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A Mediocre Week Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

April 22, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

A Mediocre Week Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

The wind just won’t quit. This is a mediocre week Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

It still blew like snot most of the week, especially at the end of it.

Monday
Ian Clemens and his friend Rick joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. Those guys worked it hard, tossing both DOA CAL Shad and RipTide Sardines. Rick also had his own supply of “flukes”, on which he got several fish. They got 30 or so trout to about 24 inches, although many were short. Ian also managed a single black drum. We saw very few redfish. Still, action was pretty steady.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Ian with his black drum, the biggest fish of the week.

Monday afternoon Terry Roe and his grandson Luke joined me for Round 2! By now the wind was up and the fish were not as cooperative. They managed a dozen fish, all trout, none particularly large, although most were in the slot.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Luke got his self a fish!

Tuesday
Newcastle England flycaster Dave Swan and his two lads, Ben and Matthew, joined me after detouring all around Florida because of smoke-closed roads. Amazingly there was hardly any wind! I didn’t know what to do!

Out of the gate we found a huge mass of redfish. Wasn’t I surprised! It was all for naught though. We could not get near them, did not get a shot, did not get a bite, and left them in a state of frustration.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Ben with the morning’s only fish.

We got a single trout all morning. The boys were wonderfully patient.

Running south there was a puff of smoke and a burst of flame from the Space Center. A rocket launch! I shut off the boat and we watched the launch. Talk about a day saver!

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Matthew got a few, too. These boys were more patient than most adults, just great!

The afternoon wasn’t great but anything would be better than the morning. We ended up with a dozen trout or so, and a single lonely ladyfish.

Wednesday
Paul Berube, a fly fisher from Fort Kent, and his friend Al, found themselves in Spotted Tail. The wind was back and I figured the redfish might not be there. There were a few, and they let us a little closer to them than the previous morning, but it was early and they weren’t tailing. We ran over a few, they spooked the rest, and we had the same result as the previous day. Again, we got only a single trout all morning.

There was no launch to bail me out this time.

I found another school of redfish and chased them around for 30 minutes before losing them. Again we did not get a shot.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Al from Fort Kent worked hard all day for this one fish.

We fished hard all afternoon and came up with one more trout. Ouch. It was a really tough day.

Friday
Tammy met me at the Port. Every boat in central Florida appeared to be there- the parking lot was completely full! The forecast was wind SE at 5-10. The weatherman pranked us again.

We got out, made about a 1/2 mile loop, and went right back in again. Too rough already, and if it gets worse….

We went to Mosquito Lagoon. The wind did get much worse. We fished three spots, got four trout at the second, and that was it. The lagoon was covered in whitecaps when we left.

That is a mediocre week Mosquito Lagoon fishing report!

I’d like to thank everyone who fished with me this week.

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 2017. All rights are reserved.

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

Vernal Equinox Lagoons Fishing Report

March 26, 2017 by · 2 Comments

Vernal Equinox Lagoons Fishing Report

Monday was the vernal equinox. North of the equator length of day is now longer than length of darkness. It’s springtime, baby! So we have a Vernal Equinox Lagoons Fishing Report.

Ongoing Events-
The Save the St. Johns: Activate the River campaign aims to get people out on the water. Until April 2, 2017, boat tours, paddling trips, hikes and biking adventures are available from the headwaters of the St. Johns to the mouth. We are asking YOU to #GetYourFeetWet and explore the river somewhere new. Bring a friend, register today, and upload pictures using the #ActivatetheRiver to share your experiences! Visit www.savethestjohns.org for more information.

A Question for You
I have an assignment to write an article about fly fishing in eastern Tennessee, a place I’ve never been (but am making plans to visit). Does anyone have any information on this area that they could share? Use the “Leave a Comment” link above, or send an email to john(at)spottedtail(dot)com. Thanks in advance!

Fishing!
Between the small craft advisories and Susan being off this week I only got out two days.

lagoons fishing report redfish

Anthony got this red on a DOA CAL shad.

On the equinox Mr. Anthony Mason and his 83 year-old father, Mr. Rex Mason, joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon kayak fishing, out of River Breeze Park. Although the weather was beautiful the fishing was a little slow. They managed three redfish and two very solid trout between them.

lagoons fishing report redfish

Not to be outdone, Rex got this one!

Rex was pretty inspirational- I sure hope I’m still kayak fishing at 83, if I’m not already pushing up daisies!

lagoons fishing report seatrout

Nice trout, too!

Thank you for fishing with me, gentlemen!

On Friday, in spite of the forecast 20 knot east winds, I went scouting at the Banana River Lagoon. Gee, the forecast was correct. The lagoon looked like a washing machine.

Fishing was not fabulous, even though I opted for a six-weight. I did manage three reds on Steve Duckett’s bouncer shrimp fly, and had one fish who took the fly three times. Yes, I missed him all three. He finally realized something was wrong and vacated the area.

lagoons fishing report redfish

The bouncer fly certainly works.

The water was quite clean and there are even a few sparse tufts of manatee grass here and there, trying to mount a comeback. Finger mullet are starting to show up. Although conditions were less than optimal, I did not see a lot of fish, and had some pretty long stretches where I saw little or nothing. Maybe if the weather were better…

That is the vernal equinox 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 2017. All rights are reserved.

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Winds of Change Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

February 25, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

Winds of Change Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Aye, mateys, ’twas stormy mid-week it was. Friday’s trip revealed the water level in the Mosquito Lagoon had risen almost 12 inches since Monday. The fish moved! Thus the winds of change Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

I have an article in the new issue of Florida Sportsman magazine, thought it looked pretty good! Please check it out!

Upcoming Events-
– On-The-Water Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar March 4. Click this link for more information… http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/
– River Breeze Paddling Show and Tell Seminar, March 5. Click this link for more information! http://www.spottedtail.com/river-breeze-paddling-show-and-tell-seminar/

Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch writes an excellent blog about water quality problems at the south end of the Indian River Lagoon, and her latest is simply awesome. You can view it at https://jacquithurlowlippisch.com/2017/02/23/river-kidz-expands-to-all-south-florida-slrirl/

mosquito lagoon fishing repot

No, it’s not very big. But it is a fish.

Sunday afternoon found me thigh-deep in a local pond, tossing a Culprit Fat Max red shad worm with a spinning outfit. Six bites and four released black bass, and the only photos of the week, resulted. Nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

mosquito lagoon fishing repot

This one was the best of the day.

Monday morning the Mitzi was launched at a very busy River Breeze Park. Dr. Jeff Thill, a fly fisherman, was my passenger. While we visited a few spots that were devoid of life, we also hit three spots that had good numbers of fish. We could not get any of them to bite, however, and the skunk smacked right us in the face. Particularly painful in light of how good the fishing had been.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we had clouds, wind, rain, sleet, hail… no, no, sorry, got a bit carried away. No sleet or hail, thank goodness. Anyway, I did not fish those days.

Friday found me in the Ocean Kayak, paddling out of River Breeze Park. The water had risen nearly a foot. I visited the spot where I got that big trout last week- nothing there. Very sad! That spot had been money for weeks.

A short while later I cast a Clouser minnow into a small hole and caught a small redfish, a three spot fish with one spot distinctly amidship on its starboard side. I released it, took two casts, got another bite and caught the same fish again. Which, as it turns out, was the only fish I would catch. And which was kind of strange, too.

I paddled for miles, much of the time while standing, and perhaps saw 10 fish all day, only three of which were seatrout. Did not come close to getting a shot.

So, did the storms and the rising water cause all the fish to move? Stay tuned next week, same time, same channel, for the exciting answer to that burning question!

That is the winds of change 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 2017. All rights are reserved.

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Still Still Hot Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

February 18, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

Still Still Hot Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

This week was not better than last week. But it was still pretty darned good! Thus the still still hot Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

Upcoming Events-
– On-The-Water Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar March 4. Click this link for more information…
– River Breeze Paddling Show and Tell Seminar, March 5. Click this link for more information!

Steve Duckett asked me to get some pictures of his Bouncer Flies. So Monday, in spite of the winds and clouds, I went kayak fishing out of Oak Hill. This slob trout was my first bite. It hit like a freight train and went about 40 feet into my backing-

mosquito lagoon fishing report
I got other fish after that, but who cared?

Tuesday I visited the St. Johns River, trying to get a nice bass on Duckett’s Bouncer Frog. Two small crappie on Electric Sushi, no bass, no photo.

Thirty mile an hour winds on Wednesday kept me off the water.

Thursday I ended up scouting by myself on Mosquito Lagoon. I had limited time, so I visited spots that had been holding fish (they still were) and a couple places I hadn’t checked in a while (they were not). Three beautiful seatrout and one redfish were caught and released.

Friday Brian Hussey and his son, the tastefully named Alex, joined me for some light tackle Mosquito Lagoon fishing. For starters we had to get out and push because of the shallow water. Then at the first fishing spot we chased all the fish away without getting one. Then spots 2, 3, and 4 had had a fish evacuation, apparently. Nothing at any of them but two smallish trout. A boat ride ensued.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Maine’s Brian Hussey with a nice Mosquito Lagoon seatrout.

Thank God for spot 5. Nice trout, lots of reds, they weren’t eating very good but we managed to get several of each on the 3″ plastic minnows. So we started slow and ended strong, always a good script.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Not to be outdone, Hussey the Younger with a redfish.

 

mosquito lagoon fishing report

And the Husseys together with another redfish!

And that is the still still hot 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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Still Hot Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

February 12, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

Still Hot Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Incredibly, this week was even better than last week. Thus the still hot Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

Upcoming Events-
-2017 Fly Fishing Film Festival, February 26, 4 PM. See the graphic below for more information.


– On-The-Water Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar March 4. Click this link for more information… http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

SuperBowl Sunday Fran and Christian Allen, fly fishers from Massachusetts, joined me for a cloudy half day on Mosquito Lagoon. We spooked all the fish off the first spot. We just could not see them.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Christian got this fish by casting blindly.

The second spot produced a handful of seatrout, some of which were decent if not huge. Fortunately my anglers did not object to casting blindly.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

He followed the trout up with this fish.

At the third spot Christian got a bite. His response? “That’s not a seatrout!” He was correct, as a 26 inch red had taken the fly. It was a short, sweet trip, and that fish was the culmination.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Dave and Dan doubled up. Dan got to pose!

On Monday David Waring and his friends Ryan and Dan, all engineers from the Seattle area, joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon light tackle action. Redfish, seatrout, and black drum, all on either DOA CAL Shad or RipTide Sardines, came into the boat in spurts all day long. Dan posed with a couple of his fish!

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Dan got this nice fish, too.

Tuesday I went scouting out of River Breeze. I did not find fish everywhere I looked, but I certainly found fish. The water is getting really low.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

These three inch plastic minnows are deadly.

Wednesday Coloradoan Donald Nunn joined me, again on Mosquito Lagoon. It was the slowest day of the week fishing-wise, but he still got several redfish and a couple nice trout, all on my favorite artificial baits (see above).

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Don Nunn with a respectable seatrout.

Took Thursday off.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Bill Vail with a nice trout caught on a bouncer fly.

Friday Billy Vail, a fly fisher from South Bend, and Billy Vail, a student in Jacksonville, joined me out of River Breeze. We got trout and reds more or less continuously all day, with the best fish coming on the last cast of the day. The fish was a lovely 27 inch seatrout. If I could script every day that’s how it would play out.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Billy Vail got the fish of the day, though.

On Saturday Mic Lauric and his friend Brian, fly fishers from Atlanta, joined me for a day of kayak fishing out of a busy River Breeze Park. Somewhat inauspiciously I got the first two fish just a few minutes from the launch, a fine trout and a slot red, on a Polar Fibre Minnow. On the rest of the way to the spot I had in mind we saw very little. Even my spot was slow at first- all the fish were at the far end of it.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

One of the many redfish Mic got.

Without the gruesome details, they had at least three doubles. Mic sent me the following email- “Thank you. Can’t wait to do it again. Please send pics when you can. We want to braggggg…”

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Brian certainly was not to be outdone.

Flies were synthetic minnow imitations. The fish were definitely on the feed. There goes that they don’t bite good on the full moon nonsense.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Brian got this beautiful trout, too.

 

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Mic even got the elusive black mullet.

So, that is the still hot 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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Hot Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

February 4, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

Hot Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

The year is young, but this week was the best fishing of the year. Thus the hot Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

Upcoming Events-

2017 Fly Fishing Film Festival, February 26, 4 PM. Check the graphic below to get more information.

The week started last Saturday with a kayak fishing charter with Mic Lauric of Atlanta and his cousin Patrick, from Houston. The day began as a search mission, and the search paid off, especially for Patrick. He got numerous redfish and a couple nice trout too. Mic also got a few licks in. One was using the DOA CAL Shad, the other the Riptide Sardine. They seemed to work equally well.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Patrick found this fish tailing in Mosquito Lagoon.

A cold front came through on Sunday. Monday morning found me at AutoNation Toyota with my brides car. They got me out early (just after 9 am!) so I went looking for shad in the St. Johns, launching at SR 50. A couple crappie, a fat bluegill, an anemic redbelly, a beautiful day and boat ride, but no shad. This year’s shad run is shaping up pretty sadly for me.

Tuesday

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Most of the fish caught on Tuesday fell for this silly fly.

The morning was cold but sunny. I paddled (and dragged) a kayak to the place where Pat and Mic caught their fish. For fly fishers redfishing and seatrout fishing doesn’t get much better than it was on Tuesday. Sightfishing big seatrout with a flyrod is tremendous fun. They pull drag!!!

mosquito lagoon fishing report

We might have been wading. Wish there was seagrass.

 

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Being a mullet must be awful.

After releasing three trout in the seven-eight pound range the mischievous part of my brain wondered if I could get one on a gurgler. Good shots at four fish resulted in one crap-your-pants take and another seven or eight pound trout. They were all bigger than the reds, beautiful fish, the first time I’ve been able to sightfish them like that in a couple years. —AWESOME—

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Yes, I do realize I’m blessed.

Wednesday

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Vince says he caught seven redfish on Wednesday.

Steve Bartek and his buddy Vince, local gentlemen, joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon skiff fishing action. The weather was perfect, cool and sunny, almost windless. We found a spot with a lot of redfish and stayed there all day. Again, they were throwing the DOA CAL Shad and the Riptide Sardine. They seemed to work equally well, and they worked real well, about a dozen redfish worth not counting missed strikes.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Maybe Steve got the biggest one, though.

Thursday

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Tom was very pleased with this trout.

Another beautiful day found Mr. Tom Finger of Oviedo, FL in the Mitzi, again on the Mosquito Lagoon. Needless to say we started at the hot spot from the previous day. It almost goes without saying that it was not nearly as hot. After Tom got a red (DOA CAL Shad) the rest of the fish first got lockjaw and then vacated the area.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Tom was happy with this red, too!

We went looking at a number of other spots, working hard but picking up several more redfish and trout too. At only one place did we not see any fish. Altogether a good day it was.

Friday

morning I went scouting for a Saturday bass fishing trip. Wasn’t I surprised (not in a good way) when I could not get the Bang-O-Craft up the Econ. The water is too low.

My decision to check Lake Harney was foiled by the same problem- shoaling and low water prevented me from reaching the lake, too. I put the boat on the trailer, drove it home, dropped it off, threw a kayak on the van’s roof, and went to the Econ.

The water is low and clear, just gorgeous. For our friends in colder climes, the willow trees are leafed out and flowering, as are the red maples. With the quality of light now the river is Clyde Butcher picturesque.

Three hours later the kayak was returned to the van’s roof. I did not touch a fish in either place, yes, slapped upside the head by the dreaded skunk. Loved every moment of it.

So, that is this week’s hot 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, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Windy Week Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

January 27, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

Windy Week Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Oh yes, it was windy all week! So we have a windy week Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report.

Blog Posts this week-
-A Betrayal of the Public Interest- http://www.spottedtail.com/blog/betrayal-public-interest/
-Top Tips for Women Hikers- http://www.spottedtail.com/blog/top-tips-for-women-hikers/

Sunday we had a major front come through, complete with tornado watches and warnings. There was no fishing by this reporter.

Monday the winds blew over 20 mph all day- still no fishing.

Tuesday the Senter family of Hackensack, NJ joined me for some light tackle fishing on a still-windblown Mosquito Lagoon. Dan the dad and his two sons Zev and Ben tossed DOA CAL shad and Deadly Combos for almost six hours. I figured that because of the storms and the change of weather it would be a search mission. It was. Some of the spots that had been reliably producing fish were barren. They got one slot red and perhaps 20 trout, four of which would hold batter. So it was fairly slow, although we’ve all had worse days.

Wednesday Brownie’s Septic Service visited the Kumiski household for an exciting septic tank pumpout, something that should be done every three to five years… It pretty much tied me up all day.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Capt. Jason with a nice trout.

Thursday Jason Semeyn joined me kayak fishing out of River Breeze, a light tackle half day. I had not been up there in almost a month. The water was pretty clean, if not chock full of fish. Using soft plastics we got a rat red and a half dozen trout to about 24 inches, all by casting into potholes, quite a lovely morning.

In the afternoon it got real windy as another front moved through.

Friday found me at AutoNation Toyota, getting my bride’s chariot serviced. Much to my surprise I was out of the shortly after 9 AM. After taking care of a few things I put a kayak on the roof and went to the St. Johns River.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

This poor creature will be eaten tomorrow.

It was not on fire. I foul-hooked a tilapia. While it was pulling I did not know that, and wondered what in the heck it could be. The filets are in my refrigerator right now. Mmm-mm-mmm.

Two shad fell victim to my crappie jigs, along with a very small warmouth.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Friday’s best bass, on a hair bug.

A half-dozen bass attacked my surface flies, to my surprise and joy. No big ones, though. Still, in part because not a single airboat went by, it was a very enjoyable afternoon.

So, we did not fish much this week, and that is the windy week 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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Elusive Black Drum Fishing Report

January 21, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

Elusive Black Drum Fishing Report

This is the Elusive Black Drum Fishing Report!

Upcoming Events
-Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, January 25-30, Titusville, FL. http://www.spacecoastbirdingandwildlifefestival.org

Sunday found me in a canoe with Mr. Roger Cook, gentleman and fly fisher from North Carolina. On a spectacular day we were looking for tailing black drum, a fish and behavior that had been plentiful the previous week.

They let us down.

We ran into another fly fisher, a young man named Nick Swain, who was out on a paddle board. He found some drum, not tailing, and caught one while we watched. I photographed him. He invited us to cast to the fish he was working, but we could not get a bite.

black drum fishing report

Nick Swain releases a drum.

We found a few black drum in another spot, and got one on a wool crab. Even though we were out until sunset, that was it for the day. Tough day…

Monday Tammy and I Bang-O-Crafted our way up to Puzzle Lake, searching for American shad. We caught some crappie. We caught some sunfish. But we did not get any shad.

We ran into a couple other folks who had caught a few. One fly fisher called them “the fish of a thousand casts.” Shad should not take 1000 casts. When they’re around you often catch two at a time if you use a tandem rig. There just aren’t many in the stretch between SR 46 and Puzzle Lake. Will they show? That’s the question.

Wednesday I took the Mitzi across Lake Harney and fished the outlet, again for shad. Using crappie jigs I got three, nice ones all. It was still pretty slow.

Going upriver I tried again at the mouth of the Econ. I got two warmouth, nothing else. That was really slow!

I talked to a couple guys who told me their friend had been “killing” the shad near Mullet Lake, with 20 fish days. Perhaps I will check that out…

Thursday Roger Cook and I went looking for tailing black drum again. Although we saw a half-dozen or so, most of the fish were still schooled up in deeper water. Roger managed to get one of those fish to eat a fat brown sparkle crab. I could not get a bite, and ended up fishless at the end of another long, tough day.

black drum fishing report

Roger really had to work. This was his reward…

Roger and I went out on Mosquito Lagoon on Friday. We used fly tackle, and got spanked. We saw some fish, but it was windy, and the water is getting dirty again. DANG!

black drum fishing report

The mighty (and elusive) black drum, about to be released.

We got exactly one decent shot, which we did not convert.

Did the wind stir goo off the bottom into suspension, or are the algae already growing again? Hopefully it’s only the former. Time will tell.

So even though almost all the fish were elusive this week, that is the elusive black drum 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, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Christmas Orlando Fishing Report

December 24, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Christmas Orlando Fishing Report

This is the 2016 Christmas Orlando Fishing Report, December 24. Best wishes to all for a holiday season full of joy, and a happy and healthy new year full of fishing adventures!

We fished the Mosquito Lagoon two days, and the St. Johns River three days. Of course results were mixed.

orlando fishing report

The lovely little stumpknocker is a very aggressive fish!

Sunday I went paddling on the St. Johns. It was warm and sunny and fish were popping fry minnows all over the river. At the mouth of the Econ there was another paddling fly caster who steadily caught 12 inch bass on a small white streamer. I joined him (he was very gracious) and caught several myself, some on a gurgler.

At other points along the river a small streamer netted me a crappie, some bluegills, redbellies, and stumpknockers, and several more bass. Some of the largemouths were as small as I’ve caught, beautiful little mini-fish. It was a good day and I made a note to return later in the week.

orlando fishing report

Bass of all sizes were crushing tiny minnows.

Monday Tammy joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon scouting. We launched the Mitzi at River Breeze and fished around Oak Hill area. We caught quite a few trout and redfish, some decent if not large ones, even found some tailing fish. The DOA CAL shad was the lure de jour. The day was spectacular if the fishing wasn’t, and fishing with Tammy is always fun.

orlando fishing report

Tammy and seatrout, a winning combination.

 

orlando fishing report

The release!

Wednesday was the winter solstice, historically, or perhaps more accurately prehistorically, the most important day of the year. That’s the day the time of daylight stops getting less and starts lengthening, a cause for celebration! My friend Dr. Todd Preuss joined me for some St. Johns River fly fishing.

As soon as I walked out the door I knew it would be a tough day. The air temperature had dropped close to 20 degrees, the sky was low and grey, and the wind was rocking the trees. All the fish that were there on Sunday were lying on the bottom someplace where we could not find them. We got four fish all day, with the best being a big, black bluegill that Todd fooled on a popping bug. After Sunday it was disappointing fish-wise, although it’s always enjoyable fishing with Todd.

orlando fishing report

Robert and Spencer. They caught some fish.

Thursday Robert and Spencer Cutts, a father-son team from Orlando, joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. The wind was honkin out of the north, the water had dropped close to a foot, and I did not know what to expect. Some pelicans were diving on a hole so I stopped to check it out. Two days of scouting, wasted!

The hole had fish in it. They weren’t stacked up in there, but we got seven or eight redfish and a couple of beautiful trout. Again, the lure de jour was the DOA CAL shad, although we also used some cut mullet to good effect.

orlando fishing report
When that hole stopped producing we went to another, from which we pulled another six or seven, including a gorgeous, 28 inch, 12 spot redfish. Other holes we tried were fishless, so we visited spot #2 again and got one more red before calling it an (excellent) day.

We never did get into any of the areas that I had so diligently scouted.

I enjoyed tremendously the curiosity and enthusiasm of Cutts the Younger, and Dad was pretty funny too. Thanks to both of them for a great day!

Friday afternoon was warm and sunny. I wondered if the fish were going off on the St. Johns again so I dropped the kayak in at the Jolly Gator and went a’paddling. Six bass and 12 sunfish later, all on fly, I had my answer. The only downside to an otherwise lovely afternoon was the almost astonishing amount of boat traffic on the river. Fishing was good, though.

Shannon Dunn sent me the following email, of great interest to fly fishers of Appalachian trout-
“We’ve recently published a guide to choosing trout flies, together with Bill Bernhardt of NC Fishing, that you may find useful:
http://www.fishfindersource.com/trout-flies-choosing/ ”

I like their keep it simple approach.

And that is the 2016 Christmas Orlando Fishing Report! Have a great holiday!!

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, Paddle Fishing Florida, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Dirty Water Orlando Fishing Report

December 17, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Dirty Water Orlando Fishing Report

This is a Dirty Water Orlando Fishing Report, December 17, 2016. Best wishes to all for a holiday season full of joy, and a happy and healthy new year full of fishing adventures!

On a glorious Tuesday morning I met Tom Finger and we went searching the Atlantic out of Port Canaveral for some denizens of the deep. The water along the beach was very dirty. Places that were full of fish last week had none. We turned the bow of the boat east and headed out to sea.

We found a few scattered weeds out about three miles, and slowly searched them for a while. We saw exactly one very short tripletail. Speeding up the process, we went looking for thicker weeds, breaking fish, other signs of life. We found none.

By this time we were south of the Cocoa Beach pier. We again came in close to the beach. We found an area with scattered menhaden splatting, but did not get a bite there.

Finally, late in the afternoon, we anchored by the north jetty where we got a couple bluefish and a couple small sharks. Although it was a beautiful day, fishing was tough. I ran into Scott Lum at the dock. He had gotten a single tripletail. It wasn’t just me.

Wednesday morning Rodney Smith met me at the Port. Again, the weather was amazing. We ran straight down to the end of the buoy line, then kept going another mile or two. You know, the Mitzi starts looking real small out there. We found some weeds and started hunting. Lots of shorty tripletail. Then we found a small clump of weed with a decent fish under it. We had to invest some time, but Rodney finally got it to take a jig.

orlando fishing report

Rodney was very happy with this tripletail.

 

orlando fishing report

However, the fish beat him so badly he had to rest :-).

We kept looking and found another, slightly larger. Rodney got it to bite but missed it, and we never saw it again. Or any others, other than dinks.

A moderate wind started out of the southeast and not trusting it to stay moderate I headed in towards the beach. There was still nothing there, until I fired a DOA Deadly Combo out. It must have landed right on top of the beast because immediately a hefty shark came up and ate the jig. It was the only bite we got there, and after the inevitable cut-off we headed back to the dock.

On another nearly perfect day (I love Florida’s winter weather!) on Friday Tom Van Horn joined me for a scout trip on Mosquito Lagoon, the first time I’d been there in weeks. The water still looks like crap. The grass is still dying back.

We Deadly Combo’d up a bunch of trout, although all but two were short. Then we went looking for redfish. I checked four or five spots before even seeing one, but we ended up seeing a few and Tom even managed to get one.

orlando fishing report

Capt. Tom with a redfish.

Friend and paddle fanatic Mike Conneen made a 5 minute video on our Big Bend trip, worth the time to check-

And that is the Dirty Water Orlando Fishing Report for this week!

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, port canaveral fishing report · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,
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