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Back in Central Florida Fishing Report

September 4, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Back in Central Florida Fishing Report

Two weeks ago in my last fishing report I wrote, “I am taking a bye week next week. No fishing will happen because of travel, unpacking, reunion with family and friends, and sorting through all the business that I’ve ignored for the past three months. See you in two weeks!”

central Florida fishing report

On the ferryboat to Ketchkan: Jess, Jonathan, Nuttapong, and yours truly.

 

central Florida fishing report

Sunset at the Seattle airport.

Those two weeks are up and here we are again! And it is good to be home!

After returning home, some time was spent unpacking. One of the things that had to be unpacked was a cooler full of frozen fish, both salmon and halibut. I smoked some salmon, and made a side of gravlax.   Both turned out deliciously!

The boats had to be cleaned up and re-stocked, made ready to fish. That job was finished on Monday for the Mitzi.

Tuesday morning found me launching the boat on the Indian River Lagoon. The first order of business was to see if any big tarpon were around. There were none that I could find. I did find some little ones and got a bite on a DOA CAL shad tail, which was missed. I don’t know if he missed or I did, but at any rate there was no hookup.

That same shad tail also accounted for four redfish (all low-end slot fish) and one seatrout. There were reasonable numbers of fish, although they were very spooky. It was nice to pick right up again after being gone for three months, though.

Wednesday morning found the Mitzi being launched at Port Canaveral. If the parking lot was any indication there was not much going on. I ran south down the beach. The weather was awesome but the water was very dirty. Some mullet were in the surf south of the pier. There were a few big tarpon busting them at one place but it was scattered and quickly ended.

I went out to sea a bit and headed north. One quick school of tunny busted about a mile of the beach, a flurry that only lasted two or three seconds. All the way to Cape Canaveral that was all I saw.

Along the beach at the Cape the mullet were quite thick, enough so that I got the net out and caught some bait for future reference. There was nothing eating them other than pelicans that I could see.

The boat was back on the trailer at about 2 PM. I hadn’t seen many fish and certainly didn’t touch one.

Thursday was errand day.

Friday the Old Town went bass fishing on the St. Johns. It was slow, but I did get this fish on a popper:

central Florida fishing report

If this fish was all I caught it would have been worth the trip.

 

central Florida fishing report

These big mayflies must have hatched yesterday. The nymphal shucks were everywhere.

 

central Florida fishing report

Dragonflies have been hatching too, apparently.

Otherwise a half dozen yearlings was all I had to show for about five hours of searching and casting.

I try never to go off my property on Labor Day weekend, but I certainly hope you enjoy the time off, no matter what you choose to do.

And that is the Back in Central Florida Fishing Report from Spotted Tail.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

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

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

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Quite the Week Orlando Fishing Report

June 5, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Quite the Week Orlando Fishing Report

It was quite the week, apart from the fishing. And with the exception of a scout day that turned up nothing, fishing was pretty darn good. It could have been called the week of the bass! Read on for this week’s Orlando fishing report.

First of all, my son Maxx has been trying to get into a Physician’s Assistant program ever since he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Radiology. Monday he found out that he has been accepted into the P.A. program at Barry University. He starts in September. Congratulations, my son! I am so proud of him.

After sister Cheryl moved in with us we got some chickens. Three turned out to be roosters. We ate a couple of them a month or so back. One got away from me and had been living on borrowed time. Sunday he met his maker. He had beautiful feathers so I tried to skin him. That did not go too well. Any tips on how I could do better, assuming there is a next time, would be welcomed.

orlando fishing report

A streamer I tied with feathers from the currently defunct rooster.

If cars could write their history I suspect most would be horribly dull. “I commuted in gridlock traffic every day this week. My owner almost lost it one day with road rage…” Anyhow, in 1999 Susan and I bought a new Toyota Sienna, something safe and reliable for carrying young kids and all. My kids grew up in that van, which I am still driving (Thank God for YouTube!), towing boats, carrying canoes and kayaks, etc. Monday morning, in beautiful Bithlo, that vehicle hit a heck of a milestone. See the photo.

This is a big deal for a car.

This is a big deal for a car.

When the Sienna hit that milestone Scott Radloff and I were going scouting on the Indian River Lagoon, in the vicinity of Cocoa. The water was mostly beautifully clear, enough we could see all of Rhodophyta algae on the bottom, even in three or four feet of water. There were a few lonely strands of widgeon grass here and there, but no manatee grass at all. We went from SR 520 almost to the Rinker Canal and saw exactly one redfish. Won’t be going back there for a long time.

Tuesday Capt. Bruce Eaton, a 737 pilot for one of the major airlines, joined me for some fly fishing on the Indian River Lagoon. We saw quite a few fish but were not exactly covered up with bites, getting exactly two. The one fish he got, on a bendback streamer, was a magnificent 28 inch seatrout. I left my cameras in the car- ARGGGHHHH! The photo below was taken with a phone. Phones will never replace cameras if you want quality photos. Weather drove us back to the ramp about 1 PM.

orlando fishing report

Capt. Eaton landed on this fine seatrout.

Wednesday found me floating in an Ocean Kayak on the St. Johns River. Fishing was only OK until I hit the magic spot. Then Blam! POW! It was some of the fastest bass fishing I’ve ever had, topped off by a solid five pound fish on a foam popping bug. Then the wind came up and it was over. The boat was back on the van shortly after noon.

orlando fishing report

Yeah, bass have really big mouths. My popper is lodged down there. It came out easily.

 

orlando fishing report

Same fish, with yours truly.

After Wednesday’s extravaganza how could I not try again? Thursday saw me back at the same place with a supply of new poppers. Alas, it was not as good as the previous day. Honestly, how could it have been? Still, over a dozen fish were released. Sadly, I lost both of the big ones. Bass strikes are just unbelievable sometimes.

Friday, just to stay in the bass groove, I went to the Econ. It was flat out the best day I’ve had there. I wore out two flies and broke another one off on a big fish. I hooked and lost another one, but still managed to get a couple real nice ones, and a bunch of smaller fish, a couple redbellies, a couple stumpknockers, and a spotted gar. No bluegills, surprisingly. Didn’t really miss them. The water is low and clear, looks great.

orlando fishing report

A real nice Econ River bass.

 

orlando fishing report

Same fish, with yours truly!

 

orlando fishing report

A different nice fish, clearly showing the fly.

 

orlando fishing report

An even better shot of the fly, this time with a spectacular redbelly.

 

orlando fishing report

And another shot of the fly with one of the many other bass caught.

And that is this week’s Quite a Week Orlando Fishing Report from Spotted Tail.

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 2015. All rights are reserved.

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Wind and Clouds North Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report

May 29, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Wind and Clouds North Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report

No fishing around this week. Three days out, all on the Indian River Lagoon. Solid east winds and clouds hampered our efforts every day.

Monday I stayed home, in my humble opinion the best thing to do on Memorial Day weekend. Aubrey Thompson is going to Alaska so I tied some flies for him. When I emailed him to ask where he wanted them sent, we had the following “conversation”:

AT- You are a gentleman! And that, by the way, is the highest compliment I know.

JK- i don’t usually get accused of that. something to do with growing up outside of boston…

AT- One of the finest gentlemen I ever knew was poor, black, a convicted murderer, and not intimately familiar with conventional habits of hygiene. I do not, of course, mean to suggest that any of these practices apply to you.

JK- he wasn’t from boston though, was he?

AT- No. He may have been a convicted murderer, but he wasn’t a Yankee.

I found it amusing enough to share. And Aubrey, thank you for the compliment.

Anyway, Tuesday Rodney Smith joined me for some IRL angling. His first fish was a nice red, slot fish, DOA CAL jerk bait.

indian river lagoon fishing report

Rodney and the DOA- a deadly combination.

On my turn I missed two nice trout in a row, then managed to stick a little 12 incher, all on a minnow fly. On Rodney’s next turn he missed three trout in a row, and before we could switch places he nailed a nice three pound fish on the same fly. The plan was for a short day, so we then went home.

indian river lagoon fishing report

Rodney’s trout was respectable if not a trophy. Clouds obviously were an issue.

Thursday Anton Faith’s fishing education continued. We went to the IRL and checked some spots I hadn’t looked at in a long time. One was OK, the other not. I was tossing a DOA CAL jerkbait, Anton a Bass Assassin. We each got a redfish, slot fish.

indian river lagoon fishing report

Anton was very happy with his redfish. Clouds again!

I missed three trout in a row and in fact did not get one. Anton also missed a strike. Our hookup to miss ratio was not good. But Anton did get his first-ever fish on an artificial lure, a great achievement. No, you don’t have to rely on bait!

Friday’s charter was father and son. Dad was Col. Carl O’Hall, US Army (ret), son was Carl O’Hall, Esq., on the IRL! We had a bite and a miss early on a surface plug. Then Carl the Younger got a handsome trout on a DOA CAL jerkbait.

indian river lagoon fishing report

Speaking of happy, here’s Carl with his seatrout. Smile! The clouds showed up shortly afterwards.

Then he missed another one on the same bait. Then he hooked and lost a redfish while using a Johnson Minnow. Again, our hookup to miss ratio was not good. I ought to get the hook file out and do some lazer points on my hooks…

indian river lagoon fishing report

Then we had a little manatee encounter.

We saw plenty of fish this week. Other than on Tuesday they were not very aggressive and seemed to have their radar on for boat detection. It was challenging but entertaining. I look forward to the coming week!

And that is this week’s Wind and Clouds North Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report from Spotted Tail.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

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

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

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Memorial Day Orlando Fishing Report

May 23, 2015 by · 1 Comment

orlando fishing report

Memorial Day Orlando Fishing Report

Please take some time this weekend to consider the sacrifices made by so many, so that we can enjoy the lifestyle we have. And have a happy and safe Memorial Day Weekend.

As seems to be the habit lately, I did some fishing around this week. Generally it was good. A tactical error prevented many fish from being caught one day.

I apologize for the quality of the photos. We did not have any beautiful models available. No offense, Aubrey!

Monday found Anton Faith and I out in the Bang-O-Craft, on the Indian River Lagoon. Some snook had been discovered last week and I wanted another crack at them. All the fish at that spot were gone, including the snook. Sad!

We went to another spot I had been wanting to check. Bingo! No snook, but lots of nice seatrout. This is where the tactical error occurred. Anton doesn’t fish much and I brought frozen mullet for bait. I filleted them, then cut the fillets into strips. You can’t throw them very far. The fish were spooking before we could get into range. The one fish we got came on a 3″ DOA CAL Shad tail.

Tuesday morning Scott Radloff and I launched the Mitzi at Port Canaveral. There was a lot of Sargassum in the water. I was guardedly optimistic. There was almost no bait and we did not find any fish. The water off Cocoa Beach is very dirty. We pulled the boat at 10 AM and went to the Indian River Lagoon.

orlando fishing report

The jerkbait was an almost brilliant choice.

Remembering my tactical error from the previous day, I opted to try a 5.5″ DOA CAL jerk bait, since the fish eat it and I can throw it a long way. It was an almost brilliant choice. Between us we got over a dozen nice trout and reds. We were done a little after 2 PM.

orlando fishing report

No fish were harmed in the making of this photo.

Has anyone noticed how hot it’s been? Thunderstorms are becoming a daily affair. It will start cooling off around October. Welcome to the long, hot, Florida summer!

Wednesday found me up at the Villages, at the request of the Tri-County Fly Fishers, a very active and nice group of people. We discussed fishing opportunities in the Indian River Lagoon system for an hour or two, after which I drove home again. Thanks to all of you for having me up there.

A couple months back I blogged about the Sevylor inflatable kayak, which had been purchased to access a remote spot on the St. Johns River. For some unfathomable reason I decided to drag an Ocean Kayak Prowler back there on Thursday. I would drag the boat 100 yards and stop to catch my breath. Then I would do it again. And again. Ad infinitum. It took way too long. The entire time this song flowed through my mind:

I got a mule. Her name is Sal.

Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal.

She’s a good old worker and a good old pal.

Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal.

It was a feasibility study. I think if I were 26 instead of 62 it might be feasible. As it is I won’t be doing it again, I don’t need exercise that badly. I’m no mule! Anyway, the bass were biting, but they were all small ones. The best one I got maybe hit 13 inches, all but one hit the gurgler in the photo.

orlando fishing report

This fish was not worth dragging the kayak a half mile.

orlando fishing report

The killer fly, a gurgler.

 

On Friday Aubrey Thompson, Ph.D., fly fisher, joined me on the Indian River Lagoon. Man, we saw some fish. They were not eating very well. Aubrey managed a half dozen bites, only one of which posed for photos. It was a right solid trout, right at 26 inches!

orlando fishing report

 

 

orlando fishing report

Come to me!

 

orlando fishing report

A solid trout at 26 inches.

orlando fishing report

And the release shot.

And that is this week’s Memorial Day Orlando Fishing Report from Spotted Tail.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski

www.spottedtail.com

http://www.spottedtail.com/blog

www.johnkumiski.com

www.rentafishingbuddy.com

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

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

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The TC Orlando Fishing Report

May 14, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

The TC Orlando Fishing Report

orlando fishing report

Timothy Courville, MD, Fly Fisher.

Who, or what, is TC? It could have been TC Howard, long time friend and rod repair guru, but not this week. TC is Timothy Courville, MD, a fine fly caster. He fished with me for three days this week, with some very mixed results. Since I only fished those three days, he’s featured in the TC Orlando Fishing Report.

Monday found us on the Indian River Lagoon. Nice day, not too many clouds, kind of a stiff wind from the southeast. There were quite a few fish around, and Timothy got the job done. The morning started off with a few breaking ladyfish. Bang! One in the boat. Then we saw a phenomenon all too rare in the IRL, breaking redfish. Bam! One in the boat.

orlando fishing report

Bam! One in the boat!

Then we got to sight cast to some real nice seatrout. Tim got several. Crevalle jacks started busting mullet. Slam! Another species down. Most fish were caught on synthetic minnow patterns. All in all it was a productive day.

orlando fishing report

This was a beautiful, fat fish, the best of the day.

Tuesday I wanted to try the ocean, so we launched at Port Canaveral. It was a little too rough. We ran the beach to Cape Canaveral, found one school of pogies, got a couple bluefish with a spin rod, could not turn a bite on fly. We pulled the boat at nine AM and went back to the Indian River Lagoon. We must have educated the fish the previous day because we could not buy a strike, in spite of seeing some very nice fish. We tried a couple other spots. At the last spot, late in the afternoon, Timothy got our first fish of the day, a modest redfish that took a synthetic minnow. To my surprise we found some snook and to my bigger surprise they were quite aggressive. The synthetic minnow fooled three. At this point it was 5 PM and time to wrap it up. So it had been a frustrating day but at least it ended on a high point.

Wednesday we went to the Banana River Lagoon. It had been so good last week, but the bottom had fallen out. We paddled and poled for miles. It was hard to find fish and when we did they said no to everything we tried. We did not get a bite and the skunking could not have been more thorough.

Not to beat the puffer name thing to death, but I got one more response to the puffer question. This is the last one I will share unless I get the brilliant one that I couldn’t come up with. Anthony L. wrote, “I was thinking ‘Party Balloon’ could be a cool name for pufferfish, it’s hard to say party balloon and think negatively! Is it sexy?… I’m not sure, but it sounds fun!” Thank you for the idea, sir!

And that is this week’s TC Orlando Fishing Report from Spotted Tail.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

 

John Kumiski

www.spottedtail.com

http://www.spottedtail.com/blog

www.johnkumiski.com

www.rentafishingbuddy.com

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

 

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

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Fished Around Orlando Fishing Report

May 9, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Fished Around Orlando Fishing Report

Good week this week, five days on the water- two short Econlockhatchee River trips, two days on the Banana River Lagoon, a morning on the Indian River Lagoon, and fish caught in spite of the wind and clouds.

Last week’s report said this: “I think puffers need some PR. I was trying to think of a new name to call them to make them more appealing to anglers but nothing came to mind. If you can come up with a new, sexy name for puffers please email it to me. The best name I get will be worth a free copy of Flyrodding Florida Salt. Judge’s decision is final.”

Orlando Fishing Report

Several people responded with suggestions. Thank you, all of you! I don’t know that any of them will make anglers flock here hoping to catch puffers, but for what it’s worth, here they are:

“Another name for a northern pufferfish is a ‘Sugar Toad’.  Also, an ‘Inhaler’ would be a good name referring to how they inhale a fly as well as how they inhale water to swell.” -Geoff W.

I love the creativity of this one- “I love pufferfish and I was thinking the name Prickly Pickle.” -Olivia L.

“The Puffer through its action, starting at the rear, is a ‘sea wolf’.” -Larry

And my personal favorite- “You can call them Senators, Congressmen or politicians. They are all full of hot air”. -Bill J.

So I have a dilemma. I promised a book, but no one really met the terms of the contest, which was to come up with a name that would make people want to catch puffers. It will have to be a really good name! If it weren’t for shipping costs I’d give all four of you a book, just for participating. Hmmm, what to do, what to do…

A decision has been reached. Please email me your snail mail address, all four of you. The heck with shipping costs, you all get a book. Judge’s decision is final.

indian river lagoon fishing report

Recording the puffer for posterity.

Sunday afternoon son Alex asked me, “Wanna go fishing?” So at about 2 PM we launched the Mitzi at CS Lee Park and ran it up the Econ.

The stumpknocker bite was hot. They are amazingly aggressive little fish, hitting bass flies with some authority.

orlando fishing report

This is a trophy stumpknocker. Really.

This reporter managed a cute little largemouth bass as well. We were off the water at 5 PM, a short, sweet trip.

orlando fishing report

Kind of a scary photo of me with my bass.

orlando fishing report

Heading back to the ranch. Photo courtesy of Mike Conneen.

Monday morning found me launching a kayak on the Banana River Lagoon with Kevin Barnes, a really good fly caster from Georgia. The wind was blowing 15-20 out of the northeast. We found fish though, and Kevin did some damage on the redfish. Heck, I got five myself. Kevin’s fly consisted of a strip of black bunny skin tail and a root beer estaz body, tied on a size four Mustad 23007. Real simple, very effective.

I used a black and purple bendback. All the fish were in the slot, no big boys this trip.

 

Wednesday at noonish I launched the kayak on the Econ. I had floated about 100 yards down the river when the most astonishing sight met my eyes- four healthy women, wearing waders, in the river with dipnets, clipboards, and other sciency stuff. I had to stop to talk with them, to see what they were doing.

They work for Seminole County and do biological assays of surface waters all through the county. I happened to catch them during their annual Econlockhatchee trip. The county maintains a website to let all of us know what these folks are doing, found here: http://www.seminolecountyfl.gov/departments-services/public-works/watershed-management/surface-water-quality-program/biological-monitoring.stml

sunfish beds, econlockhatchee river

The redbellies are bedding now.

After a few quite delightful minutes I continued on my way. There were (hopefully) fish to catch.

The redbellies were on it. Actually, they are bedding now. I got a couple beauties that hit my bass fly. I also managed to coax four bass to take it. The clouds continued building and the thunder started rumbling. The kayak got pointed back upriver and some serious paddling commenced. I walked into my kitchen just after 2 PM, another short, sweet trip.

redbelly sunfish

A file photo of a nice redbelly.

Thursday morning again found me launching my kayak with Kevin Barnes, same time, same channel. The wind was now from the northwest, stronger if anything. The lagoon was covered with whitecaps. We’re going fly paddle fishing in this?? At least the sun was out.

We did. The fish were there again, and again, Kevin was on it. He scored a slam with black drum, redfish, and a handsome 25 inch seatrout, all caught on that same estaz and bunny strip fly (I think I’ll be tying some up.). Although we saw a couple fatties we did not make that particular score. When I left at 4 PM, Kevin was still fishing. Gotta love the enthusiasm. That’s probably why he’s so good.

 

Friday morning found George Allen and I launching the Mitzi on the Indian RIver Lagoon. The fish were at the first spot we went to. It did not take George long to catch a beautiful five pound seatrout. He would end up getting two more, one a twin of the first. He also got a couple of slot reds. It was a beautiful morning and we got a few fish. The boat was back on the trailer before 1 PM.

orlando fishing report

George in an epic seatrout battle.

orlando fishing report

He gets the deed done!

And that is this week’s Fished Around Orlando Fishing Report from Spotted Tail.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski

www.spottedtail.com

http://www.spottedtail.com/blog

www.johnkumiski.com

www.rentafishingbuddy.com

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

 

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

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May Day Orlando Fishing Report

May 3, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

May Day Orlando Fishing Report

Since Friday was May Day, which used to be a fairly important holiday, this is the May Day Orlando Fishing Report.

And since it’s May, the Tarpon Poem needs to make its annual appearance.

an ideal world
hot sun, blue sky, clear, slick water
sweat
a graphite wand, a wisp of feathers, a sliver of steel

a flash of silver breaks the mirror
another, and another

feathers land in water
magically, they come to life

line tightens
mirror shatters
power
water flies, gills flare, body shakes, shudders
again, and again, and again

beast tires
arms ache
hand grasps jaw
feathers removed

great fish swims free once more

tarpon
one of God’s gifts to fly fishers

orlando fishing report

One of God’s gifts to fly fishers.

Last week’s report was called the Stalked by a Gator report. The photo I used was of crocodiles, however. Several people emailed me to let me know. Of course I knew- just checking to see if anyone was paying attention! Anyway, here’s an alligator photo.

orlando fishing report

An actual alligator, not a crocodile. Here in Florida we are fortunate to have both.

Blog Posts This Week- The Orion Cooler- A Review

OK! FISHING! Monday found David Gunn and Bill Elk in my boat again. Unfortunately I didn’t learn Bill’s last name until I had finished fishing him. Otherwise I would have called him Bull Elk all week. Anyhow, I digress.

On a cloudy, windy day we launched the boat at Port Canaveral. We ran north for quite a way looking for any sign of activity. Although Davis and Bill are fly casters I had a spin rod with a bucktail jig on it that I used as a search tool. It did not find much- two lonely bluefish.

We saw a couple of tarpon roll. We saw a few tunny busting bait. We did not get a shot at anything. At one o’clock I pulled the boat and drove to Port St. John, launching again on the Indian River Lagoon. To my relief there was a load of ladyfish at the power plant. We caught ladyfish pretty steadily for a couple hours, and David got a mullet for good measure. So the day was a moderate success.

Tuesday found David Gunn and Bill Elk in my boat again. We launched at Parrish Park, running south to check the flats across from Titusville. The water looked nasty and we did not see anything. We ended up back at the power plant for a while. Although we caught a few, there were many fewer fish there than the previous day.

We left and checked a flat. After we ran over a few redfish David started blind casting. With fly tackle this is a low probability approach, but he got not one but two redfish. We did not count how many puffers were caught. You can always count on the puffers. Bring extra flies. They make pretty short work of a fly if it gets in there the right way.

orlando fishing report

Bill and David went wading on Wednesday. Bill got this nice red.

Wednesday I was supposed to drive down and fish with Rick. The wind was howling and was supposed to continue doing so, so we postponed the trip. I got to play with fishing tackle instead. The Squishy Cat wanted to play too, so I got this photo.

orlando fishing report

Squishy Cat wants to learn to fly fish?

Friday I went scouting on the Banana River Lagoon. It was windy! I was cold, on the first of May. May Day! What a good reason to go fishing! I got the first fish I threw to. Yes, I do know we never end our sentences with a preposition. I thought it was last week. The water looks good, too.

orlando fishing report

JK with redfish, caught on a black bunny leech.

Saturday Eric Elfman and David Gunn joined me for some fly fishing, again launching at Parrish Park and fishing the Indian River Lagoon. The wind was howling out of the northeast. There was nothing at the power plant. We found some scattered trout and redfish. David got two reds and hooked and lost a trout. Although he had several shots at trout and reds, Eric got three trophy puffers, nothing else.

I think puffers need some PR. I was trying to think of a new name to call them to make them more appealing to anglers but nothing came to mind. If you can come up with a new, sexy name for puffers please email it to me. The best name I get will be worth a free copy of Flyrodding Florida Salt. Judge’s decision is final.

After fishing I made my way to the abode of Tom Van Horn, who was celebrating his 60th birthday. Happy Birthday, Tom! The stars were all out for this gala. My only regret is I left my camera at home.

And that is this week’s May Day Orlando Fishing Report from Spotted Tail.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski

www.spottedtail.com

http://www.spottedtail.com/blog

www.johnkumiski.com

www.rentafishingbuddy.com

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Stalked by a Gator Orlando Fishing Report

April 26, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Stalked by a Gator Orlando Fishing Report

crocs too

Last time I had gone kayaking on the Banana River Lagoon, a banner day ensued with five redfish and over a dozen fine seatrout. Naturally I had been itching to go back. It happened Tuesday.

All the fish I had found that trip (admittedly, it was a couple weeks ago) were gone, of course. Search mission time.

The search revealed a bunch of black drum tailing, after a long paddle. Still, tailing fish are tailing fish. One took a black Redfish Worm, another a Merkin. I missed a few strikes. The fish were not overly aggressive towards the fly, though.

Realizing that it was a scouting trip more than a fishing trip I left the tailing fish and continued the search. It led me to the shoreline, where an occasional redfish was spotted. In spite of best efforts, none were fooled.

At one point I got out of the kayak and was stalking a fish when a security vehicle drove up to the water’s edge, blue lights flashing. Since I was the only other human being in the vicinity, I paddled over to see what I had done wrong.

“There’s an alligator stalking you,” the Security Man said. I had seen the gator. It was not paying any attention to me. But I did not want an argument with the Security Man. I was curious as to how he knew that, but did not pursue a line of questioning.

“I hadn’t noticed,” I replied.

“You gotta be careful this time of year,” he said. “They’re mating and they get real aggressive. You got an ID?”

When Security Man was done with me I decided I was done too. I paddled back to the chariot, loaded up, and went home.

Thursday found Rodney Smith and me out on Canaveral Bight. The weather looked fine when we left but it clouded up quickly. There was a lot of bait there, and some bluefish, but we didn’t find much else.

The storm moved in faster than I thought it would and we were caught out in it. At least one of us had a raincoat! The lightning was all cloud to cloud, fortunately. The boat was on the trailer before noon. I drove through rain all the way home.

Friday I still wanted to know if there were any fish along the beach, so went out of the Port as a solo act. It was too windy and too snotty for me to do what I wanted to. The bait was still in the Bight, and the bluefish were still there too. I saw a few of the Giant Crevalles bust some baits within casting range. Before I could move to grab a rod they were gone. Having learned all that I could, I headed back to the Port and home.

Saturday found me out on Mosquito Lagoon with David Gunn (Peter’s cousin) and his friend Bill, fly fishers from New England. We found a school of black drum right away and David got one to eat a black Redfish Worm. The fish was a relatively small one of six pounds or so.

The fishy area quickly became crowded with boats and the fish just as quickly disappeared. We were on a search mission the rest of the day. We did not find much. The one bite we had already gotten would be it for the day.

And that is this week’s Stalked by a Gator Orlando Fishing Report from Spotted Tail.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski

www.spottedtail.com

http://www.spottedtail.com/blog

www.johnkumiski.com

www.rentafishingbuddy.com

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

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

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

Jumped a Tarpon Orlando Fishing Report

April 18, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Jumped a Tarpon Orlando Fishing Report

Blog posts this week-

–Mystery Tackle Box a Winner

–How to Tie the Electric Sushi Fly

Electric Sushi

Electric Sushi

Summer in Alaska is not too far off. One of the things I would like to do this summer is figure out how to catch salmon in the ocean on fly. If any readers have any insight into this, I sure would like to hear from you.

OK, fishing. Wednesday Scott Radloff joined me for an Atlantic Ocean trip out of Port Canaveral. The ocean was a little snotty, and there was a high rain chance. We went to the Cape. The acres of bluefish were gone. But the water along the beach was calmer than in Canaveral Bight so we stayed there. Casting jigs we got steady action from ladyfish, bluefish, and jack crevalle.

Scott put a ladyfish chunk on his big rod, hoping to get a tarpon bite. He hooked a shark in the six to seven foot range instead. We had to use the boat to chase it down. He had it on for at least fifteen minutes, but the fish finally snapped his 50 pound braid. He hooked two other sharks but they both cut him off quickly.

orlando fishing report

Scott battles the brute. The brute won.

I got another bite on the bucktail jig, but this time it was a real fish. Weren’t we surprised when a 70-80 pound tarpon came flying out of the water! I may have been a little undergunned with the outfit I was using, but the fish threw the jig on its third jump. But I jumped a tarpon on April 15, the earliest day ever for me on this coast.

Thursday and Friday I was part of a three boat charter arranged by Capt. Chris Myers, on Mosquito Lagoon. The water is definitely a brown color now. I did not see any clear water at all. That and all the clouds made sight fishing next to impossible- except when tails were showing. Fishing was not fast but by using cut ladyfish we managed two slot redfish and a bunch of hardheads. We got a few short trout on the DOA Deadly Combo, too. Not spectacular but better than a skunking.

Friday saw us out with the same crew, and Rock Man was with me again. He got the first red of the day, a pretty 10 pound fish, in the first 15 minutes.

orlando fishing report

Rock plays a fish on a spectacular morning.

 

orlando fishing report

Noah records Rock’s redfish for posterity.

 

orlando fishing report

Rock and his redfish…

He would end up getting three more reds and a black drum besides. Noah managed a slot red, too. And of course since we were using cut bait there were catfish involved. Again, not spectacular but certainly acceptable.

orlando fishing report

Noah got in on the action, too.

 

orlando fishing report

Just before we finished Rock boated this beauty.

It’s been raining this week, every afternoon. I went to check the Econ this morning, thinking about fishing there. It is blown out, the water having risen almost five vertical feet. Guess I won’t be fishing there for a while.

And that is this week’s Jumped a Tarpon Orlando Fishing Report from Spotted Tail.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

 

John Kumiski

www.spottedtail.com

http://www.spottedtail.com/blog

www.johnkumiski.com

www.rentafishingbuddy.com

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

 

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

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

Acres of Bluefish Orlando Fishing Report

April 12, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Acres of Bluefish Orlando Fishing Report

Last week an attempt was made to almost poetically describe how lucky those of us who live and fish in central Florida are. This week again re-emphasises that fact. Fact! Not fiction! Not opinion! FACT!!!

So Monday the Sevylor inflatable kayak got pumped up and somewhat unceremoniously dumped into my favorite St. Johns River location. The Sevylor reminded me again how lucky we are to have fairly rigid plastic kayaks for most of the paddling we want to do. That thing paddles so badly. Anyway, the bite was not hot. Five bass came to hand, all on surface flies, in about four hours. The place was just too quiet. No surface activity, no alligators, it just didn’t look right. That’s OK, I’ll be back.

About noon on Tuesday the Ocean Kayak was dropped into the Econlockhatchee. Shortly afterwards I hopped in and we went off down the river.

Godzilla lives there, no kidding. There are some gawdawful big alligators there.

The bass bite again was not hot, although I certainly caught some. Once I switched to streamers I did a little better. Certainly the redbellies and stumpknockers were aggressive.

orlando fishing report

Redbelly on Electric Sushi. What else could happen?

 

orlando fishing report

How about redbelly on sexy fly?

At one point the kayak was pulled up on the bank so I could wade along a sandbar and cast to the shoreline. When the bar ended I turned and headed back upriver to where the kayak waited patiently for me. As soon as I had turned around a fat garfish glided gracefully across the bar, only about 15 feet away. The streamer landed a foot in front of him. One twitch and WHAM! He hit it like a barracuda, just an awesome strike. I actually hooked and landed him, one of two I got.

orlando fishing report

How about spotted gar on sexy fly??

With a small bluegill popper or rubber spider you could easily have 40 or 50 fish days there right now. Please let me know if you’d like me to show you.

orlando fishing report

This bass took an ugly foam gurgler.

orlando fishing report

Same fish, different angle. It was a decent sized one.

Wednesday the Bang-O-Craft was launched at River Breeze for some scouting for my Thursday/Friday charter. The water is low, but in most places it’s also kind of dirty. I saw a fish here, a couple fish there, and managed to successfully sight cast two nice redfish into submission using a silver Johnson Minnow. I got a lot of fish on the DOA Deadly Combo but all of them were small ones. Still, enough fish were observed that I thought we had a reasonable chance of catching a few over the next couple of days.

Thursday Dr. Jim Colgan and Dr. Bill Thomas joined me for a day’s fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. Good guess if you said we launched the Mitzi at River Breeze. With the exception of a single anemic seatrout caught using the Deadly Combo, we got our only fish, a rather anemic-looking 15 inch red, at about 2 PM, on a Johnson Minnow. We maybe saw a dozen fish all day. Yeah, it was not a skunking but it was dangerously close, certainly a real tough day. The good doctors decided that they had had enough fun and declined the option on Friday.

With my newly opened up Friday I decided to use the kayak to really explore a place I had unsuccessfully dabbled in several years earlier. My Friday attitude was, “If there are fish here I will find them.”

The paddle was lovely with lots of birds. I got to watch skimmers skimming, coots cooting, and bald eagles bald eagling. The only fish I found, however, were Gambusia and mullet. The experiment, although extremely pleasant, failed.

 

My friend Tammy has a job and can only fish on weekends. Even though I don’t like fishing weekends I do like fishing with Tammy, so Saturday morning an 830 we launched the Mitzi at Port Canaveral and went out onto a somewhat snotty Atlantic hoping to find tripletail. We did not find one. But we did find acres of bluefish, with lots of crevalle jacks and a few big ladyfish thrown in. All these denizens of the deep attracted a load of big sharks, too. We lost a couple hooked fish to shark attacks and hooked several big sharks on chunks of ladyfish.

Tammy used a big ChugBug until a shark relieved her of it, then used a Mirrolure. A jack tore the back hook off and she kept right on catching fish with it. I used several Upperman jigs. I’m pretty sure anything with a hook would have worked. The fish were REAL numerous and REAL aggressive. We had a wonderful time.

orlando fishing report

The fish were plentiful and aggressive.

And that is this week’s Acres of Bluefish Orlando Fishing Report from Spotted Tail.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski

www.spottedtail.com

http://www.spottedtail.com/blog

www.johnkumiski.com

www.rentafishingbuddy.com

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

 

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

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