

All too soon it was time to head back to River Palms, to head home. Tom dropped me off at about 4 PM. The two days had flown by.

Wednesday morning found me at the chiropractor. My back has been a mess.

Thursday’s trip fell through. Quality time was spent with my bride.

Friday Susan and I celebrated out 32nd wedding anniversary. I got to do some honey-dos.

And that, short though it may be, is this week’s Indian 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 2012. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports · Tagged: Bait Buster, DOA Lures, DOA Shrimp, florida fishing, Indian River Lagoon, Jensen Beach Florida, seatrout fishing, snook fishing

Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report

June 9, 2012 by john kumiski · 2 Comments

The Orlando Area Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 6.9.12

On Sunday, friend and neighbor Karl Dienst joined me for a quick strike. We launched at Kennedy Point at 6 AM. We got to the fishing spot and no one else was there! Amazing.

The fish were not as thick as they were. We did not see a redfish. Karl got several nice trout on a white plastic worm, the kind you use for largemouth bass. I got a few on the Bait Buster. We also got a few nice ladyfish. Still looking for tarpon, still haven’t seen any.

The Bait Buster is a great lure for any mullet-eating fish.

The boat was on the trailer at 10AM.

Monday I went solo, launching at Marina Park. Got a couple trout and ladyfish on a Chug Bug, but it was slow. Saw one pod of redfish that would not let me near them. Switched to a Bait Buster and got a couple more trout.

I ran around much of Turnbull Basin and didn’t see much. On an ominous note, the nasty water we had last summer is showing itself again- found one large spot of dirty water on the west side south of the safety zone, and a big chunk of filthy water around Duckroost Cove.

After going to another spot I went wading, got four slot redfish on a black Clouser Minnow, quite satisfying.

Monday afternoon Sue and I brought son Alex to the airport, sending him off to Goodnews. It’s that time of year.

Tuesday morning Scott Radloff and I launched the Mitzi at Lee Wenner Park. It was overcast and windy, coming out of the west.

Scott got a small red on a Gulp on this third cast.

We got a nice trout on a DOA Shrimp in the next hour. It was too slow and visibility was not that great, so we put the boat on the trailer and went to Kelly Park, launching into the Banana River Lagoon.

I had gotten good reports about the BRL but we fished until 2 PM and got one trout that Scott convinced to take a Chug Bug. Not a lot of seagrass there any more.

Wednesday fly caster Darrin Prestangen met me at Marina Park. It was overcast and windy, terrible fly fishing conditions. Darrin, used to blind-casting in the streams of Colorado, blind-cast all morning. We did not get a fish. We did get rained on. We did see another boat pull in a 30 pound class redfish on the northwest side of the railroad trestle.

In the afternoon we went to where I had gotten the four reds a few days earlier. It was still very hard to see, but Darrin managed to sight-fish his first ever redfish (a small one) and a 20 inch seatrout, both on sliders.
The boat was on the trailer at 3 PM.

Darrin's first saltwater fish was this nice trout.

Thursday I did honey-dos. The weather was awful. It was a good day to stay home.

Friday Darrin joined me again, his last hurrah for this trip. We launched at Parrish Park. It was overcast but the wind was light.

We saw one tailing fish at the first spot, at which we did not get a shot. It did not tail very long.

We found a small school of fish at the second spot. We found them by running them over. There was a stampede.

We ran over several singles too. There were fish there but between the clouds and the dark bottom we could not see them at all.

We went back to the place where Darrin had caught his two fish the previous trip.

In a stunning turn of events there were more fish there than the previous day. Darrin got two reds and a fine black mullet on the estaz crabby thing fly. The fly goes into commercial production tomorrow! The reds at this spot run small, but at least we could sight fish.

Mullet, on fly!

The fly goes on sale tomorrow!

We went to another, similar spot and there were even more reds. Again, they were small, about 20 inch fish, but he got four more on a Son of Clouser. There were many refusals and blown shots. In spite of the clouds fishing was actually quite good. If the fish had been bigger I would have said it was excellent. At any rate we had a great time.

This red (and several others) fell for the Son of Clouser.

Although the fish ran small, at least we could sight fish.

The double spotted tail...

The boat was on the trailer at 3 PM.

And that is this week’s Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short. Go Fishing!

John Kumiski

Home- Spotted Tail Outdoors and Travel

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

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: Bait Buster, Banana River, DOA Lures, florida fishing, fly fishing, Indian River Lagoon, john kumiski, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, redfish, seatrout fishing

Indian River Lagoon and Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

May 25, 2012 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

The Orlando Area Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 5.26.12

Sunday found fly fisherman Bill Schell (from Washington state) and I floating around in the Mitzi on the Mosquito Lagoon. The sky was unmarred by any clouds at all- pretty rare for this time of year.

Bill could cast. For fly guides that’s usually the kiss of death. As a general rule, good caster = no fish. And so it seemed at the first spot, that I had just scouted three days earlier. Absolutely nothing there.

Hit spot #2 on a whim. There were some big trout there and Bill had one hit his sexyfly, but it came unbuttoned. No more bites, off the the next place.

Remarkably enough, the next place had quite a few fish, both nice trout and reds. And Bill managed to get one of each. Not great, but so many more than none. Then the east wind came up and although we kept fishing, the fishing had ended.

Bill's first Mosquito Lagoon redfish.

Monday found fly fisherman Bill Schell and I floating around in the Mitzi on the Mosquito Lagoon. Wind was light out of the south, just perfect. Again, no clouds. Someone must be living right.

We went straight to the third spot from Sunday. He had to blind cast at first since the sun was too low to penetrate the water. It’s not like the fish cooperated by tailing or anything.

He hooked and lost a trout, then caught a redfish and another trout by casting blindly with a PolarFibre Minnow.

Bill got a couple of trout like this one.

Pass number two we tried a slider. Again, one trout, one redfish by blind casting. We were starting to be able to see but all the shots were in close and none worked.

Pass number three we could see well. Casts to redfish made with the slider were studiously ignored. Out came a crab pattern. The first fish he threw it to took it, as did the second. Then a couple refusals happened before a last fish took it.

The crab fly produced Bill's best fish- and at the end, how it should be.

Again, the east wind ended it for us, but it had been a good morning.

Wednesday I went to the Econlockhatchee for a couple of hours. A weird thing happened. I saw quite a few bass and became interested in trying to catch one. They ignored my bluegill bug, and would inspect but not eat the streamers I tried. If anyone has any good patterns for catching bass in the Econ, would you please share one with me?

Sunfishing was slow- only got a few modest redbellies.

Thursday Scott Radloff and I went to the Indian River Lagoon. Unlike me, Scott is a Gulp fan. He got a redfish on one within five minutes of my shutting the motor off. He would get another a few minutes later.

I hooked and lost three nice trout on a Chug Bug.

We saw a lot of both trout and redfish that wouldn’t look at our offerings. Literally. They would see them and either turn around or make a wide circle around them.

We saw a lot of fish but ended up catching one nice trout, two slot reds, and a couple of ladyfish.

John Riggle joined me on Friday. We again fished in the Indian River Lagoon. The weather was spectacular, with a very light breeze from the north.

John started the morning tossing a Chug Bug. A slot redfish was his first victim, followed by trout after trout. The constant bites on the surface plug were wonderful to see.

One of many trout caught by John Riggle on Friday.

I was able to set the skiff on an easy drift, parallel to the shoreline, and fish a little myself. Tossing a DOA Bait Buster I got a slot red and several trout too.

We caught at least a dozen trout. The smallest was 17 inches, the largest 23. Five or six reds were caught too. There were a lot of missed strikes.

Once the wind cranked up, about 10 AM, the bite slowed way down. The boat was on the trailer about noontime.

That is this week’s Indian River Lagoon 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.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: DOA Lures, florida fishing, Indian River Lagoon, Mosquito Lagoon, mosquito lagoon fishing report, Mosquito Lagoon redfish, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, redfish, scott radloff, seatrout fishing

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

May 18, 2012 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

The Orlando Area Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 5.19.12

Upcoming Event- Inaugural Space Coast International Surf Fishing Tournament, Memorial Day weekend, May 25-27. For more information click here http://internationalsurffishingtournament.com/

Sad News- Vic Dunaway passed away on Thursday. Vic was the original editor at Florida Sportsman magazine and guided that publication to a pre-eminent position among American fishing magazines. Vic bought the first article I ever wrote, a piece about fishing at Lostman’s Key in Everglades National park, for which I will ever be grateful to him.

His daughter Mari writes, “His wishes were that there be no funeral. He just wanted to be cremated and his ashes scattered in the Gulf of Mexico. If you wish to honor his memory, please send a contribution to the Coastal Conservation Association of Florida, P. O. Box 568886, Orlando, FL 32856. As I’m sure you know, the preservation of Florida’s coastal waters was important to him.”

I’m sure the next issue of Florida Sportsman will run a glowing tribute to him, which will be well deserved. Florida sportsmen will miss him, and should honor his legacy.

To all you discoers, Donna Summers also passed on Thursday. She worked hard for the money!

Fish of the Week- still the Spotted Seatrout!

My boat trailer is an aluminum frame EZ Loader. Aluminum or not, it had some galvanized parts and leaf springs, all of which were getting very rusty. Whoever said, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” obviously never had a boat trailer.

Tuesday I brought the trailer to EZ Loader in Port St. Lucie for some refurbishing action. After I dropped it off, I drove to Jensen Beach and met Mark Nichols for some fishing action down the south end of the IRL.

We went wade fishing. Fishing was good. Steady action from slot trout with the occasional crevalle and bluefish thrown in kept us entertained. The lure of choice, as might be expected, was a three inch DOA Shrimp.

It was great to see Mark and spend some time with him. The fish were a gift from God.

Wednesday I went to the Mosquito Lagoon to do some scouting. I had a fly charter on Thursday and wanted to show the guy some fish.

I started at the south end of Tiger Shoal, using the trolling motor to save some time. I went almost all the way to the north entrance with a couple of small trout to show for it. All the reds and big trout that had been up there were gone. So sad.

I looked in quite a few other places. The best I found was moderate numbers of single reds in shallow water, which I did not fish. There was a lot of barren territory.

When I get a new fly rod I do not take the plastic off the handle until that rod catches a “real” fish. I have had a new Temple Fork rod for at least a month that still had the plastic on the handle, which was beginning to irk me. I stopped at a bar on the way back to the boat ramp and got three trout there on a black and purple streamer, the first of which was 24 inches long.

The plastic is finally off the handle.

Thursday Shaun Waterman, a fly fisher from Ontario, joined me for a day’s fishing. He’d never fished in saltwater before. It wasn’t windy at all, but it was very gray. As I headed to the spot I found the fish on Wednesday I was praying they would be tailing.

Of course they weren’t. We did see the occasional tail, but it would be up, down, and no more. In addition to the clouds, the water where we were fishing was kind of dirty.
We ran over quite a few but never got any kind of real shot. We just couldn’t see. I had him try blind casting with a spoon fly for a while but that didn’t work either.

After a couple frustrating hours I decided to see if we could find anything better. We didn’t.

After a while I brought Shaun to the bar where I had caught the trout the day before. There were two people wading there. I gave them wide berth and we started fishing the bar about halfway up, blind casting the streamer to the edge of the dropoff.

We ran over a couple nice fish but no bites.

In a brief interlude with sunlight I thought I saw a fish on the inside of the bar. I wasn’t sure what it was because it was motionless, and facing right at us, but I pointed it out to Shaun. He dropped the fly about a foot in front of it and what turned out to actually be a fish zoomed up and immediately ate.

It was a redfish about 20 inches long. Not huge to be sure but Shaun’s first saltwater fish on fly. Congratulations, sir!

It was the only bite we got. We went back to near where we started. The fish had started tailing, not hard, but enough to keep us busy. Shaun had one great cast I thought sure would work but the fish never responded to it. Then the east wind came up and we never saw another fish.

It rained hard Thursday night and my roof started leaking. No more fishing until that problem is fixed.

That is this week’s Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short. Go Fishing!

John Kumiski

Home- Spotted Tail Outdoors and Travel

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: DOA Lures, florida fishing, Indian River Lagoon, Mosquito Lagoon, mosquito lagoon fishing report, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, redfish, seatrout fishing

Weather or Not: the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report

March 10, 2012 by john kumiski · 10 Comments

The Orlando Area Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 3.10.12

First off I want to thank everyone who responded with kind words during my nightmare with the mailing list. There were way too many to respond to individually. I appreciate your patience and cooperation!

Next, last Saturday 10 brave souls attended my Show and Tell Seminar on the Merritt Island NWR. Here’s what a couple of them had to say:

-“Thank you for a great outing Saturday. Super informative and I feel much better prepared to do exploring on my own. You held nothing back and I look forward to putting your advice and counsel into action.” Doug Whitmer

-“Hope I thanked you for a very nice day last Saturday. Got a lot from it and you use your teaching background VERY well.” Dalen Mills

We had a good time and all of us learned something.

And now we get to the fishing. I was supposed to run an on-the-water seminar on Sunday. However, the lightning, rain, and 30 mph winds accompanying a cold front convinced me that would not be a good idea.

The water temperature, as measured by the gauge at Haulover Canal, dropped seven degrees Sunday due to that front.

Monday morning Sam and Dave (not the soul men), son and father, joined me for what turned out to mostly be a brisk morning boat ride. The air was chilly when we came out of Haulover in a largely fruitless search for fish. We did see a couple of redfish and Sam got a dink on the DOA Shrimp. That was it.

Since it was a half day I used the afternoon to go scouting. I found a few reds and managed to get two bites (both of which I missed) but the fish were widely scattered and hard to find.

Wednesday it was overcast and blowing 20 out of the southeast. Eric Hustedt, a fly fisher and Ph.D. from Nashville, wanted to go out anyway. We came out of Haulover and a wave came over the bow of the boat. The water was filthy, roiled up by the wind and waves.

Eric managed to get a trout on a rattle fly. It was a dink, to be sure, but he got it on a fly in those horrible conditions. He had the sense to switch to blind casting with a spin rod.

spotted seatrout from the mosquito lagoon

This was Eric's best trout of the day. Heck, it was the best trout of the week!

Using a DOA Shrimp he managed two redfish and several more trout, much to my surprise. We were out until 330.

Thursday Jim McDonall, a fly fisher and Ph.D. from New York, joined me for a half day. Given my success in the Mosquito Lagoon the previous two trips I did some gambling and launched at Parrish Park. The gamble did not pay off very well.

We did not see a fish in the first spot. Only found a few trout and exactly three black drum in the second. Nothing in the third. We flushed a small and spooky school of reds in the fourth, at which we did not get a shot. And in the fifth there were quite a few trout. They did not bite. There were also a few large redfish. They did not allow us into casting range before disappearing.

Then it was time to go. So Thursday was a big fat bagel.

Wind and developing lung crud prevented me from searching more in the afternoon. I slept much of the day Friday, coughing and sneezing while awake.

And that, folks, is this week’s Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report. We’ve had better weeks!

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, Uncategorized · Tagged: DOA Lures, florida fishing, Indian River Lagoon, john kumiski, Mosquito Lagoon, mosquito lagoon fishing report, Mosquito Lagoon redfish, orlando fishing report, redfish, seatrout fishing

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