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Vernal Equinox Saltwater Orlando Fishing Report

March 20, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Vernal Equinox Saltwater Orlando Fishing Report

Pagans everywhere! Celebrate the Equinox!!!

For disturbing news you won’t get on TV (like we need any more disturbing news), this summer’s algae bloom is already in full swing in the Indian River Lagoon system around Titusville. Two reports came in that it’s bad from Max Brewer Causeway south past NASA Causeway. On Sunday’s On-the-Water Show and Tell I circled Mosquito Lagoon twice. Water that was crystal clear last week is muddy brown now. The south end is just plain brown. This is not a good harbinger for summer fishing, or future fishing for that matter, in the lagoons. I hope to check the Banana River Lagoon this week coming.

Speaking of the show and tell, I got a little feedback-
-“I enjoyed them both very much and I think I learned a great deal.”
-“Thanks for the seminar, John. It was informative and enjoyable. I had been wanting to go on one for years.”
The next one is in October. Don’t miss it!

Casey Borland, who I fished last week, made a short GoPro video of our trip. It’s good. It made me laugh!

Fishing report, oh yes! Sunday, no fishing, the show and tell happened.

Monday I fished the brothers Gardner, Kevin and Joe, from Tallahassee, Florida. We went out of the Port with hopes of finding and catching tripletail and cobia. We ran south almost to Patrick AFB and then idled north a couple miles past Cape Canaveral. We did not see any fish other than a few hand-sized tripletail- not at all what we had in mind. The weather was awesome, the seas a little sloppy for the Mitzi.

They had to drive back to Tallahassee, so we started heading back to Port around 2:30. On the way back we ran into a large school of large black drum, hooked a half-dozen, and boated two. Not what we expected but I never look a gift horse in the mouth while fishing.

saltwater orlando fishing report

Joe got this drum on a swimbait.

 

saltwater Orlando fishing report

I don’t like the Boga Grip but it’s the only way Kevin could hold the beast.

Toosday I had a doctor appointment. Afterwards I met Michael Parks and his son Landon, from Atlanta. We used paddle vessels to go fishing on the Indian River Lagoon. We found a few tailing fish and Landon hooked and caught a very nice one, one of two reds he got.

saltwater Orlando fishing report

Landon does battle from the Dagger.

 

saltwater Orlando fishing report

It was his biggest fish to date.

Wednesday Michael and Landon joined me again. This time we used the Mitzi and fished in Mosquito Lagoon. The water looks bad. Lots of Rhodophyta floating around and covering the bottom. We saw five redfish, no dice as far as catching them goes. They did get a few trout on the DOA Deadly Combo, though. They had to drive back to Atlanta so we were off the water at 3 PM.

Thursday and Friday I got ready for the celebration of the equinox. Maybe I’m part Druid…

And that is this week’s Equinox Saltwater 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 Variety Pack Orlando Fishing Report

March 13, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

The Variety Pack Orlando Fishing Report

Sunday, a lovely day, found Chip, Casey, and Robert in the Mitzi skiff as we searched for hungry fish in the Mosquito Lagoon. We found lots of fish. They were not hungry. At the first spot we cast to fish for a couple hours but did not get a bite. At the second spot we cast to fish for a couple hours but only got one bite. It was missed. At the third spot we cast to fish for a couple hours. Chip got a decent trout and two rat reds on a DOA CAL shad tail. Robert missed a strike on a Johnson Minnow. Other things we tried included DOA Shrimp, jerk baits, and live shrimp. It was a beautiful day, but frustrating from a fishing standpoint.

Monday, likewise lovely, found Chip, Casey, and I in kayaks on the Banana River Lagoon. We did some fairly serious paddling. We found a school of black drum. Casey had a bite but lost the fish, then they would not bite any more.

We went looking for other fish.

I found another school of black drum. My fishermen were not nearby, so in order to get their attention I hooked a fish, using a black Bunny Leech. Chip and Casey came over PDQ. 

Orlando Fishing Report

Casey battles a fish.

 

orlando fishing report

It was the first black drum he’d ever caught.

 

orlando fishing report

It took a DOA Shrimp.

 

orlando fishing report

Then Chip got one on a black Bunny Leech, tied by Steve Baker.

 

orlando fishing report

Aye, ’tis a handsome fish!

Casey got one on a DOA Shrimp. Then Chip got one on a black Bunny Leech tied by Steve Baker. Then Casey got another on a DOA Shrimp. Then the fish would not bite any more.

We had a chance to cast to some tailing manatess. We did not take it.

We had more shots at fish before we left but did not get any more bites.

Still working the run of awesome weather, Rodney Smith and I went out of Port Canaveral on Tuesday on a cobia mission. The waves were running three to five feet, but it wasn’t very windy. The Mitzi handled it beautifully.

orlando fishing report

Rodney works a tripletail in close.

 

orlando fishing report

We saw more turtles than cobia.

The first fish we saw was a tripletail, sitting under a small clump of sargassum. Rodney threw a shrimp over and the fish gobbled it. We ended up seeing quite a few tripletail and hooked five or six, boating four legal fish ranging between five and ten pounds. I found myself wishing I had brought a fly rod because catching a ‘tail on fly would have been pretty straightforward. We did not, however, see a single cobia. 

orlando fishing report

Some delicious eating on display. The fish. I mean the fish.

Back at the Port we ran into Fred Cisneros. He had also been searching for cobia and had seen only one. I guess they are not here in force yet.

The Kumiskis had tripletail fillets sauteed in coconut oil for dinner Tuesday. Very delicious it was!

Thursday I water-tested my new boat, a Sevylor inflatable kayak (read the review here…). This is not a terribly seaworthy little boat. Its main function for me will be small pond fishing for bass and sunfish. It passed that test admirably, as I got five bass on surface flies.

Sevylor Quikpak K1 Review

The Sevylor Kwik Pak K-1, ready for launch.

 

Sevylor Quikpak K1 Review

This was the best trip of the morning’s feasibility study. This boat will help me find a bigger one.

So in four day’s fishing this week I handled seatrout, redfish, black drum, puffers, tripletail, and black bass. I wish I had gotten a couple of sunfish, too! And that is this week’s Variety Pack 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 Central Florida Orlando Fishing Report

March 6, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Fished Around Central Florida Orlando Fishing Report

Upcoming Events

Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Seminar March 14

Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar March 15

Only one week until the show and tell seminars, but there is still room both days!

 

My preference is to fish during the week rather than on weekends, but Sunday I had an itch to fish. To scratch it I took a bag of Culprit worms and a spin rod and checked out some retention ponds in Oviedo. You may be familiar with this type of pond. As you drive by you ask yourself, “I wonder if there are any fish in there?” Then you tell yourself, “I need to check that out.” Sunday was the day. I checked out two ponds in three hours and got three bass, the largest (not pictured) which was about 14 inches long. It sure beat watching men’s figure skating on TV. Can’t wait for baseball to start!

orlando fishing report

Lots of bass like this can be found in a retention pond near you.

            Yes, there are fish in that pond.

The beneficiary of a good weather forecast on Monday, I took the kayak to the Banana River Lagoon. When I pulled up to unload my stuff a cock cardinal landed on my rearview mirror and proceeded to do battle with his reflection. Most extraordinary. Beautiful, silly little bird!

The cardinal landed on my mirror...

The cardinal landed on my mirror…

 

...and proceeded to duke it out with his own reflection.

…and proceeded to duke it out with his own reflection.

 

cardinal3

            The fog was thick and I found the spot with some good luck. I couldn’t see anything until a tidal-wave sized wake started moving away from me. After staking out the boat I went blind casting with a black bunny leech. The fish pictured below took the fly on the second cast. It was a nice fish- the photo does not do it justice.

orlando fishing report

Definitely not a bad start to the day.

            After releasing it I went blind casting again and hooked a significantly larger fish. It took me deep into my backing and then broke off. A piece of my heart may have broken off a second later.

            I could not find the fish again, and so moved along.

            There was nothing at the next place. In the meantime the fog cleared and the sun appeared in a cloudless sky, making for excellent sight fishing conditions.

            At the next spot I saw nothing for a while. Then I almost ran over a bunch of drum. After staking out the boat I went searching for them, now armed with a black and green Clouser minnow. A single was spotted. The cast was decent, and the fish obliged.

orlando fishing report

No one accuses black drum of being beautiful.

            That was the only black drum that cooperated, although several more shots were taken.

            Through the day two more redfish bit. One broke off on the strike (perhaps we need a beefier tippet), the other was about ten pounds, also on a black bunny leech.

            All in all a very enjoyable day.

Tuesday Mr. Joe Nourigat joined for a day’s paddle fly fishing on the Indian River Lagoon. Although calm in the morning we again had fog. When it blew away there were clouds up there so we never got any good sight fishing light.

            The fish were not very active. For every one we had a cast to, we ran over a half dozen others. Joe had a limited number of shots at tailing fish, only got a single eat, and as so often happens when your luck is running that way we missed it.

            We tried blind casting, which yielded exactly nothing.

            We did have a wonderful, day-long conversation about books, and music, and a smattering of other topics. But when the boat was back on the car we had not caught a fish. It’s a good thing the birds were awesome. Joe was pretty cool, too.

Wednesday Fernado Fonseca, Mr. Orlando Mobile Marine, visited me to do an annual service on the Yamaha. The job is done, the money is in his bank, and see ya next year!

Fernando doing his thang.

Fernando, doing his thang.

Thursday afternoon I dusted off the cobia tackle. The water temperature is hitting the right spot. If the wind ever dies and the sea ever calms down I am going out there. Hopefully that will be next week.

Friday I needed to scout, so in spite of the clouds and wind the Bang-O-Craft and I went fishing on the Mosquito Lagoon. No kidding, I caught a trout on the first cast. Often that’s the kiss of death. Not this day. The trout bite was steady by using the DOA Deadly Combo.

orlando fishing report

The Deadly Combo was, well, deadly.

As often happens there were quite a few little ones but I got six or eight in the slot. Some more trout and a couple junior league redfish also fell for a DOA CAL Shad tail. In four hours at least 20 fish were released, certainly entertaining if not spectacular.

orlando fishing report

The little bitty reds were out on Friday.

 

orlando fishing report

The trout were smacking the shad tail, too.

And that is this week’s Fished Around Central Florida 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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Belated Valentines Day Orlando Saltwater Fishing Report

February 16, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Valentines Day Orlando Saltwater Fishing Report

Upcoming Events

Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Seminar March 14. Visit this link for more information or to register!

Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar March 15. Visit this link for more information or to register!

Redfish on the Fly is now available as an ebook! It’s available in various formats at this link , through iBooks, and as a kindle file at this link…

I only got out two days this week. Monday I took the kayak back to the Indian River Lagoon spot that gave me such an incredible day last week. It was way more subdued this time. I had a couple dozen shots at redfish. All but one spooked off the various flies. I brought a camera this time and did something I’ve never done before to hold the fish for the picture (it certainly can’t be called a photograph)- I used my feet.

orlando fishing report

Holding the fish with my feet was not that easy to do.

 

orlando saltwater fishing report

The fish took a Trout Bite.

If you have any unusual ways of holding fish for photos we all would love to hear them.

orlando saltwater fishing report

Not exactly the fish of the trip, but a fun catch due to its novelty.

I got about a dozen trout too, the best one maybe three pounds. Synthetic streamers were used. I also got what for me was quite an unusual catch- a spotted gar that took a seaducer. It photographed well. All fish were, as per usual, released. I got nice and wet on the back end, caught in the rain by an incoming cold front.

orlando saltwater fishing report

This modest specimen was the best trout of the day.

 

orlando saltwater fishing report

It ate a synthetic minnow and splashed water all over the lens.

Tuesday and Wednesday there were small craft advisories. All the boats stayed in the yard. I watched the trees rock back and forth, releasing mass amounts of pollen.

Thursday Matt Ohley and his son Noah joined me for a half day on the Mosquito Lagoon. We left the dock with high hopes. The lagoon proceeded to crush them.

There were no fish at the first spot, where last time there were hundreds of black drum and some redfish. No fish. None. Not even mullets.

The second spot had some fish, mostly trout, pretty nice ones. They were very spooky and would not bite. I staked out the boat and tried soaking bait. No, that did not work either. So we left and tried door number three.

There were quite a few fish there, mostly nice-sized trout but a few redfish too. Again, they refused all our offerings, including some soaked pork chops. They left lovely wakes as they sped away from us, though.

I’m going to have to go to six pound braid with twelve pound leaders and simply cast a mile to where I think they are from now on. By the time I can see them they just won’t bite because they already know we’re there.

Friday I drove up to Ocala and set up my booth at the Ocala Sportsmen’s Exposition, where I spent Saturday and Sunday (explaining why this report is delayed). Met some good people, saw some old friends, yes, the Gatorman!, got some flies tied, it was a good trip. Maybe some bookings will come from it, one can only hope.

Looking at the weather forecast for this week was not very encouraging. We’ll see what reality brings.

And that is this week’s Orlando Saltwater 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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Two Day Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

January 31, 2015 by · Leave a Comment
mosquito lagoon fishing report

Who is that masked man, and what is he doing with that fish?

Two Day Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Monday morning I climbed in the chariot, hit I-95, and drove to Pinehurst to visit Steve and Bonnie Baker. It had been years. Steve walks with a cane now, but seems fine otherwise. Bonnie looks great. It was fantastic seeing them both again. I’d like to thank them both for their hospitality.

Wednesday I had errands-uh.

Thursday I strapped the kayak to the roof and went to River Breeze. I stopped to use the bathroom. Afterwards the car wouldn’t start, and then the alarm started firing. O meu Deus. Next thing the van is on a tow truck. We went to Myron’s Auto Repair in Edgewater. The problem was minor, a $50 repair.

I got the boat in the water about noon, paddled to the first spot. Ran over a few fish, so I got out and started wading, blind-casting. Got a redfish the first cast, and another on the third, using a brown sparkle crab. Ended up getting a dozen or so, all short but one 24 incher. Checked a couple other spots but did not see anything else. All in all, even with the car problem, a lovely day.

Friday George Allen joined me for some skiff fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. There were schools of fish in the first place we went. They were not very bitey, but George got a black drum on a mullet head?! What’s that about? We were in fish most of the day, had two bites on a DOA Shrimp, hooked and lost one nice trout and caught another. It’s the most fish I’ve seen in one day for a while, but they were not eating very well.

And that is this week’s Mosquito 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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Saltwater Orlando Fishing Report from Spotted Tail

January 24, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Saltwater Orlando Fishing Report from Spotted Tail

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Can’t get enough of this sticker…

Things seem to be looking up in the fishing world. We didn’t catch a lot of fish this week, but finding them became a lot easier.

On Monday Rob Boman and David Cline joined me for a day’s fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. We saw two schools of redfish right away. They were spooky enough that we could not get a cast to either. We continued on our way.

Spot number two yielded nothing. We did not see a fish there.

At the third spot we kept blowing out fish. Dave got a redfish on a RipTide Weedless Shrimp. Went through again. No bites. Staked out the boat and tossed a couple mullet chunks out. Rob got a 16 inch trout, released it.

Tried another spot. There were a lot of fish there, both trout and reds. They did not want to eat our offerings, and we did not get a bite. Yes, we were changing lures. No, it did not seem to matter. On the way out I spotted a school of reds lying at the edge of the flat. We had several good casts to them and Dave had one nail the weedless shrimp. It was a n-n-n-nice fish, 28 inches of glorious copper-colored Scianops. We released it.

Have you ever heard that saying, “Don’t leave fish to find fish”? These fish weren’t biting so I went to another spot where I had seen fish last week. There were hardly any there. Given time to think about it, and getting close to the end of the day, I went back to the previous spot. They still weren’t biting very well, but Rob got a 20 inch red on a four inch DOA CAL jerkbait. So, it had been a slow, tough day, but we saw quite a few fish. I thought things were finally looking better as I loaded the boat.

Dave was kind enough to send me this email- “Thank you for the great day fishing.  You put us on all kinds of fish and that is all a person can ever ask for.  I like that you bypass all the latest doo dads and fishing gadgets/gimmicks and concentrate on hardcore fishing.   I think we did pretty well considering the lockjaw that seemed to be so prevalent.  Robbie and I learned a lot too.”

Thank you Dave, for the kind words.

 

Tuesday Patrick Phillips joined me for some fly fishing, also on Mosquito Lagoon. We brought waders with us. I parked the boat and we got out and waded for a while. I can’t say fishing was hot but we got three trout and a red between us, on a gurgler and a streamer.

The wading was not fun because the bottom was gooshy. We got back in the boat and fished from it the rest of the day. Patrick had a lot of shots from both trout and reds. They sneered at everything we tried. The last fly he tried was a crab pattern. The final cast of the day was into a school of reds. They blew out.

So once again, the fish were there, but getting a bite was a tough proposition. But we were in fish the entire time.

black drum

A gratuitous black drum photo.

Wednesday I went kayaking on the Banana River Lagoon, all by my lonesome. I do some of my best work when I’m alone. Not this day. I found several schools of huge black drum. I only tried two flies, the wool crab and the black bunny leech. I easily had 100 great shots, but got only one bite, on a brown and olive green wool crab.

I hooked the fish solidly. I could not break it out of the school. My line went slack and I pulled the now fly-less leader in. It was broken cleanly, not at a knot, a mystery break. I speculate another fish swam into it, but really don’t know what happened.

All I know is I only saw a few trout, a couple dink reds, and excepting two puffers did not get another bite. The day was magnificent, the water clean. The fish caused some frustration, but it was an awesome paddle.

Should have gone fishing Thursday, didn’t.

Friday and Saturday I had no work and the weather wasn’t nice, didn’t fish.

The St. Johns River is still very high. Saturday’s rain won’t help it drop. Reports of scattered shad catches are coming in, but I’ve heard this year we have a shad walk, not a shad run.

And that is this week’s Saltwater 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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Skipped a Week Orlando Fishing Report

December 20, 2014 by · Leave a Comment

Skipped a Week Orlando Fishing Report

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers. Thank you all for your support this year!

Last week’s skip was not intentional. I fished Thursday and Friday, had a yard sale Saturday, and fished Sunday. The report just didn’t happen.

Thursday’s fishing was a solo scouting trip to Mosquito Lagoon. Starting late, the Mitzi didn’t hit the water until after 11. I checked six spots and found fish in four of them, catching two slot reds and a flounder, all on a DOA Shrimp.

Friday I went with Tom Van Horn. We checked some different spots and didn’t find much until we went to one of my fishy spots from the previous day. Tom got a couple reds and a beautiful 25 inch trout, again all on a DOA Shrimp.

The yard sale was a success. I sold $100 worth of stuff I didn’t use any more, met some of the neighbors, and tied a couple dozen flies.

Sunday Michael Edwards and his friend Mitch joined me for a day’s fly fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. It was cold on that first boat ride but generally the weather was spectacular. Those fish I found Thursday? Mostly MIA. Michael got a low-end slot red in the first spot we tried. Mitch had a bite late in the afternoon that he unfortunately popped off on the strike. In between we either saw very spooky big trout (LOTS of them) that would not bite, or hardly anything at all. I for one was very disappointed.

Orlando Fishing Report

Here’s my water chariot, complete with surrounding litter.

Tuesday the weather looked awesome, as did the water level and the water temperature. Although it’s still got a ways to go, the water level is finally starting to get to get near normal winter levels!

The water levels at the Hauler Canal this week.

The water levels at the Haulover Canal this week.

I took a solo kayak trip to the Banana River Lagoon. It took me quite a while to find some fish. Once I did it was pretty hot with the nice trout and the slot reds for a couple of hours, mostly on a black redfish worm.

Orlando fishing report

One of several nice trout that took the redfish worm.

 

Orlando Fishing Report

Forgot to mention I got this little feller. There were lots of them around.

Thursday I made another trip, intending to look for big fish. Again there was a lengthy search mission, but I found a school of black drum and released five between fifteen and thirty pounds. They were eating pretty good. All of the took a black bunny leech. On the way back to the car I got four slot reds, too. Awesome day. The sunset was arguably the most spectacular of the year, but hard to photograph while driving at 70 MPH.

Orlando Fishing Report

It’s hard to photograph these when you’re by yourself.

That, my friends, is the Skipped a Week 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 2014. All rights are reserved.

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Thanksgiving Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

November 30, 2014 by · Leave a Comment

Thanksgiving Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

I hope everyone had a magnificent Thanksgiving holiday.

Monday Scott Radloff and I went to Mosquito Lagoon with a simple, straightforward mission- to catch a redfish for Thanksgiving dinner. We failed, catching one seatrout each. At least they were in the slot.

Tuesday and Wednesday were monsoons, heavy rain and wind. Did not fish.

Thursday the Kumiskis hosted about 35 friends and family, no fishing.

Friday morning I met Bret Felberg, his brother Keith, and his father Stuart for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. The air temperature was in the high 40s and it was blowing pretty good. I was not optimistic. But we got a half dozen rat reds and four or five seatrout to about five pounds, on DOA Shrimp and pieces of mullet, much bett er than I thought we’d do.

Here’s what the water levels and water temperature did this week:

water temp

 

gage height

You can see where fishing might be tough.

That, my friends, is a Thanksgiving Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report.

Next week’s report will be late because I’ll be travelling.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
http://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 2014. All rights are reserved.

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Orlando Area Fishing Report

May 24, 2014 by · Leave a Comment

Orlando Area Fishing Report

It was a weird week. And even though I do not like to fish on weekends, especially Memorial Day weekend, fishing Saturday made up for almost all of the other weirdness.

Monday was a no fishing day and at this point I can’t even remember why not. On Tuesday morning I met Tammy and we paddled to a Mosquito Lagoon fishing spot. Fishing was not hot. I did get a seatrout of five pounds of so on an Electric Sushi streamer. I missed the three larger fish that bit prior to the one I caught. There were also blown shots and fish that weren’t spotted in time, etc.  I was not on top of my game.

Wednesday morning I went to the Econ. I had a new fly, a sexyfly tied in a fire tiger color, I was sure would kick bass butt. I got one bite, a bass that, if I were being generous, I would say was a foot long. Two others followed the fly but did not bite. The experiment did not work, although to my credit I stuck with it until I left at about noon.

Lighten Up for Black bass

These are some of the flies I throw for bass. The fire tiger one that failed is on the lower right.

Wednesday evening, Thursday, and Friday I had the pleasure of sitting in Florida Hospital with my mom and her husband, only to be told in the end that they couldn’t find anything wrong. She’s home again doing what she was doing before the hospital stint. If you should find yourself in this situation bring LOTS of stuff to do. And a sweater. You could hang meat in there.

Scott Radloff and I got to Port Canaveral at about 7 AM Saturday morning. The parking lots were already almost at capacity and it was a zoo at the boat ramp. Anything less would have been disappointing.

We got the Mitzi in the water and the car parked and went looking for bait. From a half-mile south of the Cocoa Beach pier south to Patrick AFB the menhaden are solid all along the beach. The first toss of the net came up empty but the second had more fishies than I could lift. We let most of them go.

I would have been happy with anything but I was looking for tarpon. We put six in the air and leadered four, along with bites from several moderate to large sized sharks of various types. The weather was warm and sunny. The best part was, all those hundreds of boats that had been launched were nowhere near us. I don’t know where they went but no one bothered us.

orlando area fishing report

There goes one hospital day!

 

orlando area fishing report

There goes another hospital day!

Catching four tarpon will make up for a lot of strangeness, that’s what I know.

orlando area fishing report

What hospital???

And that, gentle reader, is this week’s Orlando area fishing report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short. Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2014. All rights are reserved.

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

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

May 10, 2014 by · Leave a Comment

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there. We wouldn’t be here without you.

T-shirt of the week-

DSCN0622

This week we feature a Mosquito Lagoon fishing report with side orders of Indian River Lagoon and Econlockhatchee River, and lots of photos!

It’s pretty rare to hook a seatrout and have it go on a hot run that peels line off the reel. That happened a few times this week! But once again I get ahead of myself…

Sometimes I wonder why I go scouting. I went last Friday to find fish for Sunday’s paddle flyfishing charter with Dr. Ron and Colby Crabtree, father and son from Texas. We went to the places I found the fish Friday and they were gone. We probably put in seven miles, saw maybe a half dozen fish, and did not get a shot at any of them. Verily, the skunk was upon us…

Monday at 7 AM I was in the seat of Jill, my lovely dental hygienist. As soon as I got out of there I went home and hitched the boat trailer to the van, picked up Scott Radloff, and went to the Indian River Lagoon to scout for my Tuesday/Wednesday trips. Not an early start.

We found some redfish, caught two on jerkbaits. We found a lot of big trout that would not eat much of anything. Scott hooked a couple on a swimbait, but both shook off. The puffers were thick and we went through a lot of baits. I got a crevalle of a couple pounds, my first this year. The day was stunning, not a cloud in the sky, always tough weather for trout.

Tuesday morning I met Dr. Aubrey Thompson and his doctor buddy, Steve Widen, fly casters both, at Haulover Canal. We got nothing at the first spot, nor anything at the second. The third though, would provide a day and a half of sight fishing for gator seatrout.

Mosquito lagoon fishing report

Aubrey opened the festivities with this fish.

Aubrey opened the festivities with a couple of modest 20 inch trout. Steve got a modest sized redfish. Then we started seeing the big trout, which just kept fleeing away from us. The intrepid guide suggested that with bright sun and spooky fish wading might be a better option. Aubrey is from Texas and Steve lives there now. They didn’t need any convincing.

Even wading, this is tough fishing. The fish are hard to see and most casts result in refusals. However, both gentlemen managed to get a trout in the six or seven pound class, both on streamers, and had shots at many more. The trout Steve got was the biggest he’s ever gotten on any kind of tackle.

Mosquito lagoon fishing report

This was the biggest trout Steve has ever caught.

As the day ended and we prepared for the road, Aubrey suggested we start earlier the next day “to catch the topwater bite.”

Mosquito lagoon fishing report

Aubrey’s trout was pretty respectable too.

The Mitzi was in the water at 6 AM the next morning. For the most part the topwater bite did not materialize. I got a dink trout. Aubrey got a couple of jacks and ladyfish. Steve, whose day it turned out to be, got a 27 inch trout on a Floozy popper though, certainly worth the price of admission.

I had switched to an Electric Sushi streamer and was looking for a fish when I spotted the tips of a couple tails. The fly hit the water and the fish nailed the fly. It was modest, but a redfish nonetheless, my fish for the day.

Mosquito lagoon fishing report

My token fish. Sorry Mr. Redfish, I didn’t mean that!

Aubrey and I made a thousand fruitless casts between us, but Steve kept getting bit. He missed a number of strikes but got another slob trout on a small Clouser Minnow.

Mosquito lagoon fishing report

At least I helped with the hooked fish.

Mosquito lagoon fishing report

Steve got three fish like this one on the second day.

I saw the biggest snail I’ve ever seen that was not a queen or helmet conch and took some pictures of it. It was the Methuselah of snails, with an entire ecosystem growing on its shell. I thought of Dave Caprera right away.

Mosquito lagoon fishing report

The biggest snail I’ve ever seen that wasn’t a queen or helmet conch.

 

Mosquito lagoon fishing report

It was an entire ecosystem unto itself.

The day ended too soon and we headed back to the ramp, loaded up at 3 PM.

Aubrey had this to say about our two days together: “John, we had a great time! All anyone could possibly ask for. We had plenty of shots at trophy fish, Steve caught a personal all-tackle record trout. Fishing is about quality time spent with congenial souls, and I don’t know what would have made that trip any better. Well, maybe a few more, just a few, of those humongous trout on the rod; but if it were about numbers I’d leave the fly rod home.”

Friday morning I went to the Econ for a little kayak fly fishing for bass. It was not as good as it’s been, although I caught three on a popper and missed four others. They’re easy to miss when the fly is behind you, there’s slack in the line, etc. I feel like I learned a couple things, though, and certainly enjoyed the morning.

 

And that is this week’s Mosquito Lagoonfishing report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short. Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2014. 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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