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Fishing News, Fishing Report

October 9, 2021 by · Leave a Comment

Fishing News, Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this week’s Fishing Report. Got out three days this week, all solo trips by kayak. Tried to find new places to fish. Hard to do- I’ve been at it a long time!
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Fly Tying

Last week I wrote, “I … got ready to tie up some delicious offerings for fish.” The results of that little tying spurt are shown below.

A deliciousness of electric sushi.

The pattern, originated by the late Mike Martinek, is called Electric Sushi. I am a huge fan! You can see the tying directions at this link- http://www.spottedtail.com/tying-the-electric-sushi-fly/

Reds like sushi.

 

Trout do, too.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I’ve been writing recently about the redfish worm and the fuzzy or wooly redfish worm. It’s a great fly! I haven’t shown a photo in a long time. Picture below, wooly on top, plain on bottom. Not a lot of difference.

hook- mustad 3407 #4
eye- small or micro lead dumbell, or bead chain, or plastic, depending on desired sink rate.
tail- I prefer arctic fox but will use marabou or a bunny strip. I prefer black, but use whatever.
body- medium ice chenille or cactus chenille. again, I prefer black.
hackle (if desired)- grizzly neck hackle, tied Palmer.

The redfish worm is one of my favorite drum flies, too.

Buena suerte! Boa sorte!
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Fishing News- Haulover Canal Gauge

For years this blog has related water levels in the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River Lagoon to the USGS Gauge at the Haulover Canal. The URL, and the gauge format on the webpage, for that gauge is changing. The new URL is https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/02248380/#parameterCode=00065&period=P7D

As I write this, the gauge reads well over 1.0. Every whole number equals a foot of water. I like for the gauge to read at 0.5 or below. I’ve seen it above 3.0 (after a hurricane) and below 0.0 (bars exposed everywhere). That webpage is an extremely useful tool for planning fishing trips in those lagoons!
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The MULLET RUN

Anyone have any news???

Will we ever see this again?

FISHING (and other) Report

Monday
Went paddling on high, murky water Mosquito Lagoon. Found a flowing culvert, where two trout, a snook, and a redfish fell for my flies. That was a good find! Ran over a couple fish, but it was very hard to see anything, in spite of the extraordinary weather. The water will most likely be high into December, maybe January. I doubt that I’ll ever see it clean again.

Culvert trout on Clouser minnow.

 

And the redfish! Note how murky the water is.

Tuesday
Susan and I visited the Orlando Museum of Art to see an exhibit of Clyde Butcher’s work. Highly recommended!!! One of my favorite Butcher photos is of the beach at Cayo Costa. I learned on Tuesday he waited there for a month to get the light he wanted. Waugh!

An example of the master’s work…

Wednesday
Dentist. News could have been better. Losing a tooth. 🙁

Visited Dr. David Demetree, chiropractor. Always feel a lot better when I leave there!

Visited the new digs of Mud Hole Tackle.

Put a new heating element in our clothes dryer.

Not a very exciting day.

Thursday
Went paddling on the high and murky Indian River Lagoon, place I had not visited in quite a long time. Looked for new nooks and crannies, got a trout and a little snook on fly.

Friday
Went paddling on the high and murky Indian River Lagoon. Again looked for new nooks and crannies. Relearned something I already knew from hard experience- first boat through a narrow spot gets all the spider webs. Got a couple trout and a small black drum on the rubber shad. Lightening chased me off.

No one likes getting one of these in the face.

Don’t know that I found new spots but had fun looking!

That’s what I got. Thank you again for reading this Fishing Report. Life is great and I love all my readers!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go hiking! Take a walk! Do SOMETHING!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide

Purchase a signed copy of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2021. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Flies and Fly Tying, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tying the Hot Head Fly

October 29, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Everyone loves a new fly pattern. The hot, new pattern is the Hot Head! It’s sure to become a classic for everything that swims.

An assortment of Hot Head flies, tied by your intrepid blogger.

With the hyperbole out of the way, it is a good looking fly. Marcia Foosaner has been using them around Stuart and has been catching seatrout, jacks, bluefish, snook, and other stuff with it. Jacks and bluefish will hit an acorn. Trout and snook are a little more discriminating.

The Hot Head requires the use of a Hot Head, a cup-like soft plastic head from DOA, designed to be used with their lines of shad tails and jerk baits. Marcia and I have found a fly tying use for it that makes tying a handsome baitfish imitation quite simple.

Here’s how I tie the Hot Head. Feel free to modify, and please feel free to share your successes.

Materials
Hook- Gamakatsu SC-15, size 2/0
Tail- three pairs of hackle feathers
Flash- small amount of pearl colored Wing ‘n’ Flash
Cheeks- one complementary/contrasting pair of marabou feathers
Collar- one red hackle feather wrapped around the hook
Head- DOA Hot Head

1. With hook in vise, wrap thread to bend of hook.

2. Match three pairs of hackle feathers. Tie them in at bend.

3. Take a small amount of Wing ‘n’ Flash and tie it in just in front of the hackle feathers. It should trail back past the tips of the hackles.

4. Tie in one marabou feather tip on each side of the hook, just in front of the Wing ‘n’ Flash.

5. Tie in the butt of the red hackle feather in front of the marabou and take four or five wraps around the hook shank. Tie it off.

6. Take a 6″ piece of medium chenille (if you want a slow sinking fly) or a six inch piece of medium lead wire (if you want it to sink faster) and tie it in in front of the hackle feathers. Build up a big head onto which you will slide the Hot Head. Tie it off and whip finish the head.

I have tried using Zap a Dap a Goo to cement the Hot Head into place but it doesn’t hold. I will be trying other adhesives, or may conclude that cementing it into place is unnecessary. It occurs to me as I type this that if the Hot Head isn’t glued on you can change colors instantly while fishing.

7. Use a hook point of bodkin and poke a hole in the front center of the Hot Head. Slide it onto the hook over the eye.

Voila! Your Hot Head is ready to fish. Boa sorte! Three languages on one line!

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

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

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Filed Under: Fishing Tips, Flies and Fly Tying · Tagged: , , ,