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A Short Lagoons Fishing Report

August 8, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

A Short Lagoons Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Short Lagoons Fishing Report. No slam this week! Only fished two days.

Bake with a Mosquito Lagoon redfish, circa 1990.

Steve Baker RIP. I learned Sunday that my old friend and mentor Steve Baker passed away last week. Read my eulogy here…

Tuesday– launched the kayak on the Indian River Lagoon, before sunrise, visions of snook on fly dancing in my head. The snook had other plans. I don’t know what those plans were, but they didn’t include getting caught by me. Got one redfish on a RipTide shad. Stuffed, baked, and served on a plate it would have made a lovely hors d’ouvre. Did find the baby tarpon rolling, convinced one to take a fly. Said fly pulled out just as the leader hit the rod. Other than the stars and birds, that was my morning. It was quite a pleasant morning to be paddling!

Not a 50 pounder from the NMZ, but a black drum on fly.

Friday– went to Mosquito Lagoon with kayak. Did not bring the spin rod. Spectacular day, if a little warm. Found a few fish, even through the murk. Convinced a few to take my flies.

The redfish worm strikes again!

Time flies so fast once youth is past that we cannot accomplish one half the many things we have in mind or indeed one half our duties. The only safe and sensible plan is to make other things give way to the essentials, and the first of these is fly fishing. – Theodore Gordon

Life is great and I love my apparent retirement!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase 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 2020. All rights are reserved.

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

Central Florida Kayak Fishing Report- The Week of the Super Grand Slam!

August 1, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Central Florida Kayak Fishing Report- The Week of the Super Grand Slam!

Thank you for reading this Central Florida Kayak Fishing Report. This was the week of the super grand slam! A proper slam happens in a day. This one took me all week to get, but ya take what ya get these days.

Blog Posts This Week– Leave It As It Is- A Book Review 

Other Bits of Life– Peter Green, one of the founding members of Fleetwood Mac and a hero of my youth, passed away this week. I had the pleasure of seeing him, and them, in concert back in 1970 at the Boston Tea Party. I’ve been to a lot of concerts- that one remains one of the most memorable.

Weather Forecast from Hell-

Northeast winds 55 to 65 knots with gusts to around 80 knots. Seas 
27 to 30 feet with a dominant period 11 seconds. Extremely rough on the 
intracoastal waters. Periods of showers.

Coming at us on Sunday.

FISHING!

Monday– launched the kayak on Spruce Creek, illegally, since it was before sunrise and I had no light*. Got a ticket from the marine patrol there, a long time ago, for the same reason. But, I digress.

Before the sun hit the horizon, I found a redfish cruising the bank. Dropped the bunny leech in front of him. He acted the way they are supposed to, and I had a redfish release before sunrise.

Spruce Creek red, on a black bunny leech. Welcome to a new day!

Back in the day, at that time in the morning you’d see jacks crushing mullet, hear snook popping, etc. None of that this morning, very placid. Sad.

Found some baby tarpon rolling a while later. Jumped two, one on the leech and one on a small gray shrimp pattern. Them little boogers is hard to hook!

Found another shoreline red. Thought I had it, but the fish spooked off the fly. It didn’t have a weedguard (it was the one I had tossed it at the tarpon) and it hooked on a shell. That was my morning, and a lovely one it was.

Didn’t fish Tuesday or Wednesday, but I did watch The Kids Are Alright, a documentary about The Who. When they played Young Man Blues it gave me shivers, just freaking awesome. They don’t make them like that any more.

Thursday– Got up too early (really- the days are getting shorter and I’m still on the June program) but got to see Orion above the eastern horizon as I drove to the Indian River. Dropped the kayak in illegally again (no light) and paddled to where I hoped the fish would be.

The best one- of course I didn’t notice the lens was foggy…

In a clear example of “that’s fishing,” I did not get a bite for an hour and a half, then I hooked four snook on four casts, catching three of them. The fourth sawed through my leader (#25 fluoro). The bait was a RipTide Sardine. One of the caught ones was a real one, five or six pounds, my nicest one this year. The one that got away was WAY bigger, of course. 🙂

This was a decent one, too.

A while later I got another snook, a dinker. Then I found some dinker tarpon rolling. One took a black and white streamer and I actually used a dehooker to release it. I did not photograph it, but it was important to the slam. Then I paddled back to the car.

Friday– Got up at 6 am, was on the road to Mosquito Lagoon at 0645. Got caught in some wreck traffic, so I didn’t launch the kayak until 0800.

The water is so green. The first redfish I saw was not social distance away. I did not get a shot. And something I was reminded of this day was, it’s hard to drop a fly exactly where you want it to land when the fish is eight or ten feet away. The next several fish I saw, I could have speared more easily than tossed a fly to them. They were that hard to see.

The fly was deep enough I just cut it off and let the fish have it.

In spite of the murk I had three great shots- did not get a bite. Then I had an impossible one, leader in the rod, and hooked and caught the fish, a really nice red, eight pounds or so.

Black drum, not as pretty as brook trout. I still love them.

I ended up hooking four redfish and catching two, two black drum and catching one, and the last fish, just to put the exclamation point on the slam, was my best trout this year. I think the fish knew there’s a storm coming. They were just stupid, and more active than I’ve seen them in a long time. GLAD I WENT!!!

An EP-style streamer, blind-casting!!!

*If memory serves, the regulation is, any vessel less than seven meters doing less than seven knots needs a single white light, visible from 360 degrees, at the distance of a mile, when operating between sunset and sunrise.

And that’s my central Florida kayak fishing report for this week. Thanks for reading it!

I think I fish, in part, because it’s an anti-social, bohemian business that, when gone about properly, puts you forever outside the mainstream culture without actually landing you in an institution. – John Gierach

Life is great and I love my work!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase 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 2020. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Beaches and More Fishing Report

July 18, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Beaches and More Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this beaches and more Fishing Report. The week had its interesting moments.

Monday– Susan and I went to New Smyrna Beach, parked at Bethune Beach Park. I brought a light spin rod and some shrimp I found in the freezer. When I got around to fishing it was with a pair of small bucktail jigs rigged tandem. I tipped each jig with a small piece of shrimp. Little nibbly fish kept stealing the shrimp, but I did catch a small whiting, successfully keeping the skunk at bay, for whatever that’s worth.

Had lunch at JB’s, then went to the national seashore. While still on the boardwalk over the dune I could see a bait ball just off the beach. Whoosh! a big tarpon launched itself right through it, getting me pretty durned excited!

We took a long walk down the beach and back, but I didn’t see much else.

Tuesday– encouraged by what I’d seen the previous day and a favorable weather forecast, I launched the Mitzi at the Port at 6 AM, then headed up the beach. At the tip of the Cape there were a few scattered tarpon rolling. I blind-cast with the 12-weight for a bit, but that gets old real fast. It’s hard to target scattered rolling fish.

Dawn at Cape Canaveral.

I continued up the beach for a couple hours before I saw anything else. Then I ran over a single tarpon, and then a small string. I cut the motor and went on the electric.

By now there were lots of clouds. Visibility would be good for a few minutes, then a cloud would come. I saw a fish here and again, but always too close to me to do much with.

If I had a cigar I would have swallowed it when here came an honest-to-God string, right on top. Only about a dozen fish, but still. I waited for them to get into range then made my cast. One of the fish saw the rod move and spooked, boogering up the rest. I did not get bit. But my knees were shaking!

A while later here came another string. Just before they got into range a cloud came. I extrapolated and made the cast. The line came tight, a big fish came flying out of the water. When it crashed back down the leader popped and I was out a fly. But my knees were shaking, bad!

The clouds were building to the west. Just one more shot, I told myself. I spotted another string out past my position. I tried for 30 minutes to get in front of them and ended up losing them. I raced the storms back to the port. We arrived simultaneously, about noon.

Wednesday– Launched the kayak in the Indian River Lagoon at the spot I’d seen the baby ‘poons last week, again armed with a six-weight and a spin rod. The water was significantly higher. The majority of the fish were gone. Did get a couple small snookers on a DOA Shrimp.

Two identical sized snook, fooled with a faux shrimp.

Thursday– Susan and I basically repeated Monday’s plan, although I bought some shrimp at the bait shop. All my casting at Bethune Beach netted me one small black drum. The guy fishing near me caught several whiting on shrimp, though.

A ball of glass minnows along the beach.

After lunch we went to the seashore. There were balls of glass minnows right in the surf, and sharks and tarpon cruising between the beach and the first bar. I was all worked up. I watched a six-foot tarpon come in through the breaking surf into about a foot of water. Its back was in the air. I didn’t have a fishing rod, but could hardly have been more thrilled. Amazing stuff, that was!

And that was my week fishing.

I am convinced that the ideal combination leading to a happy life is to have the time to both fish and read. – Brian Murphy

Life is great and I love my work!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase 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 2020. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Orlando Fishing Report, port canaveral fishing report · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Short Titusville Fishing Report

July 11, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Short Titusville Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this short Titusville Fishing Report. Still not a great deal to report, unfortunately. Lots of rain and lightning this week!

Took a short stroll down memory lane this week. Jeff Weakley sent me a Florida Sportsman, November 1987. In that issue was the first article I ever had published.

John Kumiski, back in the ’80s. Love the Medalist!

I keep a basket of magazines in the bathroom because the laptop is not very convenient. Picked out an old Tide magazine, November-December 1997. Son Maxx was the cover boy.

Scott Hoffmeister watches Maxx wrestle with a tunny.

Monday- Launched the kayak in the Mosquito Lagoon armed with a six-weight. Went looking for redfish. The water was high and dirty and such fish as there were, were hard to see. I had one primo shot at a fish cruising along the shoreline and did not make the cast. Poocher!

Wednesday- Launched the kayak in the Indian River Lagoon armed with a six-weight and a spin rod. Found a few baby tarpon rolling. Tossed the chartreuse sparkle three-inch shad a few times and jumped one maybe seven, eight pounds. Got it close before it threw the hook.

Tried the fly rod with a black bunny leech. Threw it a few times and hooked another maybe five pounds.

I turned around and there was a squall line about a mile away, coming fast. I raced it back to my car, not coming close to beating it. No lightning, though.

As another bit of life, spent quite a bit of time watching concerts on youtube this week- Howling Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Memphis Slim, Muddy Waters, Nina Simone, Little Milton, BB King, Savoy Brown, Robin Trower, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, Dizzy Gillespie, Arturo Sandoval- probably made my tinnitus 10 percent worse. It was all great. The heck with the tinnitus!

I’d wreck my ears for this all day long.

“The solution to any problem- work, love, money, whatever- is to go fishing, and the worse the problem, the longer the trip should be.” – John Gierach

Life is great and I love my work!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase 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 2020. All rights are reserved.

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

Independence Day Central Florida Fishing Report

July 5, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Independence Day Central Florida Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this independence day central Florida Fishing Report. Not a great deal to report, unfortunately. The weather this week was great, all week. And safely enjoy your holiday!

Monday– Launched the Mitzi at the north causeway ramp (New Smyrna Beach) at sunrise. Idled to the coast guard station, then ran out of Ponce Inlet. Hadn’t been there in a long time.

There was a shrimp boat out about a mile. I went out to check. Lots of rolling dolphins, lots of pelicans sitting on the rigging. Saw no fish, got no bites.

The plan was to run south down the beach. I want tarpon, they’ve been my primary target through all my searching.

I ran down past the Canaveral Seashore entrance, saw nothing the entire way. No bait, either.

Ran back to the inlet. Now there were two shrimpers out there. Went and checked again. They were shoveling bycatch overboard. The pelicans were going crazy. There were no fish. I’ve been behind shrimpers when shoveling happened and fish were there- it doesn’t take much smarts to figure THAT out. The water churns!

Ran north to Daytona Beach Pier. Water was beautiful. Still no bait, no fish. Went back to the ramp and loaded the boat.

Tuesday– Walt Sheppard joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. At one spot the air was sweet with the scent of mangrove blossoms. You could hear the buzzing of working bees. There weren’t many fish around though. Walt got a couple small trout, I got a couple small reds, all on DOA Shrimp. Thank you, Walt!

Wednesday– Susan and I went to the beach! Smyrna Dunes Park, great place. No fishing, but I watched the fishermen. Did not see anyone catch a fish, nor did I see any fish or bait.

Got to watch the sun rise on Friday.

Friday– still looking for tarpon, I went to the north Mosquito Lagoon. I actually found a few rolling. You could only see them when they rolled. I blind-cast with the ten-weight for about three hours without a sniff. Another guy had a bait out on one rod and cast a fly with the other. No bites. Two guys came floating by, fishing the minnow trifecta- mullet, croakers, and pinfish. They said they got 20 pounds of sailcat but had not touched a tarpon. When the jet skiers and water skiers started up I packed it in.

In the past three weeks I have looked for tarpon in the Banana River Lagoon, the Indian River Lagoon, the Mosquito Lagoon, and along the beach from Satellite Beach to the Daytona Beach Pier, less Canaveral National Seashore. I have had one decent shot. There does not seem to be many Megalops around central Florida at this time.

Life is great and I love my work!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase 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 2020. All rights are reserved.

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

Silver King Search Central Florida Fishing Report

June 27, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Silver King Search Central Florida Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Silver King Search Central Florida Fishing Report. A belated happy father’s day to all you dads. Last week I was so excited about the solstice I completely overlooked it!

Recently I stated I have not been in Florida at this time of year for over a decade. My goal this week, and perhaps next, is to survey the kingdom and see what I have available to me, fishing-wise. If this week is any indication, what’s available is, not much.

I put some hours on the Yamaha this week.

Monday– Launched the Mitzi at the Port at sunrise. During the drive over in the dark I got to watch a thunderhead doing its best 4th of July celebration, even though it was a bit early. It just kept going off! Fortunately for me, it was well offshore.

The plan was to run south down the beach. I want tarpon, they’ve been my primary target through all my searching. I ran into Scott Lum at the ramp. He told me his buddy found some tarpon in the bight the previous day. My plan changed immediately.

I ran to the Cape, saw nothing. So Plan A was resurrected. I ran from the cape to Patrick AFB, stopping along the way to net some pogies.

Turned out I did not need any bait. I saw nothing the entire way.

Halfway down Patrick I took a left and went east for a couple miles, then headed north. Maybe there were some fishies out deeper! Saw nothing until I got near the Disney cruise ship, where a small school of tunny was busting. I hooked two on a jig and lost them both.

By now the wind had laid down. I went back to the cape hoping the tarpon would be there. Nope! I looked for them the whole way back to the port, saw nothing, not even jacks. Tossed all the pogies back in the ocean, loaded the boat onto the trailer.

Tuesday– Launched the Mitzi at Beacon 42 shortly after sunrise. Looked for fish on the outside of the spoil islands (wind was west) while blindcasting, up to marker 25. Got a few small trout, very slow going. Went and looked along Tiger Shoal. Historically big trout were there this time of year, feeding on mullet and laying eggs. The mullet were there. The trout were not.

It looks like algae is starting to bloom. I hope I’m wrong.

One of two reds I saw.

Worked some of my favorite east side spots. Saw two reds working the shoreline. I got the first on a DOA Shrimp. My cast to the second was too good. You know that kind of cast, the one that screams “death from above” to the fish?

So for the day I got one red and maybe eight small trout.

Wednesday– launched the Mitzi at sunrise at Port St. John. Went looking for tarpon without success. Loaded the boat and trailered it to Marina Park. Looked along the shoreline, saw a few trout and black drum. No one would bite.

Ran from the railroad trestle up to Scottsmoor, across to the bombing target, and south to the ICW. I moved exactly one fish. Water on the west side looked terrible. It was fairly clear on the east side but still devoid of life, although I did not check the shoreline. I do not need to go up there again for a while.

Thursday John Berry joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. Tossing DOA Shrimp exclusively, we got five species of fish between us- trout, snook, and one each of flounder, snapper, and ladyfish. All of the fish were on the small side, but the bite was pretty steady. We were done at noon.

Friday, still looking for tarpon, I went to the Port again. I had a hot tip the fish were “way down south.” I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I hoped to find out.

You could tell that dust cloud is here. The sun rose through a veil.

The dust caused serious haze.

The sea was glassy. You could see a tarpon roll a quarter mile off. I went to Satellite Beach and saw exactly one. I’m starting to think way down south means Sebastian Inlet. The Mitzi has a six gallon fuel tank and I carry an extra two. Sebastian is a little out of range.

I turned around at Satellite Beach and looked farther out. Scattered tunny were busting, nothing readily targetable. I love tunny, but they certainly aren’t tarpon.

I spent an hour off the cape. A few fish were rolling there, but again, nothing you could really target. Tossing a pogy out and hoping for the best got me two sharks. I told Susan I’d be home around 1 PM, so quitting time came around noon.

If anyone knows where I could find some tarpon, in the lagoons, or out of the Port or Ponce Inlet, I would love to hear about it.

Life is great and I love my work!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase 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 2020. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, port canaveral fishing report · Tagged: , , , , , ,

Summer Solstice Central Florida Fishing Report

June 20, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Summer Solstice Central Florida Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this summer solstice central Florida Fishing Report. Saturday is the solstice! I will celebrate by using a lawnmower.

Sunday evening Susan and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary at Bonefish Grill. Sister Cheryl tagged along, perhaps as a chaperone? We sat outside, of course. A thunderstorm came through, booming and spitting at us. It made for quite a memorable meal, our only restaurant visit since the COVID incident started. We are still on self-quarantine.

Monday was the actual anniversary. I had installed a new livewell pump in the Mitzi, and took it out on the St. Johns to check for leaks. It’s all good!

The old livewell intake tube could not pick up water while the boat was running. On this installation I added an EZ Pump to the transom. This device forces water into the intake tube while the boat is running. It works great, I am so happy I did this! I’m not big on using bait, but when I have it I want it to stay alive.

The EZ Pump scoops water into the live well water pickup when the boat is on plane.

After dinner I loaded three kayaks onto the roof of the chariot. We drove to Haulover Canal and launched them as darkness fell. The bioluminescence is heavy now. Every paddle stroke makes the water glow electric blue, as do all the mullet and other sea creatures. The Big Dipper was nearly straight overhead, pointing at Polaris, Leo, and Arcturus. We watched Scorpius rise, and saw several satellites and meteors. It was a fantastic way to finish off anniversary day!

Wednesday looked like I could cruise the deep blue. I launched at the Port, clearing the jetties as the sun cleared the horizon. Tarpon were the goal.

I found a few rolling near the cape. Blind-casting a black and purple streamer in the vicinity, I had a bump. Not a take, but a large fish rolled behind the fly. Had it eaten, the 10-weight would have been inadequate. That was it in two hours. I pulled the boat, trailered to Haulover Canal.

The water at the south end of the lagoon is fairly clear. There is no grass. I visited all my old best spots down there. Between 10 and 2, I saw one trout, one redfish, one bonnethead, maybe a dozen black drum, and caught three trout on a plastic minnow, two of which were slot fish. There were decent numbers of finger mullet. Don’t need to go back for a while!

Thursday Susan and I paddled around on Lake Mills for a short time. Water looks nice! Didn’t see much in the way of fish. Lots of ski boats and jet skis moored around the margins of the lake.

Friday I was going to go out. Cancelled because of a forecast. Bad move! Ended up working on the hurricane panels, a tougher job than anticipated.

I think there is a connection between thinking and fishing, mostly because you spend a lot of your time up to your waist in water without a whole lot to keep your mind busy. – Anthony Doerr

Life is great and I love my work!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase 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 2020. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, port canaveral fishing report · Tagged: , , ,

Charlotte County Fishing Report and Photo Essay

October 6, 2018 by · Leave a Comment

Charlotte County Fishing Report and Photo Essay

We travelled to Charlotte County this week and did some fish-catching. We have a Charlotte County Fishing Report for you!

Upcoming Events-

Paddle Fishing Central Florida Fishing Report
-Aloha Protect Our Waters Fundraiser! It should be called th FUN-raiser- Mai-tais, tropical cuisine, and live music highlight this event. There might be some well-known fishing personalities, too. All funds raised help support Anglers for Conservation’s youth fishing education programs. Oct 14, 3-6 PM. For more information visit www.anglersforconservation.org/pow . I hope to see you there!

-MINWR Show and Tell Fishing Seminar. Oct. 27, 830 AM. In this all-day seminar I SHOW you where to fish, and TELL you how to be succesful. For more information visit http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

-Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar. Oct. 28. In this four hour seminar I take you out in my skiff and show you all my secrets. For more information visit http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

Fishing!

Monday I had to visit the chiropractor. He did not fix the problem and it colored the rest of my week.

Tuesday I got up in what seemed the middle of the night and drove to Port Charlotte. Old friend George Allen had moved there from Orlando and I was going to visit.

charlotte county fishing report

I’ll be hornswoggled.

We went out in George’s 26 foot Sea Hunt, cruising out to Charlote Harbor. I had zero expectations, never having fished the area before. Zero is what we got, too, until we saw a few tarpon roll. We cast a couple of pinfish out and I’ll be horn-swoggled, we got a bite. I fought the 60-70 pound fish up to the boat, where it posed for a photo. After that, even though tarpon rolled all around us, it was a hot sailcat bite. After that first fish, who cared? The back was fine so far. Thank you, George!

charlotte county fishing report

The pond at Deer Prairie Creek Preserve.

Wednesday I went to visit Deer Prairie Creek Preserve. A small dam on Deer Prairie Creek backs up a small pond. I opted to fish here instead of below the dam. That was perhaps a mistake, but I will visit the area again and hit the lower creek.

charlotte county fishing report

You’ll see lots of signs like this one.

The upper creek was gorgeous. As the morning passed the songs of birds gave way to the humming of cicadas. If you listened you could hear traffic sounds, but they were distant and easy to ignore.

charlotte county fishing report

I paddled upstream until it became obvious that if I went farther turning around would be difficult. The stream was too overgrown in most places to fly fish. I wished more than once I’d brought a UL spin outfit.

charlotte county fishing report

 

charlotte county fishing report

The creek was too overgrown to fly fish in many places.

The four-weight did come in handy though. Once the creek started opening up the fish started hitting my popper. The first was a feisty little bass, quickly followed by a garfish. After five bass and a stumpknocker the back was bothering me too much to fish any more. Loading the boat back onto the car was an exercise in slow and painful.

charlotte county fishing report

Bass on popper, always fun!

 

charlotte county fishing report

Stumpknockers are as aggressive as they are beautiful.

I visited Snook Haven for lunch. It’s an old-Florida style fish camp on the Myakka River, and is definitely worth a visit. The river is over its banks and is not fishing well right now, not that I tried.

We had dinner that evening at Carmelo’s  in Punta Gorda. Five stars and two thumbs up!

charlotte county fishing report

Logan casting to rolling tarpon.

Thursday morning I met Logan Totten http://flykayaker.com in Englewood. In the dark he drove me somewhere onto the Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park . The sun was not up yet when we launched the kayaks into a small pond.

charlotte county fishing report

we dragged the boats into another pond.

After crossing the pond we dragged the boats into a second pond and began fishing. Baby tarpon rolled around us. In spite of several fly changes baby tarpon did not bite. A few Mayan cichlids did, so no skunking for us! Logan led me through a mangrove tunnel (I love doing stuff like that!) into another pond. Again, rolling tarpon, no biters.

charlotte county fishing report

Logan, still casting.

We eventually went back through the tunnel into the second pond. More Mayan cichlids and a few small snook. Tarpon still not cooperating.

charlotte county fishing report

Score!

We dragged the boats back to first pond, paddled back to his truck, loaded up, and went to another pond. Tarpon rolled all over it. We took two drifts across without a bite and called it. Tarpon of any size can be so ornery…

charlotte county fishing report

Another snook, a mini- model.

Thank you, Logan! I loved the adventure! You get the JK stamp of approval!

charlotte county fishing report

Upper Myakka Lake. The water is high.

Friday was return home day. I stopped at Myakka River State Park  on a fact-finding mission for future reference. It’s beautiful there! As stated earlier, the river is over its banks. That and the fact my back was still bothering me kept me from going paddling. It was still so tempting…

charlotte county fishing report

Myakka paddle notes, at the canoe livery there.

My take on Charlotte County is that there is a lot of kayak fishing to be done there. Charlotte Harbor has all kinds of saltwater fish. In addition there are all the small natural ponds, with tarpon, snook, cichlids, etc. There are the Myakka and Peace Rivers and their tributaries, and loads of canals (peacock bass and snakeheads in addition to native species) and retention ponds. West Wall Outfitters in Port Charlotte is the place to stop for information and last minute tackle needs.

And that is the Charlotte County Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2018. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Photo Essays, travel blog · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

 Nearshore Port Canaveral Fishing Report

June 8, 2018 by · Leave a Comment

Nearshore Port Canaveral Fishing Report

This is a nearshore Port Canaveral fishing report, my last Florida fishing report until September. I write this on an Alaska Air Big Bird, headed to Alaska’s Katmai Lodge on the Alagnak River.

port canaveral fishing report

Tunny will shake. Tunny will bleed.

Monday Mike Conneen joined me on Spotted Tail for some spin fishing. We headed out of the Port and went off down the beach. Near the fishing grounds I threw the net once, got all the bait we might need. It’s nice when that happens!

Tunny were breaking all over the place, as were Spanish mackerel. We got a few Spanish for my aunt, then went a-tunnying.

port canaveral fishing report

Mike got this kingfish without using wire.

It was borderline ridiculous, fish breaking everywhere. We used white CAL jigs and Sting Silvers. I broke out the seven-weight and got a couple on a Bouncer streamer.

port canaveral fishing report

This was as much jump as I got.

Mike wanted a tarpon, so once our appetite for tunny was sated we went searching. We found a place with scattered rollers, and so deployed the baits, what I believe were scaled sardines. Big tunny loved them. Crevalle jacks loved them. Blacktip sharks loved them. King mackerel really loved them, cutting us off repeatedly. Mike hooked a 20 pounder on the back of the head and so landed it. I put on a stinger rig and got one about half that size.

port canaveral fishing report

Mike has the beast near the boat.

We got a lot of bites. Finally I jumped a big tarpon. One jump and it was off. I was not sorry.

By this point I was ready to head back, but Mike really wanted that tarpon, so I made one more drift. A dinosaur-sized tarpon took his bait. Let the games begin!

port canaveral fishing report

It was a BIG fish.

I did not time the length of that fight, but it was a big fish and not jumpy at all. All thoughts of heading back were gone. I stood by with the cameras, waiting for jumps that never came.

Mike finally got the fish close to the boat. I leadered it six times, the last one getting the hook back. I could not hold onto that fish though, and the photo Mike wanted so badly did not get taken.

port canaveral fishing report

Breaking fish, fly rod. Life is good.

Tuesday Tammy joined me, same time, same station. Similar action, minus the tarpon. Tammy and I were both more interested in fly fishing, and whacked more than a few Spanish macks and tunny. When the surface action slowed we deployed scaled sardines. Tunny and jacks, with sharks and king macks taking turns cutting us off.

port canaveral fishing report

Lift that fish!

We would have liked a tarpon, but there were fewer rolling and we did not jump one. It was still another ridiculously good day though.

port canaveral fishing report

Tunny will shimmy. Tunny will vomit.

 

port canaveral fishing report

This one was better behaved.

 

port canaveral fishing report

This one was well behaved, too!

Wednesday Tom Finger joined me. We ran down the beach, got the bait, went looking for breaking fish. Nothing. I had called him telling him how great it was, and now had a major sinking feeling. The bazillions of fish that had been there the previous two days were all gone.

port canaveral fishing report

Tom’s tunny. All his buddies were gone 🙁

We went out to deeper water looking for jacks, tunny, and king macks. Not much there, either. Tom got a tunny on a sardine. We missed several strikes.

Heading back north we found a sizable area of breaking Spanish macks. We each got one before they disappeared. Then lightning started flashing and we headed back to the ramp at all possible speed.

Thanks to Mike, Tammy, and Tom for sharing these days with me!

And that is my Nearshore Port Canaveral Fishing Report! Next report will be from Alaska- trout and salmon!

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, Orlando Fishing Report, Photo Essays, port canaveral fishing report · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Early June East Central Florida Fishing Report

June 2, 2018 by · Leave a Comment

Early June East Central Florida Fishing Report

June- tarpon time, and I go to Alaska soon, far from tarpon. This early June east central Florida fishing report covers the Mosquito Lagoon and Port Canaveral.

It still rained a lot this week.

Tuesday Robert Ungvarsky and his two delightful daughters joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. Our goal was simple- keep the girls catching fish. To that end we stopped at Anchor Hardware and bought 50 shrimp, small ones, to be tossed on ultralight spin tackle. Terminal tackle consisted of a #8 hook and a split shot. We broke each shrimp in half, effectively getting two baits out of each one. Even at that we used all but four.

As luck would have it one of the first fish we got was a 13 inch pompano. Lots of squealing from happy kids on that one! Trout, catfish (of course), pinfish, snapper, ladyfish, a couple of big whiting, a puffer, and a flounder rounded out the catch. The plan worked well, something that doesn’t always happen in fishing. Everyone was happy and we all had a great time. Robert, thank you and I hope you will join me again.

east central florida fishing report

Fred with one of many trout they caught.

Friday found the Finger twins, Tom and Fred, on Spotted Tail, on Mosquito Lagoon, hunting for fish. The hunt took about 30 minutes. Then we hit trout steadily for a couple of hours. Although many were just under slot, we got some to about three pounds. CAL jigs were the weapon of choice. Once that bite dried up we did not find much else, and trailered the boat about 2 PM.

Saturday I joined Tom Van Horn and Rodney Smith on Tom’s Hewes out of Port Canaveral. Someone was holding a tournament and the ramps were chaos. We managed to get out of there and went for a ride.

east central florida fishing report

Zzzz-ZZZzzzzz-ZZZZZZZZZ! Tunny are awesome!

I spotted some breaking fish and tossed a jig at them. BAM-ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! I love that sound! Little tunny, one of the ocean’s finer light tackle fish. They were good sized ones, 12 pounds or so. We got several, along with a single Spanish mackerel.

east central florida fishing report

We knew we might hook some larger fish when a 100 pound tarpon jumped after eating Rodney’s jig. We’re lucky it jumped off. That little spin rod was not designed for that work. We went close to the beach and netted some pogies.

east central florida fishing report

Two musketeers? Two stooges? Two hookups, definitely!

Moving back to deeper water we almost ran the tarpon over. Rodney and I both cast baits out, using actual tarpon gear. Getting his bite took about 20 seconds, mine about twice that long. So we had a tarpon double, both 100+ pound fish.

east central florida fishing report

happy Rodney

 

Getting close!

 

east central florida fishing report

A graceless ballet ensued aboard Tom’s vessel, punctuated by grunting and an occasional curse, and sounds of delight when the fish jumped. After about 40 minutes I had my fish near the boat when the hook pulled. Rodney’s took a little longer. He broke it off next to the boat. After that we messed around long enough for Tom to hook a five foot blacktip shark. After that it was all over except for the ride back to the boat ramp. We left early to beat the crowd!

east central florida fishing report

And that is the early June east 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, port canaveral fishing report · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,
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