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Dirty Water Central Florida Lagoons Fishing Report

October 13, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Dirty Water Central Florida Lagoons Fishing Report

The water was dirty in the lagoons this week, so we have a Dirty Water Central Florida Lagoons Fishing Report for you.

Upcoming Events-

-Last call for the Aloha Protect Our Waters Fundraiser! It should be called th FUN-raiser- Mai-tais, tropical cuisine, and live music highlight this event. There might be some well-known fishing personalities, too. All funds raised help support Anglers for Conservation’s youth fishing education programs. Oct 14, 3-6 PM. For more information visit www.anglersforconservation.org/pow . I hope to see you there!

-MINWR Show and Tell Fishing Seminar. Oct. 27, 830 AM. In this all-day seminar I SHOW you where to fish, and TELL you how to be successful. For more information visit http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

-Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar. Oct. 28. In this four hour seminar I take you out in my skiff and show you all my secrets. For more information visit http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

For Sale–

15 ft Sailboat for sale with trailer! Sails are 2 years old and always dried and rolled into their sailbags. Main and Jib. Great little boat for cruising or racing. Custom trailer.

Boat is ready to go right now!

Visit this link for more information! http://www.spottedtail.com/15-sailboat-for-sale/

Microadventures
Son Maxx showed me a wonderful website called The Art of Manliness. While learning how to get the savoir-faire of James Bond, I also learned of a concept called microadventures. Most folks work from 9-5. What do you do from 5-9? You could be outside, fishing, hiking, bicycling, or simply watching the sun set.

Most people’s lives could benefit from the 8 Week Microadventure Challenge. Read all about it here- https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/my-8-week-microadventure-challenge/. It could change your life for the better!

Fishing!
Monday the weatherman scared me into staying home. It was nice all day! I did learn about microadventures, though.

Tuesday, with microadventures fresh in my mind, I ignored the weatherman and went to the Econ. The gauge read just a bit under three feet, higher than I like it but lower than it’s been for the past month. With a hurricane about to blow by I figured it might go up again real fast, so I got out there.

Fly fishing with a popper netted me four species- bass, bluegill, stumpknocker, redbelly. A two-weight would have been more appropriate than the four-weight used, fish-size-wise. It was a beautiful day and the river looked great. Saw herons, ibis, kingfishers, hawks, vultures, painted turtles. Did not see snakes or alligators.

Thursday I took the Mitzi to Port Canaveral hoping to catch some mullet. The parking lot was nearly empty, never a good sign.

I could not get to the jetty because the seas were so rough.

A tour of the Port turned up zero mullet, or anything else. The Obsession and two other charter boats were trolling inside the port, though.

I pulled the boat and drove to Titusville Marina where I launched the boat among the floating dead fish. A look-see north of the railroad trestle turned up exactly four redfish. I caught a small one while blind-casting a soft plastic shad. You could hardly see the bottom because the water was so dirty. I netted a few mullet up, too.

Friday son Alex and I took the Mitzi to River Breeze to do some scouting. The water was dirtier than it was in the Indian River. You could not see the bottom at all. It’s high, too.

It took us a while (maybe the sun had to get high in the sky) to get down to the main basin of the lagoon. There we found a few fish. Alex got a decent red on a jerk bait, then got a nice trout, too. Dad got three dink trout.

So the water in the lagoons is high and dirty, and fishing could be better (and it could be worse too).

That is the Dirty Water Central Florida Lagoons Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2018. All rights are reserved.

Paddle Fishing Central Florida Fishing Report

September 29, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Paddle Fishing Central Florida Fishing Report

We checked out some widely spaced fishing spots again this week, with some wild goose chases tossed in for good measure. So we have a Paddle Fishing Central Florida Fishing Report for you.

Upcoming Events–

–Aloha Protect Our Waters Fundraiser! It should be called th FUN-raiser- Mai-tais, tropical cuisine, and live music highlight this event. There might be some well-known fishing personalities, too. All funds raised help support Anglers for Conservation’s youth fishing education programs. Oct 14, 3-6 PM. For more information visit www.anglersforconservation.org/pow

–MINWR Show and Tell Fishing Seminar. Oct. 27, 830 AM. In this all-day seminar I SHOW you where to fish, and TELL you how to be succesful. For more information visit http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

–Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar. Oct. 28. In this four hour seminar I take you ut in my skiff and show you all my secrets. For more information visit http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

On to Fishing-natti!

Monday I took the kayak up to the Tomoka River, launching at River Bend Nature Park .

Paddle Fishing Central Florida Fishing Report

It’s a simple launch site…

The birds were beautiful but I was not impressed by the scenery. There was very little activity in the water, and most of the fishing was in people’s back yards. They were nice back yards, but still… One micro-snook and one mudfish graced my boat during my almost four-hour-long visit. A guy with a loud weed-whacker drove me out of there. Doubt that I’d go back.

This beautiful mudfish was my best catch.

Stopped at Spruce Creek on the way back for a three-hour tour. Got there after noon, tide was falling. Hit a flounder almost immediately. Should have quit right there- did not get another bite. All the fish were taken on a RipTide Sardine.

A Fabulous Flounder on the Sardine.

Tuesday I visited my old friend the Mosquito Lagoon for a solo paddle trip. The wind was from the east, the water was dirty. I expected nothing. The first thing I found was a dead manatee.

The vultures are happy about this.

Wasn’t I surprised when my first two fish were snook! They were small ones, but I don’t remember ever catching two in 20 minutes there before.

I found a single (?!) black drum tailing. Could not get a shot.

Got a trout about 18” by dragging the Sardine behind me while I paddled. It was almost a cheat. All fish were released hopefully unharmed.

I spent some time wading, sight fishing for redfish. The first one I saw hit the Sardine, but I missed it. Did not get shots at the other two because I almost stepped on them. It was hard to see!

Back in the boat, ran over several single reds. Got out to wade, and here came one down the shoreline, happy and stupid, its back out of the water. Switched rods, dropped the fly in front- BAM! Nice.

It was not huge, but it did take a fly!

I have a book called A Paddler’s Guide to the Sunshine State, by Sandy Huff. In it she describes a trip on Reedy Creek. I decided I wanted to go there.

Thursday we started late, “we” being Alex and I. We got stuck in a parking lot kind of traffic jam on 417 and could not make it to Reedy Creek. We hit several retention ponds in consolation, getting thrown out of one by local law enforcement and netting three bass to three pounds.

Friday morning I decided to try Reedy Creek as a solo. It’s down by Intercession City, so it’s a drive for me. I finally find the right spot, and all access to the creek is fenced off. Even though I’m 100 yards from the water, I can’t get there. Thoroughly disgusted at this point, I just drove home and wrote this report.

And that was how my fishing week ended. I may have an interesting report next week.

And that is the Paddle Fishing Central Florida Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2018. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: adventure fishing, Bass fishing, florida fishing, kayak fishing, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, mosquito lagoon fishing report, mosquito lagoon fishing seminar, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing charter, redfish fishing, seatrout fishing, snook fishing, spruce creek, tomoka river

Nearshore Port Canaveral Fishing Report

June 8, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Nearshore Port Canaveral Fishing Report

This is a nearshore Port Canaveral fishing report, my last Florida fishing report until September. I write this on an Alaska Air Big Bird, headed to Alaska’s Katmai Lodge on the Alagnak River.

Tunny will shake. Tunny will bleed.

Monday Mike Conneen joined me on Spotted Tail for some spin fishing. We headed out of the Port and went off down the beach. Near the fishing grounds I threw the net once, got all the bait we might need. It’s nice when that happens!

Tunny were breaking all over the place, as were Spanish mackerel. We got a few Spanish for my aunt, then went a-tunnying.

Mike got this kingfish without using wire.

It was borderline ridiculous, fish breaking everywhere. We used white CAL jigs and Sting Silvers. I broke out the seven-weight and got a couple on a Bouncer streamer.

This was as much jump as I got.

Mike wanted a tarpon, so once our appetite for tunny was sated we went searching. We found a place with scattered rollers, and so deployed the baits, what I believe were scaled sardines. Big tunny loved them. Crevalle jacks loved them. Blacktip sharks loved them. King mackerel really loved them, cutting us off repeatedly. Mike hooked a 20 pounder on the back of the head and so landed it. I put on a stinger rig and got one about half that size.

Mike has the beast near the boat.

We got a lot of bites. Finally I jumped a big tarpon. One jump and it was off. I was not sorry.

By this point I was ready to head back, but Mike really wanted that tarpon, so I made one more drift. A dinosaur-sized tarpon took his bait. Let the games begin!

It was a BIG fish.

I did not time the length of that fight, but it was a big fish and not jumpy at all. All thoughts of heading back were gone. I stood by with the cameras, waiting for jumps that never came.

Mike finally got the fish close to the boat. I leadered it six times, the last one getting the hook back. I could not hold onto that fish though, and the photo Mike wanted so badly did not get taken.

Breaking fish, fly rod. Life is good.

Tuesday Tammy joined me, same time, same station. Similar action, minus the tarpon. Tammy and I were both more interested in fly fishing, and whacked more than a few Spanish macks and tunny. When the surface action slowed we deployed scaled sardines. Tunny and jacks, with sharks and king macks taking turns cutting us off.

Lift that fish!

We would have liked a tarpon, but there were fewer rolling and we did not jump one. It was still another ridiculously good day though.

Tunny will shimmy. Tunny will vomit.

This one was better behaved.

This one was well behaved, too!

Wednesday Tom Finger joined me. We ran down the beach, got the bait, went looking for breaking fish. Nothing. I had called him telling him how great it was, and now had a major sinking feeling. The bazillions of fish that had been there the previous two days were all gone.

Tom’s tunny. All his buddies were gone 🙁

We went out to deeper water looking for jacks, tunny, and king macks. Not much there, either. Tom got a tunny on a sardine. We missed several strikes.

Heading back north we found a sizable area of breaking Spanish macks. We each got one before they disappeared. Then lightning started flashing and we headed back to the ramp at all possible speed.

Thanks to Mike, Tammy, and Tom for sharing these days with me!

And that is my Nearshore Port Canaveral Fishing Report! Next report will be from Alaska- trout and salmon!

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 2018. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Orlando Fishing Report, Photo Essays, port canaveral fishing report · Tagged: adventure fishing, fly fishing, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, Port Canaveral, tarpon fishing

Early June East Central Florida Fishing Report

June 2, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Early June East Central Florida Fishing Report

June- tarpon time, and I go to Alaska soon, far from tarpon. This early June east central Florida fishing report covers the Mosquito Lagoon and Port Canaveral.

It still rained a lot this week.

Tuesday Robert Ungvarsky and his two delightful daughters joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. Our goal was simple- keep the girls catching fish. To that end we stopped at Anchor Hardware and bought 50 shrimp, small ones, to be tossed on ultralight spin tackle. Terminal tackle consisted of a #8 hook and a split shot. We broke each shrimp in half, effectively getting two baits out of each one. Even at that we used all but four.

As luck would have it one of the first fish we got was a 13 inch pompano. Lots of squealing from happy kids on that one! Trout, catfish (of course), pinfish, snapper, ladyfish, a couple of big whiting, a puffer, and a flounder rounded out the catch. The plan worked well, something that doesn’t always happen in fishing. Everyone was happy and we all had a great time. Robert, thank you and I hope you will join me again.

Fred with one of many trout they caught.

Friday found the Finger twins, Tom and Fred, on Spotted Tail, on Mosquito Lagoon, hunting for fish. The hunt took about 30 minutes. Then we hit trout steadily for a couple of hours. Although many were just under slot, we got some to about three pounds. CAL jigs were the weapon of choice. Once that bite dried up we did not find much else, and trailered the boat about 2 PM.

Saturday I joined Tom Van Horn and Rodney Smith on Tom’s Hewes out of Port Canaveral. Someone was holding a tournament and the ramps were chaos. We managed to get out of there and went for a ride.

Zzzz-ZZZzzzzz-ZZZZZZZZZ! Tunny are awesome!

I spotted some breaking fish and tossed a jig at them. BAM-ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! I love that sound! Little tunny, one of the ocean’s finer light tackle fish. They were good sized ones, 12 pounds or so. We got several, along with a single Spanish mackerel.

We knew we might hook some larger fish when a 100 pound tarpon jumped after eating Rodney’s jig. We’re lucky it jumped off. That little spin rod was not designed for that work. We went close to the beach and netted some pogies.

Two musketeers? Two stooges? Two hookups, definitely!

Moving back to deeper water we almost ran the tarpon over. Rodney and I both cast baits out, using actual tarpon gear. Getting his bite took about 20 seconds, mine about twice that long. So we had a tarpon double, both 100+ pound fish.

happy Rodney

Getting close!

A graceless ballet ensued aboard Tom’s vessel, punctuated by grunting and an occasional curse, and sounds of delight when the fish jumped. After about 40 minutes I had my fish near the boat when the hook pulled. Rodney’s took a little longer. He broke it off next to the boat. After that we messed around long enough for Tom to hook a five foot blacktip shark. After that it was all over except for the ride back to the boat ramp. We left early to beat the crowd!

And that is the early June east central Florida 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 2018. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, port canaveral fishing report · Tagged: adventure fishing, DOA Lures, florida fishing, mosquito lagoon fishing report, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, Port Canaveral, seatrout fishing, tarpon fishing

Memorial Day Central Florida Fishing Report

May 27, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Memorial Day Central Florida Fishing Report

It’s Memorial Day weekend. You know you need to spend a few moments considering how lucky you are that no one needs to remember your sacrifices on this day. But please consider those who sacrificed everything.

file photo of a bluefish

Tuesday Paul Glaser and his son joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. I picking them up at JB’s. “We just want to catch some fish,” they said. They tossed DOA Deadly Combos, getting five species- trout, ladyfish, bluefish, crevalle jacks, and gafftopsail catfish, staying pretty darned busy while doing so. We were out about six hours, and probably caught fifty fish or so. Entertaining, and quite novel these days. Thank you, gentlemen!

file photo of a crevalle jack

Thursday, expecting a repeat performance, I took longtime friend Kevin Linehan out for the same drill. When he caught a nice trout on the second cast I thought it actually would be a repeat. HA! It’s never the same. We had to work for every bite. At least we got some bites, and caught a few fish.

Kevin had to leave around noon. After dropping him off I went to an old favorite spot that had not been producing. There were some fish there for the first time in many months. By sight fishing with a plastic shad I caught an eight pound redfish and a seven pound trout, both beautiful fish, and enjoyed the sunshine until after 4 PM. Remember sunshine?

The following morning I picked up Al and Adam Winnicke at JBs. They wanted trout and reds so I took them to the spot from my previous afternoon. It’s never the same, but the trout were still there and they got several to four pounds on plastic shad and DOA Shrimp. Then clouds built up, thunder started rolling, and we called it a good day. The boat was on the trailer about 130 PM. Thank you for fishing with me, gentlemen!

Saturday morning I drove to Satellite Beach, picked up Rodney Smith, then continued on to Sebastian River. Fishing was slow enough that Rodney took a nap in the canoe, not an easy thing to do. I jumped a tarpon on a DOA Shrimp, and caught three large gafftopsail catfish on the same bait. All that took about six hours, after which the canoe was returned to the roof of the car.

And that is the Memorial Day Central Florida 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 2018. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: DOA Lures, mosquito lagoon fishing report, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, sebastian river fishing report

Orlando Area Fishing Report

May 5, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Orlando Area Fishing Report

A pretty mellow week this week because I had no work :-(. This is an Orlando Area fishing report.

Monday I got a late start. How late was it? It was so late, lunch had happened first. The kayak went to the Econlockhatchee. In an unusual occurrence, it brought a spin rod. Four bass and a stumpknocker fell for a Riptide Sardine. Then the fly rod came out, which accounted for a couple more bass. All fish were modestly sized.

Stan, who could be a professional fish model, his Fenwick, and his bass.

On the way back I ran into a fly fisher named Stan Mercer. He was using an old Fenwick fiberglass rod, and almost on cue caught a bass for me to photograph.

The redfish bit a Riptide Sardine.

Wednesday I went paddling in a place on the Indian River Lagoon I had never paddled before. To my surprise I found some clean water with sparse grass growing. There were a few redfish around (I saw ten or so), I had a few shots, and got one to bite the Sardine. O, successo! I got the fly pole out and walked 1/2 mile or so looking for a fish, but no dice.

Econlockhatchee paddler.

Thursday was Tom Van Horn’s birthday. We celebrated by floating the Econ, casting our fly poles. Tom is in Alaska training mode. The fish were not suicidal but came steadily- bass, bluegills, redbellies, stumpknockers. Tom was using a foam mouse, I a small popper. They seemed to work equally well.

Econlockhatchee fly fisher.

The ferocious stumpknocker. If these things hit ten pounds, nothing near the water would be safe.

Tom’s birthday present.

Friday Scott Radloff joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon exploration from the Mitzi. We found some small patches of clean water and some redfish, and Scott caught one. We found some spots that had nothing, and other spots where the fish were sparse. We saw a few tailing fish. All things considered, I saw more fish this day than the entire year prior combined, very encouraging.

Radloff hooked up. You can actually see the bottom.

About to boat the beast.

O, successo!

And that is the Orlando area 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 2018. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays · Tagged: adventure fishing, Bass fishing, Econlockhatchee River, florida fishing, fly fishing, Indian River Lagoon, kayak fishing, mosquito lagoon fishing report, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, redfish

Mosquito Lagoon/Pine Island Sound Fishing Report

April 28, 2018 by john kumiski · 1 Comment

Mosquito Lagoon/Pine Island Sound Fishing Report

This is a Mosquito Lagoon/Pine Island Sound fishing report. Nothing philosophical to be said this week…

Monday Tammy and I went out on the Indian River Lagoon for scouting purposes. It was windy. The water was not completely gross, a plus. I got one bite from a puffer, who chewed up my plastic shad.

The cinnamon rolls at Sunrise Bread Company were delicious.

Wednesday Bob Duport, from Western Mountains Fly Fishing, joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fly fishing. We saw some fish here and there. All fled at our appearance. Bob finally got a good shot at a redfish, which was very interested in the fly. I don’t know if the fish missed the fly or Bob missed the fish, but at any rate we did not get it, and Mr. Skunk was all over us. Bob, thanks for fishing with me and for your good humor.

I even had Bob get out and wade fish. Didn’t help.

Thursday morning dark and early I hopped in the chariot and drove to Pineland, where I met son Alex. We paddled our kayaks out onto Pine Island Sound on a fantastic day weather-wise. We were casting soft plastics, picking up a skater trout here and there. A hardhead cat ate my lure. We got a couple ladyfish. I stood up and started sight fishing.

Alex with one of the better trout we got while kayak fishing.

A mile or two of shoreline yielded four redfish and two small snook. I didn’t catch them or even get a shot. That’s what I saw.

I caught this mighty cobia

We fished potholes for a while. More trout, two exciting sailcats, and a small cobia (the fish of the day) was the result. We were off the water about 4 pm.

It was a mighty SMALL cobia.

Friday we got a rental boat from Freedom Boat Club at Pineland Marina. I’ve always thought Lee County boaters were the world’s rudest, and Friday strongly reinforced that opinion. We were anchored at a tarpon spot when this geek motored up to us a cast away, shut off his motor, pulled out a fly rod, dropped the trolling motor, and started fishing. I know I don’t own the place, but would he want that done to him?? There were several other examples that I won’t go into.

We did see some very unhappy tarpon. We caught a couple lizardfish, a couple blue runners, several ladyfish, quite a few bluefish, and several seatrout, two of which were handsome. We were done before 2 pm, after which I drove home again.

And that is the Mosquito Lagoon/Pine Island Sound 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 2018. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, travel blog · Tagged: florida fishing, Indian River Lagoon, kayak fishing, mosquito lagoon fishing report, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, pine island sound fishing report

Ozello/Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

April 21, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Ozello/Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

We fished two days in Ozello, and one day on Mosquito Lagoon, so we have an Ozello/Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

I wanted to scout the lagoon Monday. The 30 mph winds precluded that.

Tuesday morning Scott Radloff and I left Orlando ridiculously early for our 7 am appointment with Brian Stauffer, Fish Head Kayak Charters, at the Ozello Community Boat Ramp. We were on time. We launched on a beautiful morning, and fished our little buttses off. We saw decent numbers of fish. None bit.

It was chilly but beautiful when we launched.

Brian was prepared- five rods!

I’d never been to Ozello before in spite of all the good things I had heard about it. The water was clean. There were mangroves, and oysters, and grass. The habitat looked healthy.

The habitat looked healthy.

The fish didn’t bite, well, that happens. Especially after a front goes through.

Scott demonstrates how to fish one’s buttses off.

We stayed at the Best Western Crystal River Resort, which I can certainly recommend. Charlie’s Fish House a few yards away makes some great dinners, too!

Wednesday we met Brian again, same place. He took us in the opposite direction. The first time I stood up I spooked three reds. In spite of the fact I saw about two dozen fish, all I could muster was a small lizardfish and a modest trout. Brian got a small slot red and a flounder.

Brian foiled the skunk here.

A fish and his man.

Once again we saw good numbers of fish but could not get the sales job done. Maybe Brian needs a higher quality of angler.

He added this beast for good measure.

Brian was awesome! Thanks for taking us fishing, sir! Fish Head Kayak Charters!

Thursday Pete Azur joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. We tried a few spots that had a few fish, and we had a few bites that were missed. But it was a tough day. At the final spot Pete hit a nice trout, 21 inches long, on a plastic shad, thereby keeping Mr. Skunk off my boat. But it was pretty close.

And that is the Ozello/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 2018. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: #kayakfishing, #mosquitolagoon, #orlandofishingcharter, #orlandofishingreport, #ozellofishingreport, adventure fishing, kayak fishing, mosquito lagoon fishing report, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, ozello fishing report

Home Again Inshore Fishing Report

April 14, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Home Again Inshore Fishing Report

The Panhandle trip got wrapped up with a day of epic fishing, at which point I called it and drove home. Then I fished two days here, for the Home Again inshore fishing report.

Sunday
When it started getting light I left the B&B and headed east. I thought if I made it to Panama City early on Sunday, there wouldn’t be any traffic. I was right!

Got to Port St. Joe about 9 AM. Folks were going to church. I parked a short distance away and dropped a kayak in the bay. A short time later, while listening to the church bells ringing, I landed my first fish of the morning, a nice red that took a DOA CAL jig.

A nice red took the jig.

By 1 AM I’d gotten another red, a nice trout, a flounder, and a Spanish mackerel.

A rare break in the clouds yielded this red.

I need to get a new model.

I tried sight fishing, but only saw three sharks and two reds. All the fish were taken while casting blindly into deeper water.

This flounder bit during another short break in the clouds.

Checked into the campground, got set up, and then fished the south side of the bay. In three hours I saw only three fish and did not get a bite.

Monday
Drove to St. George Sound and launched the ‘yak. In two minutes I had a decent trout on a jig. Put the spin rod away and started blind casting with a Clouser Minnow.

Spanish on fly while wading, into the backing. Awesome combination!

The fish were not suicidal but they came steadily, nice ones, trout to four pounds, reds to eight. Got a nice Spanish mac and had another cut me off. Could not sight fish due to clouds but it didn’t matter.

Reds on fly over shell bottom- great stuff!

When I tired of casting the fly in the wind I switched back to spin tackle and a weedless jig. If anything it was even more effective. It was by far the best day of the trip. And I did not see another fisherman the entire day.

Trying to be creative with a fish and a camera while by yourself can be challenging.

Fortunately the camera is “waterproof.”

The Riptide weedless jig and Sardine accounted for several fish.

Tuesday
Got up in the rain, broke camp, tossed the soggy tent into the car, and drove home. It rained most of the way.

Wednesday
Had wet, messy mess to clean up, correspondence, etc.

Thursday
Took the Mitzi to River Breeze for scout duty. Water is pretty dirty. Did not see a lot. When I found clean water it was devoid of life. Got two trout the Riptide jig, one nice, the other spectacular. Hoped I would be able to find them the next day.

The other one was much bigger. I didn’t remove it from the water.

Friday
Met Kacky Andrews at 7 AM. While launching the boat I began conversing with a crabber on the other side of the dock. He said the crabbing right now is the best he’s seen in a 56 year career. He said one reason for that is the hurricane that passed. Another is that most of the redfish are gone, and you know how many little crabs they eat. Funny, his observation exactly reinforces my own. Only it’s sad, not funny.

Kacky and I went hunting for fish. She fly fished for four hours or so without a bite. Of course during that time we saw maybe a half-dozen fish. She switched to the spin rod. In the next four hours we saw maybe another half-dozen fish. She managed one very modest seatrout, our only fish. Tough day. She was awesome, though.

Thanks for fishing with me, Kacky!

And that is the Home Again inshore 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 2018. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays, travel blog · Tagged: adventure fishing, florida fishing, fly fishing, kayak fishing, mosquito lagoon fishing report, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, redfish, RipTide Lures, seatrout fishing, St. George Sound, St. Joe Bay

Just Another Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

March 18, 2018 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment

Just Another Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

This week Spotted Tail visited Mosquito Lagoon four times. It did not sink under the weight of the fish caught! This is just another Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

Upcoming Events–

-Florida Fly Fishing Association meeting, Kay’s Barbeque, Cocoa, March 27, 7 PM.

Wednesday

On an almost frigid morning I ran from River Breeze to JB’s Fish Camp to pick up Jim Weaver and Warren Martin. Then off we went for some fishin’ and adventurin’!

Jim with the day’s best fish.

We fished in many places where I had found fish just a few days before. They were mostly gone (the fish, not the places). I poled for miles. We got four or five trout, only one of which made the slot. Tough fishing. Many thanks to Jim and Warren for joining me.

Thursday

On Thursday I had the pleasure of hosting Scott Kruchowski, a fly fisher from St. Lewis. We got on a small school of mostly uncooperative redfish. Scott managed to fool two on an Estaz Crab, one barely legal, the other not even close.

Scott’s first redfish on fly was this specimen.

Not wanting to further traumatize the fish we visited another spot. There were some fish there but we could not see them, running over several and not getting a bite. Reluctantly, I went back to spot #1. Ha! The joke was on me- all the fish had disappeared. We looked around a bit more, saw nothing, and called it a day. I’d like to thank Scott for fishing with me.

Saturday

Kevin and Caroline Rice, a father-daughter team from California, graced Spotted Tail for a half-day fishing trip. Weather-wise it was probably the day of the year, simply spectacular.

The day of the year.

By accident I found some fish on a shallow flat. They had their radar on and we hardly got a cast to them. They would just pace us, out of range and staying that way. The old adage is don’t leave fish to find fish, but when it ain’t working it’s time to go!

Father and daughter teamed up on this redfish.

Working behind the spoil islands we found a few fish. None of the ones we saw would bite, but they got five redfish including a giant 24″ specimen by blind casting plastic shad.

The first redfish Caroline ever caught!

The nail polish was awesome.

Our time was too soon over. Thanks for joining me, Rices! I had to rush home, wash, turn around, and head to Kayaks by Bo for what turned out to be another strongly attended seminar. Thanks to everyone who came out!

Sunday Mike, Moe, and Buzz (sounds like three astronauts) joined me for the Show-and-Tell seminar. We launched at Haulover Canal, went to the east end, and headed south paralleling the west shoreline, all the way into Max Hoeck Creek. We circumnavigated the Whale Tail along the way. No one was fishing there. We did not see a fish or any seagrass to this point. Water clarity varied between reasonably clear to can’t see three inches.

From Max Hoeck Creek we started running north along the east side of the lagoon. On the bar that comes off Gallinipper Point we saw the only fish of the day.

From Gallinipper we ran up to Turtlepen Point. The water was clear but there were no fish. There was nothing on the flat north of Cucumber Island, or on any of the shoals we checked all the way up to Pardon Slough.

We couldn’t see the bottom in (formerly) White Sands.

Going around the Pole-and-Troll area we ran to the south tip of Tiger Shoal, then took the south entrance of the running lane to the north entrance. We did not see any fish, or any fishermen here. No fishermen on Tiger Shoal on a lovely Sunday morning! There is some sparse grass east of the running lane, especially past Bird Island.

After coming out of the north entrance we ran across the basin to the ICW and headed south again, back to Haulover. Total time elapsed was four and one-half hours.

Many thanks to Mike, Moe, and Buzz for joining me for this excursion.

And that is just another 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 2018. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: mosquito lagoon fishing report, Mosquito Lagoon redfish, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report

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