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Another East Central Florida Fishing Report

August 29, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Another East Central Florida Fishing Report

Thank you for reading another east central Florida Fishing Report. Kind of fished around this week, and none too seriously at that.

Monday– in spite of 20 mph winds and 60 percent rain chance I went kayaking on Mosquito Lagoon. I saw exactly one redfish while wading, put the slider three feet in front of it. The fish crushed the fly and I got it. Unbelievable, with the dirty water and in that weather.

Tuesday– stayed home, tied some flies and listened to Count Basie, Stan Kenton, Mose Allison, and Jethro Tull. Good times.

I made a flock of faux fishies.

Wednesday– beach day with Susan. Brought a cheap rod and reel I found along the Econ, a sand spike, and some shrimp. When the wind is from the southeast you get the Miami mud and terrible fishing. My first bite didn’t take long, and it was memorable- with a double hook rig, two (at once!) hardhead cats. After releasing the sixth one I gave up. I just sat and watched the waves and the birds. Nice morning!

License tag of a car parked at the beach. But the Red Sox are terrible this year.

Thursday– Susan wanted to go for a boat ride, so we hooked the Mitzi up to the car and went to Mosquito Lagoon. Figured I may as well look for fish at the same time. HA! The joke was on me.

Susan takes her boat rides seriously.

The Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon are both in full algae bloom mode. The water is brown, opaque, disgusting, heart-breaking. We rode around for two hours. The best water I saw was green instead of brown. You certainly get a different perspective in the skiff versus the kayak. Every time the algae blooms (every summer for the past six or seven years) I wonder if the water will ever clear up again. One of these times it won’t, I fear.

Friday– joined Walt Sheppard for a Spruce Creek kayak trip. Armed with a six-weight, I sallied forth to do battle with whatever Leviathan I could find.

I missed my first four bites. Guess I wasn’t ready. The third, fourth, and fifth bites were a baby tarpon. The hook stuck in number five. I was able to leader the little guy before he hopped off. Fly was a small bucktail streamer.

John with a baby tarpon. File photo by Tammy Wilson.

I did not get another bite, but did have to drag my boat a ways. I followed a six-inch long mantis shrimp, which I apparently spooked, about 20 feet. Those things look like they would be mighty tasty. Very graceful, beautiful creatures they are.

A Poem

We, this people, on this small and drifting planet
Whose hands can strike with such abandon
That in a twinkling, life is sapped from the living
Yet those same hands can touch with such healing, irresistible tenderness
That the haughty neck is happy to bow
And the proud back is glad to bend
Out of such chaos, of such contradiction
We learn that we are neither devils nor divines
– Maya Angelou

Life is great and I love my apparent retirement!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

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

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East Central Florida Fishing and more Report

August 22, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

East Central Florida Fishing and more Report

Thank you for reading this east central Florida Fishing and more Report. Only fished two days this week. 🙁

The More (most of it)
September is nine days away. The year is flying by!

There are two tropical storms churning out there. Both are supposed to hit the same spot on the Gulf coast. Someone’s gonna need some prayers and financial assistance….

Government Newspeak- announce a new initiative with no funding or personnel. Brilliant! https://www.floridaphoenix.com/2020/08/20/musings-on-florida-and-the-politics-of-pythons/

Cheryl Kumiski, the official sister of the Spotted Tail, is an artist working in glass. You can see her work, and maybe purchase some of it (unique and thoughtful gifts) at this link- https://www.etsy.com/shop/cherylkumiskiglass

Lion Cub in glass, by Cheryl Kumiski

The FISHING!
Monday Walt Sheppard joined me again for some action out of Port Canaveral. My goal was to get him some tunny on fly. We found the bluefish and Spanish mackerel first, then went looking for tunny.

At first they were no-shows. I kept looking, and they started showing. Walt got his first on a sting silver. The tip-top fell off his spin rod though, and rather than use mine he picked up his fly pole. Perfect!

It took us a few opportunities but we finally got close to a group of fish that kept breaking. Walt laid the fly into them and BAM!

 

Walt got this tunny with a glass minnow fly.

The process repeated itself a few minutes later.

Then Walt said to me, “You should get one.” So I did. By now the fish were going off pretty good, but it was noon, and it was hot. Walt said, “I’ve had enough,” so we loaded the boat and headed home.

Thanks for a great morning, Walt!

Tuesday‘s visit with the pulmonologist was less fun than Monday was.

Wednesday Susan and I went to the beach up at New Smyrna. The surf fishermen were catching a few whiting. The surfers were loving life.

Thursday I went kayak fly fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. The water was as high as I’ve seen it this year, 1.4 feet on the Haulover Canal gauge https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?02248380. It’s real dirty, too. It took a couple hours but I found a shallow area where I could kind of see the bottom. There were a few redfish there and I used a slider to catch a couple. It was more fun than the pulmonologist visit.

I (and the rest of humanity) will be happy and relieved when the pandemic is over.

Life is great and I love my apparent retirement!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

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

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, port canaveral fishing report · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Port Canaveral and More Fishing Report

August 15, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Port Canaveral and More Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Port Canaveral and more Fishing Report.

Sunday morning, sick of being house-bound, I had Susan drop me off at the 419 bridge over the Econ. No fish were harmed in the making of this trip. It was a speed test. I left the bridge at 9 am, reaching Snow Hill Road at 1140. Pretty zippy! Saw only seven alligators!

Love, love, love to see this!

Monday– Susan joined me for a Port Canaveral scout. She has to limit her sun exposure, so it was to be a short trip. Launched the boat at 9, ran up the beach. Found a large school of breaking mackerel and caught a few, then continued on. Found a spot with some bluefish. Headed out to sea. Lots of tunny! Got one on a jig, then headed back to the port. Done at noon.

First tunny of the season for me. Here’s to many more!

Tuesday– family beach trip to Bethune Beach. There were balls of glass minnows along the beach. I did not see any tarpon, but something (I suspect ladyfish) was wearing those poor minnows out. Saw larger fish breaking sporadically farther out. I’ll be happy when Canaveral National Seashore starts opening early in the morning again.

Wednesday– Walt Shepperd joined me for a Port Canaveral trip. Boat left the dock at 730. Found a small school of breaking mackerel, caught a few. I tossed a Sting Silver , Walt a No-Eql . The macs were relatively small ones. They were scattered all along the beach. The bluefish were still at the bluefish spot.

Walt battles the wicked tunny.

We went out looking for tunny. We only found a few at first, but they got really thick, just awesome. I love watching them blitz! The Sting Silver worked best, although I did get one on a streamer.

It was a beautiful fish!

We caught 30 or 40 fish, a great morning all-in-all. Thanks for joining me, Walt!

Thursday– had errands to do, and then had the great pleasure (!) of pressure washing my driveway.

Not my photo, but this is ceviche.

Friday– I wanted to make ceviche  and needed a fish, so I boldly took the kayak to Mosquito Lagoon looking for a slot redfish. I found one, 23 inches, that took my slider. The filets are in my refrigerator as I write this (it’s the first redfish I’ve killed in four or five years), and the ceviche will be eaten for supper tonight. Bon appetit!

Time for Some Simple Frugality??
Two centuries of industrialization, population growth, and frenzied economic activity has bequeathed us smog; polluted lakes, rivers and oceans; toxic waste; soil erosion; deforestation; extinction of plant and animal species, and global warming. The philosophy of frugal simplicity expresses values and advocates a lifestyle that might be our best hope for reversing these trends and preserving our planet’s fragile ecosystems.

Think about it.

Thanks for reading this Port Canaveral and more fishing report!

Life is great and I love my apparent retirement!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

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

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, port canaveral fishing report · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

A Short Lagoons Fishing Report

August 8, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

A Short Lagoons Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Short Lagoons Fishing Report. No slam this week! Only fished two days.

Bake with a Mosquito Lagoon redfish, circa 1990.

Steve Baker RIP. I learned Sunday that my old friend and mentor Steve Baker passed away last week. Read my eulogy here…

Tuesday– launched the kayak on the Indian River Lagoon, before sunrise, visions of snook on fly dancing in my head. The snook had other plans. I don’t know what those plans were, but they didn’t include getting caught by me. Got one redfish on a RipTide shad. Stuffed, baked, and served on a plate it would have made a lovely hors d’ouvre. Did find the baby tarpon rolling, convinced one to take a fly. Said fly pulled out just as the leader hit the rod. Other than the stars and birds, that was my morning. It was quite a pleasant morning to be paddling!

Not a 50 pounder from the NMZ, but a black drum on fly.

Friday– went to Mosquito Lagoon with kayak. Did not bring the spin rod. Spectacular day, if a little warm. Found a few fish, even through the murk. Convinced a few to take my flies.

The redfish worm strikes again!

Time flies so fast once youth is past that we cannot accomplish one half the many things we have in mind or indeed one half our duties. The only safe and sensible plan is to make other things give way to the essentials, and the first of these is fly fishing. – Theodore Gordon

Life is great and I love my apparent retirement!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

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

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Central Florida Kayak Fishing Report- The Week of the Super Grand Slam!

August 1, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Central Florida Kayak Fishing Report- The Week of the Super Grand Slam!

Thank you for reading this Central Florida Kayak Fishing Report. This was the week of the super grand slam! A proper slam happens in a day. This one took me all week to get, but ya take what ya get these days.

Blog Posts This Week– Leave It As It Is- A Book Review 

Other Bits of Life– Peter Green, one of the founding members of Fleetwood Mac and a hero of my youth, passed away this week. I had the pleasure of seeing him, and them, in concert back in 1970 at the Boston Tea Party. I’ve been to a lot of concerts- that one remains one of the most memorable.

Weather Forecast from Hell-

Northeast winds 55 to 65 knots with gusts to around 80 knots. Seas 
27 to 30 feet with a dominant period 11 seconds. Extremely rough on the 
intracoastal waters. Periods of showers.

Coming at us on Sunday.

FISHING!

Monday– launched the kayak on Spruce Creek, illegally, since it was before sunrise and I had no light*. Got a ticket from the marine patrol there, a long time ago, for the same reason. But, I digress.

Before the sun hit the horizon, I found a redfish cruising the bank. Dropped the bunny leech in front of him. He acted the way they are supposed to, and I had a redfish release before sunrise.

Spruce Creek red, on a black bunny leech. Welcome to a new day!

Back in the day, at that time in the morning you’d see jacks crushing mullet, hear snook popping, etc. None of that this morning, very placid. Sad.

Found some baby tarpon rolling a while later. Jumped two, one on the leech and one on a small gray shrimp pattern. Them little boogers is hard to hook!

Found another shoreline red. Thought I had it, but the fish spooked off the fly. It didn’t have a weedguard (it was the one I had tossed it at the tarpon) and it hooked on a shell. That was my morning, and a lovely one it was.

Didn’t fish Tuesday or Wednesday, but I did watch The Kids Are Alright, a documentary about The Who. When they played Young Man Blues it gave me shivers, just freaking awesome. They don’t make them like that any more.

Thursday– Got up too early (really- the days are getting shorter and I’m still on the June program) but got to see Orion above the eastern horizon as I drove to the Indian River. Dropped the kayak in illegally again (no light) and paddled to where I hoped the fish would be.

The best one- of course I didn’t notice the lens was foggy…

In a clear example of “that’s fishing,” I did not get a bite for an hour and a half, then I hooked four snook on four casts, catching three of them. The fourth sawed through my leader (#25 fluoro). The bait was a RipTide Sardine. One of the caught ones was a real one, five or six pounds, my nicest one this year. The one that got away was WAY bigger, of course. 🙂

This was a decent one, too.

A while later I got another snook, a dinker. Then I found some dinker tarpon rolling. One took a black and white streamer and I actually used a dehooker to release it. I did not photograph it, but it was important to the slam. Then I paddled back to the car.

Friday– Got up at 6 am, was on the road to Mosquito Lagoon at 0645. Got caught in some wreck traffic, so I didn’t launch the kayak until 0800.

The water is so green. The first redfish I saw was not social distance away. I did not get a shot. And something I was reminded of this day was, it’s hard to drop a fly exactly where you want it to land when the fish is eight or ten feet away. The next several fish I saw, I could have speared more easily than tossed a fly to them. They were that hard to see.

The fly was deep enough I just cut it off and let the fish have it.

In spite of the murk I had three great shots- did not get a bite. Then I had an impossible one, leader in the rod, and hooked and caught the fish, a really nice red, eight pounds or so.

Black drum, not as pretty as brook trout. I still love them.

I ended up hooking four redfish and catching two, two black drum and catching one, and the last fish, just to put the exclamation point on the slam, was my best trout this year. I think the fish knew there’s a storm coming. They were just stupid, and more active than I’ve seen them in a long time. GLAD I WENT!!!

An EP-style streamer, blind-casting!!!

*If memory serves, the regulation is, any vessel less than seven meters doing less than seven knots needs a single white light, visible from 360 degrees, at the distance of a mile, when operating between sunset and sunrise.

And that’s my central Florida kayak fishing report for this week. Thanks for reading it!

I think I fish, in part, because it’s an anti-social, bohemian business that, when gone about properly, puts you forever outside the mainstream culture without actually landing you in an institution. – John Gierach

Life is great and I love my work!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

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

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Not Much Fishing Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

July 25, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Not Much Fishing Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Not Much Fishing Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report. Only fished a single day this week.

Request for Photos– I’m considering putting a book together on the history of fishing in central Florida. For this project I need at least 200 B&W images, scanned to at least 300 dpi. If you have some you’d like to share, or know where I can get some, I would love to hear from you! Thank you for your consideration.

Monday– launched the kayak in Mosquito Lagoon, armed with a six-weight. An unweighted black bunny leech festooned my leader. Water was high and green, very hard to see the bottom.

Didn’t see much for a while. Heard the ballsy splash that you know was not a mullet and went to investigate. Saw the tiniest wake and dropped the fly in front of it. BAM! The violence of the strike surprised me. The fish went into the backing but I was able to subdue it and get a (crappy) photo before releasing it. NICE!!!

the black bunny leech

A while later saw what I at first thought was the back of a fish sticking out of the water. As I approached, doubt commenced. Fish don’t usually lie still that long, especially in such shallow water. It still looked like a fish back…

I made the cast, almost hit the thing. It exploded on the fly, so surprising me I failed to get a good hookset. The fly came free a moment later. Laughed at myself for that.

Had one more shot at a tailer that never saw the fly. That was it for five hours work. Would do it again!

Tuesday– not having forgotten the tarpon along the beach last week, I went to Playalinda armed with a heavy spin rod and some soft plastic baits. When I got to the top of the boardwalk and saw the water I turned around and put the tackle away. The wind was out of the southeast (it stayed that way all week), the water was very choppy and dirty. I had a nice long walk on the beach, though.

Wednesday- Susan and I went to Bethune Beach. The tackle was still in the car. It stayed there. Saw two guys trying to fish. Both quit quickly. The current along the beach was probably five or six knots, running north, tough conditions for bait guys. When we left we went to Goodrich Seafood. Oyster po’boy, yum-mee!

Wife at the beach…

Friday– repaired three fishing rods including an old favorite fly rod. Talked to the editor about the above-mentioned book. Then launched the kayak on the Econ at SR 419 at noon. No fishing tackle was harmed in the making of this kayak trip.

The river is running a little over 5.5 feet- great for paddling, terrible for fishing. I did see gar and Plecostamus. And some dinosaur sized alligators. You know they’re big when you paddle by and they don’t even flinch. The smaller ones always jump off the bank.

 

Birds were not much in evidence, but the cicadas were. Other than that I had the river to myself, reaching Snow Hill Road by 4 PM. Enjoyed the trip immensely.

And that was my week mostly not fishing.

The footbridge over the River Econ.

It is good even to be a fisherman in summer and in winter. – Henry David Thoreau

Life is great and I love my apparent retirement!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

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

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , ,

Short Titusville Fishing Report

July 11, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Short Titusville Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this short Titusville Fishing Report. Still not a great deal to report, unfortunately. Lots of rain and lightning this week!

Took a short stroll down memory lane this week. Jeff Weakley sent me a Florida Sportsman, November 1987. In that issue was the first article I ever had published.

John Kumiski, back in the ’80s. Love the Medalist!

I keep a basket of magazines in the bathroom because the laptop is not very convenient. Picked out an old Tide magazine, November-December 1997. Son Maxx was the cover boy.

Scott Hoffmeister watches Maxx wrestle with a tunny.

Monday- Launched the kayak in the Mosquito Lagoon armed with a six-weight. Went looking for redfish. The water was high and dirty and such fish as there were, were hard to see. I had one primo shot at a fish cruising along the shoreline and did not make the cast. Poocher!

Wednesday- Launched the kayak in the Indian River Lagoon armed with a six-weight and a spin rod. Found a few baby tarpon rolling. Tossed the chartreuse sparkle three-inch shad a few times and jumped one maybe seven, eight pounds. Got it close before it threw the hook.

Tried the fly rod with a black bunny leech. Threw it a few times and hooked another maybe five pounds.

I turned around and there was a squall line about a mile away, coming fast. I raced it back to my car, not coming close to beating it. No lightning, though.

As another bit of life, spent quite a bit of time watching concerts on youtube this week- Howling Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Memphis Slim, Muddy Waters, Nina Simone, Little Milton, BB King, Savoy Brown, Robin Trower, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, Dizzy Gillespie, Arturo Sandoval- probably made my tinnitus 10 percent worse. It was all great. The heck with the tinnitus!

I’d wreck my ears for this all day long.

“The solution to any problem- work, love, money, whatever- is to go fishing, and the worse the problem, the longer the trip should be.” – John Gierach

Life is great and I love my work!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

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

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report · Tagged: , , ,

Independence Day Central Florida Fishing Report

July 5, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Independence Day Central Florida Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this independence day central Florida Fishing Report. Not a great deal to report, unfortunately. The weather this week was great, all week. And safely enjoy your holiday!

Monday– Launched the Mitzi at the north causeway ramp (New Smyrna Beach) at sunrise. Idled to the coast guard station, then ran out of Ponce Inlet. Hadn’t been there in a long time.

There was a shrimp boat out about a mile. I went out to check. Lots of rolling dolphins, lots of pelicans sitting on the rigging. Saw no fish, got no bites.

The plan was to run south down the beach. I want tarpon, they’ve been my primary target through all my searching.

I ran down past the Canaveral Seashore entrance, saw nothing the entire way. No bait, either.

Ran back to the inlet. Now there were two shrimpers out there. Went and checked again. They were shoveling bycatch overboard. The pelicans were going crazy. There were no fish. I’ve been behind shrimpers when shoveling happened and fish were there- it doesn’t take much smarts to figure THAT out. The water churns!

Ran north to Daytona Beach Pier. Water was beautiful. Still no bait, no fish. Went back to the ramp and loaded the boat.

Tuesday– Walt Sheppard joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. At one spot the air was sweet with the scent of mangrove blossoms. You could hear the buzzing of working bees. There weren’t many fish around though. Walt got a couple small trout, I got a couple small reds, all on DOA Shrimp. Thank you, Walt!

Wednesday– Susan and I went to the beach! Smyrna Dunes Park, great place. No fishing, but I watched the fishermen. Did not see anyone catch a fish, nor did I see any fish or bait.

Got to watch the sun rise on Friday.

Friday– still looking for tarpon, I went to the north Mosquito Lagoon. I actually found a few rolling. You could only see them when they rolled. I blind-cast with the ten-weight for about three hours without a sniff. Another guy had a bait out on one rod and cast a fly with the other. No bites. Two guys came floating by, fishing the minnow trifecta- mullet, croakers, and pinfish. They said they got 20 pounds of sailcat but had not touched a tarpon. When the jet skiers and water skiers started up I packed it in.

In the past three weeks I have looked for tarpon in the Banana River Lagoon, the Indian River Lagoon, the Mosquito Lagoon, and along the beach from Satellite Beach to the Daytona Beach Pier, less Canaveral National Seashore. I have had one decent shot. There does not seem to be many Megalops around central Florida at this time.

Life is great and I love my work!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

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

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: , ,

Silver King Search Central Florida Fishing Report

June 27, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Silver King Search Central Florida Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Silver King Search Central Florida Fishing Report. A belated happy father’s day to all you dads. Last week I was so excited about the solstice I completely overlooked it!

Recently I stated I have not been in Florida at this time of year for over a decade. My goal this week, and perhaps next, is to survey the kingdom and see what I have available to me, fishing-wise. If this week is any indication, what’s available is, not much.

I put some hours on the Yamaha this week.

Monday– Launched the Mitzi at the Port at sunrise. During the drive over in the dark I got to watch a thunderhead doing its best 4th of July celebration, even though it was a bit early. It just kept going off! Fortunately for me, it was well offshore.

The plan was to run south down the beach. I want tarpon, they’ve been my primary target through all my searching. I ran into Scott Lum at the ramp. He told me his buddy found some tarpon in the bight the previous day. My plan changed immediately.

I ran to the Cape, saw nothing. So Plan A was resurrected. I ran from the cape to Patrick AFB, stopping along the way to net some pogies.

Turned out I did not need any bait. I saw nothing the entire way.

Halfway down Patrick I took a left and went east for a couple miles, then headed north. Maybe there were some fishies out deeper! Saw nothing until I got near the Disney cruise ship, where a small school of tunny was busting. I hooked two on a jig and lost them both.

By now the wind had laid down. I went back to the cape hoping the tarpon would be there. Nope! I looked for them the whole way back to the port, saw nothing, not even jacks. Tossed all the pogies back in the ocean, loaded the boat onto the trailer.

Tuesday– Launched the Mitzi at Beacon 42 shortly after sunrise. Looked for fish on the outside of the spoil islands (wind was west) while blindcasting, up to marker 25. Got a few small trout, very slow going. Went and looked along Tiger Shoal. Historically big trout were there this time of year, feeding on mullet and laying eggs. The mullet were there. The trout were not.

It looks like algae is starting to bloom. I hope I’m wrong.

One of two reds I saw.

Worked some of my favorite east side spots. Saw two reds working the shoreline. I got the first on a DOA Shrimp. My cast to the second was too good. You know that kind of cast, the one that screams “death from above” to the fish?

So for the day I got one red and maybe eight small trout.

Wednesday– launched the Mitzi at sunrise at Port St. John. Went looking for tarpon without success. Loaded the boat and trailered it to Marina Park. Looked along the shoreline, saw a few trout and black drum. No one would bite.

Ran from the railroad trestle up to Scottsmoor, across to the bombing target, and south to the ICW. I moved exactly one fish. Water on the west side looked terrible. It was fairly clear on the east side but still devoid of life, although I did not check the shoreline. I do not need to go up there again for a while.

Thursday John Berry joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. Tossing DOA Shrimp exclusively, we got five species of fish between us- trout, snook, and one each of flounder, snapper, and ladyfish. All of the fish were on the small side, but the bite was pretty steady. We were done at noon.

Friday, still looking for tarpon, I went to the Port again. I had a hot tip the fish were “way down south.” I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I hoped to find out.

You could tell that dust cloud is here. The sun rose through a veil.

The dust caused serious haze.

The sea was glassy. You could see a tarpon roll a quarter mile off. I went to Satellite Beach and saw exactly one. I’m starting to think way down south means Sebastian Inlet. The Mitzi has a six gallon fuel tank and I carry an extra two. Sebastian is a little out of range.

I turned around at Satellite Beach and looked farther out. Scattered tunny were busting, nothing readily targetable. I love tunny, but they certainly aren’t tarpon.

I spent an hour off the cape. A few fish were rolling there, but again, nothing you could really target. Tossing a pogy out and hoping for the best got me two sharks. I told Susan I’d be home around 1 PM, so quitting time came around noon.

If anyone knows where I could find some tarpon, in the lagoons, or out of the Port or Ponce Inlet, I would love to hear about it.

Life is great and I love my work!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

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

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, port canaveral fishing report · Tagged: , , , , , ,

Summer Solstice Central Florida Fishing Report

June 20, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Summer Solstice Central Florida Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this summer solstice central Florida Fishing Report. Saturday is the solstice! I will celebrate by using a lawnmower.

Sunday evening Susan and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary at Bonefish Grill. Sister Cheryl tagged along, perhaps as a chaperone? We sat outside, of course. A thunderstorm came through, booming and spitting at us. It made for quite a memorable meal, our only restaurant visit since the COVID incident started. We are still on self-quarantine.

Monday was the actual anniversary. I had installed a new livewell pump in the Mitzi, and took it out on the St. Johns to check for leaks. It’s all good!

The old livewell intake tube could not pick up water while the boat was running. On this installation I added an EZ Pump to the transom. This device forces water into the intake tube while the boat is running. It works great, I am so happy I did this! I’m not big on using bait, but when I have it I want it to stay alive.

The EZ Pump scoops water into the live well water pickup when the boat is on plane.

After dinner I loaded three kayaks onto the roof of the chariot. We drove to Haulover Canal and launched them as darkness fell. The bioluminescence is heavy now. Every paddle stroke makes the water glow electric blue, as do all the mullet and other sea creatures. The Big Dipper was nearly straight overhead, pointing at Polaris, Leo, and Arcturus. We watched Scorpius rise, and saw several satellites and meteors. It was a fantastic way to finish off anniversary day!

Wednesday looked like I could cruise the deep blue. I launched at the Port, clearing the jetties as the sun cleared the horizon. Tarpon were the goal.

I found a few rolling near the cape. Blind-casting a black and purple streamer in the vicinity, I had a bump. Not a take, but a large fish rolled behind the fly. Had it eaten, the 10-weight would have been inadequate. That was it in two hours. I pulled the boat, trailered to Haulover Canal.

The water at the south end of the lagoon is fairly clear. There is no grass. I visited all my old best spots down there. Between 10 and 2, I saw one trout, one redfish, one bonnethead, maybe a dozen black drum, and caught three trout on a plastic minnow, two of which were slot fish. There were decent numbers of finger mullet. Don’t need to go back for a while!

Thursday Susan and I paddled around on Lake Mills for a short time. Water looks nice! Didn’t see much in the way of fish. Lots of ski boats and jet skis moored around the margins of the lake.

Friday I was going to go out. Cancelled because of a forecast. Bad move! Ended up working on the hurricane panels, a tougher job than anticipated.

I think there is a connection between thinking and fishing, mostly because you spend a lot of your time up to your waist in water without a whole lot to keep your mind busy. – Anthony Doerr

Life is great and I love my work!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

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

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, port canaveral fishing report · Tagged: , , ,
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