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Orlando Area Fishing Report- One Fish, Two Fish, RedFish, BlueFish

May 29, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Orlando Area Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 5/29/11

Upcoming Events-
-June 11, free fly tying lessons at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, starting at noon. The Clouser Minnow is the fly of choice this time.

Last Sunday wife Susan and I went to Playalinda Beach, sans fishing tackle. I’m always looking, though. There was no bait along the beach, an observation reinforced by the fact we saw exactly one pelican there in almost four hours. Conversation with fishermen along the beach revealed that a few had caught a smattering of pompano and whiting.

Monday Rodney Smith and Rick Roberts joined me for a day’s search along the beach north of Port Canaveral. Based on my observations on the previous day I wasn’t expecting anything.

I got a flounder by the north jetty on a DOA CAL jig. Working our way north we didn’t see anything, but Rick got a nice whiting, also on a jig. A couple small jacks and a bluefish also fell prey to our approximately 10,000 casts.

North of Cape Canaveral there were quite a few menhaden but no fish eating them.
Back at the jetty Rodney got another flounder, again on a jig. The day was enjoyable but fishing wasn’t very exciting.

Tuesday I went kayak fishing, launching at River Breeze about 9 AM. I paddled along shorelines for miles. I found a few redfish off the shorelines in white holes. Blindcasting into a hole with a redfish worm I got a low end slot red.

I found one shoreline fish, a crawler, that gave me an excellent shot. It took the redfish worm and was released a few minutes later. It was about five pounds.
I had one other decent shot but the cast was less than perfect and did not work. It was a lot of paddling for only two shots but it was a gorgeous day and I had the whole place to myself. And I did get two reds on fly.

Cody Zimmer got this Mosquito lagoon redfish a few weeks back. I just recently got the image.

Wednesday afternoon I hiked up the Econlockhatchee and fished my way back, using a green foam spider. Because I switched to a six pound tippet I kept the same fly the entire way- amazing! Many redbellies popped that spider and at least a dozen were released but they were running small. One small bluegill was fooled too.

The river is very low right now, awesome for wading and fly casting. Maybe if I went at either end of the day rather than during the hottest part of it I would do better.

Friday Dr. George Yarko joined me for some flats fishing on the Indian River Lagoon. We launched at Kennedy Point Park. Using DOA Shrimp we caught trout after trout. None would hold batter, as they were all short. We tried sight fishing for a bit but the water is real dirty and the clouds made it impossible to see. So we went back to trout fishing.
We also got a ladyfish and a bluefish. Although nothing of consequence was caught I’d guess we released two dozen fish. Thank goodness for the dehooker!

Cody got this trout the same day, same place, as the redfish above. George and I didn't get any like this on Friday.

Yesterday I helped Rick Roberts put together a powerpoint presentation for Angler Action (www.angleraction.org). This worthwhile endeavor is putting together an angler-owned database of fish population data so anglers will have their own data to use in shaping regulatory policy. Check out their website and consider submitting your catch data. It’s for the best of causes- fishing in our future.

Embrace simplicity.

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 2011. All rights are reserved.

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High Pressure, Full Moon Reds, and Endeavor Blasts Off- Orlando Area Fishing Report

May 22, 2011 by · 4 Comments

The Orlando Area Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 5/22/11

Upcoming Events-

-June 11, free fly tying lessons at Mosquito Creek Outdoors.

The quick and dirty fishing report for the week of the full moon!

Monday, Mosquito Lagoon. Eric Robbins used DOA Shrimp during a half day trip to get a slot red, numerous trout, a couple of bluefish and a bunch of ladyfish. We also watched space shuttle Endeavor blast off. We didn’t see a lot of reds but really didn’t spend much time looking for them.

Endeavor blasts off on a cloudy Monday morning.

Tuesday, Mosquito Lagoon. Keith and Myrna Daugherty used DOA Shrimp to catch a bunch of seatrout. At the end of the day a mullet chunk produced a nice red for Keith. We didn’t see a lot of reds.

Mosquito Lagoon seatrout

One of many trout Myrna and Keith caught.

Keith got this nice red on cut bait.

Wednesday, brothers Steve and Dave Ritchie, Mosquito Lagoon. We tried flyfishing for reds. Spot #1, the fish were there in decent numbers. The fish wouldn’t let us into casting range, and the Ritchie brothers can cast. Spot #2, a school of fish bolted and waked off when we were about 150 feet away, no chance at them. So far the fish were not uncatchable, they were uncastable. Spot #3, we had some shots at spooky big reds. One actually checked out the fly, a black bunny leech. That’s as close to a bite as we got. Subsequent spots had no fish. On the bright side it was a beautiful, windless day. We ended up with a suicidal eight inch trout and a small pinfish.

Thursday, Ritchie brothers, Indian River Lagoon. Scouted large portion of IRL looking for a redfish school or tarpon. Didn’t find either, despite incredible weather. Found an area with some singles. Dave struck first, getting a slot red on a Merkin crab, his first redfish ever. Steve got another one on the same pattern a short time later, his first on fly. We had a couple shots at 20-30 pound class fish that were tailing, and numerous shots at black drum, none of which were converted. Dave hooked and lost another slot red. Not a great day but an improvement over Wednesday.

Indian River Lagoon Redfish

Steve's first fly rod red. A Merkin did the trick.

Friday, Ritchie brothers, Indian River Lagoon. Heavy fog early. Clouds hampered visibility but it remained almost slick calm most of the day. We fished the same area as the previous day and did not get a shot until almost noontime. The fish were lying in the thick grass. We would only see them after we ran them over. There was no tailing, there were no busts. It was like they were comatose. It was very frustrating.

Steve started throwing a Zara Spook and got a nice trout, over 20 inches.

I finally spotted a push coming at us. Dave made a perfect cast and hooked a fish, Hallelujah! It was a black drum of tem pounds or so, fooled by a Merkin. Steve hooked another one a short time later but the hook pulled, on the same fly pattern.

Indian River Black Drum

Dave used a Merkin to get this black drum.

Nearing 2 PM some breeze came up. Shortly afterwards I spotted a big red tailing. Dave had a shot at it but did not convert. Later Steve had a shot at another big red, made a perfect cast. The fish took the Merkin. Steve fought it for 20 minutes and then the hook pulled again, heartbreaking. We tried to find another without success. The boat was back on the trailer about 3 PM.

On Saturday Tom Van Horn and I gave a tarpon fishing seminar at Mosquito Creek Outdoors. There were about 30 seats there and most were filled, a nice bunch of people. There were raffles and prizes given away, and lots of good information was exchanged.

Embrace simplicity.

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 2011. All rights are reserved.

 

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Hot Mosquito Lagoon Trout Bite This Week- Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

May 14, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 5/14/11

Upcoming Events-

-Space shuttle Endeavour’s launch, Monday, May 16, 8:56 a.m.

-On May 21, Fly Fishing for West Coast Tarpon seminar at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, starting at 10 AM. Tom Van Horn will also be giving a tarpon seminar aimed at east coast fish.

Bumper Sticker of the Week Dept:

On Monday I finally got onto the Atlantic, accompanied by Scott Radloff. Our goal was to find some bait, then search for tarpon first and giant crevalle second.

We found bait, both mullet and menhaden, near and past Cape Canaveral. While we were fishing around the mullet we noticed a very dark spot moving north off the beach. It turned out to be a school of crevalle, not giants but rather fish of about five pounds. There were thousands of them.

We chased them up the beach for several miles. We didn’t count but we caught a lot on DOA CAL jigs.

When we finally gave up on them we fished around the menhaden schools they had led us to. The bluefish were thick, but there was not much else. We saw one shark and three or four barracuda, nothing more. All we caught were blues.

It turned out to be a 50 or 60 fish day, but nothing spectacular in the way of size. Still, it was beautiful out and even the smaller fish were quite entertaining.

On Tuesday I was back in Mosquito Lagoon, joined by fly fishing Canadians Mark and Cody Zimmer. We found loads of big redfish tailing. They would not take any of the flies we tried. We had a bright moment when Mark cast a crab fly into a small school of big tailers and his line came tight. The fish he caught was a red of maybe 16 inches. In the middle of all those big ones, too!

Cody wanted a fish bad so the last 30 minutes we chunked with mullet. He got a four pound and a six pound trout, then a red of about 15 pounds. I forgot my camera, so there are no photos of these fish. 🙁

Again, it was a beautiful day and tons of big fish were spotted, but it was frustrating not being able to convince them to eat anything.

Wednesday Steve Kas and Jim Trub came up from Boca Raton, bringing Steve’s Archer Craft. I joined them and we went looking for all the fish I’d seen the previous day. They flat out disappeared. We looked from Pelican Island to Georges Bar and saw one redfish all day.

On the bright side the trout bite was pretty strong. We got a couple dozen to about 20 inches by casting jigs around the outside of several different bars.

Jim Trub with one of the many trout we got.

Steve Kas with another Mosquito Lagoon trout

Still, they wanted redfish. It was maddening not being able to find any after seeing so many the previous day. Ya shoulda been here yesterday!

Spotted Tail was on the Mosquito Lagoon again on Thursday, joined by Karl Dienst and his friend Brad. Tossing DOA Shrimp and CAL jigs we got a lot of trout, ranging from eight inches to almost 20. There were a lot of ladyfish around, too. We concentrated on trout fishing most of the day. With about an hour to go we went looking for reds. We found a few slot fish and Brad got two on ladyfish chunks.

Brad got a bunch of these seatrout on the DOA Shrimp.

Every fishing guide loves scenes like this- ready to boat a Mosquito Lagoon redfish.

A cheesy grin for the best fish of the day.

On Friday Jim Shwartzentruber and his friend George, fly casters from Utah, joined me hoping to bag a big red or two. It was not to be. We searched all day, me poling and them blind casting with a black bunny fly, and saw maybe a dozen reds. Once the wind started cranking the fishing got very tough too. They did get three of four decent seatrout, but again, those were not the target.

I hope the reds start cranking again like they did on Tuesday. I have every day this coming week booked up.

Embrace simplicity.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- go fishing!

John Kumiski

Home- Spotted Tail Outdoors and Travel

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2011. All rights are reserved.

 

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Clouds and Wind Make for Tough Week on Mosquito Lagoon

May 1, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Report from Spotted Tail 5/1/11

Upcoming Events-
-Space Shuttle Endeavour is now targeted to launch around 2:30 p.m. EDT, May 2.
-On May 7 I’ll be giving free fly tying lessons at Mosquito Creek Outdoors in Apopka, starting at noon. We’ll be tying Clouser Minnows. Come out and see us, and walk out with some new flies!
-On May 21 I’ll be giving a seminar called Fly Fishing for West Coast Tarpon at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, starting at 10 AM. Tom Van Horn will also be giving a tarpon seminar aimed at east coast fish.

Bad News Dept.- the love bugs are back in all their I-can’t-see-out-my-windshield glory.

It’s Monday afternoon. It’s cloudy and windy. I’m sick of looking at the computer.

I grabbed a three weight and six foam spider flies and drove to the Econ River. In two hours I lost all six flies, caught some handsome panfish, fished around a large alligator, had a good time, and learned, or I should say re-learned, a few lessons.
-Use at least 8 lb. test for tippets. The five pound test I used just breaks too easily when you hang up. In the Econ, hang-ups are expected. Sunfish aren’t very leader shy.
-Don’t tie your spiders in black. You can’t see them! When you can’t see where your fly is you hang up more often.

Redbelly Sunfish

This green bug is much easier for the fisherman to see than a black one.

The water in both the Econ and the St. Johns is low, at a perfect fly fishing level. Sunfish ought to be bedding soon if they’re not already. So tie up some spiders and go try it.

Tuesday Scott Radloff and I went looking for fish in the Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River Lagoon. We got quite a few trout on DOA Shrimp, but didn’t see very many redfish anyplace and only got one junior leaguer on a wiggle jig. There was a fair wind blowing out of the south and it didn’t help us at all. The only school of reds I know of right now is down the south end of the Mosquito Lagoon, which is closed to entry until that shuttle blasts off.

Seatrout Head w/ DOA SHrimp

A DOA Glow Shrimp has been a hot lure this week.

Wednesday Dr. Lou Payor and his son Steven joined me for some fishing. We started in the Mosquito Lagoon. We fished around, using DOA Shrimp and Johnson Minnows, getting a few trout and ladyfish and seeing very little else. We went through the canal into the Indian River Lagoon and looked in a lot of places, none of which had any fish at all. Again, a fairly hard south wind didn’t help us. While we didn’t get skunked, it was hardly scintillating fishing.

On Friday afternoon Paul and Janet Moase joined me for some fishing and a space shuttle launch. We launched at Scottsmoor. My, what a crappy place to launch! The wind was howling (20-25) out of the north and it had blown all the water out of the north end of the lagoon. We barely made it out to Turnbull Basin. My outboard overheated on the way, all gunked up with mud and decaying vegetation.

Once we got out into the basin we started by casting DOA Shrimp. We got some trout and ladyfish, all fairly small. We looked along the edge of the flat for redfish but only saw one. Between the clouds and the wind though Moby Dick could have been there and we would have missed him.

Then Tom Van Horn called to tell me the launch was scrubbed.

We fished for almost four hours. Our best fish was a 19 inch trout we got on a DOA Shrimp. Tired of battling the wind we quit a few minutes early.

The shuttle is supposed to go up on Monday. It’s going to mess up my Monday charter, but a launch will make it all good.

Embrace simplicity.

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 2011. All rights are reserved.

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More Ways to Avoid Catching Fish

April 30, 2011 by · 2 Comments

Here are a few more sins to use when you wish to scare off every fish on any flat you find yourself working. This time we’ll look at some fly casting errors.

Too Short- If you make a cast that is too short the fish will never see your fly.

Too Long- If you make a cast that’s too long several results can happen, none of which lead to a hookup.

In extreme cases, the fish sees your fly line. This won’t bother fish that don’t see many fishermen, but pressured fish won’t wait around for an explanation.

A cast made slightly too long causes the fly to approach the fish. Again, in lightly fished waters this may work. In heavily fished waters you’ll get a good view of the fish’s tail waving goodbye. Fish don’t expect to see a minnow, shrimp, crab, or whatever attacking them. They don’t like it when it happens.

If you cast too far into a school of fish, you will line the fish on the school’s edge, spooking them. One spooked fish in a school usually leads to a spooked school.

When casting to a school, work the edges. There are some clear floating fly lines available now that may solve this particular problem somewhat. Monic makes a completely clear line, and AirFlo makes a conventional line that has a 10 foot long clear tip. There’s nothing like a good, accurate cast, though.

Head Shots- Another casting flaw I call the splashdown. This is a cast that’s just a little too accurate. You hit the fish on the head (or other body part) with your fly. In lightly fished areas or in deeper water this actually works sometimes, but with heavily pressured fish in the shallow stuff you have blown opportunity.

The opposite of the splashdown occurs when you lead the fish too far. Optimum lead distance varies depending on the species of fish, how fast it’s swimming, the depth of the water, the current, and other factors, but if you lead the fish too far it will not see your fly. Sometimes an angler will lead a fish too far, then move the fly immediately after it hits the water. The fish never sees it, or is unwilling to chase it from such a great distance if he does see it. A too far lead can still work if you leave the fly there until the fish gets near it.

Many folks move the fly too much. Sometimes the best thing you can do after a cast is wait and see how it plays out.

Normally (where I do most of my fishing, at least) when you throw to a cruising fish you want to anticipate exactly where the fish will go (never an easy task), put your fly directly in its path, and leave the fly there until the fish is close enough to see it when you move it and respond to it in what you consider to be a positive manner.

The only way you can minimize these casting sins is to become a more proficient caster. Never mind worrying about how far you can cast. Speed and accuracy are all important in most flats situations. Get a few lids from five gallon buckets, set them on a lawn at various distances, and practice hitting them in sequence with only one or two false casts in all kinds of wind and weather conditions.

Good casters will always catch more fish than mediocre casters.

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2011. All rights are reserved.

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Fly Fishing for West Coast Tarpon

April 19, 2011 by · 3 Comments

Why– if you have to ask…

Where– I fish the Fort Myers area but from Everglades up to Appalachicola. Homosassa, Tampa Bay south to Fort Myers Beach, Naples, and Everglades, all produce a lot of fish.

When– peak May and June. Some fish remain in Everglades, Charlotte Harbor into October

How?

Boat– a necessity. Fly fishing friendly, equipped w/ trolling motor(s). Flats skiffs and bay boats both work- water usually at least 3 feet deep, usually more. An anchor with float necessary.

Tackle

Rods-12 wt, 9 ft standard

Reels- highest quality- Abel, Tibor, Islander, etc.- 300 yds 30 lb. Dacron backing plus line

Line- ideally three rods w/ floating, sink-tip, & intermediate

Leaders- three piece big game style, at least 12 feet long.
-Butt- 6′ of 40-50 lb nylon
-Tippet- 6′ of 20 lb nylon/fluorocarbon, tied big game style
-Bite tippet- 12-24″ 60 lb fluorocarbon. Anything more than 12″ NOT IGFA compliant.      Longer bite tippet eliminates need for tarpon box.

Flies- Lots work, every guide has strong opinions. 2/0, 3/0, highest quality J-            hooks, sticky sharp!

Traditional hackle tarpon streamers, EP style, bunny flies, crab imitations, toads, shrimp. Variety of colors, brown, black, orange, purple, chartreuse, green. Never underestimate the power of the Cockroach!

Setting the drag- drag should be set at 25% of the tippet breaking strength, in other words, 3-4 lbs. Use a scale to learn. It’s hard to pull line from a drag set this tight.

Techniques

Needs for both- clean water, clear skies, moderate winds. Lots of fish help. Best to avoid weekends, especially Memorial Day.

Two main styles- wait and ambush vs. hunt them down.

Wait and Ambush– find a spot where visibility is good and fish frequently pass. Anchor and wait for them to come to you.
Advantages-  fuel efficient, no motor noise, lots of shots when fish are moving
Disadvantages- no shots when fish aren’t moving. Popular spots fill up.

orlando fishing, orlando fishing charters, orlando fishing trip, orlando fishing guide

Good light, light bottom, clear water, and a sizable tarpon school.

Hunt Them Down– Cruise w/ outboard, with electric, or on pushpole, hunting for fish at which to cast. When found, stalk fish w/ electric and/or pushpole to get into casting position.

Advantages- in some areas (Homosassa, others) fish don’t follow “paths”
-psychological feeling of being involved
-when fish aren’t moving it’s the only way to find some

Disadvantages-not fuel efficient. Motor noise, even trolling motor, spooks fish

You can use ambush style, then chase large groups of fish when they pass.

Tides and Fish

Simple explanation- Incoming tides generally push fish closer to shore. Falling tides cause fish to move farther out. In most places these are main tidal effects.

Complex explanation- Gulf has one tide days and two tide days. On one tide (“hill” tide) days Boca Grande Pass, Captiva Pass, and to a lesser extent other SW Florida passes have “crab hatches.” In afternoon big falling tide flushes pass crabs through passes. Pass crabs are tarpon candy. They rise to these like brown trout to mayfly duns. Fly fishing possible but crazy during crab hatch. Fairly easy to hook up sometimes, almost impossible to catch the fish. Current, depth, sharks, other boaters big problems.

Fish Behaviors

Backcountry fish- will lay up, fin out, and act in a generally relaxed way. Great to see. Relaxed fish will eat. Deep water rollers- hard to target with fly.

Beach fish are generally moving- cruisers.

Generally, you want fish high in the water column. When deep they’re hard to target with fly.

orlando fishing, orlando fishing charters, orlando fishing trip, orlando fishing guide

Generally you want the fish coming at you and high in the water.

-Singles vs. schools- fish range in numbers from one to hundreds. All are legitimate shots. Singles eat. If the shot is there, take it!

-Flashing- fish rolls on side and flashes. Fish that do this generally relaxed.

-Rolling- fish come to surface and gulp air. Visible from a long way off, 200-300 yards.

-Daisy chain- fish get in circle and swim nose to tail, clockwise or counterclockwise. Both BC and beach fish will daisy chain. Great opp for fly caster. Always cast to fish coming at you.

Presenting the Fly

#1 Rule- Wait until you’re sure you can make the cast!

#2 Rule- wait for a good angle! Best angle- fish coming straight at you. Next- crossing shots. Fish moving away- no chance.

The higher in the water the fish is/are, the better your chance.

#3 Rule- lead the fish. Allow it to encounter the fly.

#4 Rule- strip just fast enough to keep the fly in front of the fish, or just keep contact with it, depending on presentation angle. Keep the fly in the strike zone as long as you can.

Strike zone with single fish is fairly small. With a big school it’s huge.

These fish live a long time and have seen it all. It is not easy to get a bite, even when you do everything perfectly.

The Bite

The moment a big tarpon takes your fly is the finest, most amazing moment in angling. Nothing else comes close.

When the fish turns, strip strike. And again! And again! Often he’ll only give you one chance though.

Job one- clear line to the reel.

Put rod butt against forearm. Circle thumb and forefinger on line hand and allow line to clear to reel. If a knot forms turn the rod guides up. The knot has a better chance to clear this way.

When the fish is to the reel, if he’s not jumping, use the rod and set the hook again, 3, 4, 5 times. It’s like driving a nail. Get that thing stuck!

Bow to the king! When he jumps lower the rod and point it at him. You need slack when he’s airborne or he’ll break the leader.

orlando fishing, orlando fishing charters, orlando fishing trip, orlando fishing guide

Bow to the king when he jumps to put a little slack in the line. This helps prevent leader breakage.

His first rush often requires a chase with the boat. That’s why you need a float on the anchor. Don’t try to stop or slow him, and pray he jumps a lot. Fish that don’t jump will hurt you.

Once he slows down get the fly line on the reel and start pulling. How hard do you pull? As hard as you’re able to. This part isn’t so amazing, and is really hard work. Many wannabe tarpon fishers realize during this part of the fight that this isn’t something they want to repeat.

One of you is always taking line.

Change the angle of pull frequently. Pull in the direction opposite that of the fish. Use the “down and dirty,” especially when he tries to roll.

When the fish surges, back off. As soon as he slows go back to work.

If your drag is properly set, if you use good technique, and if the fish jumps at least a couple times you should have him boatside in 30 to 45 minutes. If you get past an hour you should just break him off before a shark eats him.

Use gloves to lip the fish. For his sake and yours, leave him in the water. Use your trolling motor to drag him to revive him. When he’s ready for release you won’t be able to hold him.

orlando fishing, orlando fishing charters, orlando fishing trip, orlando fishing guide

Use gloves and grab the fish's jaw with your hands.

A good guide is your best tool if you’d like to try this.

Capt. John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including text and photographs copyright John Kumiski 2011. All rights reserved.

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A Mosquito Lagoon Seatrout for His Birthday…-Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

April 17, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

…but the redfish got away!  🙁

The Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 4/17/11

Upcoming Events-

-Space Shuttle Endeavour is targeted to launch 3:47 p.m. EDT, April 29. I am actively soliciting a charter for this date. Rumor has it that this will be the final Space Shuttle flight EVER. Watch the launch and fish, simultaneously! Call me soon- time is short! Early bird gets the worm, and all that!

Imagine yourself in this scene. April 29, be there!

-On May 7 I’ll be giving free fly tying lessons at Mosquito Creek Outdoors in Apopka, starting at noon. We’ll be tying Clouser Minnows. Come out and see us, and walk out with some new flies!

-On May 21 I’ll be giving a seminar called Fly Fishing for West Coast Tarpon at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, starting at 10 AM. Capt. Tom Van Horn will also be giving a tarpon seminar aimed at east coast fish.

I thought the Bang-O-Craft was ready to rumble, so I took it for a spin on Wednesday. It made it about 300 yards and then it dies. Had to pole back to the ramp. Arrrrghgghhh- so aggravating. No scouting accomplished.

Friday my fishermen were Shane Arline and his friend Lieutenant Colonel Big Ed, both from North Dakota. It was cloudy and windy, hard out of the southeast. We started in the Mosquito Lagoon. Ed caught a redfish almost immediately on a gold Johnson Minnow. Then we went a good while without a bite so we moved to deeper water and tried trout fishing. Using DOA Glow Shrimp we got quite a few, although they were all small. We also got a couple bluefish and a few ladyfish. I tossed a ladyfish into the bucket for future reference.

The bite slowed so I took the boat through the Haulover Canal and tried the east side of the Indian River Lagoon, thinking we could get out of the wind. HA! no chance. We fished all the way up to Griffis Bay with a few small trout and ladies to show for it.

We ran back to the Mosquito Lagoon and put out a couple of cut ladyfish lines where we had seen a few reds earlier. The action wasn’t hot but we got two more to about 28 inches. Considering the weather I thought it was a pretty fair day.

Today, Sunday, John Ramsey bought the birthday boy Alejandro aboard for a nice birthday present of a fishing trip. Alejandro was 14 years old today- Happy birthday, buddy! We started by fishing for trout, again using DOA Glow Shrimp. It was a pretty good bite. Although most of the fish were undersized, we did get a few decent ones. There were no blues today, but a few ladies came aboard. I again threw one in the bucket for future reference.

One of the many seatrout Alejandro got for his birthday. The redfish escaped, however.

Toward the end of the fare I poled in close to shore and tossed a couple ladyfish chunks out. Alejandro was rewarded with a strong bite from a surprising large redfish. I was considering chasing it, as the fish ran a long way and the line level on the spool got dangerously low. However, and very sadly, the fish broke off before I could put my plan into action. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how we ended our fishing trip.

Embrace simplicity.

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 2011. All rights are reserved.

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A Week of Not Catching Redfish- Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

April 10, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

The Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 4/10/11

Upcoming Events-

On May 7 I’ll be giving free fly tying lessons at Mosquito Creek Outdoors in Apopka, starting at noon. We’ll be tying Clouser Minnows. Come out and see us, and walk out with some new flies!

From the Mailbag-

“We enjoyed our trip last Friday! Thanks! Photo attached.” -Paul Parker

mosquito lagoon redfish guide

Mike with his first redfish ever.

This week, the fishing was wonderful. Catching, on the other hand…

On Monday fly fishers Gifford Hampton and Alan McDonald joined me on the Mosquito Lagoon. The day started windy and got even more windy. I thought it was blowing 25 mph, coming out of the south. I was wrong, it only hit 23. We saw decent numbers of redfish but only had a couple shots, and did not score. In that wind it was very tough fishing.

Tuesday thunderstorms came through and I did not fish.

Wednesday fly fishers David Frost and Thomas Reay gave it a go. It was blowing between 15 and 20 out of the east and again it was a tough day. We found quite a few redfish but were not able to get so much as a bite.

On Thursday Herb and Pat Jones, brothers from Gainesville, joined me. The wind was not blowing hard, although there were some clouds. It was a pretty nice day all in all. The first school of redfish we found were deep and could not be effectively targeted. The second school already had two boats working it. We did not linger.

We finally found another school and worked them for close to an hour. They were very spooky, many times moving off before we got into casting range. Casting range with a jig and a Johnson Minnow is fairly far. Just showing a bait to these fish was difficult.  Herb got one hit on a Johnson Minnow. The fish came off. Herb got one dink trout and that was the total catch for the day, for the week.

Ouch.

After this week I think I’ll write a blog post on “The Top Three Things to do to Not Catch Redfish.”

On Saturday friend Karl Dienst returned my cleaned up, now running, Johnson 15 to me. The Bang-O-Craft may ride again this week! Thank you, Karl!

Also on Saturday I went to Mosquito Creek Outfitters to give fly tying lessons. There was no one to give lessons to, so I just tied myself some flies. The store is beautiful and well worth the visit, especially if you haven’t been there before.

Embrace simplicity.

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 2011. All rights are reserved.

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Orlando area saltwater fishing report

April 3, 2011 by · 3 Comments

The Orlando Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 4/3/11

Upcoming Events-

On April 9 I’ll be giving free fly tying lessons at Mosquito Creek Outdoors in Apopka, starting at noon. We’ll be tying wooly worms and wooly buggers. Come out and see us, and walk out with some new flies!

It’s April! Tarpon season is just around the corner and reports of caught keys and west coast fish have already come in. Spotted Tail will begin its month-long ode to the silver king at www.spottedtail.com/blog. Read the already posted blog about the Tarpon Box.

A free swimming tarpon gulps some air.

I’m looking for that big sardine,
the one that makes you jump and scream.
I’m looking for that big tarpon.
Just give me my prize and I’ll be gone.

From the Mailbag-

“Thanks for the great day on the water. Photos attached.” -John Stafford, Columbia, MO

Mr. Stafford's first fish of the day was fooled by a DOA CAL jerkbait.

“By the way, I read your blog this morning. You forgot the part about getting lost in the fog and your angler getting out to help push…(kidding……just a friendly jab).”
-Ron Schomer, Orlando, FL

Thanks, Ron. With friends like these, how can I go wrong?

Got rained out Monday. Tuesday’s fishermen read the forecast and postponed to next week. It turned out to be the nicest day of the week. But I stayed home and got my taxes done. 2010 was pretty dismal economically speaking.

While I was doing taxes the hummingbirds were having dogfights around the feeder. You would think that they could share, since the feeder has four stations. But two tiny birds used up a lot of energy keeping each other from feeding. When a third bird showed they both zoomed after it, then returned to their private aerial attacks.

Wednesday Sue and I went for a walk on the Florida Trail. We got and ate some tangerines. On the way back we raided one of our neighbor’s mulberry tree. The fruits are ripe and I probably ate a pound of berries. Yum! Urp. Excuse me!

The intent was to go scouting on Thursday. We awoke to lightning, thunder, and heavy rain, which continued all day. Didn’t go.

On Friday Alabamans (?) Paul Parker and Mike Baumgaudner joined me for a windy but otherwise beautiful day on the Mosquito Lagoon. We fished two separate schools of reds, getting exactly one bite on a Johnson Minnow. The fish weren’t too aggressive. The hooked fish broke off in one of those mystery breaks that you can’t figure out why it happened. In a different spot Mike got a nice slot red while blindcasting a Johnson Minnow. It was his first ever, and damn fine work. Paul got a trout that may have been in the slot on a DOA CAL, four inch.

It wasn’t a great week fishing-wise, although I did purchase four, count ’em, FOUR, new fly rods. Ooh yeah!

Embrace simplicity.

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 2011. All rights are reserved.

 

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Bad Days

March 29, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Most of us have seen the bumper sticker that says, “A bad day fishing beats a good day at work.” This is undeniably true most of the time. A sunny day in God’s great outdoors always beats a day working at some job you may not like.

But anyone who spends much time outdoors has had some miserable days afield, days when it rained a deluge all day, days when they were wet, cold, tired, and hungry. Usually on these days the fish don’t bite or the birds don’t fly. Days like this simply make us appreciate the good days we have a whole lot more. They don’t qualify as bad days.

What then, qualifies as a bad day outdoors?

Tommy Locke told me of a fly fisherman who had graced the bow of Tommy’s skiff while casting to tarpon. The gentleman wore nothing more than a Speedo thong for protection. The unfortunate man sank a 3/0 tarpon fly to the feathers right between his family jewels, painful just to think about. That fellow had a Bad Day.

I once read a tale about a steelhead fisherman. This poor soul was fly fishing when he had what at first he thought was a bite. He quickly realized the heavy weight at the end of his line, although moving, was not a fish. He managed to swing whatever it was near to the bank down below him, then walked down to see what it was.

To his shock and dismay it was a young woman, quite dead. His fly was hooked on a finger of her glove. Our angler was suddenly having a Very Bad Day.

On an otherwise lovely day, a former local guide went to grab a tarpon at boatside. Not only did the fish choose that moment to jump one more time, breaking the guide’s nose, the fish also managed to bury a hook in his neck, necessitating a trip to the hospital. This was a Bad Day.

Fishermen have accidents sometimes. They get stung by catfish, stingrays, and jellyfish. Their boats sink. They get hooked. They get bitten. They get struck by lightning.

So any day that you get home safely, without the use of a first aid kit (You do carry a first aid kit, don’t you?), a trip to the hospital or police station, or worse, is not a bad day, regardless of how few fish were caught or how miserable the weather was.

Count your blessings, and remember, life is great!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2011. All rights are reserved.

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