Banana River Lagoon Fishing Report

Banana River Lagoon Fishing Report 22214

Upcoming Events-
-Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 15. Visit this link  for more information or to register…
-Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 16. Visit this link  for more information or to register…

Blog Posts this Week-
Sharkwave Fly Lines Coming
Lunkerhunt Swim Bentos Bait
Oil Drilling Coming to the Everglades

The new issue (March 2014) of Florida Sportsman has an article about the Indian River Lagoon Odyssey, by John Kumiski! Check it out!

On to the fishing, men!

Monday the weather was gorgeous, so I strapped the kayak to the roof of the chariot and drove over to the Banana River Lagoon. I got there after nine o’clock. Six cars were already there. I avoided the other boats as much as I could.

Travelling along the shoreline I saw two small trout, two small redfish, and then a school of about 20 small reds, less than 20 inch fish. They elicited no response in me.

I went out to the second bar. There was nothing there.

I went to the third bar. Two boats were there, one on each side. I went up the middle. The water was clear, there was hardly any grass, and I saw nothing. I kept going.

On the fourth bar there was a school of black drum, not the big ones. Two tasted my black bunny leech. The larger one was 12 pounds or so.

I left them, hoping to find big fish. A group of eight big reds was swimming high in the water. I got two casts at them but they ignored me.

The paddle back was uneventful, as no fish were seen.

The grass up there is all gone, and so are most of the fish. It’s a sad thing.

Tuesday found me on a bus travelling to Tallahassee for the Clean Water Rally. Senator David Simmons, the senator from my district, was one of the speakers. Good work, sir!

I had a meeting with my district’s representative, Rep. Jason Brodeur. He told me he understands the need for clean water, would be sponsored a bill addressing clean water issues. It was good to hear, but show me the money. Stay tuned.

One of the speakers was a woman from Naples, Dr. Karen Dwyer, of the Stone Crab Alliance. Here is what she had to say: ” The Everglades oil rush is on. In addition to the 115,000 acres leased for oil exploration, Collier Resources just issued two more leases for massive seismic testing operations to identify more locations for oil drilling: 103,000 acres to Tocala, LLC and 234,500 acres to Burnett Oil, all in the Big Cypress National Preserve in the western Everglades. Everyone. March 11. Please. Pack the EPA Meeting. Take a stand for the Everglades and our water. Now is the time. No one can take your place.”

Fight for your right to clean water!

Fight for your right to clean water!

How this has escaped the state and national news media is beyond me. All fishermen should be going crazy over this- hydraulic fracturing in the Everglades? WE CAN’T LET THIS HAPPEN!!! I will be in Naples on March 11. I hope to see you there.

Wednesday Rick DePaiva, one of my dearest friends, came up to fish with me. Because he likes going there and because I got a good report from one of my subscribers we went to KARS Park and launched the canoe.

The weather was awesome.

The short version is that we went most of the way to the NASA Causeway, went out to the islands on the other side of the channel, and worked it hard. We saw maybe eight fish and had one half-baked shot that did not work. So we went fishless. Had a good time other than that, enjoying the day and Rick’s company.

black-drum-release.jpg

 This is what we wanted. It is not what we got.

            Again, most of the grass is gone. This area had such thick grass just a couple years ago, too. Bad, bad, bad Bad BAD.

And that is this week’s not so great Banana River Lagoon 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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St. John River and Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

St. John River and Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report 21514

Upcoming Events-

-Floridians for Clean Water Rally in Tallahassee, February 18

-Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 15. Visit this link http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/ for more information or to register…

-Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 16. Visit this link http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/ for more information or to register…

I’m still trying to sell that Mitzi skiff, an awesome little boat. See the details here…

We had some decent fishing this week. I did not carry a camera for any of it.

Sunday about noontime I launched the kayak at CS Lee Park on the St. Johns River and paddled upstream, dragging a tandem rig consisting of a Spoiler Shad and a crappie jig as I went. I talked to a few other anglers along the way, all of whom complained about the lack of action.

There was a bit of a traffic jam at the mouth of the Econ so I kept going to another spot farther upstream.

No one was at my spot, where it was discovered I had forgotten the anchor. I put the boat ashore and started casting, getting two shad and a sunfish in about an hour. Not exactly hot, but better than no cheese!

A flats skiff idled up the river, then started fishing right in front of me. At first I wasn’t crazy about this but the guy kept his distance and had a kid with him. He hooked a fish and handed the rod to the youngster. Good work!

When the boat was facing me and the wind was right I could hear snippets of conversation. “That’s Charlie Chapman!” I thought. “You sound like Charlie Chapman!” I hollered.

It was Charlie Chapman, a.k.a. the Mustache Man. He put the boat ashore and we chewed the fat for a couple of very pleasant hours, until the boy, his grandson, said, “Are we going fishing or not? We’re burning daylight here!” It was real good seeing him, it had been literally years. I hope they got some fish.

St. johns river and mosquito lagoon fishing report

The Mustache Man, a number of years ago, with a fat Banana River Lagoon redfish.

I paddled back to SR 46, again dragging the tandem rig, but did not get another bite. Didn’t care.

Monday Ed Farrell-Starbuck joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon kayak-fly-redfishing. Ed had never been before and wanted to learn how to go about it. I explained to him that every trip was a search mission. Most days it works, some days it doesn’t. Groundwork layed, off we went.

We paddled a long time without seeing much. Then we found a hole full of redfish, nice fish that averaged five to six pounds. They did not want to leave, and were fairly bitey.We were both using brown flies; mine was a slider. We both got five or six, a pretty good afternoon. The fish finally turned off, so we headed back. I did not see any more fish along the way.

mosquito lagoon redfish

This fish took a slider.

Tuesday Frank Moss and his friend Bruce drove up from Tampa to do some shad fishing on the St. Johns River. Frank had an old cane fly rod and wanted to catch a shad with it. Bruce was a spin fisherman.

I put two lines out with tandem rigs to troll up to the fishing spot. The fish immediately told us we were at the fishing spot- double hookup right off the bat!

We ended up getting fifteen or twenty shad, strangely no sunfish, crappie, etc. Frank got a couple shad on the cane rod before switching to spin. It was a great afternoon, and thank you, gentlemen.

Wednesday I went scouting with the Mitzi out of River Breeze. There was a number of places I had been wanting to check. At the first I had been poling less than five minutes when I spotted maybe a half dozen reds together, relaxed. I tossed a DOA CAL shad at them and one jumped on it, a little feller of 20 inches or so. Thinking it might be a good day, I continued poling, changed spots, continued poling, etc. What I found was lots of places not to look again, seeing perhaps a dozen fish in five hours.

On a slightly more ominous note, some guy with a red Texas scooter tower boat is out there running every shoreline he can looking for fish, scaring away everything in sight. When are fishermen going to learn that running shorelines wrecks the fishing for everyone? Fish stop using the shorelines when they’re geting run over by motorboats all the time.

Friday morning Dave Caprera and his friend Jim joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fly fishing. It was a little chilly at pick-up time, in the 40s. We went to the hole that produced all the fish for me on Monday. Of course it was barren, previews of coming attractions.

We looked in a lot of spots, from JBs Fish Camp down to Tiger Shoal. We found the occasional single and one small school of about 30 fish. We had maybe four good, solid shots all day, but none of the fish felt like taking the fly, and we ended up with a bagel for the day.

The weather was about as perfect for tailing fish as it gets, but nary a one did we see. I dropped them off at about 4 PM, then headed back to River Breeze.

And that is this week’s St. Johns River and Mosquito Lagoon 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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Mosquito Lagoon Report

Mosquito Lagoon Report 2914

Upcoming Events-
-Floridians for Clean Water Rally in Tallahassee, February 18
-Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 15. Visit this link http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/ for more information or to register…
-Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 16. Visit this link http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/ for more information or to register…

Blog Posts This Week-
-Make A Home For Florida Bats
-How to Buy Fishing Sunglasses

On Monday fly fisher Dalen Mills joined me for a Mosquito Lagoon trip. As soon as I came out of Haulover Canal I was on the compass. The fog was too thick to see anything. I found a fishing spot and there were some sizable reds tailing there. The problems were, as soon as they stopped tailing they were very hard to see, and Dalen couldn’t see them at all if the tails were down. We managed to spook all of them away without getting a bite.

English: Section of Florida map showing east c...

English: Section of Florida map showing east coast from St. John’s River to Mosquito Lagoon, 1839.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Once the fog cleared we went looking in other places. The seatrout left the spot that was so full of them last week, and as a matter of fact we did not see a legal trout all day.

There were no fish of any kind where we looked on Tiger Shoal, and we were there for about an hour.

We worked our way north of George’s Bar, finding a reasonable number of redfish. Dalen had some good shots at tailing fish but they all spooked off his flies. I got one small red on a DOA CAL shad and we each got a small trout and that was it for the day.

On Tuesday fly fisherman William Lynch came down from Jacksonville for some Mosquito Lagoon sight fishing. There was a little fog as we left the dock but nothing like the previous day. We went to the place Dalen and I had found the foggy fish the day before. They were not there.

We spent the day checking spot after spot. Some spots had a few tailers, some spots had no fish at all. WIlliam was unable to convince a fish to take his fly. Wind and clouds made the job difficult. At 4 PM I put the Mirage back on the trailer.

Wednesday I took son Alex to the doctor. Thursday I took him to a surgeon, who re-attached a ligament in his left wrist. He’s now in a cast, but should be as good as new in six weeks.

I wanted to fish Friday and Saturday but a steady, soaking rain talked me out of it. Even though it’s Sunday I may go today.

The water temperature at the Trident Pier as I write this is 67 degrees. The cobia show up when it hits 71. Stay tuned…

And that is this week’s Mosquito Lagoon 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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Orlando Area Fishing Report

Orlando Area Fishing Report 2114

Upcoming Events-
-Floridians for Clean Water Rally in Tallahassee, February 18

orlando area fishing report

-Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 15. Visit this link http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/ for more information or to register…
-Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 16. Visit this link http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/ for more information or to register…

 

What a week. I started working on an ark after the fourth day of rain, but the sun actually shone for a few minutes today.

Last Sunday Tammy Wilson and I went to the St. Johns River in the Mirage to fish for shad. There were lots of boats out there. We saw some folks we knew. They both said the same thing- the bite was good this morning, but it slowed down. Since we were already there we fished.

It wasn’t hot but it was steady. With spin tackle we got them with little crappie jigs and Creme’s Spoiler Shad, and with fly tackle on a chartreuse and silver shad fly. We probably got 15 or so in three hours, and a couple of crappie besides. Nice enough day!

orlando area fishing report

This is the fly I’ve ben using for shad.

Monday morning I drove through the rain to meet my fisherman, the Rev. Del Schomberg, a fly fisher from Oregon. He had never fished in Mosquito Lagoon and was hoping to catch a redfish.

It was raining lightly as we idled out of Haulover Canal. It started to rain harder as I ran to spot number one. Running in the rain is not my idea of fun so we stopped at an alternate spot.

It was loaded with seatrout.

Del got a couple fat slot fish by blind casting a slider before the rain stopped. At that point he said he’d still like to try for reds so we went hunting.

orlando area fishing report

This is a trout caught on a slider.

They were not where they had been.

We looked in a variety of other spots. Some had fish, some didn’t, but nowhere were they thick. All the clouds made it hard to see. The best shots we had came when I found aboput a dozen tailing fish scattered over a 100 yard stretch of flat. We did not convert.

We found a school of about 30 fish that started moving almost as soon as I spotted them- no shot.

We found a bunch of fish in potholes. Blindcasting into the holes did not work, and sight fishing to fish we could see in the holes did not work either.

We ended up with the two trout and nothing else. At least it turned into a nice day.

It rained quite hard every day the rest of the week. I kept myself busy by adding some new articles to my website, tying flies, wrapping new guides on rods, trying to organize my tackle, and that sort of thing.

orlando area fishing repot

My tying was out of my comfort zone this week.

Instructions for how to tie this fly can be found here…

I am ready to do some fishing this week, I’ll tell you that!

And that is this week’s Orlando Area 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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Orlando Area Saltwater Fishing Report 12514

Orlando Area Saltwater Fishing Report

Upcoming Events-

-Floridians for Clean Water Rally in Tallahassee, February 18
-Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 15. Visit this link  for more information or to register…
-Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 16. Visit this link  for more information or to register…

Monday Capt. Tom Van Horn and I took the Mirage out for a test drive, launching at Haulover Canal and exploring the Mosquito Lagoon. The water temperature at launch time was a brisk 54 degrees. We did not catch a fish at either of the first two spots we checked. The third, however, produced a lovely red for Tom, an out-of-the-slot fish that tried to wolf down a DOA CAL shad.

orlando area saltwater fishing report

Capt. Tom in battle.

 

orlando area saltwater fishing report

Tom was victorious, although the fish was released.

Once the water temperature started to climb fishing steadily improved, enough that we even got a double.

orlando area saltwater fishing report

Tom has his hands full…

Not everyplace we looked had fish but enough did that we ended up with about a half dozen apiece of reds and trout. The water temperature when we loaded the boat was 58 degrees. It was a good way to break in the new boat.

Speaking of which, the Mitzi is still for sale. Visit this link  for more information…

Wednesday found me at the Floridians for Clean Water Rally in Orlando. If you want to sign the Clean Water Declaration, and if you’re a fisherman you should, visit this link http://www.wewantcleanwater.com .  There will be a rally in Tallahassee on February 18. I hope to attend and hope you will too! More information to come!

Thursday found the kayak strapped to the roof of the chariot. Speed laws may have been broken as we zoomed to KARS Park on the Banana River Lagoon. It was cold when I got there and remained so all day. The forecast high was 61 (my sympathies to all living in the near-arctic zones up north)- I do not think we got there. The wind was 10-12 out of the nnw and bone-chilling. But the sun was out and I found decent numbers of fish. In spite of my shivering I even managed to get a few, some on a crab pattern, some on a redfish worm, a mix of redfish and black drum. I saw a few of the school bus-sized fish I was looking for but did not manage to connect.

This drum took a redfish worm.

This drum took a redfish worm.

This one, the best fish of the day, fell for a merkin.

This one, the best fish of the day, fell for a merkin.

Of greater concern was the lack of seagrass up there- the bottom is almost denuded of vegetation, although the Rhodophyta algae sure is plentiful.

This red algae is growing like crazy now that the grass is all gone.

This red algae is growing like crazy now that the grass is all gone.

 

And what fly caster could fail to be thrilled by a trophy puffer fish like this one???

And what fly caster could fail to be thrilled by a trophy puffer fish like this one???

My guide schedule is much too empty- if you want to get out of the frozen wasteland and do some fishing please call or email me! I need the work!!!

And that is this week’s Orlando Area Saltwater 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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  • Studies: Indian River Lagoon Facing Uniform Mortality Event’
  • Troubled Water: Pollution Brings Toxic Algae to Indian River Lagoon System

The First 2014 St. Johns River Fishing Report

The First 2014 St. Johns River Fishing Report

Last week I wrote, “Several reporters have indicated shad are in the St. John’s River. I will be checking that out this week.”

Tuesday afternoon the kayak and I went to the St. Johns for a little over three hours, launching at CS Lee Park, where the Jolly Gator is. I had four bites and landed two shad. Pretty slow fishing.

Thursday afternoon son Alex, John Napolitano, and I went back in the Mitzi. We timed it so that we would be there right when the front came through, so we were there less than an hour. In that time we got one shad, one blue gill, one redbelly, and one crappie. I hooked and lost another speck. All fish were caught on crappie jigs or Creme Spoiler Shad, great lures for this kind of fishing.

St. Johns River Fishing Report

John Napolitano with his first shad of 2014.

St. Johns River Fishing Report

John got this fat redbelly too.

This crappie was fooled by a Creme Spoiler Shad 1.5".

This crappie was fooled by a Creme Spoiler Shad 1.5″.

The front was a strong one, with high winds and brief but heavy rain. The run back to the ramp was short but entertaining.

The photos from the Indian River Lagoon Paddle Adventure are posted at http://johnkumiski.com/portfolio/2013-indian-river-lagoon-paddle-adventure/

I drove to Miami and back yesterday. Came back with Bob Stearns’s Maverick Mirage HPX-T. I believe I will take it out for a spin today.

The first Florida Clean Water Rally is coming up-

clean water rally

And that is the extent of 2014s First St. Johns River 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 2013. All rights are reserved.

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The Last 2013 Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

The Last 2013 Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

A happy, healthy, and prosperous new year to all. If I may be so bold as to suggest a a couple resolutions, resolve to get outdoors more often, and to have more respect for man and nature.

Blog Posts this Week:
Cleanwaste Go Anywhere Portable Toilet- A Review
Brothers, a guest blog by Darryl Benton
Indian River Lagoon Paddle Adventure Epiblogue

This is the time of year to do inventories. Actually, they should already be done. Then you could have added what you need to your Christmas list. The paddle adventure set me back, though.

Inventories needed to be done around Kumiski’s stuff include:
-fly-tying materials, including hooks;
-flies;
-leader material;
-line, including fly lines;
-conventional lures and hooks;
-rods and reels.
Inventory your fishing gear, get what you need, and be ready for the new year.

Several reporters have indicated shad are in the St. John’s River. I will be checking that out this week.

OK, fishing. Got some done this week.

Last Saturday (12/21) son Maxx needed a fish to take to someone’s house for Christmas dinner. We went to Mosquito Lagoon. I did not know what to expect.

We found a few tailing fish right away. I got one on a DOA CAL shad tail.

We looked in several spots without seeing anything alive. Then we found a place where there we saw a few fish. After anchoring the boat we were pleasantly surprised to see the reds swimming all around us. Maxx got a couple by sight fishing with mullet chunks and I got another on a DOA CAL jig. Mission accomplished, we put the Mitzi on the trailer and went home.

Sunday Dr. Todd Preuss, a long-time and favorite angler of mine (“Where did you get this brain?”), joined me for a day’s fly fishing on the lagoon. The weather was pretty nice and the tailers were there again. Sadly, we did not convert what turned out to be our best chance of the day. We covered water from Haulover Canal to Eldora. While we saw fish here and there, nothing was strong. Our shots were fleeting and none were converted. Todd never had a strike. Merry Christmas.

On Monday Jesse Hill, a fly caster from Colorado, joined me out of River Breeze for some fly fishing by canoe. It was a little breezy but the sun was shining.

I poled the canoe a long way. We did not see many fish.

We came to a junction. I wanted to go right but there was a boat down there already, so I went left. We came to a big white spot in the grass and anchored the boat. The plan was to wade and blind cast.

I got two dink redfish, then cast my fly to Jesse. He cut it off and tied it onto his leader. A few minutes later he had his first-ever saltwater fish, a seatrout. He ended up getting three trout, including a decent slot fish, and a couple redfish besides. Hardly hot fishing but it certainly beat off the skunk.

last 2013 mosquito lagoon fishing report

This certainly qualifies as a dink redfish.

Friday morning I went to Mosquito Lagoon for some scouting before my afternoon charter. Using the DOA Deadly Combo I found trout in several locations, then went to visit a flat. It was windy and overcast and not much was expected. I was pleasantly surprised to find some tailing redfish and got one on my first cast with the CAL Shad, quite a nice fish. Then I went back to Haulover to pick up my sports.

last 2013 mosquito lagoon fishing report

This fish, however, was anything but dinky. Too bad he wasn’t thee when my anglers were.

Jed Simmons, his son Zander, and his cousin Anne graced Spotted Tail for an afternoon of Mosquito Lagoon fishing. We went back to the tailing fish spot. Of course an hour later we saw exactly none.

We spent the rest of the afternoon using the Deadly Combo and got about 30 trout. Most were dinks but we did get a few slot fish, and a good time was had by all. Jed emailed me, “Thanks for yesterday.  We really enjoyed it. Anne and David cooked up the fish and it was really very good.  Zander even tried it and liked it.” So that was a good thing. Thank you, sir- the pleasure was all mine.

Saturday Steve Campbell and his son Seth found themselves on Spotted Tail for a full day’s fishing. The weather was not nice, overcast and windy, although after a morning shower at least it didn’t rain any more.

We fished from south of Haulover Canal all the way up to Eldora. At the last spot we fished we saw five redfish, all singles. We did not catch one. We used the Deadly Combo all day and got about 40 trout. Every one was short.

Steve got a flounder on the Deadly Combo (!). It was also short. I got a whiting on a four inch CAL jerkbait. It was the first whiting I’ve caught in Mosquito Lagoon in at least 15 years. While it was decent size for a whiting, a giant whiting is only a couple pounds.

So we caught a load of fish and did not catch one over eight ounces.

That is the last 2013 Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report. I certainly hope 2014 fishing starts like gangbusters! Hope springs eternal from the heart of a fisherman…

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 2013. All rights are reserved.

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  • Troubled Water: Momentum Is Hoped To Lead to Solutions

Fly Fish Banana River Black Drum

Fly Fish Banana River Black Drum

It’s getting to be that time of year!

Fly Fish Banana River Black Drum

Black drum run big. If you Fly Fish Banana River Black Drum they’ll probably be the largest tailing fish to which you’ll ever cast a fly.

When you’re in the water up to your hips and that broom-sized tail pops up, I don’t care where you’ve been or what you’ve caught. Adrenaline is going to rush. The mouth will dry right up. It’s exciting fishing.

The requisite fly selection for black drum is small. Flies need to sink like an anvil. A black, size 2 Clouser Minnow with a weedguard or a dark crab pattern such as a Merkin are the best choices.

You need a seven- or eight-weight outfit with a floating line, plenty of backing, and a 10 foot leader with a 15 pound tippet, almost impossible to break.

Paddle up into the Banana River Lagoon’s federal manatee refuge (locally called the no motor zone) searching for them. Either a canoe or a kayak will work. Use the boat to find the fish, then wade.

The best weather is a cool, sunny day with a light north or northwest wind. The best time of year runs roughly from Thanksgiving to Easter.

You won’t find them on the shoreline. Look out on the deeper part of the flat, even at or off its edge. Expect that some days you won’t see any.

While tailers are what everyone wants to see, drum don’t always tail. Many times you’ll see cruising fish. They will still take a well presented fly.

Sometimes you find the drum as scattered singles. If you’re lucky, you’ll find a herd. Anytime you find some, be happy about it. Make the best of whatever situation comes along.

How far will you have to paddle? Some days only a few miles gets the job done. Other days you might have to go all the way up to the NASA Causeway, a round trip of more than 10 miles.

To read the rest of this article, visit this link…

Life is short. Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2013. All rights are reserved.

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Indian River Lagoon and Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Indian River Lagoon and Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Upcoming Events-

The Indian River Lagoon Paddle Adventure kicks off on November 30. Paddle a section or the length of the lagoon with us!

My Mitzi Skiff 17 is for sale. For information, visit this link…

On Sunday Tammy and I went to the Indian River Lagoon for some rare Sunday fishing for me, and part of her ongoing birthday celebration. Hope it was a good birth month, Tammy! Anyway, we visited to power plant first to get a few ladyfish. In what proved to be a bad omen we did not get a bite there.
We crossed the lagoon and went on a search mission. We did not have to search very hard. There were lots of fish there- black drum, redfish, seatrout. In one of the most serious cases of fish lockjaw I have ever seen we did not get a single bite.
Tammy had been up most of the previous night fishing at Sebastian Inlet and was low on gas. The lack of cooperation from those lagoon fish pushed her right over the edge.

This is how great the fishing was.

This is how great the fishing was.

We were off the water about 130 PM.

Monday morning found me launching the Mitzi (it’s for sale!) at River Breeze for my first look-around up there since getting back from Alaska. I did lots of fruitless searching. In the last spot I looked the fruit showed in the form of some tailing reds, and trout in potholes.

mosquito lagoon seatrout

Nice trout on a DOA Shad Tail.

After getting a couple on a DOA Shad Tail I switched to fly and got a nice top-of-slot redfish. Some more investigation is warranted.

mosquito lagoon redfish

Aye! ‘Tis a handsome fish!

Wednesday my new sunglasses came! Smith Optics has awesome customer service.

I also put the almost-final-finishing-touches on the sailing rig for the Old Town.

Wednesday night Susan and I went to the University for Light Up UCF, a good thing to bring the kids to. There are a few rides, an ice skating rink, a saucer run, a showing of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, a light show, and faux snow. I couldn’t help but notice a few attractive co-eds, too …

Light Up UCF. Can you see the ghost of Christmas present?

Light Up UCF. Can you see the ghost of Christmas present?

 

You can ride the ferris wheel.

You can ride the ferris wheel.

 

The Tornado is good if you enjoy regurgitation.

The Tornado is good if you enjoy regurgitation.

Thursday morning the weather forecast did not look promising. But it looked better than Friday’s. So I tossed the kayak on the roof of the van and drove to River Breeze.

The water was too high. It was windy. It was cloudy. There were hardly any cars in the parking lot. I launched the boat and went a-paddling.

No fish were visible. I blindly fished a hole which has produced while fishing blindly in the past. It did not produce today.

I went to a second hole and fished it blindly. It did not produce either.
While standing on the bank eating a tangerine two redfish swam by, giving me the fin as they passed. I could hear them laughing at me.

I fished a third hole. A bold, eight-inch redfish got between me and the skunk.

The day was awesome. Didn’t see another hominid the entire time I was out.

While paddling back I came up with a new mathematical equation which rivals e=mc2 in simplicity and elegance. OK, I’m exaggerating. But here it is:

equation

For the non-mathematically inclined-

Clouds plus wind plus rising water plus falling water temperature equals no fish.

Argonaut Publishing Company is having a big Christmas Sale on all of its fishing books by one Capt. John Kumiski. Visit this link to do some holiday shopping!

That is this week’s exciting version of the Indian River Lagoon and Mosquito Lagoon 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 2013. All rights are reserved.

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Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Upcoming Events-

The Indian River Lagoon Paddle Adventure starts December 1. Paddle a section or the length of the lagoon with us!

My Mitzi Skiff 17 is for sale. For information, visit this link… 

Blog posts this week:
Eating Cannonball Jellyfish 
Spotted Tail Christmas Giving Guide 

On a rainy, windy Monday I went to Jacksonville to speak to the First Coast Fly Fishers about Winter Fly Fishing in Central Florida’s Lagoons. What a great club they have up there! The talk went well and I managed to stay awake for most of the drive home.

The weather stayed windy and rainy on Tuesday and Wednesday. The boats stayed in the yard. Much of my time was spent getting ready for the paddle adventure. Tuesday night some punk went into my car and took my new Smith Optics sunglasses. Why would you take a pair of prescription glasses??? So I got to meet a Seminole County sheriff’s deputy.

Thursday Scott Radloff and I went to Mosquito Lagoon, where I hadn’t been in a couple weeks. It was cloudy and windy, but at least there was no rain. The water is still high but as the temperature drops it’s getting cleaner.

We went to Tiger Shoal and fished for a couple hours without success. The search mission was on.

Working our way south we picked up a fish here and a fish there, all on DOA baits. Scott was throwing a jerkbait, I a shad tail. Scott caught what may be the smallest redfish I’ve ever seen taken with hook and line, hardly more than a guppy. He graciously allowed me to photograph it.

mosquito lagoon redfish report

Is this thing tiny or what?

We ended up with two reds in the slot and two nice trout. Scott took a fish home for supper, and the boat was on the trailer about 2 PM.

Yesterday an 18-wheeler pulled up in front of my house and delivered a beautiful, brand new Old Town Penobscot for the Paddle Adventure. I can hardly wait to climb into my sleeping bag that first night.

Old Town Penobscot

Ah yes, a thing of beauty. I can’t wait to get it wet, to cover it in fish slime.

Old Town Penobscot

Speaking of the first night, we may well be watching a comet, especially with the moon close to new. Check it out here… 

comet isop

That is this week’s exciting version of the Mosquito Lagoon 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 2013. All rights are reserved.

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