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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: , , , , ,

Another Central Florida Fishing Report

May 23, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Another Central Florida Fishing Report

Thank you for reading another central Florida fishing report. I hope you are still maintaining your health and your sanity through this pandemic thing. In spite of what you may have heard, it’s not over yet.

Sunday– With a beautiful morning, and tired of being in the house, I again got the bicycle out and headed to what was for me a new area on the Econlockhatchee. A ride of about a mile put me at the river.

There were people fishing there.

I hid the bike and went through the woods the other way, picking up a few chiggers while I was at it. The river was tiny, just a creek. I did not see many fish. I did get to watch two otters (one at a time) frolic in the river right in front of me, very cool. A barred owl, right over my head, had an owl conversation with a friend a ways off.

I hooked one 10 inch bass on a riptide sardine. The fish shook off before I could land it. I had a great time walking through the woods, but I wouldn’t go back for the fishing.

Tuesday the wind was something less than 20 mph. I launched a kayak at Mosquito Lagoon and worked it hard.

The fish were not on. I saw two reds, did not get a shot. I saw a few black drum tailing. When the tail disappeared, the fish disappeared. The only bite I got was from a five pound black drum that took a redfish worm, and I felt lucky to get it.

I was asked for a photo of the redfish worm. It is a very simple fly.

Thursday was another beautiful day so I tried kayaking Mosquito Lagoon again. While hunting, I spotted a redfish as I passed it. When I turned to try to get a shot I couldn’t find the fish again. I waited and watched. The fish finally tailed, right next to the mangroves. I thought my cast was off, but the fish must have heard the fly hit the water. As I began to lift the rod for another cast the fish took the fly. Of course it shook right off.

Another redfish falls to the redfish worm.

A while later I ran over three black drum. I staked the boat, stood up, and waited. I got several shots over the next 40 minutes or so and pooched all of them, missing a few bites in the process.

I turned around and three redfish were cruising the shoreline. I dropped the fly on them on the backcast- BOOM! First fish of the day. It was almost one o’clock.

A fish crashed along the shoreline a few times. A saw the fish and made the cast- too long, right into a mangrove branch. I jerked the fly off, used that as the backcast, and splashed the fly down, hard, a couple feet in front of the fish. BAM! My second, and last, redfish of the day, and you’re not likely to get many in quite that way.

I’ve had some people ask me about chartering- while I could certainly use the funds, I’m still on self-quarantine. I’m staying there until everyone in my household thinks it’s safe to end it.

“I remember the good evenings I have fished, even the ones that realised material hopes not by the fish that came to the fly, but by the color and movement of water and sky, by the sounds and scents and gentle stirrings that were all around me.”
-Roderick Haig-Brown

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, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

May 9, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

In what seems to be a trend, I got out kayak fishing two days this week, and took the bride out to the lagoon on a non-fishing trip for a day, too.

Battling the beast.

While paddle fishing Monday I got two slot reds on the redfish worm. Both fish had their backs out of the water, which is so dirty it’s the only way I could have seen them.

Red on redfish worm.

I tied up some redfish worms with plastic eyes, trying to reduce the landing splash. The fish are skittish.

Red on plastic eye redfish worm.

Testing those flies on Wednesday I got one redfish and one black drum, which surprised me. Both fish were tailing. Two-fish days seems to be becoming the norm. Better than no fish days!

Black drum on brown plastic eye redfish worm.

Friday was a no fish day. I didn’t fish. We just took the bang-o-craft to a spoil island, set up a couple beach chairs, and dozed for three hours. I thought it a great use of my time!

The water is low.

“If you introduce kids to fishing, they become good citizens.” -Rex Hunt

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, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: , , , , ,

May Day Central Florida Fishing Report

May 2, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

May Day Central Florida Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this May Day central Florida fishing report. I hope you enjoyed your May Day!

I forgot to put a fishing quote in last week, so we get a double scoop today.

A fisherman is always hopeful- nearly always more hopeful than he has any right to be. -Roderick Haig-Brown

FISHING!
Monday
On Saturday Mike Conneen called me and asked me to join an Econ party on Monday. I didn’t see how to maintain social distance while doing the shuttle between Snow Hill Road and CS Lee Park, and regretfully declined. Monday morning the weather was great, though, so I asked Susan to give me a ride to the river crossing and drop me off. I’d call when I got to CS Lee. I started paddling at 0900.

If you’re looking for Plecostamus, the Econ is the place to be. There are thousands of them. I don’t know that they’ve affected the native fish, but I do know there are a lot fewer natives than there used to be.

A particularly interesting cypress tree.

Took a break and saw a hummingbird looking for flowers. I could not have been more than three inches long. Also saw an eagle and a blue heron in the same place, just for size contrast. The birding was pretty good, and there were some reptiles too- gators, and cooter turtles, and slider turtles. No snakes though.

I found a dead fish. A catfish with a big lesion behind its head swam past me.

I didn’t fish hard, since I got a late start and had a long way to go. Fishing was not good though, with two bass and two stumpknockers coming to hand, all on a mousy gurgler.

Lousy photo, but the best bass of the year for me.

I got to where the trees end and the pastures start and caught up to Mike and Tammy. We paddled together for a few minutes, then I went on ahead. Susan picked me up about 1630.

Tuesday– went to Mosquito Lagoon for some kayak fishing. Went to a new spot. Got two nice reds on the redfish worm fly (haven’t typed that in a while). It was another spectacular day weather-wise.

file photo

I am re-wiring the Mitzi myself, and working on a book. That took up some of the rest of the week. Keeping me sane while I remain in self-quarantine.

Friday– took Susan to Mosquito Lagoon in the Bang-O-Craft for a little island hopping. We brought folding chairs to sit in, watching the passing boats in the ICW. God had brushed the sky free of clouds, amazing weather again.

Enjoying the day!

I fished a little bit with the DOA Shrimp. I had been using the same one for a month or so. A puffer ended that streak, the only bite I got. I saw a bonnethead shark swim by, the only fish other than mullet that I saw.

Dolphins always seem to enjoy the day!

We saw a hog, and three manatees, and a couple dolphins, along with the usual bird life.

An appropriate quote for the time of year- Anyone can be a fisherman in May. – Ernest Hemmingway

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: , , , , , ,

Short Central Florida Fishing Report

April 26, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Short Central Florida Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this short central Florida fishing report. I’m in the middle of a project and took a few minutes off to crank this out.

FISHING!
Monday– went to Port Canaveral. There must be some mahi running, because the parking lot was completely full. In the Mitzi I am not going mahi fishing, not here at least.

I was able to net a couple dozen menhaden. I saw a kingfish skyrocket so I set out a bait. It captured a northern sennet. A second bait was mangled by a bluefish.

I went out three mikes and looked around a buoy. There were three great barracuda there. The buoy barracudas never bite. These three didn’t, either.

Close to the beach I saw two tarpon roll. I put out a bait. A bluefish mangled it. I did catch a bluefish on a jig, the only other fish I got.

Did not see much other than what’s reported.

Tuesday– went to Mosquito Lagoon for some kayak fishing. The wind was blowing hard enough to be invigorating. I had two good fly shots, neither fish ate. I pooched a few more with the help of that invigorating wind. The two reds I did get both happened the same way- the fish were shallow, pushing a wake. I threw a DOA Shrimp in front, and they nailed it.

The bait was a DOA Shrimp. Same photo as last week!

Saw some spoonbills among many other bird species, and as a bonus a rocket went up!

 

Snotty weather precluded fishing the rest of the week.

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: , , , , ,

Another Central Florida Fishing Report

April 18, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Another Central Florida Fishing Report

Thank you for reading another central Florida fishing report. Given the self-quarantine I’m working under, readers will likely see a string of these.

Due to weather and other constraints, only got out twice this week.

FISHING!

Monday– took a kayak to a spot in Mosquito Lagoon I hadn’t been in a while. Weather was cloudy with some breeze, water color was a thickening green. I was not expecting much.

The water color was a thickening green…

Slowly coasting along a lee looking, I came close to running a redfish over- could have touched it with the paddle. It was the color of a brick, easy to see even though stationary. I backed up a few feet and hit it on the back with a DOA Shrimp. It struck in the middle of my wincing. I caught it!

The bait was a DOA Shrimp.

I’d like to be able to say, “Yeah, it was like that all day. I thought it was the old days.” Shots were hard to come by. I had six good ones in five hours, got two more fish. On the last one I was using a gurgler. The leader was in the rod. The fish slurped the fly less than 15 feet away, and I caught that one too.

The leader was in the rod when this fish struck.

I’m not always that competent.

On the way home I thought it a rewarding day.

SR 419 paddle launch.

Friday– Susan dropped me off at the 419 bridge crossing at the Econlockhatchee. Weather was cloudy and windy, water was low and clear. A vast majority of the fish seen were exotic species, Plecostamus and Tilapia. There were some mullet. Redbreasts were spawning. I’ve seen the beds more packed together. Tilapia are spawning too.

Redbreasts are spawning.

I did not see many bass and only got one small one on a mouse fly. I paddled more than fished. I took pictures more than I fished.

Coreopsis growing along the Econ.

 

Water hemlock growing along the Econ.

Last week I wondered where all the alligators went. I got that answer today. Probably saw 30 gators. The smallest was about seven feet long. The biggest ones didn’t even move when I approached. I could feel Godzilla thinking, “It’s gonna take something bigger than you to make me move.”

This critter did not want to move. I saw bigger ones.

When I got to the take-out at Snow Hill Road there was a new sign there.

Susan picked me up about 3 PM.

Last week this observer reported sending emails to the Seminole County Sherriff and my county commissioner about motorboats on the Econlockhatchee. Sgt Chris Stronko, SCSD, sent me this email-

“…we were able to locate the registered owners of the tags you provided. We don’t believe the young men who belonged to the boats were involved. For whatever it is worth, we had the full support of their parents. According to their story, the two young men were travelling in a group of 4 surface drive boats and stated they do not go west of the bridge. Further, the young men stated they saw the other pair of boats who they believe were the violators. In addition, there are signs being made to indicate paddle craft launching only for that landing which should be installed in the next week or so. Please feel free to contact me via email or phone if you have any additional concerns. Thank you.”

As long as the stupid boating behavior stops I have no conditional concerns. I was glad to see it was important enough to the Sheriff’s office that they stayed on it and got back to me 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, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Central Florida Saltwater Fishing Report

April 4, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Central Florida Saltwater Fishing Report

Thank you for reading my central Florida saltwater fishing report. We will be discussing some things in addition to fishing this week.

All of us have been affected by the COVID virus. Florida’s governor issued a shutdown order, effective as of midnight April 3. Only essential activities allow one to leave the house.

The following activities are included as essential in the executive order:
-Attending religious services
-Participating in recreational activities (in alignment with social distancing guidelines) such as walking, biking, hiking, fishing, hunting, running, or swimming (consistent with social distancing guidelines)
-Taking care of pets
-Caring for or otherwise assisting a loved one or friend.

So ah is a’ goin fishin, wit de blessin uv de guhvnuh!

I know that this entire episode is taking in horrible human toll in lives, sickness, lost productivity and income, family disruption, etc. One observation I’ve made is that driving is much more pleasant with the deserted roads, though.

Referring to the COVID virus, last week I wrote, “I’m in a high-risk group- if I get it, it will probably kill me.”

One of my subscribers, a Ph.D. cancer researcher, sent me this in an email- “Regarding COVID 19 mortality, I don’t think we know for certain that age, alone, is an independent factor. Age is strongly associated with a large number of underlying co-morbidities, such as kidney disease, heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, and probably obesity. We don’t yet have enough data to say that age is a significant factor in an otherwise healthy person, someone who doesn’t have any of those co-morbidities.

“I am 74 years old and in good health. Until I see better data I’m going to assume that age is not an independent factor. I hope I’m right, for both of our sakes.”

I wrote him back, “Age ain’t the problem, buddy. I was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis almost a year ago. I’ve already lost quite a bit of lung function.”

Truly, I’m in a high-risk group- if I get this virus, it will probably kill me. I’m being cautious and am not taking anyone other than my wife and sister fishing with me until either I expire or this whole Corona thing blows over.
———————————————————

I’ve watched several documentaries this week, available for free here- http://www.openculture.com/freemoviesonline. One of those I watched was about 60s counter-culture cartoonist Robert Crumb.

He’s still alive and well! One of his recent works was an illustrated Genesis. Talk about coming full circle…

———————————————————–
FISHING!
Monday, by myself, I went to Port Canaveral. It was my first Atlantic trip of 2020. I had no information as to where fish or bait might be. As it turned out I didn’t need bait because my livewell pump didn’t work. If anyone knows someone in central Florida who does good boat electrical work I would love to hear about it. But I digress.

I ran out to the Cape without seeing anything or getting a bite. I was casting there when Jim Ross came roaring by heading north. I followed him, but the Mitzi ain’t keeping up with Jim’s boat!

While up there I found Spanish mackerel, big ladyfish, bluefish, one gafftopsail catfish, hooked and lost two tripletail. I was tossing jigs, DOA Shrimp, and DOA BaitBuster. Brought two fly poles, didn’t even break them out.

A small (for a manta ray) manta ray swam past my boat, 20 feet away. Of course I cast over and around it. It was all by itself, though. Still so cool to see it.

Tuesday and Wednesday it was blowing. I worked on my boat’s electric system. Did not find the problem, other than maybe the 12-year old switch panel.

Thursday I took a six-weight and a light spin rod on a Mosquito Lagoon kayak fishing trip. I almost ran over the first redfish I saw. I tossed a slider fly to the second. BAM! No hesitation, a nice slot fish.

There were not a lot of fish but every 30 or 40 minutes, helped by tremendous weather, I’d see one. I had a half-dozen good fly shots, hooked four, caught and released three, and hooked four on a DOA Shrimp, two of which were caught and released. All the fish that struck were very aggressive about it, great to see that!

Friday afternoon took the wife and sister on a dinner cruise- we used the Mitzi to cruise to an Indian River spoil island. There I pulled out a little grill and a salmon fillet. When the fish was cooked we had dinner. Later we packed up and cruised back to Parrish Park, and a fine excursion it was!

 

“Those who become weary of angling bring nothing to it but the idea of catching fish.” -Rafael Sabatini

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, Paddle Fishing Florida, port canaveral fishing report · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Fished Two Days Central Florida Fishing Report

March 14, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Fished Two Days Central Florida Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Fished Two Days Central Florida Fishing Report. I wanted to fish more but circumstances conspired against me. I only got out twice.

Upcoming Events
Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Seminar, March 28. Yes, we’re back again with the show and tell seminar. Visit this link for details.
On-the-Water Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Seminar, March 29. We follow up the road version of the seminar with a trip in my Mitzi around the lagoon. Visit this link for details!

Monday I had an appointment with Dr. David Demetree, a chiropractor. Riding across the country did a number on my spine. The good doctor straightened it out.

In the evening I was a speaker at the Mid-Coast Fly Fishers meeting in New Smyrna Beach, talking about winter fly fishing in Mosquito Lagoon. A good group they are- if you are in that area you’d be advised to look them up.

Tuesday I put my back out of wack again by spending the day sitting in my kayak in Mosquito Lagoon. There were backing redfish all day, not a lot, but enough to keep me interested. The best moment came when I spotted a fish so shallow his eyes were almost out of the water. I figured it would be an easy shot. As I stalked him I failed to see the fish I ran over. That one ran smack into the side of my boat, making a loud BONK and blowing out the one I was stalking. I got neither.

But I did get two on a DOA Shrimp and two on a Seaducer, solid slot reds all, and blew at least four more shots. These days that’s a great outing. I thoroughly enjoyed myself!

Wednesday afternoon I went walking along the Econlockhatchee, spin rod in hand. The river looked great, low and clear. I did not see a bass, not did I get a bite. I stumbled upon a retention pond where I got three dinker bass, and those were my fish for the day.

“A fishing trip without laughter is not much of a fishing trip.” – Paul Quinnett

And that’s my first fishing report since returning from California. I hope to get out more next week. Thanks for reading!

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: , , , , , , , ,
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