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Thanksgiving Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

November 30, 2014 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Thanksgiving Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

I hope everyone had a magnificent Thanksgiving holiday.

Monday Scott Radloff and I went to Mosquito Lagoon with a simple, straightforward mission- to catch a redfish for Thanksgiving dinner. We failed, catching one seatrout each. At least they were in the slot.

Tuesday and Wednesday were monsoons, heavy rain and wind. Did not fish.

Thursday the Kumiskis hosted about 35 friends and family, no fishing.

Friday morning I met Bret Felberg, his brother Keith, and his father Stuart for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. The air temperature was in the high 40s and it was blowing pretty good. I was not optimistic. But we got a half dozen rat reds and four or five seatrout to about five pounds, on DOA Shrimp and pieces of mullet, much bett er than I thought we’d do.

Here’s what the water levels and water temperature did this week:

You can see where fishing might be tough.

That, my friends, is a Thanksgiving Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report.

Next week’s report will be late because I’ll be travelling.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
http://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 2014. All rights are reserved.

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

Hot Redfish Bite Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

November 15, 2014 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Hot Redfish Bite Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Fishing Florida’s Space Coast has been released as an ebook. See it here… http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/490918

Upcoming Events:
-Indian River Lagoon Paddle Adventure kick-off party, at sunset on November 29th at the Marine Discovery Center in New Smyrna Beach.
-ENVIRONMENTAL ALERT! Banana River Lagoon public scoping meeting, Office of Environmental Analysis, on proposed Port Canaveral Rail Line. Come provide your comments. The meetings are:
-November 18th, 5-8 pm @Eastern Florida state College, Titusville Campus, John Henry Jones Gymnatoriam, 1311 North US1, Titusville, FL 32796;
-November 19th, 5-8 pm, Radisson Resort at the Port Convention Center, 8701 Astronaut Blvd., Cape Canaveral, FL 32920
Please attend if you want to protect our lagoons and the No Motor Zone fishing area.

Those who have known me a long time may remember when the only motor vessel I owned was a 14 foot MonArk jonboat. I still have that boat, although power has been an ongoing problem. Last spring I bought an 8 hp Mercury, almost new. Good! Worked great!

Sitting over the summer bunged up the fuel tank and line. I replaced them thinking it would run OK then, so much so I took it to Mosquito Lagoon on Wednesday.

It was not OK. The carburetor must have shmutz in it, since the boat would not run.

I poled it upwind as far as was comfortable and sort of wind-drifted back. I saw four redfish and caught one smallish trout. A guy in a Hyde drift boat fished everywhere I did before I got there though. Kinda weird seeing that boat out there rowing around. I was not surprised to not see very much.

One of my projects for next week is to dissect that carburetor and clean it out. I want that boat running like a top for shad season.

Thursday Capt. Chris Myers joined me in the Mitzi for a more serious Mosquito Lagoon fishing trip. We launched at River Breeze. The water was pretty dirty in the first two places we looked and we did not see anything, nor did we get a bite.

We found some clean water behind some spoil islands. There were scattered single redfish there, and Myers proceeded to rail on them with a DOA Shrimp and a DOA CAL jig with a shad tail, getting seven or eight. He is really good, a pleasure to fish with. We saw a few nice trout in there too but with one exception they eluded us.

We checked another spot. The water was dirty and we did not get a shot at the two fish we saw.

The last place we checked was near one of the many islands between Georges Bar and Slippery Creek. There were scattered single redfish there, too, and he got another seven or eight. The fish were not very big, none over 24 inches, but it was good to see so many, and also good that they were eating so willingly.

Thursday evening I spoke to the Backcountry Flyfishing Association about the Indian River Lagoon Paddle Adventure. They are a great bunch of people! It was good to see old friends and meet new folks. We all had a real good time.

Friday morning a cold front came through, so there goes the fishing for at least a couple of days.

That is this week’s 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 2014. All rights are reserved.

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Oysters to the Rescue? A Natural Way to Clean Up the Indian River Lagoon

Filed Under: Fishing Reports · Tagged: adventure fishing, DOA Lures, florida fishing, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, mosquito lagoon fishing report, Mosquito Lagoon redfish, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, redfish

The Mid-October Saltwater Orlando Fishing Report

October 11, 2014 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

The Mid-October Saltwater Orlando Fishing Report

First, upcoming events-

-October 25, Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar. Learn more at http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

-October 26 Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, learn more at http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

The mullet are not in anywhere near as great numbers as I thought last week. Sadly.

The season’s first cold front came in over the weekend.

On Monday Rodney Smith and I went fishing out of Port Canaveral. I had a jacket on, since it was about 60 degrees when I launched the boat. The wind was about 10, NE. Our first order of business was to run north along the beach, looking for the schools of mullet I knew would be there. They weren’t. Off the cape we looked for the menhaden schools that had been there. They were gone.

Rodney started off fly fishing, using a small Clouser Minnow. He took a fish on each of his first seven casts. When that slowed we tossed jigs up into the surf line, steadily catching ladyfish, bluefish, small jacks, and a few Spanish mackerel.

After a while the smaller sized fish ceased being entertaining, so we went looking for bigger fare. Off Cocoa Beach there were some menhaden schools. They were thick, and I wanted to net some. It was too deep. My net doesn’t sink fast, and in deep water the pogies just swim out from under it when they see it coming.

We each put a finger mullet on and tossed them by the menhaden. It didn’t take long for my line to come tight. A Monster tarpon tailwalked past the boat, shaking its head, rattling its gills. The 80 pound leader, apparently damaged by a bluefish, broke.

We hooked several 50-100 pound class sharks, but had no more tarpon bites.

We checked for mullet along the beach again before we went in, but they were still not along the beach. Waaagh!

My first ebook, How to Catch Fish with the 3 Inch DOA Shrimp, is now available. Check it out at this link! Please support your local author!

Wednesday I went to Playalinda and got my Golden Age pass , the best thing about aging. It gives you free access to all national parks and monuments for the rest of your life. I hope I live long enough to get my money’s worth from it!

I stopped at the beach and talked to some gentlemen who were fishing there. One, a fly caster from the Seattle area, had gone through lots of flies and had a blast with jacks, ladyfish, and Spanish mackerel, right from the beach.

I launched the boat at the south end of Mosquito Lagoon and explored it pretty thoroughly. In spite of the glowing reports I had been getting I saw very little and did not get a bite.

After pulling the boat I drove to Port St. John and launched in the Indian River Lagoon to check it out down there. The result was identical. In both places the water was high and dirty. If you prefer to sight fish you’re pretty much out of luck. Most years at this time the power plant is killing it but I did not see a fish or get a bite there, either.

Friday I met angler Steve Gibson and we launched the boat at Kennedy Point, intending to fish the Indian River Lagoon. We worked it hard for six hours, and Steve did get some kind of slam, getting a redfish and a snook on a Zara Spook and a seatrout on a streamer fly. We won’t go into their size, but we did not take any pictures. Suffice to say all three together would not have made much of a meal.

So although I didn’t exactly kill it this week, that is the Mid-October Saltwater Orlando 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 2014. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: adventure fishing, Atlantic Spanish mackerel, DOA Lures, florida fishing, florida fishing tips, fly fishing, Indian River Lagoon, Mosquito Lagoon, mosquito lagoon fishing report, mosquito lagoon fishing seminar, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, Port Canaveral, tarpon fishing, Zara Spook

Orlando Area Fishing Report

May 24, 2014 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Orlando Area Fishing Report

It was a weird week. And even though I do not like to fish on weekends, especially Memorial Day weekend, fishing Saturday made up for almost all of the other weirdness.

Monday was a no fishing day and at this point I can’t even remember why not. On Tuesday morning I met Tammy and we paddled to a Mosquito Lagoon fishing spot. Fishing was not hot. I did get a seatrout of five pounds of so on an Electric Sushi streamer. I missed the three larger fish that bit prior to the one I caught. There were also blown shots and fish that weren’t spotted in time, etc. I was not on top of my game.

Wednesday morning I went to the Econ. I had a new fly, a sexyfly tied in a fire tiger color, I was sure would kick bass butt. I got one bite, a bass that, if I were being generous, I would say was a foot long. Two others followed the fly but did not bite. The experiment did not work, although to my credit I stuck with it until I left at about noon.

These are some of the flies I throw for bass. The fire tiger one that failed is on the lower right.

Wednesday evening, Thursday, and Friday I had the pleasure of sitting in Florida Hospital with my mom and her husband, only to be told in the end that they couldn’t find anything wrong. She’s home again doing what she was doing before the hospital stint. If you should find yourself in this situation bring LOTS of stuff to do. And a sweater. You could hang meat in there.

Scott Radloff and I got to Port Canaveral at about 7 AM Saturday morning. The parking lots were already almost at capacity and it was a zoo at the boat ramp. Anything less would have been disappointing.

We got the Mitzi in the water and the car parked and went looking for bait. From a half-mile south of the Cocoa Beach pier south to Patrick AFB the menhaden are solid all along the beach. The first toss of the net came up empty but the second had more fishies than I could lift. We let most of them go.

I would have been happy with anything but I was looking for tarpon. We put six in the air and leadered four, along with bites from several moderate to large sized sharks of various types. The weather was warm and sunny. The best part was, all those hundreds of boats that had been launched were nowhere near us. I don’t know where they went but no one bothered us.

There goes one hospital day!

There goes another hospital day!

Catching four tarpon will make up for a lot of strangeness, that’s what I know.

What hospital???

And that, gentle reader, is this week’s Orlando area 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 2014. All rights are reserved.

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Six reasons why Menhaden are the greatest fish we ever fished.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: adventure fishing, Bass fishing, Econlockhatchee River, florida fishing, fly fishing, Mosquito Lagoon, mosquito lagoon fishing report, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, Port Canaveral, seatrout fishing, tarpon fishing

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

May 10, 2014 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there. We wouldn’t be here without you.

T-shirt of the week-

This week we feature a Mosquito Lagoon fishing report with side orders of Indian River Lagoon and Econlockhatchee River, and lots of photos!

It’s pretty rare to hook a seatrout and have it go on a hot run that peels line off the reel. That happened a few times this week! But once again I get ahead of myself…

Sometimes I wonder why I go scouting. I went last Friday to find fish for Sunday’s paddle flyfishing charter with Dr. Ron and Colby Crabtree, father and son from Texas. We went to the places I found the fish Friday and they were gone. We probably put in seven miles, saw maybe a half dozen fish, and did not get a shot at any of them. Verily, the skunk was upon us…

Monday at 7 AM I was in the seat of Jill, my lovely dental hygienist. As soon as I got out of there I went home and hitched the boat trailer to the van, picked up Scott Radloff, and went to the Indian River Lagoon to scout for my Tuesday/Wednesday trips. Not an early start.

We found some redfish, caught two on jerkbaits. We found a lot of big trout that would not eat much of anything. Scott hooked a couple on a swimbait, but both shook off. The puffers were thick and we went through a lot of baits. I got a crevalle of a couple pounds, my first this year. The day was stunning, not a cloud in the sky, always tough weather for trout.

Tuesday morning I met Dr. Aubrey Thompson and his doctor buddy, Steve Widen, fly casters both, at Haulover Canal. We got nothing at the first spot, nor anything at the second. The third though, would provide a day and a half of sight fishing for gator seatrout.

Aubrey opened the festivities with this fish.

Aubrey opened the festivities with a couple of modest 20 inch trout. Steve got a modest sized redfish. Then we started seeing the big trout, which just kept fleeing away from us. The intrepid guide suggested that with bright sun and spooky fish wading might be a better option. Aubrey is from Texas and Steve lives there now. They didn’t need any convincing.

Even wading, this is tough fishing. The fish are hard to see and most casts result in refusals. However, both gentlemen managed to get a trout in the six or seven pound class, both on streamers, and had shots at many more. The trout Steve got was the biggest he’s ever gotten on any kind of tackle.

This was the biggest trout Steve has ever caught.

As the day ended and we prepared for the road, Aubrey suggested we start earlier the next day “to catch the topwater bite.”

Aubrey’s trout was pretty respectable too.

The Mitzi was in the water at 6 AM the next morning. For the most part the topwater bite did not materialize. I got a dink trout. Aubrey got a couple of jacks and ladyfish. Steve, whose day it turned out to be, got a 27 inch trout on a Floozy popper though, certainly worth the price of admission.

I had switched to an Electric Sushi streamer and was looking for a fish when I spotted the tips of a couple tails. The fly hit the water and the fish nailed the fly. It was modest, but a redfish nonetheless, my fish for the day.

My token fish. Sorry Mr. Redfish, I didn’t mean that!

Aubrey and I made a thousand fruitless casts between us, but Steve kept getting bit. He missed a number of strikes but got another slob trout on a small Clouser Minnow.

At least I helped with the hooked fish.

Steve got three fish like this one on the second day.

I saw the biggest snail I’ve ever seen that was not a queen or helmet conch and took some pictures of it. It was the Methuselah of snails, with an entire ecosystem growing on its shell. I thought of Dave Caprera right away.

The biggest snail I’ve ever seen that wasn’t a queen or helmet conch.

It was an entire ecosystem unto itself.

The day ended too soon and we headed back to the ramp, loaded up at 3 PM.

Aubrey had this to say about our two days together: “John, we had a great time! All anyone could possibly ask for. We had plenty of shots at trophy fish, Steve caught a personal all-tackle record trout. Fishing is about quality time spent with congenial souls, and I don’t know what would have made that trip any better. Well, maybe a few more, just a few, of those humongous trout on the rod; but if it were about numbers I’d leave the fly rod home.”

Friday morning I went to the Econ for a little kayak fly fishing for bass. It was not as good as it’s been, although I caught three on a popper and missed four others. They’re easy to miss when the fly is behind you, there’s slack in the line, etc. I feel like I learned a couple things, though, and certainly enjoyed the morning.

And that is this week’s Mosquito Lagoonfishing 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 2014. All rights are reserved.

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Flies for the Mosquito Lagoon and Adjacent Waters

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: adventure fishing, Bass fishing, Econlockhatchee River, florida fishing, fly fishing, Indian River Lagoon, mosquito lagoon fishing report, Mosquito Lagoon redfish, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, redfish, seatrout fishing

St. Johns River and Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

May 2, 2014 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

St. Johns River and Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Blog Posts This Week-

-Saturday on the ‘Goon

-The Continuing Saga of the Bang-O-Craft

-Casting for Recovery and Typhoon Tackle Join Forces to Fight Breast Cancer

This week we feature a joint St. Johns River and Mosquito Lagoon fishing report. It’s pretty rare to hook a seatrout and have it go on a hot run that peels line off the reel. That happened this week. But I get ahead of myself…

Monday I went back to the chiropractor. When I left he still had not fixed my back. I don’t think I will be visiting that particular chiropractor again.

After I left the doctor’s office I went to the St. Johns River system to do a little bass fishing. When I got there it was slow. No bites on a couple different surface flies. Did not see any activity. I switched to a streamer. It wasn’t hot fishing, but I got two decent fish.

Two bass were caught on this fly.

I saw a couple fish pop something on top, so I switched to a white gurgler. You know, gurglers are kind of stupid-looking flies, real easy to make. They work like crazy for everything. I got about a dozen bass to three pounds and three bluegills on this one before it was time to leave. Turned out to be a real nice day, even with the back problem.

I got more fish on the gurgler, and it’s more fun to use.

Tuesday a number of things happened, none of which directly involved wetting a line. I put a new axle on the trailer of the Bang-O-Craft. I wanted to get the wheels on too, but nowhere I looked had the parts I needed.

I found those parts Wednesday at Tractor Supply, and got the wheels on. Then I took the boat to the car wash and blasted it. Although a huge improvement it will need another major cleaning before it’s ready to use. The new fuel tank came on Wednesday, too. Now all I need is a motor and the Bang-O-Craft will be back in business. I am so looking forward to using that boat again.

Thursday son Alex and I went to Mosquito Lagoon to do a little scouting, getting somewhat of a late start, almost 9 AM. There were lots of clouds and quite a bit of wind, AND the water is already at summer levels, 1.3 on the gauge .

Alex was hot, getting eight or ten trout like this one.

What does all that mean? It means sight fishing was real difficult. However, fish were biting. We got about a dozen trout. While none were big, only one was short. They were running about 18-20 inches, decent fish. We got them on DOA CAL jigs and also on 5.5 inch jerkbaits. I also got two reds on a RipTide weedless jighead with a four inch DOA CAL jerkbait affixed to the hook.

The jig-and-jerkbait combo works well.

Tammy was supposed to join me for Friday’s scouting but couldn’t make it, something about her windshield having Montezuma’s revenge? So I went by myself.

Cloudy, windy, high water. Tough to see, so I blindcast a 5.5 inch DOA CAL jerkbait. The first bite was the trout that ripped the line off the reel, a fat, beautiful fish that was every bit of seven pounds. I selfied us and let it go.

This is by far my best trout this year.

The second one was a bit smaller, but the hook tore one of the gill arches loose and the fish was dead when I brought it into the boat, which made me sad. I did not want to kill it, but that’s what happened.

Aye, ’tis a handsome fish!

I checked a spot that had the occasional tailing redfish so I broke out the fly rod. After using the eight foot three-weight for bass fishing that seven-weight was like a rocket launcher. I had three shots and blew all three by casting too far. I cast blindly for about 20 minutes while I watched the weather coming, hoping to get a trout before I had to leave. Didn’t happen. Rain and lightning drove me back to the dock, where the boat was trailered at noon.

And that is this week’s St. Johns River 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 2014. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: adventure fishing, Bass fishing, DOA Lures, fishing tips, florida fishing, florida fishing tips, fly fishing, Mosquito Lagoon, mosquito lagoon fishing report, Mosquito Lagoon redfish, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, redfish, seatrout fishing, St. Johns River, St. Johns River fishing report

Orlando Area Fishing Report

April 25, 2014 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Orlando Area Fishing Report

Blog Posts This Week– Bananas and Boats

Other People’s Recommended Blog Posts This Week (Read this one first, though!)- Decline in Angling Because Fish Don’t Taste Like Chicken

Yes, we fished around this week, had some great fishing, and some ill luck in other ways.

On Monday Mr. Eric Israel and his friend Justin joined me for some fly fishing on the Mosquito Lagoon. There was a small craft advisory. The lagoon surface looked like a washing machine, not exactly a great fly fishing day.

We did not see many fish. We did find a few tailers, though, and Eric managed to catch one on a slider. It was the only bite we got.

This fish chased off the skunk.

Tuesday I gave a fly casting lesson, and then sold the Maverick. I couldn’t sell the Mitzi so I sold the Maverick instead. Not what I wanted to do, but there you go. I can’t keep two boats that do essentially the same thing. So the Mitzi is no longer for sale.

Wednesday I joined Tom Van Horn and Danny Mello for some ocean fishing. It started off really slow. We had to go all the way to Patrick AFB just to catch some menhaden. Then we went on a major search mission, which turned up exactly one undersized tripletail. We gave a few half-hearted casts at it and gave up.

It’s reptile mating season. We saw some large turtles doing the nasty out in the ocean. How does the she-turtle breathe? I guess they have big lungs.

Tom spotted some commercial kingfishermen. We went out and joined them and got two nice kings by slow trolling. Then a cobia came swimming by. Danny got that, too.

This fish is not having a good day.

This was Danny’s first cobia ever. Not a bad way to start.

In the afternoon it was manta ray city. We found 10 or 12 rays. Not all had fish on them but enough did that our day became borderline epic, with a half dozen cobes to about 50 pounds boated. Fantastic.

This one will be a tough act to follow.

Thursday morning all I wanted to do was go bass fishing. Could I go? No! I had a flat tire. After jacking up the car I could not get the wheel off. I pulled out the rivet that caused the flat and patched the tire while it was still on the car, pumped it full of air, put the lugs back on, and dropped the car back down. It seemed to work, so then I went fishing.

Fun with cars…

I seem to have hurt my back during the tire wrestling, though.

I just went to the Econlockhatchee for some close-to-home kayak fishing. While it did not help my back, the fishing was good. I got about 20 bass to three pounds, and a sunfish slam (bluegills, redbellies, stumpknockers). I had a blast, with all fish caught on gurglers or poppers. I still don’t understand what a three inch long stumpknocker is thinking when it hits a gurgler tied on a #2 hook but I guess you have to give them credit for trying.

The Econ is a lovely stream, although less litter would be awesome.

It’s reptile mating season, and Godzilla is there along the Econ. In one place I flushed two monsters off the bank. Have to assume it was gator love. Wish I’d seen it.

I could not lift the kayak to get it back to the car, and had to drag it up there. I barely was able to load it on the roof. Once home I just climbed into bed.

Friday morning I could barely walk, so instead of going fishing I went to the chiropractor. He did not fix the problem.

And that is this week’s Orlando Area 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 2014. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports · Tagged: adventure fishing, Bass fishing, florida fishing, fly fishing, kayak fishing, Mosquito Lagoon, mosquito lagoon fishing report, Mosquito Lagoon redfish, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, redfish

Orlando Area Fishing Report

April 5, 2014 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Orlando Area Fishing Report

The Mitzi is still for sale!

Blog Posts This Week– Poppers for Seatrout

It’s April and I’m thinking about tarpon. Friends on the west coast have already seen some.

On Monday I went bass fishing. I threw the same bluegill popper I threw last time I went, with much the same result- three or four bluegills and about 20 bass, mostly little ones with a couple decent specimens thrown in for variety. It was a beautiful day and a very enjoyable several hours.

Tuesday was Tammy Tuesday, so let me just copy her facebook post:

“Yesterday’s original plan was to fish the lagoon. Last second change had us going offshore. My faithful companion and mentor and friend John Kumiski had some issues getting across the bridge to port because of a bad accident.
“Change of plans again. He called and we decided to fish the IRL instead. So I left the port and headed to Port Saint John and we launched. Got into some jacks and trout and talked about what a beautiful day it was. As we could see the bridge from where we launched we saw traffic moving again. Next thing I know John is motoring to the ramp. Boat back on trailer and off to the port we go.

“It was a long day of hunting for anything out there. A whole lot of nothing until a lone undersized tripletail appeared. We finally caught and released it. We looked everywhere and found nothing. Finally john decided to pull a Hail Mary and head to a spot a good bit away but likely unbothered yet for the day.

“The lone tripletail on that structure was dinner last night. Just as we were giving up and admitting to and accepting the suck, though…. Divine intervention in the form of a huge ray leaping from the water 100 yards away.
“One rod set up and one cast made. A few minutes later there was much celebration aboard the Mitzi. We looked for that ray again hoping to pull another cobia off of it but it was not to be. So glad john never gives up! Another adventure toosday with John Kumiski in the books.”

In spite of the beautiful weather, did not fish Wednesday.

Thursday Brad and Greg joined me as part of a two boat trip on Mosquito Lagoon. It was slick when we got there and although we saw a decent number of fish we could not get near them. In the third spot we tried Brad got a bluefish on a DOA CAL Shad. We then tried the DOA Deadly Combo out at the edge of the flat and got a few trout, small ones. At the last place we looked we found a school of big reds. In spite of having cut mullet in them numerous times over the next 45 minutes we did not get a bite. Stomachs growling at us, we gave up, ran up to Goodrich Seafood, and had quite the delicious lunch, after which we returned to the dock and pulled the boat.

Friday Scott and Ryan joined me for a half day on the Indian River Lagoon. Ryan got a rat red right away of the CAL Shad. Then we just spooked a bunch of fish. Ryan wanted to try fly fishing so I took them to the small trout spot and gave him a lesson. He was good enough to get two or three while Scott railed them with a barb-pinched-down DOA Shrimp.

We changed spots and saw some nice, spooky reds and trout. Ryan got a hit on the CAL Shad from a nice red but missed it. On the way back to the dock we saw birds diving. Breaking fish, how lucky was that? Ladyfish and bluefish, we got a few of each before the frenzy stopped. We were happy to have run into a bunch of fish to end our day.

And that is this week’s Orlando Area 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 2014. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: adventure fishing, Bluegill, DOA Lures, fishing story, florida fishing, fly fishing, flyfishing for bass, Indian River Lagoon, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Mosquito Lagoon, mosquito lagoon fishing report, Mosquito Lagoon redfish, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, redfish, seatrout fishing, St. Johns River

Orlando Area Fishing Report

March 10, 2014 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Orlando Area Fishing Report 31014

Upcoming Events-

-Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 15. Visit this link http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/ for more information or to register. Registration closes on Thursday 3/13.

The Mitzi is still for sale! It’s just had an annual service, and the hours were 984.

The computer tells you the number of total hours, as well as the number of hours in each RPM range.

Tuesday Tammy and I went kayak fishing in the Indian River Lagoon. I ran over a few trout, so I tried blind casting with a gurgler. There was no response from any fish. We paddled up the shoreline for a couple miles. I only saw five redfish, but got good shots at two of them and caught both, using an unweighted slider. Fish were pretty scarce though.

A nice fly-caught red!

The fly that did the deed. The eyes are plastic beads.

Wednesday I rode my bike to a small pond for some reconnoitering, carrying my waders in a daypack. The pond looked great. I put on the waders and boldly stepped into it. The bottom was goosh. I couldn’t go very far. But in the twenty minutes I fished I got three fat bluegills and hooked and lost a bass, all on a small popping bug.

I wanted to fish Thursday but the tornado warnings and small craft advisory deterred me. I should have gone.

I wanted to fish Friday bit the 20 mph winds deterred me. I’m glad I didn’t go.

Saturday I went out with Shane Shearer on the Mosquito Lagoon. We toured the south end of the lagoon looking for fish, again with a 20 mph wind out of the north. Tossing DOA CAL Shad we got a half dozen trout to about five pounds and four small reds.

Sunday Jerry Wang, a fly caster from California, joined me for a day on the Mosquito Lagoon. The weather was spectacular, the water crowded with boats. We actually saw a lot of fish in the morning, mostly reds. There were several schools of high speed fish racing around on a flat. When they behave like this these fish are almost impossible to catch. They did not disappoint. Other than that we saw a fish here, a fish there. The fish seemed to be more numerous in dirty water, where they were hard to se. Where the water was clean we hardly saw any. So, Jerry ended the day with a small trout and a small red, not an impressive day, catch-wise.

I was encouraged by the numbers of fish, though. Maybe things are finally picking up.

And that is this week’s Orlando area 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 2014. 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, kayak fishing, Mosquito Lagoon, mosquito lagoon fishing report, mosquito lagoon fishing seminar, Mosquito Lagoon redfish, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, redfish, seatrout fishing

Orlando Area Saltwater Fishing Report

February 28, 2014 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Orlando Area Saltwater Fishing Report 3114

Upcoming Events-

-Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 15. Visit this link for more information or to register…

-Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 16. Visit this link for more information or to register…

Blog Posts this Week-

–A New Mobile Marine Service for Central Florida

The Mitzi is still for sale!

The azaleas are blooming. Pines drop prodigious amounts of pollen. Soon the oranges will blossom. Spring is coming to central Florida.

This week illustrated why Orlando area saltwater fishing is so great for anglers, why this is such an awesome time of year.

On Sunday Miamian Tim Wright joined me for some shad fishing on the St. Johns River. We tossed and trolled 1/16th ounce crappie jigs. We got a dozen or so shad, and two stripers (or hybrids) too. All in all a good day.

On Monday Scott Radloff and I went out of Port Canaveral hoping to fish a cobia or tripletail. We found some flotsam and there was a tripletail under it. I tossed a shrimp and a few minutes later he was mine. Then Scott got one. Then we each got another one.

We found some floating sargassum that was devoid of fish.

We idled up to a buoy. I didn’t see anything there. Scott cast a shrimp at it. A big cobia came around from the far side of the buoy and inhaled the shrimp, not ten feet from the boat. A melee ensued. It was near ending when I netted the fish, except I couldn’t lift it over the gunwale of the Mitzi. Scott helped and the beast came aboard. It flopped around a bit, but did not beat things up the way it would had I gaffed it. All in all a really good day.

Tuesday morning I met the Tamazon. She put a bag over my head and spun me around until I puked. I had to swear in blood on a Bible on my mother’s grave to never reveal where she was taking me.

When she took the bag off my head I was sitting in a kayak, on a flat, with a flyrod in my hand. There was nothing there in the way of fish.

Then Tammy took me through a portal into another dimension. In this dimension there were tarpon rolling like crazy. I thought maybe she’d brought me to Hell for a while, since every strike led to a miss. No, it was just incompetence, because I finally caught one, on a small gurgler. Then she hooked and broke one off. Then she got one. Then I got another one. Then she got another one. Of course in between there were lots more misses and jumped-off fish. And then, in the manner of tarpon everywhere, they shut down. But it had been an amazing hour.

When we re-entered this dimension we did some blind casting on the flat. She got two redfish. I got one. They were all small. Then two pinfish attacked my flies, hitting so hard they almost ripped the rod out of my hand. OK, that may be a fish tale. But I did get two pins on fly.

Then she put the bag back over my head and brought me back to our meeting spot.

Wednesday morning Scott Radloff and I went to the Indian River Lagoon for some scouting, hoping to find some redfish and/or trout. The loss of grass is continuing. I sure hope there’s not another algae bloom this summer. I’m not optimistic, since none of the causes have ben corrected.

We looked in several areas without seeing much. At the last spot there were actually some redfish tailing. We crossed a white hole out of which we spooked at least a dozen nice trout. I wonder if we would have spotted them had the sun been out. At any rate Scott got a red on a jerk bait, thus keeping the skunk of the Mitzi and the week’s streak alive.

When I got home I fired up the smoker and smoked a bunch of thick cobia chunks. Yum Mee!

Thursday found me at the fly tying desk, cranking them out.

Friday fly fisher Domenic Catanese and his friend Tai joined me for a day on the Mosquito Lagoon. The day started cold and windy. It would stay cold and only got more windy, although the water temperature rose almost three degrees through the day. There were quite a few fish at the first place we looked. They got out of Dodge as soon as they realized we were there.

For the rest of the day we would see a fish here and three there, but never in time to make a decent presentation. We did not get a bite, or even get close to a bite. We did see two boats hooked up in the Haulover Canal on the way in. One guy pulled in a big black drum. That was our fishy entertainment for the day.

And that is this week’s 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 2014. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: adventure fishing, florida fishing, Indian River Lagoon, Mosquito Lagoon, mosquito lagoon fishing report, mosquito lagoon fishing seminar, Mosquito Lagoon redfish, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, Port Canaveral, port canaveral cobia, port canaveral tripletail, redfish, St. Johns River fishing

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