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Ten Thousand Islands Report and Photo Essay

December 14, 2024 by · Leave a Comment

Ten Thousand Islands Report and Photo Essay

Thank you for reading this Ten Thousand Islands Report. I spent time in south Florida gathering information for this report. You can thank me later!

Subscribers without photos- go to https://www.spottedtail.com/blog/, please.

I’m sure someone with waders wants to know what happened with my FlexSeal experiment. First off, FlexSeal ought to be illegal. The stuff that comes out of that can is NASTY! On the other hand, what comes out of my car’s exhaust pipe is nasty, too. But, I digress. I sprayed down a beater, leaky pair of Simms waders with FlexSeal and let them dry. Then I wore them every day in the Ten Thousand Islands. They behaved differently (FlexSeal isn’t all that flexible), and I don’t think they’re breathable any more, but they kept me drier than they did when they were leaky. Score one for being cheap. Hopefully they’ll last the winter.

On November 30, I drove to Monument Lake campground, where I rendezvoused with Mike Conneen. The next morning, we launched our kayaks at Port of the Islands and paddled seven miles out to the Gulf, some of it against the tide, into the Ten Thousnd Islands National Wildlife Refuge. We camped at White Horse Key. Wading that evening, I got two nice snook using spin tackle and a DOA Shrimp.

 

And killer colors in the sky, to boot!

In the morning, the tide was out- way out. Even with kayaks, we weren’t going anywhere.

The tide was way out.

 

River wanted to go fishing.

When the tide started coming in, I went wading, and got another snook with a 3-inch plastic shad. Mike made his getaway when the water got up enough, but I kept wading, this time with a fly rod. I watched a dark shape that looked like a small permit chase down and eat my fly. It turned out to be a sheepshead, the only one I’ve ever caught with a fly.

Sheepie on fly- my first one ever.

The wind got to be too much (the reason I wasn’t kayaking in the first place), so I switched to spin, and got another snook on a DOA Shrimp. Hooray for the Shrimp!

The next morning we were stuck again by the low tide. We packed up, and when the water came in enough, we moved to Panther Key. At the point of the island, two ladyfish and two reds fell for a Rattle Rouser cast blindly, and a trout took a Culprit 4″ Mullet.

Red on a Rattle Rouser.

 

Morning came. The tide was low. We used driftwood as skids and got the boats in the water. Mike sightcast to a pair of snook and landed a beauty, the fish of the trip. He was also using the 4″ Culprit Mullet.

Yeah. Nice fish!

Our last day there had the best weather and the worst fishing. Mike got a nice red, using a Vudu Shrimp. I got a lizardfish on a 3″ Shad. I went most of the day without a bite until finding a trout slick, where four slot fish were caught in 20 minutes on the 3″ Shad. In the meantime, Mike found his own trout hole, where it was “…a fish on every cast…” according to his report.

Yeah. Another nice fish!

 

Sunset was nice, too.

 

Home, sweet home.

Friday morning we packed up and fought the tide the entire way back to Port of the Islands, arriving there fairly spent. Mike left for home the next day. I went to the Swamp Heritage Festival, then headed to Long Pine Key in Everglades National Park, where I spent two nights.

Dawn at Long Pine.

 

In a mangrove tunnel.

 

Roots!

Sunday found me in a favorite paddling spot near Flamingo. My first fish was a snook on the 3″ Shad, and it was a nice one! Then a long dry spell happened, broken only by a single snooklet.

A fine snook.

After getting on a lee shore, I saw a fish blow up on some mosquitofish. Paddling over, I spotted the fish and dropped a Krebs Popper nearby. The fish blew up on it and finally I had a snook on fly for the trip.

Krebs Popper snook.

Then the heavens opened up, piscatorially speaking. On the way back to the pull-out, snook after snook hit the 3″ Shad. Most were small, but there were a couple decent ones. Finally, something ate it that meant business.

I was in a narrow place, trying to play the fish, keep the boat out of the mangroves, and get pictures, all at the same time. The fish must have sensed my lack of concentration, since it dove under the boat with conviction. It was as close as I’ve ever come to capsizing the kayak, and it was really close. The fish, a tarpon not all that big, was caught, photographed, and released, the final fish of a pretty amazing trip.

The guy who almost capsized me.

 

Quarter-moon and pine tree.

That evening found me at a marsh near the Anhinga Trail, trying to get sunset pictures. I heard fish popping and decided to try fishing there in the morning, which was done. It was a lovely paddle through the marsh, but there were no fish- it was quite shallow. Never figured out what that popping noise was. After a couple hours, I returned to the car and loaded things up for the drive home.

At the fishless marsh.

When I pulled off the buff, something stung my forehead. My hat had a trout fly in it from the trip to Montana. The fly had stung me. Now the hat was pinned to my head by the fly- caramba! There was no one around. Figure this one out, John.

Examination in the car mirror showed the hook (size 14) had gone in and come out again. I was truly hooked. The hat and the fly needed to be separated, so with pliers in one hand holding the hook shank, and a pocketknife in the other, I sawed a small hole in the hat and was able to pull it off the fly. Then the barb of the hook was crushed, although it maybe was crushed in the first place, it was impossible to tell. With the hat out of the way, the hook was easily removed. After returning to the campsite and showering, I drove home.

But I photographed the dwarf cypress forest on the way out!

Upon arrival I found a text on my phone from Karen Smith. Rodney was in the hospital, in the ICU. I called her Wednesday morning. She was crying- he wasn’t doing well. She sent me a text that evening, that he’d “passed peacefully, surrounded by family.” I’ll be writing a eulogy, soon. It made me very sad. Rest in peace, my friend.

That’s the Ten Thousand Islands Report. As always, thanks for reading!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Go camping! Stay active!

John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com
www.spottedtail.com/blog

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, © John Kumiski 2024. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Three Lagoons Fishing Report

October 28, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

Three Lagoons Fishing Report

Thanks for reading this week’s post, Three Lagoons Fishing Report. Fished three days this week- one day for each lagoon! The three lagoons are on the east coast of Florida, wrapped around and extending north and south from the Kennedy Space Center. The length of the system is about 160 miles, so three days in a kayak is likely to leave a few spots totally unexplored…

October historically has the highest water levels of the year. A hurricane passed recently, dumping LOTS of rain. The water is high and dirty brown everywhere I went. Sadly, dirty brown has replaced crystal clear as the new normal.

I like the gauge to read below 0.5. Maybe after New Year’s…

For subscribers- if the photos don’t load, click this link- www.spottedtail.com/blog.

Monday

Sight fished with a fly.

The idea was to try and sightfish with fly tackle on Mosquito Lagoon. This required finding areas that are often dry during normal water levels. I wouldn’t say the trip was a resounding success, but it was a spectacular day, I had five or six shots, and actually hooked and released two fish. Mission accomplished!

Wednesday

This guy didn’t know it was a tarpon fly.

Indian River Lagoon was on the menu this day. I knew where there were baby tarpon, and had tied some new flies for the attempt. Regular readers may recall when last I fished these guys, I had a bite on the first cast and then nothing but one ladyfish afterwards. A classic tarpon fly called a Cockroach was tied onto the end of my leader. I saw some fish rolling, so cast it into the area (no seeing these guys in that water). A bite and I had… a redfish! A beautiful, nine-spot fish it was.

It had four more spots on the starboard side.

A while later the line came tight again. The fish finally jumped, and it was a tarpon. Small, five or six pounds. I was able to photograph it. It was the last fish the Cockroach would catch.

I went a long time without a bite.

I ran into another fly fisherman. He’d gotten a variety of fish on a weighted streamer, just chucking it. I kept tossing a Polar Fiber Minnow at rolling tarpon, and got a seatrout, a decent one.

I went a long time without a bite, again.

Changing tactics, I tried the spin rod with a DOA Shrimp. A bite! A snook! Another bite! A redfish! Tried a Closer Minnow, and got another redfish. And then, to complete my Indian River Lagoon Super Duper Fly Rod Grand Slam, a snooklet!

I went a long time without a bite, again. I tried the tarpon again- they all said no. I paddled back, loaded up, and went home.

Thursday

I tried Banana River Lagoon, launching at KARS Park. The gate guard told me no one had fished the previous day, and I was the first one there at 8 AM. So clearly the fishing wasn’t very good. Hurricanes have knocked a lot of trees into the water along the shoreline, and it looks extraordinarily fishy. Looks can be deceiving. I paddled all the way to Buck Creek, getting a trout while trolling, a snook while casting the shoreline (both on the rubber shad), and spotting one redfish and three black drum in all that distance, maybe four miles. Mind you, there was no wind. You could have seen a fish move from a quarter mile away.

You would think there would be oodles of fish here. How many does it take to make an oodle, anyway???

At Buck Creek, two or three tarpon rolled in almost an hour. Blind casting a streamer got me casting practice.

I got another trout dragging the shad behind me as I paddled back to the launch, at which point I loaded up, having gotten plenty of exercise. But I wasn’t skunked once in three days.

That’s the Three Lagoons Fishing Report. Thanks for reading!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Take a walk! Stay active!

John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com
www.spottedtail.com/blog

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2022. All rights are reserved.

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My Summer Solstice Central Florida Fishing Report

June 24, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

My Summer Solstice Central Florida Fishing Report

Thanks for reading my summer solstice central Florida fishing report. Hopefully all you pagans partied down! Personally, I just went fishing. I think I enjoyed a single bottle of carbonated malt beverage this week, too…

I visited three old friends this week- the Mosquito Lagoon, the Banana River Lagoon, and the Indian River Lagoon. I also spent two days dealing with insurance and car shtuff, such fun!

Monday

Found me kayaking at Mosquito Lagoon. Hadn’t been there in a while. Water is kind of gross, but in spite of that saw a few redfish. Had shots at four, two fled in terror. I caught the other two. Why can’t I always be that good??? See the photos for the fly patterns.

 

The water was kind of gross.

Took some time for wildlife observation, and to smell the ironweed, too. Always good ideas, both.

 

Tuesday

I tried the Banana River Lagoon. I go there so seldom any more that every trip is a search mission, even more so than everywhere else I fish.

The fish of the day.

I stood up and worked down the shoreline. In five minutes I’d seen a snook, a redfish, and two tarpon. I got out of the boat, tied the painter around my waist, and started wading, casting a rubber shad. In five minutes I had the fish of the day, a snook of maybe 20 inches. An hour later I got its twin. Kinda slow.

I tried the fly pole for a while. I got more bites from much smaller fish, eight or so snook and a redfish. Taken all together they would have made a decent sandwich-and-a-half.

Off the shoreline the water is dazzlingly clear. The bottom is covered with green stuff, an exotic plant whose name I can’t recall and am too lazy at this moment to look up. I hope it supports native invertebrates, but I’d be real surprised if it does.

Thursday

OK, a story here. A few years ago, I accompanied son Maxx on his move from Connecticut to California. We drove across the country, stopping at particularly interesting places along the way. One of them was the Meteor Crater in Arizona. Kind of pricey, but totally amazing.

Anyway, while there I was talking to a woman who travels and blogs about it (What a great thing to do!). I told her I lived in Florida. She said, “You should move out here! Isn’t this better than Florida?” Mind you, you could see forever, and it was all dry, brown desert. I said, “I’m a fisherman, lady, so no, it’s not!”

View from the Meteor Crater’s edge. Not a fish in sight.

Thursday I fished a place in the Indian River Lagoon where I had never fished before. I have been fishing here since 1984, and if I work at it, I can still find places I’ve never been. For fishermen, Florida is way better than Arizona!

Shoo that skunk!

That having been said, I hardly saw anything, and did not get a shot. I did catch a black drum blind-casting the rubber shad, a skunk-shooer for sure! We ate it for supper. Thank you, fish!

That’s My Summer Solstice Central Florida fishing report. Thanks for reading!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Ride a bike! Stay active!

John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com
www.spottedtail.com/blog

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2022. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: central florida fishing report, Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Indian River Lagoon Slams Fishing Report

May 27, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

Indian River Lagoon Slams Fishing Report

Thanks for reading this Indian River Lagoon slams fishing report. There’s also an ode to odonata in here.

And while you’re out enjoying yourself this Memorial Day weekend, be safe, and spend some time thinking about all the people who have made so many sacrifices so that we can enjoy our way of life. The beaches at Normandy on June 6, 1944 jump to mind…

Odonata are one of 28 orders of insects.* Included in this order are the dragonflies and damselflies. You’ll find (if you’re looking) six families of dragonflies and three families of damselflies in Florida, over 100 colorful, insect-eating species all told.

Female four-spotted pennant.

These insects eat other insects, especially insects humans find annoying- gnats, no-see-ums, mosquitos. They do so energetically and colorfully- odonates are beautiful creatures and dragonflies are amazing fliers! Everyone who spends time in the outdoors should be thankful for the work the odonates do for us.

Male blue dasher.

I would like to be able to identify all the Florida species. Right now I can identify three or four. I am what is called a work in progress!

Don’t know the family, never mind genus and species. Anyone know?

* The taxa go Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus species.

Sunday

Found me at Orlando Wetlands Park, looking for dragonflies (and other stuff) to photograph. It’s a great way to get out and observe nature without having to compete for limited weekend fishing spots.

Needham’s skimmer, female.

Monday

Honey-dos. Move along folks, nothing to see here!

Monday evening found me looking at google maps, looking for new fishing spots, something I probably spend too much time doing. That having been said, I noticed something I never had before.

Tuesday

Found me in my kayak with a camera, a fly rod and a spin rod. First I tried to get dragonfly photos, which was somewhat frustrating. When the wind blows, the dragonfly’s perch waves around- very hard to focus. The frogs were a little easier!

Then it was time for checking out my “new” discovery. After only a few minutes I got a small snook with the spin rod. It was the only snook caught, although several handsome specimens were observed. The fly rod accounted for two redfish and a tarpon, all by casting blindly. Best of all, the place was reasonably easy to fish, even with a 15-knot wind. I’ll be back.

The water in the IRL isn’t crystal clear, but it’s not filled with algae either. Sight fishing is still possible if there’s good light.

It may be small, but it’s a snook!

 

The black-and-purple was the ticket this week!

Wednesday

Met Mike Conneen and River at 0615, different place on the IRL. It was not hot fishing by any means, but it was fairly steady. There was a fly rod in my kayak, which never got touched. WHOOOOOSSHHHHHH said the wind! We both got slams of trout, reds, and snook. Most of the fish were small, but there were a couple decent ones.

Odd observation- when we first got out onto the water, a string of pelicans flew over, 14 or 15 birds. The pelican in the middle of the string looked odd. Because it was in fact a spoonbill. Never noticed that before!

Thursday

Went to the IRL, different spot. It was blowey again, so my plan was to use the kayak to access the area I wanted to fly fish, and then wade.

Plans often get modified, but I did walk in the water for a couple of miles. For the sake of symmetry, I’d like to say that I brought a spin rod and it never got touched, but it got used. There goes the symmetry.

I fly fished for about three hours. The first fish was a dinker snook. At least it only took an hour of casting to get! Then a fat, picture-worthy trout nailed the streamer. Two species! A redfish laughed at my fly- I thought the presentation was spot on. I changed the fly. A red in the slot nailed the streamer on a blind cast. Three species!

It’s hard to be stealthy when tied to a kayak that the waves are slapping off of. Several fish were spooked this way. I picked up the spin rod.

Two more reds, one only a few months old, and a very fat trout hit the shad. After about six hours of wading, I loaded the boat onto the car roof, calling it a day well lived.

Friday

Errands and planning. Got to get ready for the weekend!

Three different species were caught every day I (and Mike) fished this week. It ain’t the old days, but there is some fishing out there, at least at the moment. That’s the Indian River Lagoon Slams Fishing report. Thanks for reading!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Ride a bike! Stay active!

John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com
www.spottedtail.com/blog

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2022. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: central florida destinations, central florida fishing report, Fishing Reports, Paddle Fishing Florida, Photo Essays · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Everglades City Report

February 4, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

Everglades City Report

Hi everyone, thanks for reading this Everglades City report. Got some fishing in this week!

But first, something out of the ordinary for this blog. While watching musicians on youtube, I ran across a woman by the name of Jackie Venson. This lady can lay down some tasty guitar licks! I’ve never seen a woman play guitar like this. Not surprising, she’s a Berklee School grad. Anyway, check it out. If you don’t like it, just turn it off!

Her guitar work on this cut sends shivers down my spine!

If you like it, she’s got a couple concerts recorded on youtube. One of them is at this link…  If you like her, spread the word. She’s relatively new and could use the support…

Monday, went to the eye doctor. I have a bad cataract in the right eye, needs surgery. My Uncle Leo always told me, gettin’ old ain’t for sissies. Sadly, he is spot on.

When I got home, I packed my stuff and drove to Everglades City ranger station, got a backcountry permit for two nights on Jewell Key.

Tuesday morning, I packed the gear into the kayak and caught the outgoing tide all the way there. It was kind of windy. Before I even stopped to make camp, I went to the gulf side of the key and started fishing. I had to wade- it was too windy and rough to fish from the kayak.

I started with a spin rod, three-inch shad, trying to find out if anyone was home. Jewell Key has been good to me, but last time there, there were no fish. Before long I got a ladyfish, then a trout. I put the spinner away and started tossing a Clouser Minnow.

In this file photo from an earlier trip, Maxx holds a typical sized Jewell Key trout.

I worked my butt off. Did get a few more trout, though, and one diminutive snook. In the meantime, the water was rising, and I was getting hungry. I went to the campsite – no one else there! – and took care of all that camping business.

I laid around for a while, watching clouds and ospreys. Watching the clouds is an exercise in creativity. I see some strange things in those clouds!

I saw a chicken’s body with a seahorse’s head in this cloud. No chemicals involved.

I picked up the spin rod and started casting from camp. A Bite! A Puffer! Then I got a ladyfish, and then the best snook of the trip, not saying much. Maybe three pounds? I just let it go. A few hockey-puck-sized jacks attacked my lure, too.

Any day you catch a puffer is a good day!

Did a little kayaking on the lee side of the island. One trout, another dinker snook. Slow fishing. Watched three guys in a Boston Whaler, in the wind and current, not far off. I wasn’t going out there. They kept making the same drift. Fair amount of hollering going on in that boat. Good for them!

In this file photo from an earlier trip, Alex holds a snook of the size that I caught on this trip.

Back to camp. Pulled the boat up onto the island, got ready for night. Clouds made me think there wouldn’t be much in the way of stargazing, so I lit a campfire. First time in a couple of years. It was nice, watching the flames in their sameness and infinite changes, thinking about the chemical reactions going on in there, feeling the heat.

Built a campfire, first time in a long time.

Watched it get dark. I love watching it get dark. I love dark! Civilization’s fear of darkness makes me sad. I was at least 80 miles from Miami, but it lit up the night sky like a beacon.

The clouds cleared some, so I put out the fire and stargazed until I was almost too cold to get up. Some of my favorite constellations were almost straight overhead. Any Tauruses out there, reading? Geminis? Leos? On the US east coast, your stars are up there right now, as soon as it’s dark.

I crawled into my tent, my sleeping bag. It felt awesome! Checked my phone- 8:30! I’d catch up on some sleep tonight! I wish I had a video camera that could record my dreams. I could make such bizarre movies…

Wednesday was almost a carbon copy of Tuesday. I waded the entire gulf side of the island, fly casting in the wind. Hope springs eternal in the heart of a fisherman. I hit trout fairly regularly, the best being 19 or 20 inches. Never did get the killer strike, though. Got a small pompano. Did get to watch the sun make a complete arc across the heavens, too.

Got a small pompano.

Fished from camp again – nothing. Kayaked the lee side of the island – one trout. The guys in the Boston Whaler were back at the same spot, still hollering. Still good!

No clouds this night – stars should be out. As it got dark, Jupiter and the slimmest of crescent moons followed the sun to the sea in the west. Orion and all his friends came out. I saw a single satellite, pretty odd for the couple hours I laid out there to only see one, especially the way Elon Musk has been tossing them up there.

Jupiter and the crescent moon followed the sun into the sea…

 

The learned observer can find Orion, Taurus, Gemini, and Canis Minor in the photo. Leo was lost in Miami’s glare.

Went to bed, wanted to get up early. A little after eight…

Thursday, there were still stars out when I got up- the Great Bear and Scorpius were easily recognized. Packed everything into the boat, ate a simple breakfast (all my meals this trip were simple- no cooking), and hit it. I caught the tide getting out there. I’d have to fight it to get back. Then I had to drive home. So, no fishing this day. Hardly saw any fish, anyway.

That was the theme this trip – there was no bait. The water was cold! I was glad I had waders. But no bait, no fish. And it’s not like there were no fish, I got six species, but there were not many. Nonetheless, I had two full days of getting my nature on, and anything more than that is just a bonus at this point. I might just be a biophiliac…

That’s my Everglades City report. Thanks for reading!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Take a walk! Stay active!

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 2022. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Fishing Stories, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Great Weather IRL Fishing Report

October 15, 2021 by · Leave a Comment

Great Weather IRL Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this week’s Great Weather IRL Fishing Report. Got out four days this week, all solo trips by kayak. I need a fishing buddy who has a sense of discretion…

Last week I had a question, if anyone had seen mullet working down the beach. NO ONE responded. Either you folks need to get out more, or there are no mullet on the beach.

FISHING (and other) Report

The high water is killing me! The Haulover Canal gauge has hovered around 1.5 feet all week.

Monday

Spruce Creek, still beautiful.

Went paddling at Spruce Creek. Hadn’t been there in a year, did not know what to expect. It’s still beautiful! Did not see jacks raising hell, or ladyfish either. Did see a few tarpon rolling. Did see a few fish bust along the shoreline.

Got several snooklets and jumped one tarpon on fly. The hook must have hit the bony part of the tarpon’s mouth- it jumped right off, and bent the Gamakatsu hook besides.

As the tide got high, I just blind-cast the rubber shad, and got surprised by a redfish pushing 30 inches. I unhooked it without removing it from the water, a growing trend. Nice way to finish the trip!

Tuesday

Went paddling on the Indian River Lagoon. Weather was fantastic, but my optimism was fairly crushed early. Ate lunch without having seen anything other than mullet.

Showed two different flies to two different redfish in the afternoon. Both turned and fled. I just blind-cast the rubber shad, and got surprised by a seatrout pushing 26 inches, my nicest trout in a long while. I unhooked it without removing it from the water…

Wednesday

A consulting visit to the oral surgeon. Move along folks, nothing to see here…

Thursday

Went to the Indian River Lagoon, different place. Weather was extraordinary- even had light rain for a while, very pleasant. Saw exactly one redfish as I ran it over. Did not get a shot with the fly rod all day. Got a few marginal trout by blindly pitching the rubber shad. Did thrill to a pair of eagles flying together.

Trout on rubber shad.

It’s so easy to enjoy these days, watching the kingfishers and the ibis, watching the clouds grow and shrink as they travel through the sky, listening to and watching the dragonflies of all different sizes and colors. I watched a dragonfly catch a mosquito I had shooed off me one morning. That was awesome!

Friday

Went to the Indian River Lagoon, a different different place. Weather was again extraordinary- what a run we’ve had! Wind from the east for weeks, but whatever.

Snoook on the new fly.

 

Black drum, actually hooked in the chin.

Got a snoook on my third cast- guess that new fly works! The fish tore it, and its partner, apart. Guess I need to armor plate them! Ended up with five snook, two ladyfish, one each of redfish and black drum, and hooked a tarpon that I got three jumps out of. There were no IGFA world records here, folks. But all were on fly, and I’m not complaining!

Yeah, I need to beef these flies up. Never saw one fall apart in quite this way.

That’s what I got. Thank you again for reading this Great Weather IRL 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.

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Two Skunks Fishing Report

October 2, 2021 by · Leave a Comment

Two Skunks Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this week’s Two Skunks Fishing Report. Got out three days this week, two solo trips by kayak, once with Scott Radloff. In general fishing was more productive last week. Can we call it a downwards trend?? With the temperature trending downwards? Seems odd.
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I’ve been writing a travelogue for Global Outdoors. You can see those posts here- https://blog.globaloutdoors.com.
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For Sale– 20′ glass pushpole, $100. 14′ glass pushpole, $50.

Three anchors with chain attached, $25 each. Wang anchor (new bracket and mounting hardware, used pole) $25.

Call or email me.
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FEESHINK

Monday

I went to the Indian River Lagoon by kayak. I had good shots at three redfish. All responded to the fly- negatively. The weather was great, water high but what passes for clean these days. Fish just didn’t want to play with the toy I offered, the wooly redfish worm. One skunk.

Tuesday

Scott and I visited a different part of the Indian River Lagoon, paddling my canoe. Fishing wasn’t on fire, but Scott got a snooklet, and a fat 18 inch trout,  jumped three tarpon, and missed a couple bites. His preferred bait most of the day was a rootbeer colored shad with the chartreuse tail. I, on the other hand, couldn’t get a bite on anything, and even bummed one of his rootbeer shads from him. Didn’t matter. Total skunking, second day in a row. Two skunks!

Wednesday,

I tried yet another IRL spot that I haven’t seen in at least seven or eight months, by kayak. It took over an hour of casting, but I got a redfish while blind-casting with Scott’s shad, one of the smaller reds I’ve ever caught. But I wasn’t skunked! BOOM to you, skunk!

Tiny redfish, skunk-buster!

A few minutes later I got a real bite. Turned out to be the best snook I’ve hooked since getting home, a lovely fish of five or six pounds, made my day. Still casting the rootbeer shad.

Nice snook, day-maker.

Hours went by, finally got another snooklet. Same lure.

Threw to one redfish, spooked the crap out of it. Should have tried the fly rod. 🙁

Thursday, visited my dentist, went and got my COVID vaccine booster, and participated in a few other similar fun tasks.

Had to wait around for the appliance repairman on Friday. That’s some kind of fun, too. I cleaned and organized my fly tying bench and got ready to tie up some delicious offerings for fish.

That’s what I got. Thank you again for reading the Two Skunks 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.

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Autumnal Equinox East Central Florida Fishing Report

September 24, 2021 by · Leave a Comment

Autumnal Equinox East Central Florida Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this week’s Autumnal Equinox East Central Florida Fishing Report. Got out four days this week- once to the beach, two solo trips by kayak, once with Tom Van Horn. In general fishing was more productive last week.
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I’ve been writing a travelogue for Global Outdoors. You can see those posts here- https://blog.globaloutdoors.com.
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Monday

The first fish of the day nailed an Electric Sushi streamer.

I went to the Indian River Lagoon by kayak. Early on I heard a fish bust along the bank. Got into position (so important) and flung a fly along the bank. Third cast the line came tight, a beautiful coppery top-of-the-slot redfish. Good start to the day.

The tarpon seemed to prefer the EP fiber minnow.

It wasn’t gangbusters though. After some time, I found some baby tarpon rolling. Through a few fly changes and a lot of casting I got a few bites, jumped and unhooked two. Tarpon of any size are the coolest of fish!!

The snook didn’t seem to care one way or the other.

A few more fish started busting along the bank. Turned out to be what Mark Nichols calls snooklets. Got a few on streamers.

An electric sushi did the red.

Last fish was another red, bottom of slot. It was by far the most productive day of the week.

Tuesday

Susan and I went to see the Orange County Public Schools Art Teachers exhibit at the City Arts gallery. If you’re in Orlando, it’s a worthwhile stop of an hour or so.

Wednesday-

the autumnal equinox, saw me trying the Banana River Lagoon again. It’s o-fish-illy fall! Determined to get some fish on fly, I made sure the leader was long enough (about 16 feet) that the line wouldn’t spook fish. It worked! Didn’t spook any! Of course, most of the reason for that was because there weren’t any fish to spook.

The only fly-caught fish of the excursion, took an electric sushi streamer.

Worked my butt off all morning blind-casting, got one small snook. I stood up and poledled (paddled and poled with the paddle) all along the shoreline heading back, saw nothing for a long way.

The spin rod was out, with a DOA Shrimp, when I spotted a slot trout. A cast, and the fish hit violently. As I played it, a dolphin appeared out of nowhere- I thought he’d take the fish off the line! He hung around waiting for me to let it go. I kept it in the boat, not wanting dolphins to associate fishing boats with food (although this one clearly already did). The fish, about 17 inches long, died while waiting for me to release it. That’s how long the darn dolphin hung around.

I love dolphins. They are magnificent animals. But they can outswim anything else in the water and certainly don’t need humans to catch fish for them. Please do not feed caught fish to dolphins!

Thursday

was the official son Alex’s birthday. Happy birthday, Alex! He’s currently in California, so not much special went on there. Except I went fishing with Ton Van Horn, in the Indian River Lagoon.

We saw exactly two redfish (no shot at either) and three or four tarpon roll. If not for the generosity of a pair of six-inch trout, we would have been completely skunked.

Friday

Susan and I went to Playalinda Beach. I tossed a jig and did not touch a fish. One hundred yards away, three guys were surf fishing conventionally, using cut mullet for bait. They caught bluefish steadily.

I thought this bird wanted me to pet it. It hung out right next to us until Susan mentioned having boiled eggs for lunch, at which point it bolted. Poor bird!

Soon enough the mullet should start their annual parade down the beach. Then my jigs will work as well as anything else.

After leaving the beach, we went looking for spoonbills on the Black Point Wildlife Drive. There were none there, and precious few birds of any kind. So that’s not in season yet, either, but should be soon!

That’s what I got. Thank you again for reading the Autumnal Equinox East Central Florida 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.

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A Fishing-y Post

September 18, 2021 by · 2 Comments

A Fishing-y Post

Thank you for reading this week’s A Fishing-y post. Got out four days this week, once to the beach, the others solo trips by kayak. Most of the photos this week are file photos, only have one new one, of the redfish.

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I’ve been writing a travelogue for Global Outdoors. You can see those posts here- https://blog.globaloutdoors.com.
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The weather all week, although warm and humid, was outstanding. Rain every afternoon, though.

Monday saw me trying the Banana River Lagoon again. This time I brought both a spin and a fly rod. Got nothing on fly. On spin, with the three-inch shad, I got a slot red and a crevalle jack. On a DOA Shrimp I got a trout. There is no grass, and the water is kind of high.

Wednesday I was going to go to the Indian River Lagoon. I could not access the launch point because of the Space-X launch, so I went to the Indian River Lagoon instead. Good thing that lagoon is so big! Only a fly rod this day! Found a few baby tarpon rolling, and managed to get one on an ugly little streamer.

Saw some fish busting along the bank. The water was too brown to see anything, so I just blind-cast, beating the bank, with a streamer. Got two small snook.

Thursday was the official wife’s official birthday. We went to the beach! I brought a spin rod. On one of the first casts, something toothy took my jig. I tied on a new one, of course, but did not get another bite. There were two bait fishermen near me. Neither got a fish that I saw.

There were a few mullet in the surf. I saw a small blacktip shark cruising right in the wash. The water temperature is still in the mid-eighties. It needs to cool more before the mullet start moving hard, I think.

Friday I went to the Indian River Lagoon. After much searching I found a pair of tailing fish, swimming right at me for an easy shot. The cast was true and I got one of them, on a fuzzy redfish worm.

Saw a few baby tarpon rolling, could not get an eat.

That’s all I got this week. Thank you again for reading the a fishing-y post. 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.

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Trying to Get Back to Normal

September 10, 2021 by · Leave a Comment

Trying to Get Back to Normal

Thank you for reading this week’s post, Trying to Get Back to Normal. Whatever normal means!

I post this on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, in which almost 3000 people were killed, triggering nearly unanimous and well-deserved outrage from the American people.

Over 600,000 Americans have died as a result of COVID, and we still have cretins not wearing masks or getting vaccinated. I don’t understand it…
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Readers may know I’ve been writing a travelogue for Global Outdoors. You can see some of those posts here- https://blog.globaloutdoors.com.
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Traveling Epilogue, by the numbers

On our trip around the USA, which lasted 153 days (give or take one or two), Susan and I traveled a total of 15,783 miles in our Sienna van. The van used 702.5 gallons of gasoline to do that, which cost me $2271.91. The fuel economy for the entire trip came out to 22.5 miles per gallon. The miles per dollar amount was just under seven miles per dollar.

We used roads in 29 different states. Additionally, I flew to Alaska.

We did not count how many state and national parks we visited. It was quite a few!

The trip, a huge learning experience for both of us, was an epic adventure from any standpoint! We hope to do more trips in the future, so stay tuned…

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Responses to the Rant

Last week’s post generated the biggest response of any post I’ve made over 11 years. Need I say, not all were positive? I had numerous unsubscribes. Seeee ya!

Positive responses, on the other hand, were more numerous than the negatives. I would like to thank first all of you who did not unsubscribe, and then especially those of you who wrote comments of encouragement. Thank you!

Some of those comments-

“Your rant is very much on target. Kudos to you for speaking up on your website. The selfishness and stupidity out there is incredible. And the fact that people in high political office are promoting this is unforgivable. I had to let you know you are not alone in your beliefs.”

“Amen, amen. Keep on ranting—sadly, though, it seems to change the minds of fewer than 5% of my Alaskan friends. Some of the worst are the ‘personal liberty’ proponents who don’t seem to realize that they give up personal liberty for the common good ten times a day when they stop at a traffic light.”

“I agree with all you said in your rant. Having troubles these days praising Florida as my home state.”

“Appreciate the rant. I’m pretty sure my politics are to the right of yours (I’m a hopeless conservative.) But I am stumped by the stubborn, callous leadership of a governor who is charged with helping the people of his state flourish and by the decisions (and information sources) of some of my friends for whom I have great respect. Vaccines and social mitigation techniques have proven effective. Full ICU capacity populated by unvaccinated patients should be enough motivation for all. We’ve lost our minds.”

“The ‘we’re free to do whatever the hell we want’ argument is also flawed. No one has the right to walk around with a gun pulling the trigger while they point it at people all around them, thinking it’s unloaded. Essentially that’s what they’re doing if they’re unvaccinated. COVID can be lethal and the unvaccinated are playing Russian roulette with other people’s lives.”

“that was one of the best stated cases for being vaccinated that I have seen, well done and I pray it hits home with some of your friends and followers.”

“I also enjoyed the rant. All I can say is ‘Amen’. I live in Lake County and I think we are regressing instead of progressing. I have two grandchildren in public school and a great granddaughter in preschool. I want them safe and a mask is such a simple thing to wear.”

I’ll let it go now. Hopefully all my readers and their loved ones will stay COVID-free.

FISHING-

Labor Day weekend- I never fish, or even venture outside much. I hibernate until the craziness is done, then cautiously venture back out again.

Dawn Patrol

Tuesday– Mike Conneen and I had a dawn patrol trip (it’s still summer in Florida) on the Banana River Lagoon. Mike did OK with the spin rod, tossing his favorite lure, the Vudu shrimp. Trout, snook, and a redfish fell to the bait. He mostly cast around schools of rain minnows.

I mostly watched him, catching only two small trout and one smaller ladyfish on a redfish worm fly until Divine Intervention happened in the form of a pair of tailing reds. The cast was true, the fish responded like one hopes, and a short time later I released a fish near the top of the slot. Made my day.

Mike and River the Wonder Dog

It still gets real hot here under that sun come midday.

Wednesday– went to the beach on a dawn patrol trip, hoping for some action. I got it too- in the form of big rollers. Apparently there was a hurricane off the coast. The surfers were having a field day. It’s a fantastic time of day to be on the beach!

I, however, only hooked and lost three small bluefish on a jig. After an hour and a half of fighting waves fruitlessly, I went to the Indian River Lagoon, where Divine Intervention happened again, in the form of a tailing redfish. Again the redfish worm did the job, and I got a photo of this one.

A colorful redfish on a drab black fly.

Thursday‘s weather forecast kept me home, and Friday was an errands and maintenance day. Hope to do more fishing next week!

That’s the report for this week. Thank you again for reading the post, Trying to Get Back to Normal. 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, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: , , , , , , ,
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