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Ozello/Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

April 21, 2018 by · 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.

ozello/mosquito lagoon fishing report

It was chilly but beautiful when we launched.

 

ozello/mosquito lagoon fishing report

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.

ozello/mosquito lagoon fishing report

The habitat looked healthy.

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

ozello/mosquito lagoon fishing report

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.

ozello/mosquito lagoon fishing report

Brian foiled the skunk here.

 

ozello/mosquito lagoon fishing report

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.

ozello/mosquito lagoon fishing report

He added this beast for good measure.

 

ozello/mosquito lagoon fishing report

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: , , , , , , , , , ,

Home Again Inshore Fishing Report

April 14, 2018 by · 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.

inshore fishing report

A nice red took the jig.

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

inshore fishing report

A rare break in the clouds yielded this red.

 

inshore fishing report

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.

inshore fishing report

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.

inshore fishing report

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.

inshore fishing report

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.

inshore fishing report

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

 

inshore fishing report

Fortunately the camera is “waterproof.”

 

inshore fishing report

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.

inshore fishing report

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: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hail Yes Florida Fishing Report

March 25, 2018 by · Leave a Comment

Hail Yes Florida Fishing Report

Because of our hailstorm on Tuesday, and because we are in Florida, this is the hail yes Florida fishing report. We only got out twice this week, not hitting it hard either time. Weather was definitely at play here!

What A Guest Should Not Do
While sleeping one night this week I had a dream about fishing (not unusual). In the dream I’m in a boat with a guide(?) and my sister (?). The fish are not biting. The guide takes us to his favorite fishing spot. There are fish there feeding on fry minnows. We use fry minnows for bait but still don’t get a bite.

The guide takes us to his house, on the water nearby. In the house is a large, elaborate saltwater aquarium. I use my fry minnow (on a #8 Daichii X510 hook, amazing how detailed some things in dreams are) in the aquarium to try to catch a crab when the guide’s favorite pet fish, a two foot long translucent sort of cross between a tarpon and a snook but not really either zooms up and takes the minnow.

When I set the hook the fish jumps out of the aquarium up towards the ceiling, falling to the floor and its death. I try to revive the fish but we can see the insides just look like Jello now, having exploded when the creature hit the floor.

I woke up at this point, furious and upset with myself for being so stupid. How could I have done such a thing??

Finally I told myself, “Let it go John, it was a dream.” Still not comfortable with the entire tableau I fell back to sleep to have other bizarre dreams which won’t be detailed here.

Monday
I saw Tammy’s FB post about how low the Econ was. The gauge read 1.0. In the afternoon, in spitting rain, I launched the kayak to see how fishing was.

That’s an aggressive little fish.

It was not great. My gurglers accounted for a stumpknocker, a couple redbellies, and one 12″ bass. I switched to a purple Bouncer eelworm, which accounted for a couple more redbellies (how do the get the hook in their mouth?) and two more bass.

Bass on the gurgler.

Great and little blue herons, kingfishers, sandhill cranes, vultures, and a bald eagle were observed, as was a couple painted turtles. The river was full of fry minnows. Didn’t see an alligator.

Bass on the eelworm, front…

 

…and side views.

 

Another redbelly for good measure.

I was home in time for supper.

Tuesday was exciting weather-wise- wind, rain, lightning, thunder, hail. I watched most of it from my desk.

Wednesday and Thursday’s weather was not as exciting, but the wind just did not let up. I again stayed home for the most part.

Friday I got to take a drug test. Afterwards I drove to Satellite Beach, picked up Rodney, and drove to Donald McDonald Park in Sebastian, where we camped for two nights at the Indian River Paddle Adventure reunion campout. Nick Colantonio, Bones Benton, and Mike Conneen were there, and we had a visit from Mim Duncan too. It was great to see all of them, and I probably gained five pounds from Nick’s cooking. Thanks, Nick!

The original IRLPA crew.

I fished for five hours or so on the Sebastian River on Saturday, watching people who may have been crazy jumping out of perfectly good airplanes the entire time. The water was reasonably clear, and there was a lot of bait, but I did not see a tarpon or a snook, only getting two modest crevalle and a surprising bluefish.

Thought I had a snook at first, but this bluefish was the fish of the day for me.

We did see three alligators, an unidentified shark-like creature, several dolphins and manatees, a bald eagle and lots of other birds, and enjoyed by far the week’s best weather.

Great weather for searching for fish, but I didn’t see much.

And that is the hail yes 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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Just Another Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report 

March 18, 2018 by · 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: , , ,

Fishfull Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report 

March 12, 2018 by · Leave a Comment

Fishfull Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report 

The report name may be slightly misleading. We spent five days on the Mosquito Lagoon this week, and although we caught some fish every day, we weren’t covered up every day. But three days we saw a lot of fish- thus the fishfull Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

The Indian River Lagoon Chronicles is now available as a paperback book, either from me or from amazon…

In reference to last week’s report about the Rock Springs Run, I got the following email from subscriber Tony Magner, which he graciously allowed me to publish here:

“I wanted to comment on this weeks report on fishing Rock Springs Run. Last Friday we had family in town from Vermont. My wife found King’s Landing online and thought it would make for a great paddle for us all. We had never been here before. I must say that Hurricane Irma definitely left her mark. Big time!! We elected to take canoes as we were expecting a leisurely cruise down the river. This was far from what we found. Portions were very difficult to navigate. Especially in a canoe. Two members of our group elected for single kayaks. They had much better luck. I felt that a report of the difficulty of this trip would have been appreciated with your report.”

Point made, sir. There were downed trees all over the place, although someone had been there with a chain saw and cleared a path. I’ve been on trips like that where the trees were down and no one had cleared a path, which is probably why I neglected to mention it. Anyway, Rock Springs Run requires maneuvering, so be ready for that if you go.

This is really tough maneuvering…

 

…as is dragging your boat over fallen trees. The things people do for fun!!!

Upcoming Events–

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

Tuesday

Old friend Kevin Linehan and I went scouting on Mosquito lagoon. In five hours I saw one redfish. The half-dozen trout we got were all short. Not very fishfull.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

I had the pleasure of hosting Bob Elliot, a fly fisher from Rochester, on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Thursday morning we started out of River Breeze. It was cold. The wind screamed, out of the north 20+ with gusts. That first boat ride was painful.

I poled from north of JB’s Fish Camp to Bissett Bay. The wind may have helped a bit. Bob got two reds along the way. Both were shorties. Both took the same olive and white Clouser minnow. It never did warm up much. We never lost our good spirits, an excellent development considering we had three days still to fish.

Friday morning we started out of River Breeze. It was cold. The wind screamed, out of the north, pushing 20 with gusts. That first boat ride was painful, more so than the previous day.

It warmed up to almost comfortable fairly quickly, and we found some fish. We could not get them to bite, but we at least saw them, slot reds, honker trout, nice fish.

Bob got a rat red on a Bouncer streamer.

We changed locations and found more fish, got some good shots but no takers. When the sun was nearing our quitting time Bob tossed a Slider at a fish I saw. The cast was good, the redfish took. Bob set the hook- twice. The second hookset broke the leader. Ouch. That was the last bite we got.

Saturday we launched at Beacon 42 ramp. The weather was nice. We stayed at the first spot for hours. Bob got two nice trout there on a Bouncer streamer, but the redfish just did not want to play. There were a lot of them! They laughed at everything we tried! Finally succumbing to frustration, we tried two other spots. The first lacked fish, the second had a sparse selection of uncooperative specimens. The two trout were it for the day.

Sunday we launched at Beacon 42 ramp. The weather was awesome. We stayed at the first spot for hours, the same spot where we could not get a red the previous day. They cooperated just as readily, and we did not get a bite in spite of the significant time investment and several fly changes.

Spot 2 looked awesome with a minor biological desert problem. I’ve caught lots of fish there before.

At Spot 3 there were trout, redfish, and small black drum. Clouds kept turning off the lights. Bob had easily 50 shots in the 10-15′ cast range, always tough to convert. Using a Redfish Worm he got a rat red on a blind cast. In spite of being in fish most of the day that was the only bite he got.

So we saw hundreds of fish over three days and got a handful of fish to show for it, tough, tough fishing. A good time was had by all in spite of some frustration!

And that is the fishfull 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: , ,

Blown Away Orlando Fishing Report

March 5, 2018 by · Leave a Comment

Blown Away Orlando Fishing Report

Three straight days of fishing in 20 mph plus winds, no surprise we have a blown away Orlando fishing report.

Bad news for all Lagoonatics– this year’s installment of the algae bloom has already started in the Banana River Lagoon. See this link for all the gruesome details-

The Indian River Lagoon Chronicles is now available as a paperback book, either from me or from amazon…

Upcoming Events–
-Paddle Fishing Seminar, Kayaks by Bo in Titusville, March 17, 5 PM. Please call to reserve your space. 321.474.9365.
-Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar, March 18, 8:30 AM. Please visit this link for more information…
-Florida Fly Fishing Association meeting, Kay’s Barbeque, Cocoa, March 27, 7 PM. We’ll post more details as we get them.

Monday- Rock Springs Run

orlando fishing report

Mr. Conneen rollin’ down the creek.

 

orlando fishing report

This painted turtle let me get surprisingly close.

Mike Conneen and I went a-paddlin’ on the Rock Springs Run, starting at King’s Landing and finishing at Wekiva Marina. At this central Florida gem, it’s more about the aesthetics than the size of the fish. You’ll find plenty of brilliantly colored fish here, but they tend to be small ones- stumpknockers, redbellies, even the bass run small.

orlando fishing report

Rock Springs Run stumpknocker. Yes, it’s small.

 

orlando fishing report

Mike, still rollin’.

Use ultralight tackle and small, weedless baits (I like the Beetle Spin or a three-weight fly rod)) and you will have fun racking up the numbers if not the poundage. A bruiser will surprise you on occasion.

orlando fishing report

One of many ibis we saw.

Mike got a dozen or so bass, the largest was (being generous) maybe two pounds. It’s an awesome trip- the scenery and the wildlife are so nice, who cares about fish size?

orlando fishing report

One of the larger fish we caught.

 

orlando fishing report

A stream-side blue flag iris.

Wednesday
Last week I said this about the shad- “I think they’re done for the season.” PDM, whose name will not be revealed, sent me an email complete with maps telling me he had his best day of the season the same day I caught exactly one. So following his very specific instructions (which I really appreciated- thank you!) I went there on Wednesday. It was not great. I had to work, but I got ten or twelve in a few hours. It was enough that I figured I could use it again of Friday if needed.

Thursday
Went scouting solo out of River Breeze. The places I had been finding fish were devoid of life. On my good friend the 3″ plastic shad I got two slot trout and a few dinks. The slotties were delicious, pan-fried in coconut oil.

Friday , Saturday, Sunday
I had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Dan Carr, a fly fisher from Atlanta, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. He warned me ahead of time that he brings bad weather.

If you were a kite flyer or a windsurfer the weather over the weekend was incredible. It was kind of windy for fly fishing, though.

Friday morning we started out of Haulover. By noon we had seen exactly five redfish with nary a shot. Dan had caught a rat red on a plastic shad, which was the extent of the action.

I pulled the boat and went to the St. Johns River. Shad were the goal.

In four hours plus Dan got one hickory shad and one small channel cat. I pulled the boat near sunset and went home to get ready for the next day, and lick my wounds. So much for the shad. They are done.

Saturday we met at River Breeze, armed with a fly rod and a canoe. River Breeze has seldom been more aptly named.

orlando fishing report

Dan with one of the many rat reds he caught. Note the breezy-looking water behind him!

I poled the canoe about ten miles in that gale, exhausting myself in the process. Dan did catch some fish on the fly, though, both trout and redfish. No big ones, mind you, but still, fish on fly in 20+ mph is not to be sneered at. He done good, enough so that he wanted a repeat the next day.

orlando fishing report

Sunday we met at River Breeze, armed with a fly rod and a canoe. River Breeze has seldom been more aptly named.

orlando fishing report

The fly of choice. Actually, he used several different patterns.

I poled the canoe about ten miles in that gale, exhausting myself in the process. Dan did catch some fish on the fly, though, all redfish. No big ones, mind you, but still, fish on fly in 20+ mph is not to be sneered at. He done good!

orlando fishing report

We got 15 or so redfish in three days and not one would have held batter. We did get a few legal trout, though. And a good time was had by all!

And that is the blown away Orlando 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, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Shad Run Swan Song Orlando Fishing Report 

February 23, 2018 by · Leave a Comment

Shad Run Swan Song Orlando Fishing Report 

We fished the St. Johns River three days and the Mosquito Lagoon one day. Shad fishing had been really good, the best in several years. It fell off a cliff this week. Thus the shad run swan song Orlando fishing report.

The Indian River Lagoon Chronicles is now available as a paperback book, either from me or from amazon. It’s getting rave reviews! Please, check it out…

The Alaska fly-tying frenzy has started! I’m tying this…

An articulated king salmon streamer…

…while fantasizing about this!

…for a manatee-sized king salmon.

Should be an awesome summer!

For Sale–
Hotel del Rio, Ambergris Caye, Belize. At this eight cabana waterfront property you can put your feet in the sand- right out your front door. http://hoteldelriobelize.com. Call 407.977.5207 for more information.

Upcoming Events–
-Paddle Fishing Seminar, Kayaks by Bo in Titusville, March 17, 5 PM. Please call to reserve your space. 321.474.9365.

-Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar, March 18, 8:30 AM. Please visit this link for more information…

-Florida Fly Fishing Association meeting, Kay’s Barbeque, Cocoa, March 27, 7 PM. We’ll post more details as we get them.

Monday
Chris Olson joined me for a day of St. Johns River shad fishing. We launched at Mullet Lake Park. We got 15 or so in four hours on ultralight spin, but had to work hard for every one. Seemed like the run was winding down.

Thank you, Chris!

Tuesday
Ian Davidson joined me for a day of St. Johns River shad fly fishing. We launched at Mullet Lake Park. After a hitless hour I pulled the boat and went to CS Lee, where we had three more hitless hours around the mouth of the Econ. Ouch.

Thank you, Ian!

I pulled the boat out and said goodbye to Ian. Then I started getting the boat road-ready. When I went to trim up the motor, I almost stuck my hand right in this guy’s mouth.

orlando fishing report

He was sitting on the trim motor. What???

By the cloudy look of his eyes, he’s getting ready to molt.

orlando fishing report

I wrapped a towel around him, carried him back to the river, and released him unharmed. Snakes are so awesome!

orlando fishing reportLive long and prosper!

Wednesday
I had the pleasure of hosting Rick Callahan and his brother-in-law Bruce on Spotted Tail, which we launched at River Breeze. We had several bites at the first spot, all on plastic shad. A few rat reds were caught, but Bruce got one that could have held batter.

orlando fishing report

Bruce and his redfish.

He released it. He also got some shorty trout, and one decent one that would also have held batter. He released that one too.

orlando fishing report

Bruce and his seatrout.

I told some dumb jokes and we traded stories, laughing a lot. The weather was awesome, and we all called it good.

Thank you Rick and Bruce!

Thursday
The chariot went to the repair shop- tied me up all day.

Friday
My thought was that if the shad were past Mullet Lake and the Econ, maybe they were near SR 50. I drove over with the Bang-O-Craft to test the idea. Two hours produced two shad. If they weighed 100 pounds apiece (and wouldn’t THAT be awesome!), that would be acceptable. Coming in at a couple pounds each, I want more action that that.

I think they’re done for the season.

And that is the shad run swan song Orlando 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, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

 Basic Central Florida Fishing Report

February 17, 2018 by · Leave a Comment

 Basic Central Florida Fishing Report

We fished the St. Johns River two days and the Mosquito Lagoon two days, decent days all. So it’s just a basic central Florida fishing report.

The Indian River Lagoon Chronicles is now available as a paperback book, either from me or from amazon…

For Sale–

Hotel del Rio, Ambergris Caye, Belize. At this eight cabana waterfront property you can put your feet in the sand- right out your front door. http://hoteldelriobelize.com. Call 407.977.5207 for more information.

Upcoming Events–

-Paddle Fishing Seminar, Kayaks by Bo in Titusville, March 17, 5 PM. Please call to reserve your space. 321.474.9365.

-Mosquito Lagoon On-the_Water Show and Tell Seminar, March 18, 8:30 AM. Please visit this link for more information…

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

Monday

Tom Campbell and his cousin Norm joined me in the Mitzi for a day of St. Johns River shad fishing. I felt bad for Norm- Tom just kept reeling them in, often two at a time. Norm could not get the deed done. Tom even caught a painted turtle, hooking it on the right back leg (we dehooked it). A couple crappie were caught. A small channel cat was caught. I don’t know how many fish we got but it was, as the Natives would have said, many.

Tuesday

I got my 1st Aid/CPR/AED card renewed by CPR Associates of America. You should have been there!!!

Wednesday

Jim Seale joined me for some fly fishing for shad on the St. Johns River. The shad were pretty cooperative early on. Jim even got a channel cat about three pounds on a shad fly (?). Then the fishing slowed down. Then the wind came up. Then we switched to ultralight spin tackle. Then the bites started again. Then we were almost out of time. Then Jim got a heck of a strike. He played the fish for about ten minutes before I could even try to grab it, which took several tries. The lure of choice for this beast, and it was a beast, was an Al’s Goldfish.

central florida fishing report

Now THAT is a hybrid striper. Jim Seale with an ultralight rod, awesome job!

Thursday

central florida fishing report

I went scouting on the Mosquito Lagoon, got four small reds and a few trout in four hours on soft plastic shad lures. I enjoyed the fog.

central florida fishing report

Who is that masked man???

Friday

central florida fishing report

John is loving this!

Chris Olson joined me for a day of Mosquito Lagoon fishing. There were a lot of boaters out there. Some of them were incredibly rude. Other than that the days was fantastic.

central florida fishing report

Chris with a nice trout, one of several he got. Note the bait…

We did not catch a lot of fish, but the five or six we got (except mine) were all handsome, both reds and trout. A four inch shad was the lure of choice.

central florida fishing report

This red was not about to be outdone by those trout!

And that is the basic 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, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

 Another Story Orlando Fishing Report

February 3, 2018 by · Leave a Comment

 Another Story Orlando Fishing Report

The shad are still strong. The Mosquto Lagoon, well that’s another story, for another story Orlando fishing report.

The Paddle Fishing Seminar at Kayaks by Bo on January 27th  was a resounding success. The place was packed and I was my usual effervescent self. Tom wants to do some more fishing seminars, perhaps monthly.

The Indian River Lagoon Chronicles is now available as a paperback book!

Monday

Tammy and I went shad fishing out of Mullet Lake Park. For all of you who were wondering what an Al’s Goldfish was, I got a photo. We laughed a lot and caught a lot. It was good.

orlando fishing report

The shad love the Al’s Goldfish.

Wednesday

Rodney and I went shad fishing out of CS Lee Park. We laughed a lot and caught a lot. It was good.

orlando fishing report

Rodney and shad.

 

orlando fishing report

JK, shad double!

I have often heard and read that like salmon, shad don’t eat while on their spawning run. Not true! I have often seen them aggressively chasing minnows, and on Wednesday we had shad spit up wads of mosquitofish into my boat. I got a photo of one of the minnows, quite small they are…

http://www.alsgoldfish.com/Al_s_Goldfish_Great_Lure_for_all_Fish_1_4_oz_p/g200-n.htm

shad food

Thursday

Since I had a charter of Friday I used Thursday to scout the Mosquito Lagoon. I launched at Biolab, ran south, then went up the east shoreline checking most of the bars and holes, all the way to Georges Bar. I did not see a trout. I did not see a redfish. I hardly saw any seagrass. I did see a single, small (10-12 fish) school of large black drum.

On the way back south I checked several spots along the west side of the lagoon. They were equally barren. At the last spot I checked I saw four small seatrout, the first I’d seen all day. My optimism for the following day was pretty low. I stank like a skunk all the way home.

Friday

Vic and Dan Gulla, Wisconsinites (?), met me at River Breeze. We found schools of redfish at the first place we went. Unfortunately there were four other boats there. The fish were in a panic. The other boats, tossing live shrimp, managed two while we were there, which was not very long.

orlando fishing report

Vic answered with a solid redfish.

 

orlando fishing report

Photographing the rat.

 

orlando fishing report

It may be small, but it’s a redfish on fly!

We saw scattered fish all morning, missing one strike during that time. Finally, about 1100, Dan got a decent trout on a plastic shad. A while later Vic answered with a solid redfish on the same type of lure. Fish, mostly small ones, came steadily for the rest of the day, with several caught on fly.

It was a lot better than I thought it would be.

And that is the another story Orlando 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, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Shad Attack! Orlando Fishing Report

January 27, 2018 by · Leave a Comment

 Shad Attack! Orlando Fishing Report

The shad bite this week was really good. We have a shad attack Orlando fishing report.

Nothing to do with fishing–

We can’t just confine our litter to the planet, we have to litter space too. This video about satellites in orbit was fascinating stuff- https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/wonder/how-many-satellites-are-currently-orbiting-earth/vi-AAv8uZz

Upcoming Events

Paddle Fishing Seminar at Kayaks by Bo in Titusville on January 27 from 5-7 PM. Please make a reservation if you plan on attending- 321-474-9365.

Monday

Tammy and I went paddle fishing on the Mosquito Lagoon. She nailed a trout almost immediately. I wasn’t expecting much and was caught by surprise when I spotted a pair of tails. The water was too dirty to see the fish themselves. I pooched the shot.

Tammy took the next shot at a small group of tails. I wanted to capture the whole episode on film (pixels, actually) but she pooched the shot.

I spotted a cruising fish, and made a cast. I misjudged its trajectory, and stripped like crazy hoping to get the fly in front of it. The leader was in the rod when I did, and the fish just crushed that fly, a Homer Rhodes Shrimp Fly.

Tammy had a chance to redeem herself and of course she did, getting a nice red on a Copper Liz. So we ended up getting three fish between us, and were off the water at 1 PM.

orlando fishing report

Tammy and redfish- good combination!

Before we got off the water a guy in a Carolina Skiff came running near where we were paddling. I expected him to get stuck. The water was low and quite shallow where we were. He started hollering at us, and with motor trimmed up, throwing mud all over, he idled over towards us. It seems he was lost, and wanted directions to the Biolab ramp. Really??? We pointed him the right way. Get a map.

Tuesday

The weather seemed quite lovely, so I hooked up the Bang-O-Craft and headed to the St. Johns River.

When I was a child my Dad and I used a lure called an Al’s Goldfish. They are back in production as of a few years ago (https://www.alsgoldfish.com) and I had bought a dozen. On a whim I tied one on, a 1/4 ounce silver one.

The shad LOVED it.

I tried fly fishing, working it pretty hard. I got three bites. Two were missed, one was a fat redbelly.

I tried small crappie jigs. I got three buck shad.

The Al’s Goldfish produced at least a dozen shad of all sizes, including a hickory, and several hooked and lost fish. That’s the hottest tip this week!

Wednesday 

I went scouting on the Indian River Lagoon. Maybe there are some fish left there but I certainly did not find them. I saw exactly two seatrout and caught one on a Riptide Sardine that generously was eight inches long (the fish, not the lure). It will be a while before I go look there again.

Thursday

I worked on the Indian River Lagoon Chronicles most of the day, and got the ebook republished on Smashwords and Amazon. I also ordered the proof for the print version. And did some boat maintenance!

Friday

My fisherman for Friday was Tom Campbell, from Maryland. The original plan was to fish the lagoon. The “east at 20” forecast caused a change in plan. We went to CS Lee Park and went shad fishing, starting at 8 am.

orlando fishing report

Mr. Shad, meet Mr. Campbell.

By 11 we’d gotten 15 or so on jigs and spoons. I pulled the boat and we went to Mullet Lake Park for a change of scenery. I learned there are many fewer airboats there, but many more bass boats going 50-60 mph. I mean, must you really go that fast? There might be other folks out there… Anyway, the shad bite was pretty strong. We got both Americans and hickories, several doubles, and I got a needlefish for the weird catch of the day.

And that is the Shad Attack! Orlando 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, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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