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Some Good News Lagoons Fishing Report

January 15, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

Some Good News Lagoons Fishing Report

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The water in the lagoons has cleaned up considerably and I found some schools of fish this week- good news! Thus the good news Lagoons Fishing report.

A cold front slammed us last weekend, cold, wind, rain, the whole she-bang. Monday afternoon the weather started to moderate, so I took the kayak to the St. Johns on a shad mission. It was slow, but in three hours I got two shad (one on a chartreuse shad fly and one on a pink crappie jig), a couple crappie, and a redbelly. There were hardly any airboats, a lovely afternoon all together.

With charters coming up I went to the Mosquito Lagoon on Tuesday for some scouting. Wasn’t I surprised- the water was pretty clean in places! The bad news is lots of the seagrass is gone. Hopefully the water will stay clean and the grass will come back.

With clean water I could sight fish. The seatrout were sunning in a lot of my favorite spots, nice fish in the 20-inch-plus range. Redfish were also ranging on the flats. My current favorite lure, the three inch DOA CAL shad, was effective on both. I felt pretty optimistic about my trip the next day.

lagoons fishing report

Brent with one of several redfish he caught.

Wednesday Brent Chapeldaine and Tom Howell joined me for Mosquito Lagoon fishing. Out of the gate we hit trout, on the three inch DOA CAL shad. No surprise there. The larger fish had scattered some, but there were enough around that they kept three handsome fish. They also got quite a few redfish to about 24 inches. Basically we caught fish all day, a splended outing. Thank you for joining me, gentlemen!

lagoons fishing report

Tom was howling at how good the fishing was!

Thursday was a Banana River Lagoon trip, with fly fishers Kevin Barnes, from Georgia, and his friend Jamie, from Pennsylvania. The word younger folks would use to describe the fishing is “epic.” Tailing fish most of the day, calm winds, drizzly but not uncomfortably so, and the whole place to ourselves. Wool crabs worked well. Thank you gentlemen for the second awesome day this week!

lagoons fishing report

Jamie had never caught a black drum. He figured it out real quick.

 

lagoons fishing report

They are such beautiful, delicate fish!

 

lagoons fishing report

Mr. Barnes got a few, too.

 

lagoons fishing report

All fish were released.

Friday my old friend Kevin Linehan joined me for some fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. I wanted three trout in the 17-18 inch range for dinner, two for me and one for him. We caught a load of trout but did not complete the task, with one sixteen inch fish for Kevin and zero for me. Saw an honest-to-goodness school of redfish, at least 50 fish. They weren’t happy, but it was the largest school I’ve seen in a couple years, a wonderful thing.

So we have clean water, sight fishing, a school of fish, good catches, some good news for a good news lagoons Fishing Report!

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 2016. All rights are reserved.

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

Kayak Fly Fishing Mosquito Lagoon Redfish- A New Reality

October 5, 2016 by · Leave a Comment
orlando fishing report

The fly in question? A black redfish worm.

Kayak Fly Fishing Mosquito Lagoon Redfish- A New Reality

Kayak Fly Fishing Mosquito Lagoon Redfish- A New Reality

Mosquito Lagoon was long justly famous for its clear water and abundant fish- redfish, seatrout, black drum, and several other species. Anglers used a variety of techniques to catch these fish, but for kayaking fly fishers the main draw was the ability to sight fish the critters, even while sitting in a kayak.

The landscape began to change in 2011.

During the summer of 2011 an algae bloom appeared. It quickly spread. Soon the water in the lagoon became a sickening brown color. If you put your hand in the water, it disappeared. Unless a fish stuck a body part out of the water, you had no idea it was there.

Kayak Fly Fishing Mosquito Lagoon redfish

You can see the shallow water is not crystal clear. Again, the fly is black.

Winter came, and the bloom cleared.

It came back during the summer of 2012, and cleared again when winter came.

It came back during the summer of 2013, and cleared again when winter came.

It came back during the summer of 2014. Winter came. The water did not clear. It has been disgustingly dirty ever since. Friends of mine have said, “I can’t wait for the water to clear.” Well, yeah, but I think they’re being optimistic. None of the conditions that led to these blooms has been changed (and it’s a complex set of circumstances), so why should the water clear?

Perhaps I’m being pessimistic, but I think brown, dirty water is the new norm here. Adapt or get skunked.

The dirty water has had a cascade effect. Light cannot penetrate the water, so a lot of the seagrass has died. Seagrasses fed the entire ecosystem, so my fear is that the productivity of the system, its ability to produce finfish, has been seriously compromised. There ain’t as many fish, because there ain’t as much fish food.

If you kayak fish with a fly rod, there are fewer fish to find, and it’s gotten much harder to find them. What to do? What to do???

You could, of course, take your game elsewhere. Undoubtedly some fishermen have. Those of us who live here are loathe to take such a drastic step. No, we adapt. This piece examines how to do so.

In a nutshell, what the entrepid paddling hackle heaver needs to do is concentrate his (or her) effort at shallow spots that have lots of light-colored bottom. If you can wade there that’s a huge plus. Places that fit this description include Tiger Shoal, Georges Bar, and many of the spoil islands. There are many other places, and some time spent studying Google Maps will pay dividends when you’re out paddling.

If the water is low (0.5′ or less on this gauge http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?02248380) that’s a really huge plus. The deeper the water is, the tougher seeing the fish will be. The converse is true, too. Low water is one of your biggest allies.

Kayak Fly Fishing Mosquito Lagoon redfish

What you look for has not changed.

What you’re looking for hasn’t changed. Tails, wakes, busts, laid-up or finning fish, concentrations of birds or bait, all can lead to a pay-off. My preference is to find an area that has fish, then abandon ship and do my hunting on foot. Your conversion rate will be higher by doing this.

If there’s any silver lining to the dirty water situation, it’s that the fish can’t see you either. On a recent trip I got three reds. My longest cast was about 20 feet.

For reds and drum you still want flies that sink. My favorite color is basic black. It seems to be visible in the murk.

Kayak Fly Fishing Mosquito Lagoon redfish

Black flies work well…

Your casts will have to be more aggressive. Any fly not in the immediate vicinity of the fish’s head will just not be seen, much less taken. Don’t be afraid to lay it on them!

Seatrout, frequently tough to sight fish even when the water was clean, seem much less abundant now. I have yet to figure them out. When that happens I will write another article.

While this piece is about the Mosquito Lagoon, the Indian River and Banana River Lagoons have the same problems. Indeed, the problems may be worse in those lagoons. Last winter the Banana River Lagoon had an enormous fish kill between SR 528 and the Pineda Causeway.

In the Mosquito Lagoon that hasn’t happened, and in the Mosquito Lagoon there are at least some seagrass beds that remain. All that having been said, there are still fish in both those lagoons, and they can certainly be caught on fly tackle. Again, look for shallow areas with light colored bottoms so you have a chance to see any fish that may be present.

Kayak Fly Fishing Mosquito Lagoon redfish

…but other colors will work too.

So while we can hope that the good old days of plentiful fish and clean water aren’t gone, hoping does not put fish on the end of the line. Get paddling, look for fish in those shallow spots, and some good things will happen. That’s Kayak Fly Fishing Mosquito Lagoon Redfish- A New Reality.

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 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Stories, Fishing Tips, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, opinion · Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Memorial Day Orlando Fishing Report

May 28, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Memorial Day Orlando Fishing Report

This weekend try to take a few moments to consider all those people who made the ultimate sacrifice defending our way of life. Because Monday is Memorial Day, we have the Memorial Day Orlando fishing report this week.

If you have a few extra moments in there, please say a prayer for both Steve Baker and TC Howard, both of whom are battling illness and could use a spiritual hand. Steve was a mentor to me when I first got to Florida and taught me a ton about fishing here. TC is the master rod builder, retired firefighter, and Viet Nam vet. Good men, both.

Still trying to sell that EZ Loader- Details at this link- http://www.spottedtail.com/sale-rebuilt-aluminum-ez-loader-trailer/

OK, Fishing!

On Monday long-time friend Tammy Wilson joined me out on the Atlantic. Our goal was to hook into a couple of those mongo jack crevalle with flies. Last week when all those fish were out there the wind was from the west. Monday it was from the northeast. Not only was the Mitzi at or slightly beyond its design capacity for the waves, most of the fish were gone. We saw two small groups of fish, got one lame shot that did not work, and got a good, solid, old-fashioned skunking. Ouch.

The wind was out of the east the remainder of the week, making the ocean an impossibility for the Mitzi.

Thursday Scott Radloff and I went kayak fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. The east wind was not our friend, but we managed four redfish between us, me with a fly and Scott with a jerkbait. I even selfied myself with one that got fooled with a black bunny leech. The water is still brown and disgusting looking.

orlando fishing report

Gotta love the selfie!

Scott does quite a bit of work in Sarasota. He asked me not to disclose the place we kayak fished on Friday. While the fishing was not red-hot, we did get some nice fish. I even managed to fool a snook on a redfish worm, and selfied myself again! Can’t say the water looked much better there, either.

orlando fishing report

Still selfie-ing!

Still have open days this month. Give me a call if you want to go fishing!

And that is the Memorial Day Orlando fishing report from Spotted Tail. Please enjoy the weekend safely!

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 2016. All rights are reserved.

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

The Mudfish Orlando Fishing Report

April 16, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

The Mudfish Orlando Fishing Report

We fished all over central Florida this week, thus the Orlando Fishing Report.

One of the features of fly fishing in the midwest is the farm pond. One of the features of fly fishing here in Florida is the lowly retention pond, a mostly ignored resource. Lawn and street yuck drain into a hole that was dug in some neighborhood so the dirty water has a chance to clean up before moving into the local watershed. In spite of the yuck fish live in them. Fish are pretty adaptable creatures. Because not many folks fish them, the fish that live in these ponds tend to be unsophisticated and aggressive. I like my fish that way!

Sunday evening after dinner I went to a retention pond in Oviedo for maybe an hour’s casting. On a black matuka I got five strikes and unhooked and released four chunky bass, all of which were about a foot long.

Monday morning after visits to the bank and post office I went to a different retention pond and cast a new fly I needed to test. There was a strike on the second cast, and another shortly afterwards. I tried five flies in that pond and the new one was the only one that worked. Five chunky bass fell for it, decent if not exceptional for a couple hours of casting.

Monday evening after supper I tried still another pond. I did not see anything or get a bite. Click here to read more about fishing in retention ponds…

Tuesday morning found Scott Radloff and I searching the mighty Atlantic for denizens of the deep. We could not find any bait. But we did (after significant searching) find some breaking fish- Spanish mackerel, with an occasional bluefish mixed in. The fishies were thick enough that I broke out a six-weight and caught a bunch of fish, as well as lost several flies. White bucktail jigs and Sting Silvers were effective with the spin rod.

orlando fishing report

We ran into macks and blues intermittently all day, only seeing a few leaping spinner sharks for variety. The weather was outstanding, a gorgeous day.

With a fly trip coming up on Friday, I went scouting on the Mosquito Lagoon Wednesday. The water level is about the same, and its color is exactly the same. A dozen or so real shots came my way and I converted three of them, landing and releasing two slot redfish. One fell for an olive Bouncer minnow, the other two for a root beer sparkle crab. The weather was really nice and the day was extremely enjoyable.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Thursday found me sitting in my kayak on the St. Johns River. The morning started foggy, spooky, mist enveloping me and limiting visibility to maybe 100 yards. Bullfrogs croaked an impromptu chorus. I wish I could say the fish were on fire, but that was not at all the case. The first fish was a small chain pickerel that released such a flood of memories I had to write about it (read the piece HERE).

orlando fishing report

I worked it hard, getting a dozen bass. The largest maybe hit 12 inches. Or I might be being generous. A couple bluegills fell for my fakes, too.

orlando fishing report

But from a size perspective the fish of the day came on an almost terrifyingly violent strike on the popping bug. The fish jumped four or five times, putting up quite a respectable battle.

It was a mudfish, two or three pounds. They’re not very pretty. But I certainly enjoyed our encounter.

orlando fishing report

Friday found my fly charter, Bob Wikan and his friend Mike (just Mike!) and I out on Mosquito Lagoon. Oi vey, what a day! Cloudy, cool, and windy, with dirty water, the perfect combination for sight fishing with a fly rod.

Sometimes I wonder why I scout. Of course the fish were not where I found them Wednesday. A search mission ensued, largely unsuccessful. By lunchtime we had seen a total of three fish and had not gotten a shot at any. It was looking pretty bleak.

The afternoon continued that trend, until I looked someplace I seldom look. Holy cow, there’s a tailer! Wow, there’s another one! Since I could not control the boat in the gale, we abandoned it and went at the problem on foot. Bob got one of the most extended shots at a tailer I’ve ever seen, following and casting to the same fish for 10 or 15 minutes. In spite of the effort he did not convert. The fish simply disappeared to end the drama.

Mike got a nice slot fish by blind casting the root beer sparkle crab, the only bite and fish we would get.

As I loaded the boat on the trailer the rain hit with a vengeance. It was so nice of it to wait until then! Thank you gentlemen, it was a blast fishing with you!

And that is this week’s Mudfish Orlando fishing report from the Spotted Tail.

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 2016. All rights are reserved.

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

Some Good News Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

April 9, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Some Good News Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

The water in the Mosquito Lagoon has dropped. I’m not sure that it’s any clearer, but in many places you can see the bottom, and thus the fish. Since this is good news, we have the Good News Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

Monday Dr. Michael Sweeney joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing, with both fly and spin. After launching the boat at River Breeze we found some tailing fish at the first place we looked. Tailing redfish! Not a lot of them, to be sure, but tailers nonetheless.

They may have been tailing but they were not suicidal. We did not get a bite.

We checked several other spots where we saw nothing at all. The last spot we checked, however, had redfish cruising the bank, blasting minnows now and again. The fish were not easy to see, but they were there. We hooked one on a DOA CAL shad, which eventually shook the hook. We ended up fishless.

Tuesday morning found me at JB’s Fish Camp where I picked up Al and Adam Winnicky, father and son who now both live in New Smyrna. We went to the tailing spot from the previous day. Curses! Two boats there already.

We went to the last spot from the previous day. We did not see a fish, did not get a bite. Time to punt.

I went down into the Mosquito Lagoon to check a place I had not visited in quite a long time. Wow, there’s a fish! Adam made a pinpoint cast with the DOA CAL shad and BANG! the fish struck.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Adam with his redfish.

We ended up spending the rest of the day there, seeing redfish cruising with some regularity. We did not make a killing, but got two more reds on mullet chunks. We had quite an entertaining ride running back to JB’s into a north wind somewhere between 15 and 20 knots.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Son and father, and a pretty redfish.

I was able to sight fish two consecutive days, certainly good news from the Mosquito Lagoon.

Thursday’s forecast caused me to bag fishing. I went out to the MINWR and shot photos instead. Got a few decent ones.

dabbling spoonbill

 

mosquito lagoon fishing report

 

mosquito lagoon fishing report

 

mosquito lagoon fishing report

And that is this week’s Good News Mosquito Lagoon fishing report from the Spotted Tail.

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 2016. All rights are reserved.

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

Broken Trailer Orlando Fishing Report

April 2, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Broken Trailer Orlando Fishing Report

My aluminum trailer crapped out on me this week, thus the Broken Trailer Orlando Fishing Report.

News of the Week
My friend Rodney Smith attended the Brevard County Commission meeting this past week. My understanding of our telephone conversation is that almost four hours of citizen comments and discussion were spent as Brevard County citizens requested the Commission declare a state of emergency due to the condition of the Banana River Lagoon. One of the Commissioners made a motion to make such a declaration. That motion did not receive a second. The matter did not come to a vote.

One of the Commissioners was heard to say, “They’re still catching fish at Sebastian Inlet and in the Mosquito Lagoon.” Apparently all life in the lagoon system will have to die before the weasels will take action. No, they probably will not take action even then.

These were Mitchell Roffer’s comments to the Brevard County Commission, reprinted with his permission:

“I am Mitchell Roffer, President of Roffer’s Ocean Fishing Forecasting Service, Inc. of West Melbourne and I live on Melbourne Beach. I have my Ph.D from University of Miami ‘s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences in Biological Oceanography. Property owner [in Brevard County] for more than twenty years.

“We have a three billion dollar ($3.7B) ecosystem economic machine called the Indian River Lagoon. We have not done enough to maintain its upkeep and health. Its like your valuable car that you don’t do enough servicing on until a hose breaks and then you realize that the engine and transmission are blown too. It hurts to pay the bill, but you have to.

“Yes we have not been paying to maintain and protect the IRL. This is not a new problem. This has been going on for at least 15 years.

“So now prepare yourself to pay. Yes be prepared to pay on the order of 500 million dollars.

“The press releases I’ve read from certain government offices are a sad joke that insults my intelligence. If water quality was such a top priority in the state of Florida, then we would not be in this situation. The IRL has been under managed and understudied. Protection has been negligently weak.

“Yes the problem is obvious: Too much nitrogen and phosphorus.

“We must act. We must declare a state of emergency so that we can:

1. Get rid of the muck within five years.
2. End residential fertilizer use.
3. End septic tanks.
4. Remediate water entering the IRL.
5. Mandate the reduction of nutrients coming from agriculture including farms, citrus and cattle.
6. Improve water treatment infrastructure to modern tertiary and quartinary treatment, as well as, stopping sewage spillage.
7. Restore the ecosystem through sea grass planting, oyster and other bivalve culture and fish restocking.
8. Improve the monitoring and science.

“Yes we need state, federal and regional money. I think we need a large bond issue. Interest rates are low.

“Asking you to act. The Tampa Bay leaders acted and succeeded to repair and restore the Tampa Bay estuary. Be the leaders you were elected to be.”

They’re weasels, Mitchell, not leaders. It takes fortitude to act for the greater good, and those weasels don’t have it.

I expect there will be more major IRL fish kills in 2016 as the weather heats up. The problem has not gone away.

Fishing!
Oi, what a week.

Monday was cleanup day from the Everglades trip. I checked the Econ gauge online. Wednesday night before the trip to south Florida it read two feet. Monday morning it read eight feet. What?!!! It must be broken.

I hopped in the car and went down the street to check. The gauge is working properly. Weekend rains blew out the river, just when it was hitting the right level, too.

orlando fishing report

Quite a jump in just a few days, isn’t it?

Tuesday son Alex and his Lady Allison joined me for a day on the mighty Atlantic. As I was backing the trailer down the boat ramp I heard a disturbing grinding noise. The trailer had broken and was dragging on the ramp. We got the Mitzi into the water and went fishing. We got several bluefish and Spanish mackerel, most on jigs but a few on fly too.

orlando fishing report

It was really broken, snapped right off. I’ve done a little work disassembling here, but the corrosion is obvious.

After several telephone conversations (during our fishing) I determined my course of action. I would tie the boat to the dock at Blue Points Marina ($2/foot/night), effect such repairs on the old trailer that I could get it home, go buy a new trailer, and come back and get the boat the next day. That way I maybe could get my Wednesday charter in as well.

I would like to thank Allen McMillan at Central Florida Marine for making the purchase of that new trailer (a Continental) as painless and expedient as possible. Great work, sir!

How fortunate am I that after taking a 500+ mile trip with that trailer it breaks on the boat ramp at Port Canaveral, THE most convenient place it could ever have broken??

I am in the process of rebuilding the old trailer, an EZ Loader, and will be selling it. If you’re looking for a trailer please consider it. I will have an “official” for sale notice when I finish the job.

Wednesday Mark and Janet Soley met me at Blue Points for our rendezvous. The wind was out of the east at 15. We got to the jetty and turned around. That was that. I put the Mitzi on her new wheels and drove her home.

Thursday I may have been dreaming, or maybe I entered another form of alternate reality. In that dream reality I went paddling with Tim McFall. We found some clean water in the Indian River Lagoon system. In that clean water we actually found a few redfish we could see, and I actually convinced one to take a fly I had tied from rooster feathers, a Homer Rhodes Shrimp Fly.

orlando fishing report

An alternate reality redfish.

It was a fantastic experience. Sadly, I don’t expect it to ever happen again, at least in my lifetime. I so hope I’m light years off base with that prediction.

Friday I returned to normal reality. I took the Bang-O-Craft scouting out of River Breeze. The water looks awful. In spite of that I actually saw in the murky stuff that now passes for water four redfish, alive and swimming, a group of three and a single. I cast a DOA CAL jig at the group and one of them slammed it with zero hesitation. The single spooked off the same lure.

orlando fishing report

A redfish from the current reality of the Mosquito Lagoon.

Three dink trout were taken by using the DOA Deadly Combo. That was the total catch in about five hours of hunting.

And that is this week’s broken trailer Orlando fishing report from the Spotted Tail.

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 2016. All rights are reserved.

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

Vernal Equinox Orlando Fishing Report

March 20, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Vernal Equinox Orlando Fishing Report

Sunday March 20 is/was the equinox, thus the equinox Orlando fishing report. Check out this cool video!

Remember, the equinox is a great reason to have pagan celebrations!

News of the Week
I wish I’d found this earlier, but still lots of great festivals- https://www.allaboutbirds.org/birding-festivals/

To those readers who go through Titusville, Bagel World has “rebranded”. I think this is a ten cent marketing term that means they are changing things. Why would you change Bagel World? It was awesome! They have changed their name (to what I don’t know) and moved down the street. Maybe the new place will be better. Somehow I doubt it.

Fishing!
What a busy week!

Sunday fly fishing engineer Bill Ruland joined me for some St. Johns River fishing. We looked unsuccessfully for schooling bass, then tried shad fishing. The shad are almost done. We fished for them almost all morning. Bill hooked and lost a couple, but it was s-l-o-w. After lunch we went up the Econ hoping for bass and sunfish. Although we got a few of each, that was slow too.

orlando fishing report

What the fish lacked in numbers they also lacked in size. At least this one was aggressive.

We ended up shad fishing again, and Bill got his first ever, finally, and then one more on his last cast.

orlando fishing report

Mr. Bill battles the mighty shad.

 

orlando fishing report

The mighty shad is vanquished.

 

orlando fishing report

The victor exhibits his trophy before release.

Monday fly fishing doctor Mike Sweeney joined me for some St. Johns River fishing. We looked unsuccessfully for schooling bass, then tried shad fishing. The shad are almost done. We fished for them almost all morning. Mike hooked and broke one off almost immediately, but it was s-l-o-w. After lunch we went up the Econ hoping for bass and sunfish. That was even slower than the previous day, with no sunnies at all and only two bass being fooled in over an hour.

orlando fishing report

Who is this guy with the bass?

We ended up shad fishing again. Mike hooked one and had it on for a spirited battle, but the fish jumped off before we could corral it. So ended our fishing.

Tuesday George Allen joined me for a trip out of Port Canaveral. I was finally able to get out there after weeks of hard east winds. We had visions of cobia and tripletail dancing in our heads. We headed south down the beach, finding a mass of menhaden before reaching the Cocoa Beach pier. Livewell stocked, we headed out to sea.

It was a virtual biological desert.

Finally I saw a large black spot in the water. A ray! I idled close enough to cast, and the ray started to sound. A cast over the spot with a menhaden yielded nothing.

A while later I saw a large brown spot in the water and went to investigate. It was close to an acre of mongo crevalle jacks. They have a hard time saying no to a live pogie and somewhat foolishly we cast two out. Bam! Bam! double hookup!

orlando fishing report

George battles the truly mighty crevalle.

A 30 pound crevalle is as manly a fish as you could ask for. They don’t know the word quit and it was a long tough fight for both of us. While the battle raged I spotted another ray, but there was nothing we could do about that. Both fish were eventually boated and released.

orlando fishing report

Said battle was long and tough, and quite exhausting.

We saw quite a few small pods of big jacks after that but used discretion. In other words, we wanted no further part of the big jack action. We saw little else.

orlando fishing report

The victor and the vanquished.

Late in the day we found an area with spinner sharks free-jumping. George hooked what I think was a lemon shark, about six feet long. I leadered the beast, which used the opportunity to cut the leader. And so ended our adventure.

Wednesday morning Shane Thomas and his friend (Sir?) Rob of York met me at Port Canaveral. I was cautiously optimistic I could find the jacks and sharks again, and knew there were bluefish around. I had seen the rays the previous day and thought we still had a shot at a cobia.

We couldn’t even find the bait. All the pogies that had been along the beach were gone.

Running back north up the beach we saw good numbers of pelicans diving on menhaden and one throw of the net there did the trick. Now, let’s go find those jacks!

They were all gone. We looked for hours and did not see a jack, a shark, a guppy. It truly was a biological desert.

Just so we would not get bored, though, the bow of the Mitzi decided to plow into a wave and do an imitation of a diving submarine. We were a couple miles off the beach, no one else was around, and the boat was literally half full of water, as close as it could get to sinking without actually sinking. We would have been in seriously deep doo-doo had the boat gone down. But it didn’t. We got the water out with the help of the bilge pump, a bucket, and a distinct lack of panic, then continued searching.

I think it was about 230 PM when Shane finally spotted a fish. It was a small hammerhead shark, four or five feet long. We tossed a pair of pogies out and waited.

That shark took his sweet time zeroing in on one of the baits. He’d swim up next to the boat, then swim away. We would think we lost him and then he’d come back. This happened several times. And then while we watched he finally took Rob’s bait.

We weren’t rigged with wire and I knew we might not leader the shark. As it turned out we didn’t. But Rob had it on for about ten minutes, fighting a noble battle. Finally, after eight hours of looking, a fish!

We found a school of pogies in Canaveral Bight. There were a load of bluefish with them. Rob broke out his fly rod and managed a couple blues on a Clouser Minnow. Shane got a few with the spin rod.

That was pretty much our fishing for the day. Just so we wouldn’t get bored, the Mitzi ran out of gas near the jetty. No problem, I said, I have more gas. After pouring it into the tank we could not get the motor going. I put the trolling motor in the water and started to the dock.

At five PM every boat in the ocean was coming back to port. The chop and the wakes were rocking and rolling us, and it was slow going. A kind soul came over and offered to tow us back, an offer we gratefully accepted. And so ended our day, one of my more unusual charters.

The boat started right up without a problem while sitting on the trailer in my yard Thursday morning.

It also started Friday morning, at the Haulover Canal. My childhood friend Kevin Linehan was with me for a boat ride on the Mosquito Lagoon and forsooth a fish. We did not see much, a couple tailing redfish. The water is so dirty it’s REAL hard to see them if you don’t get some surface indicator.

In spite of that I saw a redfish, in the dirty water, when it swam right up to the boat. I don’t think they can see us either, since I made about a six foot cast with a mullet chunk. The fish took it. I handed the rod to Kevin and he skillfully duked it out with the beast, a 27 inch beauty.

Orlando fishing report

They don’t grow these in Phoenix.

On Saturday Paul Dachoff and his friend Alex the Vet joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. Paul has lived in central Florida for 30 years and said he’d never seen the lagoon look so bad. We worked it hard with cut mullet and Deadly Combos for almost eight hours. One redfish and several seatrout fell for our offerings.

Orlando fishing report

The hand just appeared to help Alex hold his fish! AMAZING!

Paul spotted the reds tailing despite the rain. There were three or four of them, pretty darned relaxed, I thought. They gave us multiple shots and finally one ate.

Orlando fishing report

Our redfish of the day, about 25 inches long.

Paul and Alex were great on the boat and it was a good way to wrap up a busy week. Thanks to everyone who fished with me this week.

And that is the vernal equinox Orlando 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 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Noodled Trout Orlando Fishing Report

March 5, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Noodled Trout Orlando Fishing Report

This is the Noodled Trout Orlando Fishing report, covering the Mosquito Lagoon and the St. Johns River.

Upcoming Events-
Saturday, March 12th Beach ‘N Boards Fest Paddle Board Catch & Release Tournament Ramp Road Park, Cocoa Beach, Florida. Registration and other event information at
https://racehubhq.com/races/BeachNBoardsFestSUPFishingTourney

What is the impact of Big Sugar in your life? Check out this new video on the sugar industry! http://www.sierraclub.org/florida/BigSugarVideo

Mystery Photographer
The Mystery Photographer sent me these photos of Nautilus Fly Reels. As you can see they are gorgeous reels…

orlando fishing report

That is a fine looking fly reel.

orlando fishing report

 

Fishing Story of the Week
It’s been way too long since we had a fishing story of the week. I am the principal in this one, too.

Sunday Tammy and I went kayak fishing out of River Breeze. The water is no longer clean up there. I went to a hole I know and started casting blindly. A couple of small reds were caught and released. Then I saw what I mistakenly thought was a crawler red up near the bank. I waded into range and made a few casts. The fish did not respond to the fly at all. Stranger still, it didn’t change its position.

Starting to think it was distressed I waded still closer. It turns out to be a really nice trout, six or seven pounds. Curiosity driving me, I got closer still. Now in range to simply strike like a blue heron, I reached down and grabbed the fish.

It wiggled and broke my grip, but could not swim away. I just picked it up again, while fumbled for the section of nylon cord I keep for such occasions.

I went noodling for trout in the Mosquito Lagoon! The fish I grabbed was boatkill!

The poor fish had been hit by a boat and had four prop cuts, starting on its head and moving down its port side. Somehow, it wasn’t yet dead. I cut its gill arches and carried it around on the string for the rest of the day.

orlando fishing report

My noodled trout, boatkill.

At the boat ramp as I was cleaning the fish I could hear some of the folks in other boats saying, “Wow, look at the size of that guy’s trout!” I didn’t have the heart to tell them I caught it with my fingers, hardly more difficult than picking up a squashed ‘possum off the side of the road. Tammy and I had a good laugh about it afterwards.

News of the Week
A Record 6,250 Manatees Counted Off Florida Coast
http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/record-6250-manatees-counted-florida

I am so sorry I missed this news item- http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/watch-porn-and-help-save-whales-month . We live in a crazy world.

Fishing!
As already noted, on Sunday Tammy and I went kayak fishing out of River Breeze. So far as I could tell, all the clean water that had been in this part of the lagoon is gone. Now it looks as nasty as the rest of the lagoon.

orlando fishing report

Tammy having fun in the mud.

I got a handful of reds blindcasting a streamer. Three were short, two were low-end slot fish. One short trout took the same fly. Tammy got a redfish on a jerk bait, a fish she spotted and cast to. No one else we saw had anything. The day was absolutely perfect, the kind of weather you dream about, but fishing was slow. The water finally was at a winter level, though, nice and low. Now if the algae would just disappear…

Having three fishing charters scheduled for this week, Tuesday I used the Mitzi and went scouting out of River Breeze. I could not find any clean water, and ran aground twice. The water was very dirty, as the algae-laden water from the south lagoon drained north towards Ponce Inlet as the water level dropped. I saw exactly two fish and did not get a bite, and wondered how my fishing season can possibly work when the place I fish is apparently ruined, at least for the foreseeable future…

Wednesday’s charter was a fly caster who lives in Virginia, Dr. Ross Thomas. We launched at C.S. Lee Park on the St. Johns River. A strong bite of hybrid stripers kicked off our morning. Minnow imitating streamers tossed on sinking lines worked very well, as we were into double digits numbers-wise, fish that ran two to three pounds.

orlando fishing report

Dr. Ross with a bass.

When that action slowed we went shad fishing. By now the wind had come up, about 15 knots from the north, making fishing more challenging. Ross got a couple shad on a green shad fly. We went up the Econ to try for bass and bluegills but the water is still too high and we did not raise a fish. Still, we had a good day. As Ross wrote, “Good fishing, excellent conversation and a splendid time. Left ’em with some sore mouths too! Thanks and we will fish again!” Thank you, Ross!

orlando fishing report

Dr. Ross with a shad. He seems happy!

Thursday’s charter was Mr. Tom Finger and Mr. Bob Trapp, both of whom live in central Florida. They had also booked me for lagoon fishing, but also agreed to try the St. Johns. The striper bite was not as hot as the previous day, but we still got ten or twelve on DOA CAL jigs on which were threaded 3″ DOA CAL shad.

orlando fishing report

Bob with a fine bass.

Again, when the striper action slowed we went shad fishing. Using 1/16th ounce crappie jigs with 1″ curly tails rigged in tandem they caught shad steadily for three hours or so. Tom got at least one double hookup on his line, and as a team they had several doubles, good, steady action. As Tom wrote, “Thanks for the pics and a GREAT day. We will be in touch.” Thank you, Tom and Bob!

orlando fishing report

Tom with one of his American shad.

Friday’s charter was set on fishing Mosquito Lagoon. My report and the weather forecast caused him to cancel the day. 🙁

Because no one signed up for the Show and Tell seminar, Thursday night I booked a charter for Saturday, Mr. Dave Phillips. We launched at Haulover Canal. The plan was to circumnavigate the lagoon, check it all out. We looked on both sides of the lagoon from Max Hoeck Creek to River Breeze. The water was low but very dirty. I managed to hit bottom numerous times because I could not see it. It was a beautiful if breezy day, but we didn’t see anything. We did manage to get a few trout on soft plastics, and one would have even held batter. Thank you, Dave!

And that is this week’s Noodled Trout Orlando Fishing report, covering the Mosquito Lagoon and the St. Johns River. Tight lines, everyone!

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 2016. All rights are reserved.

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

Mercury Rising Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

February 20, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Mercury Rising Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Observing the heavens is one of my passions. I’ve known for years that it’s possible to see the planet Mercury with the naked eye. I could never find it- until this week. Now I’ve seen it three times. And such fishing as got done by me this week happened in the Mosquito Lagoon. Combine the two and you get the Mercury Rising Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

For those of you who would like to observe this planet, get outside about 6-6:15 am. Look to the east and you will see a bright star above the horizon. It’s the planet Venus. Below Venus and a few degrees to the north is a much dimmer star- that’s Mercury. Check it out now while you’ve got Venus to point the way.

Upcoming Events- Lots of ’em!
– 2/28-3/5 Wekiva Paint Out. Thirty nationally-renowned artists come here and paint our beautiful scenery for one week. They start painting on Monday, February 29th and continue through Saturday, March 5th.  The event culminates with a Gala at Wekiva Island, an event not to be missed! http://keepseminole.org/event/wekiva-paint-out/
– Ocala Outdoor Expo, 3/5 and 3/6. http://www.ocalaexpo.com/
– Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 5. http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/
– Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 6. http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

State Forest Update-
Last week I wrote, “I wrote letters to the manager of the state forest and the commissioner of agriculture. We’ll see what they say.” Nothin’, yet.

Fishing!
Not fishing, but Sunday I brought my valentine to see the Big Bugs at Leu Gardens.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

BIG bugs.

Very cool exhibit in a very cool place. You’ve got a few more weeks before the bugs march off to a different venue.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

It’s a good real ants don’t get this big or we would never have made it as a species.

$10 admission per person. http://www.leugardens.org/category/events/

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Monday it blew like snot. I don’t even remember what I did.

Tuesday, a beautiful day, I spent the morning at the car dealership getting the wife’s chariot repaired. In the afternoon I did a little local exploring. Stop one was at Riverside Park in Oviedo. Several years ago son Maxx talked me into launching a canoe there (not a hard thing to do) and paddling down to SR 419. What an obstacle course. Anyway, that’s the only time I went to that park. Turns out it’s quite lovely and the Little Econ, although little more than a drainage ditch for east Orlando, actually looks quite nice coming through here. Further investigation required.

Stop two was a little pond off of Lockwood Road. Walked around it twice, the second time with a fishing rod with a plastic worm on the line. Did not get a bite. Did not see anything other than guppies.

Stop three was the Econ River Wilderness area, off Old Lockwood Road, a rather pretentious name for a 300 acre property that is certainly not a wilderness. It’s a nice enough place to go for a walk or go running though, a valuable patch of woods in an area of crowded housing developments.

Wednesday Tom Van Horn (the fishing guide, not the comedian) met me at Haulover Canal so we could do a little Mosquito Lagoon scouting. The water south of Georges Bar looks TERRIBLE, brown and turbid. Even spots that were clean a couple weeks ago look awful now. We found nothing there.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Tom Van Horn, not the comedian one.

Up by Oak Hill we found some clean water and a few fish, and managed one redfish and one seatrout each, on (not surprisingly if you read this report very often) 3″ DOA CAL Shad. Not a great day by any means, but better than no cheese.

Thursday’s charter postponed until next week because of the wind.

Friday Mr. Ryan Houlihan, a fly fisher from Virginia, met me at River Breeze. It was a tough day, with lots of clouds and considerable wind, hard for a fly fisher. Ryan missed one bite at the first spot, but most of the fish we saw we had already run over and they ignored the fly.

He missed another bite at the second spot, this one from a trout (we could see the action). None of the other fish we saw there cooperated.

We checked a couple other spots with few visible fish. At this point the clouds were pretty solid and we just couldn’t see. In the places we could see there was nothing to see. It ended up Mr. Houlihan did not get another bite and we went fishless. I don’t like that but hey, that’s fishing, especially with the fly rod.

And that is the Mercury Rising Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report.

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 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Keep America Beautiful Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

February 6, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Keep America Beautiful Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Rodney Smith and I attended the Keep America Beautiful national conference in Orlando on Tuesday, so we have a Keep America Beautiful Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report.

Upcoming Events- Lots of ’em!
– Wekiva Paint Out, 2/28-3/5. Thirty nationally-renowned artists come here and paint our beautiful scenery for one week. They start painting on Monday, February 29th and continue through Saturday, March 5th.  The event culminates with a Gala at Wekiva Island, an event not to be missed! http://keepseminole.org/event/wekiva-paint-out/
– Ocala Outdoor Expo, 3/5 and 3/6. http://www.ocalaexpo.com/
– Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 5. http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/
– Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 6. http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

Parents Must Read This
Get a tissue because there will be tears of laughter. http://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/family/25-hysterical-love-notes-from-kids-who-are-just-a-little-too-honest/ss-BBoUcIt

Fishing!
Sunday, a day I usually don’t like to fish, was a lovely day, calm and cloudy, and I did fish. My angler was Dr. Dave Harden of Orlando. We went spin fishing for trout and reds and did pretty well. My lures of choice were the DOA CAL shad and the DOA 3″ Shrimp. Dr. Dave used a 1/8th ounce jig with a 4″ shad tail. A half dozen reds and about 20 trout were boated, several slot fish of each. Sight fishing was difficult due to the clouds but we did sight cast to several fish and caught a few of them. Good day.

Monday Dr. Aubrey Thompson, a fly fisher from Jacksonville, came down for some Mosquito Lagoon fly fishing. It was mostly cloudy with almost no wind and we ran over fish all day, very frustrating. Aubrey got three fish altogether, a nice trout and a couple of rat reds, on a fly he calls the neutralizer http://www.danblanton.com/blog/red-meat-neutralizer-fly-tying-instructions-by-lee-haskin/. We saw quite a few fish but almost all of them were after we ran them over- nary a tailer did we see. Stupid, uncooperative fish! That’s fishin I guess.

Tuesday Rodney and I attended the Keep America Beautiful conference. I knew almost nothing about them but it’s an amazing, important organization. Read the blog I wrote about it here… http://www.spottedtail.com/blog/keep-america-beautiful/

Wednesday- honey-dos! ’nuff said.

Thursday Tammy and I tried to go bass fishing. I say tried to because the 20 mph winds interfered with our boat handling and casting. We gave up fishless after a couple of hours. Tammy said there are shad from the Mullet Lake all the way to SR 50.

Friday’s 20 mph winds and 60 degree high temperature discouraged me from fishing. I thought about shad fishing, but ended up going walking/running through the state forest, on the Florida Trail.

Welcome to the State Forest

Welcome to the State Forest.

 

This is what it looked like before.

This is what it looked like before.

 

This is what it looks like now.

This is what it looks like now.

 

Before.

Before.

 

Now. Note the Florida Trail blaze on one of the survivor trees.

Now. Note the Florida Trail blaze on one of the survivor trees.

 

Before.

Before.

 

Now.

Now. Am I being too sensitive here?

 

Or do you find this appalling too?

Or do you find this appalling too? Someone is not keeping America beautiful!!!

Someone has clearcut a sizeable section of the woods between Snow Hill Road and Brumley Road. You walk along these nice mud bridges through some lovely woods, right into an ugly wound, a clearcut. What is up with that?
I see some letters being generated, because I’m kind of upset. The Little Big Econ state forest is NOT keeping America beautiful.

And that is the Keep America Beautiful Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report.

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 2016. All rights are reserved.

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