Vernal Equinox Lagoons Fishing Report
Monday was the vernal equinox. North of the equator length of day is now longer than length of darkness. It’s springtime, baby! So we have a Vernal Equinox Lagoons Fishing Report.
Ongoing Events-
The Save the St. Johns: Activate the River campaign aims to get people out on the water. Until April 2, 2017, boat tours, paddling trips, hikes and biking adventures are available from the headwaters of the St. Johns to the mouth. We are asking YOU to #GetYourFeetWet and explore the river somewhere new. Bring a friend, register today, and upload pictures using the #ActivatetheRiver to share your experiences! Visit www.savethestjohns.org for more information.
A Question for You
I have an assignment to write an article about fly fishing in eastern Tennessee, a place I’ve never been (but am making plans to visit). Does anyone have any information on this area that they could share? Use the “Leave a Comment” link above, or send an email to john(at)spottedtail(dot)com. Thanks in advance!
Fishing!
Between the small craft advisories and Susan being off this week I only got out two days.
Anthony got this red on a DOA CAL shad.
On the equinox Mr. Anthony Mason and his 83 year-old father, Mr. Rex Mason, joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon kayak fishing, out of River Breeze Park. Although the weather was beautiful the fishing was a little slow. They managed three redfish and two very solid trout between them.
Not to be outdone, Rex got this one!
Rex was pretty inspirational- I sure hope I’m still kayak fishing at 83, if I’m not already pushing up daisies!
Nice trout, too!
Thank you for fishing with me, gentlemen!
On Friday, in spite of the forecast 20 knot east winds, I went scouting at the Banana River Lagoon. Gee, the forecast was correct. The lagoon looked like a washing machine.
Fishing was not fabulous, even though I opted for a six-weight. I did manage three reds on Steve Duckett’s bouncer shrimp fly, and had one fish who took the fly three times. Yes, I missed him all three. He finally realized something was wrong and vacated the area.
The bouncer fly certainly works.
The water was quite clean and there are even a few sparse tufts of manatee grass here and there, trying to mount a comeback. Finger mullet are starting to show up. Although conditions were less than optimal, I did not see a lot of fish, and had some pretty long stretches where I saw little or nothing. Maybe if the weather were better…
That is the vernal equinox lagoons fishing report!
Life is great and I love my work!
Life is short- Go Fishing!
John Kumiski
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All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2017. All rights are reserved.
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Hi John,
I have been following your blog for years and have read many of your books. Although I now reside in Nashville, TN I lived in Port St. John for a couple of years, which is how I discovered your writing. At the time I was “re-discovering” my love for fishing and really wanted to catch redfish in the Lagoon system. Your work made that goal unimaginably more tangible, and I just finished my first fly fishing trip back to the mosquito lagoon. My family and I camped out of sites 1 and 2 on the national seashore and we caught a combined total of about 30 redfish in a day and a half of fishing (this past Sunday and Monday), all on the back of orange island, and over half of those on fly. Most were in the 18-22″ range, but a few broke 30″. My brother also managed a gator trout of 29″ on fly. Better than we could have hoped for given the extremely windy conditions and low water! Thanks for the work you do!
Anyway, this is a response to your question about fishing in East Tennessee. Living in Nashville for 3 years now, I have made many trips out this way. It is a true gem.
Like any water, there is books and books worth of information, but I can give you the basics from my experience. The fishing breaks down into 4 categories: Mountain streams, Smallmouth streams, tailwaters (often also smallmouth streams) and lakes.
Obviously the most notable mountain streams would be those situated in Smoky Mountain National Park, but there is an abundance of other streams to the north of the part in Tennessee. There are many resources on the internet regarding fishing these streams, and I’d be happy to share more specifics if you’d like.
The two most notable tailwaters in E.T. are the Watauga and the South Holston. Situated only 30 minutes from one another, these tailwaters boast large fish in large numbers. Between them it is almost certain you can find the right flow for any day and many consider the combination of these two rivers the best trout fishing in the Eastern U.S.
The lakes here fish very well, but are very deep and take a different approach to fishing. One of the notable techniques developed here is the
‘float and fly”, essentially consisting of a fly or jig under a bobber with a long leader to catch suspended bass who are not aggressively feeding.
Almost every river of lower elevation in this part of the state holds smallmouth, the French Broad being one. Both of these previously mentioned tailwaters also hold smallmouth.
For more information, I would recommend contacting Byron Begley of Little River Outfitters. He owns a fly shop in Townsend, TN just outside of Smoky Mountain National Park. He writes a very good fishing report daily. Although much of his business has to do with the mountain streams he is an avid smallmouth fisherman and has a plethora of information for this area.
Hope this helps a little, and please let me know if you have any questions. Tight lines!
Eric DeVaughn
thank you for the detailed information. I will follow your advice!
all the best-
john kumiski