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Equinox Orlando Fishing Report

September 26, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Equinox Orlando Fishing Report

Wednesday was the first day of autumn, an important day for pagans. So we have the Equinox Orlando Fishing Report.

Articles posted this week-

– Keys to Winter Fishing Success

– Wire Flies

orlando fishing report

Wire flies.

Monday morning found the Old Town on the roof of the Sienna. They were heading to the Banana River Lagoon. Their owner wanted to do a feasibility study, paddling the 16′ canoe in the wind with a kayak paddle.

The trip was too to the fifth power. It was too hot. The water was too high, too dirty. It was too windy. There were too many clouds.

In spite of all that I caught too redfish, er, make that two, one on a Clouser minnow and the other on a black bunny leech, both on 15 foot casts. Fishing was tough. To no one’s surprise, the canoe is hard to paddle by myself in the wind. Fishing from it is like fishing from a Rolls Royce compared to my kayaks, though.

I’m looking for a pre-owned canoe in the 12-14 foot range, if anyone knows the whereabouts of one. Would prefer Mohawk, Mad River, or Old Town.

Wednesday was the first day of autumn. I try to always fish on astronomical holidays, so picked up George Allen at 7 AM and drove to Haulover Canal. The ramp had literally tons of seagrass against it, so we went to Beacon 42. We waited for the rain to stop before launching the Mitzi. We fished for maybe 40 minutes before another deluge came. The wind was blowing, it was pouring, and George did not bring a raincoat. The boat was back on the trailer before 10 AM, with one small trout to show for our efforts.

Seven AM Friday morning I joined Chris Rosoff in his Mitzi for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. The water at the south end is horribly dirty, although I did get an undersized snook down there on a DOA CAL Shad Tail.

The lagoon should be full of finger mullet right now. Where are they?

Because the water was so high and so dirty we spent a lot of time prospecting with DOA Deadly Combos in a lot of different spots. Our catch included a pinfish and a gafftopsail catfish, and at least 20 undersized seatrout. Chris got a nice trout, about 22 inches long.

orlando fishing report

Chris got the best fish of the day. He’s smiling about it under the Buff. Really.

Due to some mechanical problems we left earlier than we had intended to. We were still out about six hours. We never saw a redfish, not surprising considering the condition of the water.

And that is this week’s Equinox Orlando 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 2015. All rights are reserved.

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

Some days are better than others

April 4, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Some days are better than others

A guest blog by David Caprera

We got to bed in New Smyrna Beach about 2am Wednesday morning (our flight landed about midnight in Orlando).  I went out fishing in my kayak Wednesday afternoon, saw three fish, caught none, lost interest, played 9 year old kid at the frog pond and came back with three crabs, six dog whelk, one horse conch, and seven oysters (one was a mudder.)

Pulling the kayak out I wrenched my back.  Bad.  It was a four Ibuprophin, two martini, back ache.  I woke up this morning and could not even roll out of bed.  (In our bathroom, the toilet paper is on the opposite wall… Too much information, but I digress.)

It was a drop dead gorgeous day.  I got up, sat on the dock, drank my coffee.  At eleven, my back was feeling a bit better.  I ran for 36 minutes on the beach, REAL SLOW. It loosened up.  I had lunch.  At 1:30, I could not stand it anymore, and in some discomfort, dragged the kayak to the ramp and set off.

I went to Raccoon Bay, my closest spot.  Visibility was good, but no fish. I continued west, poled a mile of shore and still not a single sighting.  I crossed the cut to the Redfish Motel (the redfish get in but they never leave – kinda like Hotel California.) It was 3:30, calm and clear.  Poling down the west side, 50 yards ahead, I see a splash.  Probably a mullet.  Another splash, more like a tail.  I cross.

And there they are.  Two beautiful copper torpedoes, cruising ten feet off the bank, not too fast but with purpose.  I position the kayak about 60 feet from them and cast a crab fly ten feet in front of their path.  Stop.  Bump.  Bump.  Strike.  Charge.  Fish on.

Nice redfish.  The reel clicks whir. (I don’t use Abels anymore because I love the sound.) Now he is towing the kayak.  It is a fucking sleigh ride. In my delirium I start singing, “Rudolph the red nose redfish, had a very shiny nose.” Easter weekend no less.  It has been a tough couple of months, fishing wise.  It felt good, primeval, to feel the pull at the other end. My backache is cured.  (Later I determine the cure is temporary.)

“And if you ever saw him, you would say it really glows.” You can sing along the rest.  In my euphoria, the only word I changed was “redfish” for “reindeer.”

I get the redfish close to the kayak and try to grab the leader.  I fail to hold on.  But that makes it an “official catch.” (I have questioned this.  I picture a poor, subsistence fisherman living in a debt laden country, say Greece, coming home.  “Boy, we are going to eat well tonight.  I caught three fish.” “Where are they dad?” “Well I didn’t actually put them in the boat but I touched the leader.  Doesn’t that count?”)

But the redfish stayed hooked and I did bring it to the boat.  It measured 26 inches. It was hooked in the lip and with a bit of wiggling the hook came free.  I grabbed the fish’s tail and it swam away.

Guides say that ” practice casting makes you a better fisherman.” I will tell you what makes you a better fisherman, “catching fish.” I had been fishing lethargically, with little effort.  Catch a fish and now you are charged.  Let’s go find another one.  I had two more shots this afternoon.  I failed with both but the sight was good and the casts were crisp. One was in deeper water and I lost sight of the fish, the other was weird in that the cast was good but I think he may have sensed my presence and ignored the fly.

It is 7 pm, I have taken my vodka and vermouth back medicine, and a beautiful sunset is commencing. Some days are better than others.

David Caprera is a talented writer who writes entertaining stories about catching, and not catching, fish with fly tackle. He splits his time between New Smyrna Beach and Denver.

All content in this article, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2015. All rights are reserved.

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Not Covered Up With Fish Orlando Fishing Report

March 28, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Not Covered Up With Fish Orlando Fishing Report

I can’t say we were covered up in fish this week.

Last Saturday Mr. Mike Conneen and I went looking for cobia and tripletail out of Port Canaveral. The weather wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty darn nice. We went down to Patrick AFB and back up to the cape. We saw one fish that I could not clearly identify. Mike saw it and said it was a cobia. We saw one tripletail. I put a live shrimp on his nose and he ignored it. I got a two pound jack off the cape. That was it, for eight hours invested.

Back at the dock the FWC girl was doing creel survey. She told me 75 percent of the boats coming in had not caught anything at all. “It’s a virtual biological de-sert!”

Orlando Fishing Report

Roland with his best trout.

Monday Mr. Roland Gerencer and his eight-year old son Roland joined me on Mosquito Lagoon for a half day. The goal was to keep the boy entertained. It was cloudy and windy with intermittent drizzle. We had to work at it, using DOA Deadly Combos, of course. We got a few small trout and a ladyfish. The young man was happy.

Tuesday I went to the Banana River Lagoon, which I had been wanting to do. When I got there the lagoon was white-capping below a low ceiling of clouds. I said no. There was a spot on the Indian River Lagoon I had been wanting to check, so I drove up to the Merritt Island NWR. The Haulover Canal bridge was closed so I could not get over it. I gave up and went home.

Wednesday the famous horse veterinarian Dr. Mark Cheney joined me for a day’s fly fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. We literally were in fog most of the day, terrible visibility. Somehow we saw a few fish but did not get a single shot until on the way in I spotted a tripletail on a crab buoy. Mark made a good cast and the fish just sank out of sight. The skunking was pretty thorough.

orlando fishing report

A crappie, on a crappie jig. We get the shad on these, too.

Thursday Warren Wnek and Mark Soley saw some shad action on the St. Johns River with both shad and crappie, getting a couple dozen fish using both fly and spin tackle. Doubles, even! Steve Baker, your shad flies were the ticket!

orlando fishing report

Warren, angler-at-large. The lure is a Pixie spoon.

Saturday the wind was pushing good out of the northwest and a front had dropped the morning temperature to about 60 degrees. That first ride with John Iufrate and his friend John was chilly! Using DOA’s Deadly combo they got a couple dozen trout to 20 inches and a couple redfish, one shown in the photo. It was a decent if unspectacular day, catch-wise.

orlando fishing report

John holds John’s redfish.

And that is this week’s Not Covered Up With Fish Orlando Fishing Report from 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 2015. All rights are reserved.

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Vernal Equinox Saltwater Orlando Fishing Report

March 20, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Vernal Equinox Saltwater Orlando Fishing Report

Pagans everywhere! Celebrate the Equinox!!!

For disturbing news you won’t get on TV (like we need any more disturbing news), this summer’s algae bloom is already in full swing in the Indian River Lagoon system around Titusville. Two reports came in that it’s bad from Max Brewer Causeway south past NASA Causeway. On Sunday’s On-the-Water Show and Tell I circled Mosquito Lagoon twice. Water that was crystal clear last week is muddy brown now. The south end is just plain brown. This is not a good harbinger for summer fishing, or future fishing for that matter, in the lagoons. I hope to check the Banana River Lagoon this week coming.

Speaking of the show and tell, I got a little feedback-
-“I enjoyed them both very much and I think I learned a great deal.”
-“Thanks for the seminar, John. It was informative and enjoyable. I had been wanting to go on one for years.”
The next one is in October. Don’t miss it!

Casey Borland, who I fished last week, made a short GoPro video of our trip. It’s good. It made me laugh!

Fishing report, oh yes! Sunday, no fishing, the show and tell happened.

Monday I fished the brothers Gardner, Kevin and Joe, from Tallahassee, Florida. We went out of the Port with hopes of finding and catching tripletail and cobia. We ran south almost to Patrick AFB and then idled north a couple miles past Cape Canaveral. We did not see any fish other than a few hand-sized tripletail- not at all what we had in mind. The weather was awesome, the seas a little sloppy for the Mitzi.

They had to drive back to Tallahassee, so we started heading back to Port around 2:30. On the way back we ran into a large school of large black drum, hooked a half-dozen, and boated two. Not what we expected but I never look a gift horse in the mouth while fishing.

saltwater orlando fishing report

Joe got this drum on a swimbait.

 

saltwater Orlando fishing report

I don’t like the Boga Grip but it’s the only way Kevin could hold the beast.

Toosday I had a doctor appointment. Afterwards I met Michael Parks and his son Landon, from Atlanta. We used paddle vessels to go fishing on the Indian River Lagoon. We found a few tailing fish and Landon hooked and caught a very nice one, one of two reds he got.

saltwater Orlando fishing report

Landon does battle from the Dagger.

 

saltwater Orlando fishing report

It was his biggest fish to date.

Wednesday Michael and Landon joined me again. This time we used the Mitzi and fished in Mosquito Lagoon. The water looks bad. Lots of Rhodophyta floating around and covering the bottom. We saw five redfish, no dice as far as catching them goes. They did get a few trout on the DOA Deadly Combo, though. They had to drive back to Atlanta so we were off the water at 3 PM.

Thursday and Friday I got ready for the celebration of the equinox. Maybe I’m part Druid…

And that is this week’s Equinox Saltwater Orlando Fishing Report from 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 2015. All rights are reserved.

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Fished Around Central Florida Orlando Fishing Report

March 6, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Fished Around Central Florida Orlando Fishing Report

Upcoming Events

Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Seminar March 14

Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar March 15

Only one week until the show and tell seminars, but there is still room both days!

 

My preference is to fish during the week rather than on weekends, but Sunday I had an itch to fish. To scratch it I took a bag of Culprit worms and a spin rod and checked out some retention ponds in Oviedo. You may be familiar with this type of pond. As you drive by you ask yourself, “I wonder if there are any fish in there?” Then you tell yourself, “I need to check that out.” Sunday was the day. I checked out two ponds in three hours and got three bass, the largest (not pictured) which was about 14 inches long. It sure beat watching men’s figure skating on TV. Can’t wait for baseball to start!

orlando fishing report

Lots of bass like this can be found in a retention pond near you.

            Yes, there are fish in that pond.

The beneficiary of a good weather forecast on Monday, I took the kayak to the Banana River Lagoon. When I pulled up to unload my stuff a cock cardinal landed on my rearview mirror and proceeded to do battle with his reflection. Most extraordinary. Beautiful, silly little bird!

The cardinal landed on my mirror...

The cardinal landed on my mirror…

 

...and proceeded to duke it out with his own reflection.

…and proceeded to duke it out with his own reflection.

 

cardinal3

            The fog was thick and I found the spot with some good luck. I couldn’t see anything until a tidal-wave sized wake started moving away from me. After staking out the boat I went blind casting with a black bunny leech. The fish pictured below took the fly on the second cast. It was a nice fish- the photo does not do it justice.

orlando fishing report

Definitely not a bad start to the day.

            After releasing it I went blind casting again and hooked a significantly larger fish. It took me deep into my backing and then broke off. A piece of my heart may have broken off a second later.

            I could not find the fish again, and so moved along.

            There was nothing at the next place. In the meantime the fog cleared and the sun appeared in a cloudless sky, making for excellent sight fishing conditions.

            At the next spot I saw nothing for a while. Then I almost ran over a bunch of drum. After staking out the boat I went searching for them, now armed with a black and green Clouser minnow. A single was spotted. The cast was decent, and the fish obliged.

orlando fishing report

No one accuses black drum of being beautiful.

            That was the only black drum that cooperated, although several more shots were taken.

            Through the day two more redfish bit. One broke off on the strike (perhaps we need a beefier tippet), the other was about ten pounds, also on a black bunny leech.

            All in all a very enjoyable day.

Tuesday Mr. Joe Nourigat joined for a day’s paddle fly fishing on the Indian River Lagoon. Although calm in the morning we again had fog. When it blew away there were clouds up there so we never got any good sight fishing light.

            The fish were not very active. For every one we had a cast to, we ran over a half dozen others. Joe had a limited number of shots at tailing fish, only got a single eat, and as so often happens when your luck is running that way we missed it.

            We tried blind casting, which yielded exactly nothing.

            We did have a wonderful, day-long conversation about books, and music, and a smattering of other topics. But when the boat was back on the car we had not caught a fish. It’s a good thing the birds were awesome. Joe was pretty cool, too.

Wednesday Fernado Fonseca, Mr. Orlando Mobile Marine, visited me to do an annual service on the Yamaha. The job is done, the money is in his bank, and see ya next year!

Fernando doing his thang.

Fernando, doing his thang.

Thursday afternoon I dusted off the cobia tackle. The water temperature is hitting the right spot. If the wind ever dies and the sea ever calms down I am going out there. Hopefully that will be next week.

Friday I needed to scout, so in spite of the clouds and wind the Bang-O-Craft and I went fishing on the Mosquito Lagoon. No kidding, I caught a trout on the first cast. Often that’s the kiss of death. Not this day. The trout bite was steady by using the DOA Deadly Combo.

orlando fishing report

The Deadly Combo was, well, deadly.

As often happens there were quite a few little ones but I got six or eight in the slot. Some more trout and a couple junior league redfish also fell for a DOA CAL Shad tail. In four hours at least 20 fish were released, certainly entertaining if not spectacular.

orlando fishing report

The little bitty reds were out on Friday.

 

orlando fishing report

The trout were smacking the shad tail, too.

And that is this week’s Fished Around Central Florida Orlando Fishing Report from 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 2015. All rights are reserved.

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Belated Valentines Day Orlando Saltwater Fishing Report

February 16, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Valentines Day Orlando Saltwater Fishing Report

Upcoming Events

Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Seminar March 14. Visit this link for more information or to register!

Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar March 15. Visit this link for more information or to register!

Redfish on the Fly is now available as an ebook! It’s available in various formats at this link , through iBooks, and as a kindle file at this link…

I only got out two days this week. Monday I took the kayak back to the Indian River Lagoon spot that gave me such an incredible day last week. It was way more subdued this time. I had a couple dozen shots at redfish. All but one spooked off the various flies. I brought a camera this time and did something I’ve never done before to hold the fish for the picture (it certainly can’t be called a photograph)- I used my feet.

orlando fishing report

Holding the fish with my feet was not that easy to do.

 

orlando saltwater fishing report

The fish took a Trout Bite.

If you have any unusual ways of holding fish for photos we all would love to hear them.

orlando saltwater fishing report

Not exactly the fish of the trip, but a fun catch due to its novelty.

I got about a dozen trout too, the best one maybe three pounds. Synthetic streamers were used. I also got what for me was quite an unusual catch- a spotted gar that took a seaducer. It photographed well. All fish were, as per usual, released. I got nice and wet on the back end, caught in the rain by an incoming cold front.

orlando saltwater fishing report

This modest specimen was the best trout of the day.

 

orlando saltwater fishing report

It ate a synthetic minnow and splashed water all over the lens.

Tuesday and Wednesday there were small craft advisories. All the boats stayed in the yard. I watched the trees rock back and forth, releasing mass amounts of pollen.

Thursday Matt Ohley and his son Noah joined me for a half day on the Mosquito Lagoon. We left the dock with high hopes. The lagoon proceeded to crush them.

There were no fish at the first spot, where last time there were hundreds of black drum and some redfish. No fish. None. Not even mullets.

The second spot had some fish, mostly trout, pretty nice ones. They were very spooky and would not bite. I staked out the boat and tried soaking bait. No, that did not work either. So we left and tried door number three.

There were quite a few fish there, mostly nice-sized trout but a few redfish too. Again, they refused all our offerings, including some soaked pork chops. They left lovely wakes as they sped away from us, though.

I’m going to have to go to six pound braid with twelve pound leaders and simply cast a mile to where I think they are from now on. By the time I can see them they just won’t bite because they already know we’re there.

Friday I drove up to Ocala and set up my booth at the Ocala Sportsmen’s Exposition, where I spent Saturday and Sunday (explaining why this report is delayed). Met some good people, saw some old friends, yes, the Gatorman!, got some flies tied, it was a good trip. Maybe some bookings will come from it, one can only hope.

Looking at the weather forecast for this week was not very encouraging. We’ll see what reality brings.

And that is this week’s Orlando Saltwater fishing report from 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 2015. All rights are reserved.

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Fished Around Orlando Area Fishing Report

February 8, 2015 by · 2 Comments

Fished Around Orlando Area Fishing Report

Emails have come in asking, “When is the next Show and Tell seminar?”
The Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell is on March 14. For more information or to register see this link…
The On-the-Water Show and Tell is on March 15. For more information or to register see this link…

So, since I didn’t have any work this week 🙁 I fished around, mostly by myself.

Sunday I went down the street to the Econlockhatchee. As I prepped the kayak I thought, “The water is still too high and too cold.” I floated for maybe 3/4ths of a mile tossing a crayfish pattern, did not get a bite or see any fish other than Gambusia minnows. The wind howled through the new green on the trees and it was absolutely stunning out. No fish, but I was so glad I went.

Monday Maxx and I did a wheel bearing job on his sailboat trailer. The bearings were pretty bad, lots of water and rust, but he successfully towed the boat home when we were done.

Tuesday I checked out a spot on the Indian River Lagoon where I like to fish occasionally. The water was dirty and there were absolutely no fish there, mullet or anything. Pure wild goose chase, pure and simple.

Wednesday I visited another spot on the IRL where I had not been for years. Apparently neither had anyone else. I’m not going into details because no one would believe them (I did not bring a camera), but it was one of the best days of inshore fly fishing I’ve had in years. Cha-CHING!

Friday I visited a remote corner of the St. Johns River that I sometimes fish. There used to be an old, leaky beater boat there. It’s not there anymore. I’m trying to figure out how I will fish that place now.

orlando area fishing report

Saturday Tammy Wilson and I tried the St. Johns River for some shads, launching at SR 50. We got a few right out of the gate, but then it slowed down a lot. Working it pretty hard we got a dozen or so. Tammy managed a double on a rig consisting of a Road Runner with a shad fly tied on a dropper above.

orlando area fishing report

We got some on a 1/8 ounce Pixie spoon, too. A lovely day, a little too much boat traffic for my taste but it was Saturday and the weather was beautiful. I always like fishing with Tammy.

orlando area fishing report

Perhaps this was the point of the entire affair…

And that is this week’s Orlando area fishing report from 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 2015. All rights are reserved.

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

Another Tough Week Orlando Fishing Report

January 11, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Another Tough Week Orlando Fishing Report

Did some blogging this week!

-The Modern Savage- A Review http://www.spottedtail.com/blog/modern-savage-review/

-The House at the End of the Earth http://www.spottedtail.com/blog/house-end-earth/

-ZOINX Sunglasses Review http://www.spottedtail.com/blog/zoinx-sunglasses-review/

 

In spite of the blogging I got to spend some pleasurable if unproductive time in the boat, too.

Monday was cool and a little breezy but seeing the blue sky I needed some boat time. I launched the Bang-O-Craft at CS Lee Park and went shad/crappie/blue marlin fishing. I had equal success with all three, fishing between the mouth of the Econlockhatchee and Lake Harney. The St. Johns River is still quite high. Seminole County will be closing the ramp at CS Lee Park for about a month starting February 2. They will be doing “renovations,” whatever that means. Shad fishermen won’t be happy, at least until the beautiful new ramp is unveiled.

Tuesday George Yarko and I went to Mosquito Lagoon. I had not been to the south end in a while, so that’s where we started. We could not find any clean water and did not see any fish, although I can’t say we hit it hard down there. We ran back north to where there is clean water. We saw perhaps six redfish and maybe twice that number of big trout, but none of them bit our offerings. We got numerous trout on the Deadly Combo. All but one were undersized.

Wednesday I went running along the Econ, from Snow Hill Road. The water level, while not yet low, is dropping. I’m thinking about bass fishing after the shad run ends, not too far off now.

Thursday I had to take Sue to the doctor. Considering the temperature and the wind, that was a good thing. Yes, she is fine.

The cold temperatures and high winds certainly made the water level drop. The water temperature has dropped ten degrees in three days and has yet to bottom out!

gauge height temperature

Went out of River Breeze in the Bang-O-Craft of Friday. It was cold, windy, overcast, began raining. The weather reminded me of Alaska. Two different guys in skiffs almost ran me over, as rude as they could be. Saw very little, got three undersized reds. Very concerned about the loss of seagrasses up around Oak Hill. The prop dredge marks are appalling.

Saturday Dr. Edward Perez, fly fisher from Austin, joined me for a cold, windy day on Mosquito Lagoon. The water has cleared up nicely from the cold weather. Fishing was not good, as we got one bite all day. I saw at least some fish in most places I looked, which an improvement over the past couple weeks. They were not very bitey, or interested in doing anything to meet us.

That, my friends, is another tough week Orlando 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 2015. 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: , , , , , ,

Skipped a Week Orlando Fishing Report

December 20, 2014 by · Leave a Comment

Skipped a Week Orlando Fishing Report

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers. Thank you all for your support this year!

Last week’s skip was not intentional. I fished Thursday and Friday, had a yard sale Saturday, and fished Sunday. The report just didn’t happen.

Thursday’s fishing was a solo scouting trip to Mosquito Lagoon. Starting late, the Mitzi didn’t hit the water until after 11. I checked six spots and found fish in four of them, catching two slot reds and a flounder, all on a DOA Shrimp.

Friday I went with Tom Van Horn. We checked some different spots and didn’t find much until we went to one of my fishy spots from the previous day. Tom got a couple reds and a beautiful 25 inch trout, again all on a DOA Shrimp.

The yard sale was a success. I sold $100 worth of stuff I didn’t use any more, met some of the neighbors, and tied a couple dozen flies.

Sunday Michael Edwards and his friend Mitch joined me for a day’s fly fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. It was cold on that first boat ride but generally the weather was spectacular. Those fish I found Thursday? Mostly MIA. Michael got a low-end slot red in the first spot we tried. Mitch had a bite late in the afternoon that he unfortunately popped off on the strike. In between we either saw very spooky big trout (LOTS of them) that would not bite, or hardly anything at all. I for one was very disappointed.

Orlando Fishing Report

Here’s my water chariot, complete with surrounding litter.

Tuesday the weather looked awesome, as did the water level and the water temperature. Although it’s still got a ways to go, the water level is finally starting to get to get near normal winter levels!

The water levels at the Hauler Canal this week.

The water levels at the Haulover Canal this week.

I took a solo kayak trip to the Banana River Lagoon. It took me quite a while to find some fish. Once I did it was pretty hot with the nice trout and the slot reds for a couple of hours, mostly on a black redfish worm.

Orlando fishing report

One of several nice trout that took the redfish worm.

 

Orlando Fishing Report

Forgot to mention I got this little feller. There were lots of them around.

Thursday I made another trip, intending to look for big fish. Again there was a lengthy search mission, but I found a school of black drum and released five between fifteen and thirty pounds. They were eating pretty good. All of the took a black bunny leech. On the way back to the car I got four slot reds, too. Awesome day. The sunset was arguably the most spectacular of the year, but hard to photograph while driving at 70 MPH.

Orlando Fishing Report

It’s hard to photograph these when you’re by yourself.

That, my friends, is the Skipped a Week Orlando 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 2014. All rights are reserved.

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The Mid-October Saltwater Orlando Fishing Report

October 11, 2014 by · Leave a Comment

The Mid-October Saltwater Orlando Fishing Report

First, upcoming events-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DOAShrimpCover copy

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

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

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

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

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

So although I didn’t exactly kill it this week, that is the Mid-October Saltwater Orlando Fishing Report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

 

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2014. All rights are reserved.

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