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Father’s Day Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

June 16, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Father’s Day Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Father’s Day Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report! And to all you dads, Happy Father’s Day! I just spent my morning cutting grass.

FISHING

Tuesday
The skiff was not available while the trailer was being repaired. So early Tuesday morning I met Bob Reed at Snow Hill road for some Econlockhatchee fly fishing.

It’s been raining a lot. The river was blown out. So we just went home.

Once home I checked the gauge – it was over 5 and still rising. The river won’t fish for a while.

Friday
Ed Wasicki joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon scouting. We did not stay anywhere long. There were several places to check before the storms started. But I got a slot red, and Ed lost one. Ed also got a couple nice trout, one well over 20 inches. And there were a few dinker trout too. We were off the water a little after noon. The skies opened up shortly afterwards.

Saturday
Sebastian Fasanello, a fly fisher from Buffalo, joined me on Mosquito Lagoon. We went to a spot, fished tailing redfish all morning (!), and then left at 11 AM.

Hadn’t seen this in quite a while!

Sebastian boated three slot fish and missed a couple strikes. The fly of choice was a black and purple streamer. It was a pretty awesome morning!

Sebastian was happy with his redfish!

I have a lot of non-fishing things to do this week. There may not be a report next week.

That’s this week’s Father’s Day Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2019. All rights are reserved.

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

Mixed Bag Central Florida Saltwater Fishing Report

June 9, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Mixed Bag Central Florida Saltwater Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Mixed Bag Central Florida Saltwater Fishing Report!

Thanks to all of you who bought books. Shipping all those books reminded me of the good old days!

FISHING

Tuesday
Tammy and I took the Mitzi out of Port Canaveral. The ocean looked like a pond. I tossed the net a few times north of the jetty, and was finally rewarded with a couple dozen pound-and-a-half menhaden. Truly, I’ve caught much smaller fish while using hook and line. But we had some bait.

As we cruised along the beach looking, there were scattered outbreaks of Spanish mackerel and little tunny. I got a nice mack on a Sting Silver.

Finally we saw what we were looking for- rolling tarpon! I shut the boat down and dropped the trolling motor. For a couple hours it looked like Sea World- strings of tarpon cruising just under the surface, monster jacks running by, five foot sharks making their presence felt, even a few king mackerel attacking the baits. There were loggerheads copulating all around us. We had several tarpon bites and Tammy put a big one in the air a few times.

copulating sea turtles

Turtles were copulating all around us.

The bite slowed down and we made the mistake of thinking we could find more fish by searching again. We were wrong.

copulating sea turtles

More copulating turtles!

We returned to the hot spot to find only an occasional roller. But there were thousands of five pound jacks, many with fins in the air. A fly rod appeared, and several fish cooperated by crushing a Krebs popper.

Tammy lays the cast out.

 

A fish cooperated.

 

Mission accomplished!

All-in-all it was an awesome day, as fishing with Tammy usually is.

Thursday
Scott Radloff and I took the Mitzi back out of Port Canaveral. The ocean did not look like a pond. It was choppy and sloppy. I could not catch any bait.

I used the tried-and-true tactic of returning to the place where the fish were last time I was out. The fish did not use that same tactic, however. NO one was home.

We ended up off the tip of the cape. Northern sennett were thick and aggressive. Bluefish and blue runners were there. We got a few small jacks and ladyfish. We saw a few tarpon roll. So we caught a lot of fish, but they were all small ones.

Friday
Nils Johnson and Allen Dronko joined me at Port Canaveral for some ocean fishing. We cleared the jetties. It was choppy and sloppy. There were three of us the skiff instead of only two. So I turned around, loaded the boat, and went to Mosquito Lagoon. The trout bite had been good. It seemed like a solid plan.

The trout had left the building.

We worked it hard all day for exactly two slot trout, basically touring most of my trout spots in the process. It was a tough, frustrating day. But thank you for fishing with me, gentlemen!

As I left Haulover I realized that I had blown a wheel bearing on my trailer. Jim Savage used to tell me, “Trailering is the weak link in boating.” I had been meaning to do bearing maintenance, had procrastinated, and now probably have to replace the axle. Argh!

That’s this week’s Mixed Bag Central Florida Saltwater Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2019. All rights are reserved.

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

A Short Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

May 19, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

A Short Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Only got out one day this week, on Mosquito Lagoon with Tammy. Thank you for reading this short Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report!

FANTASTIC OFFER
We are still running the book offer- three of my book titles are now available for five cents each, only from my website. Thanks to all of you who have already taken advantage!
–Flyrodding Florida Salt
–How and Where to Catch Redfish in the Indian River Lagoon System
–Fishing Florida’s Space Coast
Shipping is still $5.95 each. The mailers cost money, the post office wants a cut, and the mail boy has to bring the package to the post office. But you can have each of these titles delivered to your door for six bucks until June 15. Act now!

TUESday
Launched the Mitzi at Beacon 42 around 8 am, so we missed whatever early morning bite there might have been. Worked the outside of the clinkers for an hour, to the tune of two trout. It was overcast, water was not clean, and there was significant wind. Impossible to see anything.

Floated across the flat inside of Tiger Shoal to the running lane. Tammy got a single redfish blind casting.

orlando fishing charter

Worked a couple lee shorelines in the pole-troll zone- nothing.

By this time the wind had changed direction, to NE, and increased in intensity. We ran back over to the clinkers and worked the inside. I got a dink red.

Ceiling was getting lower and rain was in the picture, so we headed back to the ramp, trailering the boat about 2 pm. Two other guys came in, said they hooked and lost a “big” snook, and caught about 30 trout. They were not where we were. As soon as we drove away the skies opened up.

Got the following report by email from Robert Knowles-
“My first time ever in the lagoon. Took kayak out of WSEG and headed North. Fished all the islands up to about a mile I guess. Started top water with no hits at all. Went to a jerk bait had a couple small hits. Hooked a nice trout on shad tail but being new to kayak fishing out there, it got off. I am able to stand in my kayak and did see a couple reds. At about 11am while fishing a jerk bait on a jig head I caught and released a slot red on the point of one of those islands. It was a blind cast. I am still learning the area (your class was extremely helpful in this).”

Thank you for the report, Robert!

That’s this week’s short Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2019. All rights are reserved.

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

Tax Day Central FLorida Fishing Report

April 14, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Tax Day Central FLorida Fishing Report

Happy Tax Day to everyone, especially the CPAs. Thank you for reading this Tax Day Central FLorida fishing report.

Cartoon of the Week-

 

FISHING!

MONday Tired of not getting bites, decided to try something different. Loaded the bicycle and a spin rod into the car. Drove to a park. Unloaded the bicycle and fishing rod, wired the rod to the bike. Put hooks and purple plastic worms into my pocket and rode into the woods to a spot I’d been to only once before. Did not carry a camera.

Found the stream, surrounded by second growth cypress. The woods glowed a lovely spring green. Was not encouraged by the appearance of the stream- small, shallow, overgrown, hardly any current. Tossed a worm into a little hole. BAM! Two pound bass.

Under the trees the woods were dark, and other than the songs of birds, quiet. The air smelled sweetly. Lizard’s tail (https://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/saururus-cernuus/) was blooming. I found some old footprints but did not see anyone else. Only three pieces of trash were noted.

Lizard’s Tail, Saururus cernuus

The bass attacked that worm like they were starving. At one spot got three two-pounders on three casts without moving my feet. Don’t recall that ever happening anywhere with bass. I didn’t get any bigger than about two and a half pounds, but didn’t get any smaller than one pound. Got 25 or 30, enough to wear most of the skin off my left thumb. The fish were beautiful, healthy, fat. Almost black they were so dark. Even got a mudfish, a personal favorite. In a way the tiny creek reminded me of brook trout fishing in my youth.

Had a pair of otters swim almost right up to me. We observed each other for a couple minutes. I asked them how they were doing. They responded by swimming around and away. They looked like they were enjoying themselves too.

To illustrate just how good it was, after I loaded up the car and started driving home, it started to rain. Perfect timing, too! God smiled on me on Monday.

Would love to go back. Tiny spots like that are delicate, though. It will be quite a while before I return.

Thursday loaded up the expedition kayak (Prowler 15) and went to Spruce Creek, which is not much of an expedition. The boat handled beautifully. Fishing was slow. Got a decent trout (18”?), a smallish crevalle, and a flounder. Hooked and lost a beefier jack. That was it. Didn’t see much other than fishermen. Quite a few of those.

Friday Tom Van Horn joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon flats fishing. The wind was stiff from the south. We could not find any clean water, saw exactly two redfish. Did not get a shot, did not hit a fish blind casting the plastic shad. A juvenile blue crab pinched my line and was brought into the boat, our only animate catch. Does that chase the skunk away??

That’s this week’s Tax Day Central FLorida Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2019. All rights are reserved.

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

Meh Central Florida Fishing Report

March 30, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Meh Central Florida Fishing Report and Herbicide Rant

Thank you for reading this meh central Florida fishing report and herbicide rant.

A Deal For You-
Three of my book titles are now available for five cents each, only from my website.
-Flyrodding Florida Salt
-How and Where to Catch Redfish in the Indian River Lagoon System
-Fishing Florida’s Space Coast
Shipping is still $5.95 each. The mailers cost money, the post office wants a cut, and the mail boy has to bring the package to the post office. But you can have each of these titles delivered to your door for six bucks until June 15. Act now!

T-Shirt of the Week-

 

FISHING!

Monday morning I had an appointment, so the start was quite late. The decision was to go somewhere “new,” to me at least. The destination was Fox Lake, in Titusville, the boat, the Bang-O-Craft.

The initial response was favorable. Quiet pond in a big park, lots of water lilies, nice ramp and dock, lovely. Fox Lake has a canal connecting it to South Lake. South Lake looked awesome, lots of vegetation, grackles working the lily pads. Lots of bullfrogs croaking, a sound associated with good bass fishing. I started casting a fly rod popper. Sunfish kept investigating.

In the distance I could hear an airboat, didn’t think much of it.

Casting doesn’t get the lake explored, so I went riding. I saw two airboats, spraying poison.

I shot this photo a few months ago on Rainbow River. We’re poisoning everywhere.

Disgusted, I went back to the boat ramp. Two pickups from Applied Aquatics Management were parked there. One of them had a bunch of boxes of diquat dibromide locked in a cage in the back.

In the lagoon system the algae is killing all the grass. We bemoan the fact. In the St. Johns River, South Lake, and other freshwater bodies around the state, we’re killing it on purpose. WTF??

We’ve known the following about diquat dibromide since at least 1993 (information from http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/dienochlor-glyphosate/diquat-ext.html):

Diquat dibromide is an herbicide and plant growth regulator. It is a quick-acting contact herbicide, causing injury only to the parts of the plant to which it is applied. It is nonselective, meaning that it does not spare ‘nontarget’ plants from its herbicidal effects.

Diquat dibromide is a moderately toxic chemical. It may be fatal to humans if swallowed, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin. Concentrated solutions may cause severe irritation of the mouth, throat, esophagus and stomach followed by nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, severe drying out of bodily tissues, gastrointestinal discomfort, chest pain, diarrhea, kidney failure, and toxic liver damage. Very large doses of the herbicide can result in convulsions and tremors.

Diquat dibromide is acutely toxic when it is absorbed through the skin and the possibility for poisoning increases with repeated exposure. Cows appear to be particularly sensitive to this herbicide.

Diquat dibromide also causes eye irritation.

EPA has required more testing on the capability of this herbicide to cause mutations, since available information is contradictory.

Diquat dibromide is slightly toxic to fish. Its toxicity to fish, and food organisms on which fish survive, has been reported in many studies.

Traces, or residues, of diquat have been found to persist in soil for many years with very little degradation. Field and laboratory tests show that diquat usually remains in the top inch of soil for long periods of time after it is applied. Groundwater quality can be affected if soil adsorption sites become totally saturated because water moving down through the soil can carry any non adsorbed herbicide into the groundwater. Diquat has been found in the bottom soil of pools and ponds four years after application.

The EPA requires a 14-day interval between treatment of water with diquat dibromide and use of treated waters for domestic, livestock, or irrigation purposes. Swimming, fishing and watering of domestic animals should not be allowed for at least 14 days after application of the herbicide to water.

Diquat contains small amounts of a highly toxic chemical impurity, ethylene dibromide (EDB).

Diquat is only one of 17 herbicides (https://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/manage/control-methods/chemical-control/details-about-the-aquatic-herbicides-used-in-florida/ ) the state of Florida uses to control aquatic “weeds.” FWC in in charge of permitting the use of these chemicals. Thanks, FWC. “Control” and “elimination” are not the same thing. Why are we poisoning our fish?

Several people, including me, were out fishing while they were spraying. The St. Johns River gets huge doses of these chemicals daily. Someone is making some serious money, and we’re paying for it, in more ways than one.

Americans sure do love poison. There are aisles with nothing but in the home improvement store. We put it in our homes, our yards, our food, our water. We eat it, drink it, rub it on ourselves, smoke it. We use it to power our machines. They then give off poison exhaust. We put a LOT of poison into the environment. Is it any wonder so many of us get cancer? The surprising thing is that we all don’t get it.

Tuesday I took a kayak to the Mosquito Lagoon, spending seven glorious, sunshine-filled hours paddling, walking, and casting a plastic shad. Every once in a while a fish of some sort interrupted my daydreaming. I found some clear water, if not a lot of fish.

I got two fish on flies, even. One was a trout that may have been legal, blind casting with a Clouser Minnow. One was a slot red, one of a pair of tailers, that I got on a Homer Rhodes Shrimp Fly. The leader was in the rod when the fish took- up close and personal!

Homer Rhodes developed this fly in the 1930s. His, and the one I used, did not have lead eyes.

It wasn’t epic by any means, but I would do it again.

Wednesday, clouds, rain, wind, and lightning kept me off the water.

Thursday clouds and wind kept me off the water. Went for a bike ride with my camera.

Bronson State Forest

 

 

The trees there are awesome!

Friday the Bang-O-Craft got launched at the St. Johns River at State Road 50. I was curious to see if I could run it upstream to the Beeline. Google maps made me think I couldn’t. I made it past the powerlines at Tosahatchee. There the river braids a lot. The braid I took got too shallow, and I was forced to abandon the endeavor.

Red-winged blackbird. If someone can tell me what flower it’s sitting in I’ll gladly send you a book!

 

A “controlled burn” was going on.

 

Seven Palms shelter.

If alligators were a good indicator of environmental health the place looks really healthy. There were hundreds of them. The water, however, looked like the Banana River Lagoon looks. In other words, the water looks like s—.

Alligator, file photo

I didn’t fish much but picked up a whopper five inch bass on a small jig. Nothing I saw made me want to fish, or indicated that there might actually be fish. No aquatic plants hindered my running the boat, though.

If the wind stops blowing (not supposed to), the reports will soon be coming from near-shore Atlantic waters.

That’s this week’s Meh Central Florida Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2019. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , ,

Mosquito Lagoon Seminar and Fishing Report

March 24, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Mosquito Lagoon Seminar and Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Mosquito Lagoon seminar and fishing report.

I found this poster on motivation to contain some dark humor:

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For Sale– Canoe Creek racks. These heavy duty racks fit any pickup truck (except Dodge RAM with toolbox). https://orlando.craigslist.org/pts/d/oviedo-tuff-truck-rack-by-spring-creek/6791721077.html

Blog Posts This Week-
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog/an-anglers-journal-a-review/

A Ponder on Trees

Live oak tree, Bronson State Forest

I’ve been having a ponder on trees. Do trees understand their own mortality? Trees don’t have a brain, a mind. Trees are not sentient. Right? What does science say?

Science doesn’t know everything. It’s particularly weak in areas of spirituality. Where do you keep your spirit? Can science tell you? Does your pet dog have a spirit? Does a gorilla? A whale? We can’t speak to any of these familiar creatures, so much like us in so many ways, much less to something as fundamentally different to us as a tree.

Trees have hundreds of years to ponder the universe. How aware are they of their surroundings? Plants in general, and trees in particular, respond to stimuli. They take their time to do so. Trees have lots of time to respond. The oldest known living thing is a tree, a bristlecone pine, which has over 5,000 years under its belt. This much time allows for a great deal of philosophizing. This much time allows for a great deal of communication with other organisms, if they can understand the “tree talk.”

Buttress roots on a cypress tree, Hillsborough River State Park

To read the rest of this post visit http://www.spottedtail.com/blog/a-ponder-on-trees-essay-photo-essay/
————————————————————-
Immediately after last week’s report went out by MailChimp I had a half-dozen unsubscribes. I suspect the reason was my climate protest reporting. To which I have to say

So there.

Fishing!

Monday wind 20+
Tuesday wind 20+
Wednesday wind 20+
Didn’t get out!

Thursday two Mainiacs graced my boat. Steve and Gene both run fish hatcheries in Maine, raising trout and landlocked salmon. Steve spin fishes, Gene is a fly man. Steve had never caught a redfish before and wanted one badly. Of course Gene caught the first one. It was a little feller but it took a fly. Never a bad thing.

Steve, tossing the trademark soft plastic shad, caught trout sporadically through the day. Gene, tossing the fly, got the dink red and practiced his fly casting. Steve finally hit a redfish. It wasn’t a big one, but it was in the slot and it was his first ever. Mission accomplished!

On the last cast of the day Gene got a trout that maybe was 15” for his second fish of the day. Slow fishing it was.

Thank you for fishing with me, gentlemen!

Friday fly fisher Alan Dronko and his spin fishing friend Nils Johnson joined me. The day started very slowly but gradually improved, although like Gene the previous day Alan only convinced two fish to swipe at the fly. The second was classic fly fishing for redfish- I spotted the fish, Alan made a superior cast, twitched the fly, and in plain view the fish came up and inhaled it. The fly was a black and purple synthetic minnow, the fish was released.

Thank you for fishing with me, gentlemen!

Saturday six intrepid souls joined me for the Mosquito Lagoon show and tell seminar. Here’s what Robert had to say about it-
“I want to thank you for a great day on the Show and Tell Seminar. I can’t begin to tell you how much time and money you saved me with the information you provided. I plan on doing some kayak fishing and exploring, using this priceless information. Thank you.”

Thank you for coming to my seminar, everyone!

Sunday Matt joined me for the on-the-water version of the seminar. After coming out of Haulover Canal we ran south to Pelican Island, stopping at points of note. After briefly exploring the Whale Tail we ran up the east side all the way to Georges Bar, again stopping at all the important places. After crossing to the ICW we returned to Haulover, with stops at locations to know. Elapsed time, about four hours. And thanks to Matt for joining me.

That’s this week’s Mosquito Lagoon Seminar and Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2019. All rights are reserved.

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

Slow Fishing Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

March 16, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Slow Fishing Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this slow fishing Mosquito Lagoon fishing report. There’s a little Econlockhatchee River tossed in, too.

Blog Posts This Week– http://www.spottedtail.com/blog/an-anglers-journal-a-review/

Upcoming-
–Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Seminar, March 23. An all-day fishing seminar that takes place in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, with the express goal of helping you catch more fish in the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoons. For more information, http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

–On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar, March 24. Fun, educational four-hour fishing seminar that takes place in my Mitzi on the waters of the Mosquito Lagoon, with the express goal of helping you catch more fish. For more information, http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

For Sale- Canoe Creek truck racks, fit any pickup truck (except Dodge RAM with toolbox). https://orlando.craigslist.org/pts/d/oviedo-tuff-truck-rack-by-spring-creek/6791721077.html

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Monday I went to see my doctor at the VA. She told me for my cough I should tape onion slices or garlic cloves to the soles of my feet before going to bed. What???

Tuesday I went to Mosquito Lagoon to go scouting, Beacon 42. I looked at the whitecaps and decided to go to River Breeze. I could just have gone home again. In five hours I got two bites on a plastic shad, catching a dink trout and a barely legal redfish. Under the clouds you couldn’t see much. Don’t think there was much around.

Wednesday fly caster Bill Rulen joined me for a day’s “fishing” on Mosquito Lagoon. I poled for miles, mostly trying to stay out of the wind while searching for fish that just never materialized. I saw maybe a dozen fish all day. Bill did not get a shot. Ouch.

After Wednesday’s spanking wasn’t too eager to go out on Thursday. I ran errands and did some research.

Friday there was a world-wide climate strike. I should have been there.

Friday garnered the highlight of my week. There’s a water body in Mims called Freshwater Lake. On google maps it looked hard to get to. Generally sweat equity = better fishing. I put the bicycle and a spin rod in the car and drove to the trailhead, where I wired the rod to the bicycle crossbar.

Then I went for a ride, quite a lovely one. Irises were blooming hard. I treed a raccoon. There was no road noise. I had the place to myself. The ride was awesome!

You can see a sliver of water, the lake it was.

 

What the “trail” looks like.

I found the lake but was unwilling to fight through the brush in an attempt to make a cast. Something about ticks and chiggers. Rode to the observation tower on Buck Lake, where I took my lunch.

The tower at Buck Lake.

Not too long ago Buck Lake was fantastic. Thick with aquatic vegetation, it supported lots of panfish and bass. When you visited you’d see lots of wading birds and alligators. Bullfrogs would be croaking, fish would be busting.

View from the top.

All the aquatic vegetation is gone. There are still cattails and water lilies but nothing else. From the observation tower I could see tilapia and gar, but no sunfish, wading birds, or alligators. I heard one lonely bullfrog. SJRWMD denies using herbicides there but something catastrophic has clearly occurred. I did not try casting. After lunch I returned to my car.

In the afternoon I tried shore fishing at the Econ, using plastic worms. I got hung four times in an hour or so, losing all my hooks. Got two dink bass, at least there was no skunk involved.

That’s this week’s slow fishing Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2019. All rights are reserved.

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

Mostly Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

March 9, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Mostly Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this mostly Mosquito Lagoon fishing report. There’s a littls Spruce Creek tossed in, too.

Blog Posts This Week– An Angler’s Journal- A Review

Upcoming-
–Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Seminar, March 23. An all-day fishing seminar that takes place in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, with the express goal of helping you catch more fish in the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoons. For more information, http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

–On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar, March 24. Fun, educational four-hour fishing seminar that takes place in my Mitzi on the waters of the Mosquito Lagoon, with the express goal of helping you catch more fish. For more information, http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

For Sale– Canoe Creek racks, fit any pickup truck (except Dodge RAM with toolbox). https://orlando.craigslist.org/pts/d/oviedo-tuff-truck-rack-by-spring-creek/6791721077.html

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I got an email from Rick Meeks this week, who is doing fine in North Carolina. In it he said, “it has been 25 years since I left central Florida and moved to North Carolina. I have not made it back to fish the Space Coast in many years. I hear that the grass beds in the Lagoon and no motor zone have been decimated. Is that true? Is fishing still good?”

Well Rick, in the Banana River Lagoon there’s no seagrass. You can’t see the bottom. I don’t bother going there any more.

In the Indian River Lagoon there’s no seagrass. You usually can’t see the bottom. I seldom bother going there any more.

The Mosquito Lagoon has lost about 75 percent of its grass. When the water is “clean,” you can see the bottom, but it’s hard to spot what fish are there. It ain’t like it used to be.

The seagrass had several functions. It anchored the sediments in place. Now when it gets windy, the wave action stirs up the bottom and the lagoon gets all muddy.

The grass was the primary food producer in the lagoons, using sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water to carbohydrates that kept all the invertebrates happy. The fish ate the invertebrates. There’s a lot less food, and many fewer fish now. Additionally, most of those big reds are gone.

The grass served as a nursery for baby trout, redfish, etc. No grass, no place for them to hide. My feeling is that recruitment has fallen way off. You don’t see nearly as many fish as you used to. We have lost so much…

So, “Is fishing still good?” You can still catch fish. But the expectations of getting eight or ten pound trout or 20 or 30 pound reds is no longer there.

Fishing et al–

Monday Scott Radloff joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon scouting from the Mitzi. Scott was tossing a plastic shad and had a pretty good day with it in spite of the wind- three slot reds and ten or so trout to about five pounds. My catch was much more modest.

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The best fish of the day, caught and released by Scott.

Tuesday it was cold and windy. I went for a long walk at Orlando Wetlands Park.

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The irising are blooming at the park.

 

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This stream was loaded with fish. No, you can’t fish there.

Wednesday was colder and windier. I went for a walk on the Florida Trail.

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This is the yard of a neighbor. Because nothing says “I love you” like a T-rex skeleton??

 

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The fiddleheads have unfurled.

 

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This guy was sunning himself until I showed up.

 

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The remains of last season’s flowers.

Thursday I had the pleasure of fishing with Dr. Robert Fuller and Dr. Rebecca Fuller, both Ph.Ds, on Mosquito Lagoon. It was still cold and windy, although warmer than the previous two days. The water was cleaner than on Monday and we found some fish. They were not real cooperative. Rob got two bites which he turned into two slot reds. Other than good bird-watching, that was it for the day. Thank you for fishing with me, Rob and Rebecca!

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Rob and his first redfish ever.

Friday Scott Radloff and I took a canoe ride on Spruce Creek. There were fishing rods involved. We got five bites. I got a 12 inch bluefish, as did Scott. Scott also got two slot reds and lost another. Although I hate writing this, Scott was using a Gulp! shrimp.

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Scott and his redfish.

That’s this week’s mostly Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2019. All rights are reserved.

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

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report and Econlockhatchee River Fishing Report

February 17, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report and Econlockhatchee River Fishing Report

This fishing report covers the Mosquito Lagoon and the Econlockhatchee River.

Picture of the Week, from my friend Kevin Linehan-

Link of the Week– A woman by the name of Laarni Tadeo sent me this link on packing for fly fishing trips- https://mightygoods.com/flyfishers-packing/
Good stuff!

Monday Tom Campbell and his friend Jack joined me for a day’s fishing from the Mitzi on Mosquito Lagoon. Jack started the day with a trout and a redfish within minutes at the first spot we stopped. Then Tom and Jack doubled up on slot reds! I’m looking at an epic day, maybe.

No, we pretty much had shot our load already. We caught plenty more fish, mostly undersized trout and a couple dink reds. But an epic day it was not, and as so often happens, all my scouted spots were dry this day. So goes life.

Tom looks happy with one of many shad he caught.

Tuesday Tom Campbell and his friend Jack joined me for a day’s shad fishing from the Mitzi on the Econlockhatchee. We got shad at the first place we stopped, and at every other spot as well. We’d fish a spot until the bite slowed, then go to another. I tandem rig the jigs. We had six or seven double hookups during the day, and probably got 30 or so shad, as well as bass, sunfish, even a crappie. Good day. Thanks for fishing with me, Tom and Jack!

Wednesday we did not fish for a couple reasons, one of which was the cold rain that fell all morning.

Thursday Tom Finger joined me for what began as Mosquito Lagoon fishing. We got there and it was all whitecaps. We reversed our field and went to CS Lee Park to fish for shad. The shad fishing had fallen off a cliff. We worked it most of the day in both the Econ and the St. Johns and only got six or seven. The best fish of the day was a big crappie from the Econ. Thanks for fishing with me, Tom!

On the way home I stopped at the Snow Hill Road bridge over the Econ and fished ten minutes. Got three shad for the best fishing of the day. ARRgghhhh.

Friday I went kayak scouting out of River Breeze. There is a lot of fishless water around there. But if you look in the right places there are trout and reds. Quite a few fish were caught, including a season’s best trout of seven or eight pounds. No photo, don’t want to hurt those girls.

Saturday Steve and Brad Myott, father and son,  joined me for some paddle fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. We paddled quite a bit. I thought the fishing better on Friday, but Steve got his personal best redfish and Brad got his personal best trout. They kept a couple slot trout for dinner, too. Beautiful day, great people. Thanks for fishing with me, gentlemen!

Steve’s redfish…

That’s this week’s Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report and Econlockhatchee River Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2019. All rights are reserved.

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

Central Florida Fishing Report

February 10, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Central Florida Fishing Report

This is a central Florida fishing report covering the Indian River Lagoon, the Mosquito Lagoon, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Econlockhatchee River. Yeah, we got around this week.

Upcoming-
-Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Seminar, March 23. An all-day fishing seminars that take place in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, with the express goal of helping you catch more fish in the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoons. For more information, http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

-On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar, March 24. Fun, educational four hour fishing seminar that takes place in my Mitzi on the waters of the Mosquito Lagoon, with the express goal of helping you catch more fish. For More information, http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

Monday found me paddling on the Indian River Lagoon. It was pretty windy. I found a few redfish tailing but could not get near them. The waves made the kayak slap, and the fish all disappeared before I could get into fly casting range. Three dink trout managed to get impaled on the point of the fly’s hook, though.

Tuesday I took the Mitzi out of River Breeze to see how far south the clean water went. And, as long as there was clean water, I could do a little sight fishing, too. Find some fish for the upcoming trips, maybe. Such an idea!

I looked in a half-dozen spots, working as far south as Tiger Shoal. The water was still clean there. Fish were scarce, though. While I did see a few black drum and redfish I didn’t get a shot at them. Blind casting with the shad imitation netted me a few dink trout.

Working my way back north I fished a flat which has been a fish producer in the past. There were some redfish and decent sized trout there. I got a nice slot red and a solid 20” trout, and pooched a couple of strikes. It was a nice way to end the day.

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The best trout of the week, on a plastic shad.

Wednesday found me back at the lagoon, still scouting. At the first spot I released four slot reds. NICE! There were more there but not wanting to beat them up I left them and looked elsewhere.

A couple elsewhere spots had nothing. But then I found another batch of fish and got a half dozen or so reds and trout, all slots. Again, I left them so as not to beat them up.

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Not the biggest redfish of the day, but the spots!

At the next spot an hour plus was invested. A few dink trout were caught, and four redfish were spotted too late. Then three more slot reds came in quick succession. Then it was time to quit. It had been a very solid day, even though the fly rod was not touched. And, clean water almost everywhere I went.

Thursday Mike Conneen joined me for some near-shore Atlantic exploration. Off Cape Canaveral we got a few dink bluefish and a couple of the smallest pompano I’ve ever caught. We spent hours looking for tripletail, ending up near the steeple in Cocoa Beach. We saw thousands and thousands of cannonball jellyfish, but only one tripletail. He did not eat our offering.

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The cannonballs aren’t very sporty.

Saturday Marisol and Cheryl joined me for a shad outing on the Econlockhatchee River. Two awesome ladies who love to fish, it’s a wonderful thing! The shad were cooperative enough that we got two doubles and lots of singles, releasing a couple dozen, all on little crappie jigs.

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Cheryl got the first fish, a tiny crappie.

Great day, and thank you for fishing with me, Cheryl and Marisol!

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Marisol with one of many shad they got.

I have not heard from the publisher about my latest book. While the suspense is killing me, not hearing is usually a good thing. If you hear right away it’s because the work ain’t up to snuff. I will try to continue being patient.

That’s this week’s Central Florida Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2019. All rights are reserved.

 

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