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Happy New Year Fishing Report

December 31, 2021 by · Leave a Comment

Happy New Year Fishing Report

Happy New Year Pie, by Cheryl Kumiski

Happy New Year! Thank you for reading this Happy New Year Fishing Report. I wasn’t going to write one this week, but weirdly enough, I missed it. I miss my readers, my friends!

Since it’s January first, we all need to start hoping for a strong shad run. The advance scouts should already be here.

The weather has been incredibly nice! I lost track of the days!

We gotta back up. The Sunday before Christmas I drove to Hillsborough River State Park, an unpleasant drive of about three hours, no matter how I go. The park is almost worth it, though. I was supposed to meet Nick Colantonio, famous the world over as the Comatose Angler, a real treat for me. I beat him there, though, so decided to scout the river.

I paddled upstream until I came to a fallen tree that blocked further (easy) access. I rigged my fly pole (4-wt), tying a mouse fly on the end of the leader, and began floating downstream.

It took all of four casts to hook a bass. They came pretty steadily, and a few of those aggressive little stumpknockers managed to impale themselves on that hook, too. The day’s best fish jumped off, of course. All in all, a splendid afternoon.

Nick and I repeated the process the next morning. The fish weren’t as bitey, and the ones I caught were smaller. After the previous day it was all house money anyway. Beautiful day on a beautiful river with great company, and I didn’t need the 1st aid kit! Any fish were a bonus!

A few days later I went paddling on the Indian River Lagoon. I saw three redfish all day, only got one shot, and the fish spooked off the fly. Good thing the birds and weather were both incredible. Pepe Le Pew came home with me.

Christmas came. It was less festive around here with our boys (men, now) in California. We muddled through!

A few days later I went paddling on Mosquito Lagoon. For hours without seeing anything. I stood up to rest my bum, and there was a redfish up ahead of me, rooting around. I sat again, dropped the fly, and bam! Got him! So rare to convert that first fish of the day. I made sure it didn’t happen again…

I took my jonboat up the Econlockhatchee from the St. Johns, past the cabin, and fished my way part-way back down. Got two dink bass on plastic worms, which beats no cheese. The river looked lifeless. It’s still too high for my tastes.

I took my kayak down the Econlockhatchee from SR 419. No fishing tackle involved. There are some freaking DINOSAUR-sized alligators in that stretch, very impressive creatures. Small ones slide into the water as you approach. The big ones just eyeball you as you float by because they don’t see you as a threat. I had to wonder if they saw me as a snack. Other than the reptiles, the river still looked lifeless.

Thursday, went to a different spot on the IRL. Saw a redfish on the shoreline right away. My weighted fly plopped too close to him. I changed the fly, to a Seaducer. A few minutes later, something blew up some mullet. I dropped the fly on the spot, and Bam! Snook, to my surprise, about 22 inches and very feisty!

It was the 30th of December, and I saw at least two dozen tarpon roll, altogether amazing. It’s not like we’re in the Keys or the Everglades. Although none bit my flies or lures, I did get a decent trout while throwing to the rolling tarpon, on a DOA Shrimp. Saw a few more reds too, but did not get another shot, mostly runovers. Fishing wasn’t great, but the day was.

I found this boat abandoned in the marsh, if anyone needs a reclamation project for 2022. The paint is nice.

That’s all I have. Thanks for reading!

Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year!

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: central florida fishing report, Fishing Reports, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: , , , , , ,

Winter Solstice Fishing Report

December 17, 2021 by · Leave a Comment

Winter Solstice Fishing Report

Season’s Greetings! Thank you for reading this Winter Solstice Fishing Report. Pagans, your day is almost here! Christians, Merry Christmas! Regardless of who or what you worship, please enjoy your winter holidays safely!

Since Christmas is next Saturday, and New Year’s is the following Saturday, readers will not see another blog until about January 8. A little blogging vacation I will take!

Speaking of blogs, Patrick Young wrote an excellent guest blog for me about gifts for outdoorsmen (or women). Read it here…

Fishing, now there’s a story.

Monday I took Gary, who had a gift certificate to fish with me purchased before my retirement, fishing. I wanted to honor the certificate. We took a canoe and went to the Indian River Lagoon, where we saw exactly one redfish in six hours, and where I caught two trout that maybe I could have stretched to 15 inches. Unfortunately, Gary caught nothing. Good thing I no longer need referrals. In spite of the lack of fish it was truly beautiful out there.

It gets better.

Tuesday morning, I met Dave Caprera at Spruce Creek. I took the kayak off the car, and went to load it up. Right away I noticed that there were no paddles of any kind in the car. I’d taken out the kayak paddle Sunday while getting ready for Monday. I’d taken the canoe paddles out Monday while getting ready for Tuesday, but failed to re-insert the kayak paddle. What do they call that? Old-timer’s disease? Well, Duh…

I drove home, of course. Dave went anyway, and did not touch a fish.

Friday, I went bass fishing, by foot, with a spin rod, in the Econlockhatchee. Five fish between 12 and 14 inches on Culprit worms and 3″ Shad in five hours, with a bonus eight-inch fish thrown in too.

Exceptionally beautiful day- ya gotta love the weather this time of year. The river is still higher than I like, but it seems to be fishing ok.

As they say, that’s all she wrote. Thanks for reading!

Once again, the merriest of Christmases to all.

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 2021. All rights are reserved.

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

Visiting in Wisconsin

August 21, 2021 by · 2 Comments

Visiting in Wisconsin

Thank you for reading this week’s post, Visiting in Wisconsin. I got to do some fishing this week!
———————————————
Readers may know I’ve been writing a travelogue for Global Outdoors. You can see some of those posts here- https://blog.globaloutdoors.com.
———————————————

The Mississippi River, from Great River Bluff.

After a long drive through Iowa and Minnesota, we got a campsite at Minnesota’s Great River Bluffs State Park. There were views of the Mississippi River valley from the park. The river here was already large enough to have wing dams and significant barge traffic, as well as advisories against eating the fish. I did not fish here. The campground lacked privacy, so we left after one night.

The Mississippi River, from Great River Bluff.

 

Fall is on the way- the goldenrods are blooming.

From there we went to Wildcat Mountain State Park in Ontario, Wisconsin. This park had bluffs overlooking the Kickapoo River valley. Although the Kickapoo is a trout stream, I did not fish here, either. We did take a three-hour paddle trip, renting a boat from Drifty’s Canoe Rental.

The Kickapoo Valley from Wildcat Mountain.

 

Cliffs along the Kickapoo.

The river, although muddy from rains, was lovely. Fish were rising steadily during the first half of the trip. I wished I had my rod…

We paddled the ‘poo!

After two nights there, we drove to West Bend, where long-time friends Dave and Beth Olsen live. We had not seen them in a long time, and it was so good to pick up right where we’d left off! We were visiting in Wisconsin!

Beth and Dave have beautiful gardens.

I bought a Wisconsin fishing license, and went wade fishing in the Milwaukee River. Had the fish been big I would have rated it a ten. The fish were mostly small though, so even though I caught bass after bass (smallmouth), I can only give it a six. I tried a variety of flies- wooly bugger, bunny leech, Son of Clouser- and caught fish on all of them. I did not get a bite on a surface fly. A small pike relieved me of the bunny leech. It was a pleasant day fishing a nice stream. I wish a couple three- or four-pounders had been in the mix.

Best smallie I got. Unfortunately the camera focused on the river.

Dave took me fishing in a friend’s farm pond the next day. Jim, the owner, was so gracious that he rowed out to where we were fishing to deliver a couple cold brewskis. I don’t get that kind of surface very often!

Dave Olsen, bass master.

 

Before he began fishing, Jim brought us some beer!

I was fly fishing, Dave used a spin rod. I got some fat bluegills and some largemouth bass- bunny leech, odd bass streamers, and finally a gurgler mouse. Dave used spinner baits, buzz baits, and a weedless bass frog, and caught bass after bass, all largemouth. The fish ran a pound and a half, two pounds, all cookie-cutter fish. A solid day of fishing, though.

The pond had large bluegills!

Dave brought me to Little Cedar Lake next. We got there at the crack of 10 AM, already hot and sunny. Water skiers and jet skis were zooming around on a lake surrounded by homes. In the lake are bluegills, crappie, perch, walleyes, bass, and pike. We got two small and one decent bass between us. As the heat and the boat traffic increased, I could see our chances of fish decreasing. We bagged it about two o’clock.

The traveling couple.

And that’s the report for this week. Thank you again for reading the post, Visiting in Wisconsin. Life is great and I love exploring the USA!

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, Photo Essays, travel blog · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Visited Old Spots Fishing Report

June 13, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Visited Old Spots Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Visited Old Spots Fishing Report.

I moved to Florida in 1984. Was a fisherman when I got here. I fished and guided the Banana River Lagoon, the Indian River Lagoon, the Mosquito Lagoon, the near-coastal Atlantic from both Ponce Inlet and Port Canaveral, and the St. Johns river system as my local waters, and have travelled and fished all over the state. Since I got here, and particularly over the last five or six years, I have watched the water quality decline, and the quality fishing areas shrink, to the current pitiful state. There are many places I have fished where I’ve thought at the end of the day, “I don’t need to check here again for a long time.”

This week was dedicated to visiting some of those areas again.

Monday I visited what used to be a favorite St. Johns River system lake. It was full of vegetation- milfoil, eelgrass, dollarweed, bulrushes, others. The bass fishing was fantastic. A couple years ago, when the FWC declared herbicide war on all aquatic vegetation, I visited this lake with Tom Van Horn. The vegetation was all dead or dying. The bullfrogs were silent. There were no alligators, and no fish. I don’t need to check here again for a long time.

Best fish of the day.

Monday’s visit was nostalgic. The marsh is beautiful. Bullfrogs sang loudly, and so did the blackbirds. Tilapia chased each other around. I snuck up on a four-point buck, in velvet, that was feeding at the water’s edge. I fished hard for six hours, came up with four dink bass. There is still no vegetation, and not many fish. I still don’t need to check here again for a long time.

Wednesday I launched the Mitzi at Kelly Park and ran it down to Pineda Causeway. Was hoping to see tarpon, and the weather was perfect for it. No tarpon, though.

Used the electric motor to work my way most of the way to Georgiana Island. Found one small school of large redfish. I didn’t think they existed anymore! One slurped up my bunny leech in plain view and I caught it, the largest red I’ve gotten on fly in 10 years. That was way cool! Truly, God smiled on me. The entire episode was so unlikely.

I could not lift this fish into the boat.

Other than that, there were small scattered trout. Ran north of 528 and checked from the Barge Canal to KARS Park. Saw a few reds, a handful of five pound black drum, and two small snook. Got one dink trout, did not touch another fish. I don’t need to check here again for a long time.

One dink trout.

Back at the ramp two guys had an open fisherman on a trailer. One of them came over to me. “You got a screwdriver?” he asked. “Of course, I have a screwdriver,” I said. “He doesn’t,” the man said, pointing to his buddy. “Then why did you go out with him?” I said. Seriously, if you have a boat, you need some basic tools. It doesn’t get more basic than a screwdriver.

Friday On a perfect morning Scott Radloff and I went kayak fishing on the Indian River lagoon. Our boats hit the water at sunrise, and we were out until mid-day. Not a fish did we see. I hardly made any casts. Beautiful morning, lovely birds, I don’t need to check here again for a long time.

All other things being equal, the experiment will continue next week.

Non-exclusionary by its nature, fishing embraces all creeds and colors, all manner and kind of man and woman, gay or straight, whole or broken in body or spirit; every seeker, every pilgrim, every hopeful traveler who believes that in the art and sport of angling something purposeful, meaningful, traditional, wonderful, fun, and spiritual can be found. – Paul Quinnett

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, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Another Central Florida Fishing Report

May 23, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Another Central Florida Fishing Report

Thank you for reading another central Florida fishing report. I hope you are still maintaining your health and your sanity through this pandemic thing. In spite of what you may have heard, it’s not over yet.

Sunday– With a beautiful morning, and tired of being in the house, I again got the bicycle out and headed to what was for me a new area on the Econlockhatchee. A ride of about a mile put me at the river.

There were people fishing there.

I hid the bike and went through the woods the other way, picking up a few chiggers while I was at it. The river was tiny, just a creek. I did not see many fish. I did get to watch two otters (one at a time) frolic in the river right in front of me, very cool. A barred owl, right over my head, had an owl conversation with a friend a ways off.

I hooked one 10 inch bass on a riptide sardine. The fish shook off before I could land it. I had a great time walking through the woods, but I wouldn’t go back for the fishing.

Tuesday the wind was something less than 20 mph. I launched a kayak at Mosquito Lagoon and worked it hard.

The fish were not on. I saw two reds, did not get a shot. I saw a few black drum tailing. When the tail disappeared, the fish disappeared. The only bite I got was from a five pound black drum that took a redfish worm, and I felt lucky to get it.

I was asked for a photo of the redfish worm. It is a very simple fly.

Thursday was another beautiful day so I tried kayaking Mosquito Lagoon again. While hunting, I spotted a redfish as I passed it. When I turned to try to get a shot I couldn’t find the fish again. I waited and watched. The fish finally tailed, right next to the mangroves. I thought my cast was off, but the fish must have heard the fly hit the water. As I began to lift the rod for another cast the fish took the fly. Of course it shook right off.

Another redfish falls to the redfish worm.

A while later I ran over three black drum. I staked the boat, stood up, and waited. I got several shots over the next 40 minutes or so and pooched all of them, missing a few bites in the process.

I turned around and three redfish were cruising the shoreline. I dropped the fly on them on the backcast- BOOM! First fish of the day. It was almost one o’clock.

A fish crashed along the shoreline a few times. A saw the fish and made the cast- too long, right into a mangrove branch. I jerked the fly off, used that as the backcast, and splashed the fly down, hard, a couple feet in front of the fish. BAM! My second, and last, redfish of the day, and you’re not likely to get many in quite that way.

I’ve had some people ask me about chartering- while I could certainly use the funds, I’m still on self-quarantine. I’m staying there until everyone in my household thinks it’s safe to end it.

“I remember the good evenings I have fished, even the ones that realised material hopes not by the fish that came to the fly, but by the color and movement of water and sky, by the sounds and scents and gentle stirrings that were all around me.”
-Roderick Haig-Brown

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, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Econlockhatchee River Exploration Report

May 15, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Econlockhatchee River Exploration Report

Thank you for reading this Econlockhatcheee River Exploration report. I hope you are maintaining your health and your sanity through this pandemic thing.

Since I have more time available than normal, I have been reading more, both on-line and in print. Today I read a fascinating article. Here is an excerpt-

“…our institutions are still profoundly anthropocentric. We deny even the most basic rights to other parts of nature, including our close animal relatives, some of which share more than 97 percent of our DNA. We pollute our environment with close to zero regard for the well-being of its ecosystems—and we fight pollution only if and when it inconveniences us. Scientific experiments on human beings are not only illegal, but are considered barbarous even when they could provide some useful information. This is in sharp contrast to our practice of experimenting on lab animals…  Even in the purely abstract realms of knowledge, one often hears the complaint that physical sciences are “cold” and “inhuman” exactly because they are less permeated by anthropocentrism than, say, philosophy or the humanities or arts. Almost 500 years after the onset of the Copernican revolution, we have a relic belief in the exalted nature of the human mind.”

Read the entire piece here- https://getpocket.com/explore/item/our-attitude-toward-aliens-proves-we-still-think-we-re-special?utm_source=pocket-newtab

If you are in central Florida, and have been paying attention, you know it’s been breezy to the tune of 20 mph every day this week. Boating was out. But, if you fish in the woods, the wind is not an issue. So I fished in the woods.

Tuesday Tammy and I went to Tosahatchee, hoping to stroll through an almost-dry St. Johns River bed and catch some fish. The river is not low enough yet. We left and did some upper Econ work. We did more walking than fishing but managed to catch a few bass, using the RipTide Sardine. I got a stumpknocker, on a 3/0 hook! That river is very low.

Wednesday I parked at 419 and the Econ and walked upstream. There were pools with water, separated by riffles that are almost dry. I did not see much in the river, and only hit two dinkers. I found a retention pond that was an ugly shade of green but got two more dinkers there. Lovely morning, though.

In the afternoon I stopped at Hidden River RV Park, on the Econ at SR 50. At one time you could pay to launch a paddle vessel here. They got out of that business due to concerns about liability, very sad.

I went to Old Cheney Highway to see if I could access the river there. On both sides of the river there’s a six-foot chain-link fence with a sign, “No Trespassing per order Orange County Commission.” That piece of river is hard to get to.

Thursday I used my bicycle to try to access the river. I rode a way, then hid the bike in the woods, then bushwacked about a mile to the river bed. It was mostly dry. I found one shallow hole that had some fish, small ones. I got a few and then they stopped biting. Other than that I could not find enough water for anything more than guppies.

I did find some pitcher plants, though. And my face found several spider webs.

Friday I again used my bicycle to access the river. Again I hid the bike in the woods and worked a stretch of river. This piece had some water between the riffles. I only saw a single bass. I only had a single strike, a dinker.

Around noon I figured if I were going to hit fish it would have already happened. I went back to get my bike. I hid it so well even I couldn’t find it. It took me about 30 minutes to locate it. Silly John!

This week I rode my bike about 15 miles and walked about five more, enjoying the entire episode. But the catching part of the equation could certainly have been better.

“Soon after I embraced the sport of angling I became convinced that I should never be able to enjoy it if I had to rely on the cooperation of the fish.” – Sparse Grey Hackle

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 · Tagged: , , ,

Econlockhatchee River Fishing Report

March 28, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Econlockhatchee River Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Econlockhatchee River fishing report.

All of us have been affected by the virus. I’m in a high-risk group- if I get it, it will probably kill me. In spite of that I chafe at staying home so much. The weather is nice- I should be outside! I got out twice this week.

Monday I launched my kayak at Snow Hill Road, planning on doing an out-and-back. The river was quite low and strangely quiet, very few wading birds, no alligators (?!?!). It took me an hour to get my first bite, a spotted gar. It was followed by a dinker bass. I photographed the first several fish I caught, all on fly, which I share here.

Spotted gar, on a popper.

 

It was tiny, but it was a bass!

 

This one got away.

 

Bluegill,

 

redbelly,

 

stumpknocker makes a sunfish slam.

 

And another dink bass for good measure.

It turns out the only alligator I saw was a dead one, decomposing in the middle of the river.

When I got back to Snow Hill Road I thought I had my days mixed up. There were about 20 cars there, folks out enjoying the day.

Wednesday I used a bicycle to access the upper river. The river, still low and still quiet, yielded about fifteen bass and a single stumpknocker. I started out using Culprit worms but after losing three in a row to gar I switched to the RipTide Sardine, which worked well.

The river is small here- the water hardly moved.

 

First of many bass- it wasn’t a dink!

 

The floodplain is lovely.

 

Another healthy fish!

 

And the one gator I saw this week.

I saw one alligator, one black snake, one owl, several feral hogs, no people. It was a beautiful day!

“The best fishermen I know try not to make the same mistakes over and over again; instead they strive to make new and interesting mistakes and to remember what they learned from them.” -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, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , ,

Fished Two Days Central Florida Fishing Report

March 14, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Fished Two Days Central Florida Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Fished Two Days Central Florida Fishing Report. I wanted to fish more but circumstances conspired against me. I only got out twice.

Upcoming Events
Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Seminar, March 28. Yes, we’re back again with the show and tell seminar. Visit this link for details.
On-the-Water Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Seminar, March 29. We follow up the road version of the seminar with a trip in my Mitzi around the lagoon. Visit this link for details!

Monday I had an appointment with Dr. David Demetree, a chiropractor. Riding across the country did a number on my spine. The good doctor straightened it out.

In the evening I was a speaker at the Mid-Coast Fly Fishers meeting in New Smyrna Beach, talking about winter fly fishing in Mosquito Lagoon. A good group they are- if you are in that area you’d be advised to look them up.

Tuesday I put my back out of wack again by spending the day sitting in my kayak in Mosquito Lagoon. There were backing redfish all day, not a lot, but enough to keep me interested. The best moment came when I spotted a fish so shallow his eyes were almost out of the water. I figured it would be an easy shot. As I stalked him I failed to see the fish I ran over. That one ran smack into the side of my boat, making a loud BONK and blowing out the one I was stalking. I got neither.

But I did get two on a DOA Shrimp and two on a Seaducer, solid slot reds all, and blew at least four more shots. These days that’s a great outing. I thoroughly enjoyed myself!

Wednesday afternoon I went walking along the Econlockhatchee, spin rod in hand. The river looked great, low and clear. I did not see a bass, not did I get a bite. I stumbled upon a retention pond where I got three dinker bass, and those were my fish for the day.

“A fishing trip without laughter is not much of a fishing trip.” – Paul Quinnett

And that’s my first fishing report since returning from California. I hope to get out more next week. Thanks for reading!

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: , , , , , , , ,

St. Johns/Econlockhatchee Rivers Fishing Report

November 23, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

St. Johns/Econlockhatchee Rivers Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this St. Johns/Econlockhatchee Rivers Fishing Report. In a rare event, only fished in freshwater this week. Didn’t carry a camera, all photos are from the files.

Fishing!
Monday
On an overcast and windy day, I fished the Econ on foot. It’s a bit higher than I like but is fishing anyway, not that it was great. I got two bass in almost three hours, one on a plastic shad, one on a Culprit worm. In their defense they were both decent fish. Quite a pleasant outing.

Tuesday
Launched the Bang-O-Craft at Mullet Lake Park. Goals were to check out some new (to me) areas and hopefully find some breaking fish. First goal was accomplished easily, even got kind of confused at one point.

I trolled quite a bit with a Shad Rap and crappie jigs, and cast quite a bit too. I got one stumpknocker on the plug while trolling, the only touch I got.

It was a nice day if a bit breezy. There was only one truck in the parking lot when I got there- I figured it would be slow.

Wednesday
Had Susan drop me off with the kayak at the 419 bridge crossing over the Econ, about 9 am. Wasn’t out of earshot of the road before I had my first bass, on a Culprit worm. It was a spectacular day and I hardly paddled, just letting the current push me along. Fish didn’t come frequently, but it was pretty steady. I got a dozen or so to maybe three pounds, losing a bigger one.

I tried fly casting a little bit but didn’t touch a fish.

Wore my waders for the first time this season, and was glad I did. The air was chilly in the morning, and the water was chilly all day.

Godzilla was there.

I didn’t see another soul on the water, which was nice. In the morning I had the river to myself. In the afternoon there was a reptile at every river bend. They came in two sizes- large and gargantuan. I saw a half-dozen 1000 pound gators. Usually when an alligator realizes you’re there they slide into the water, but a couple of the biggest didn’t move from the bar as I passed. They just watched me. Were they salivating???

I don’t know what those Econ gators are eating, but they’re eating plenty of it- they are all fat and healthy.

At 1 pm I still had a long way to go. I put the fishing rod away and started paddling like I meant it, arriving at Snow Hill Road about 430.

Friday
About noon I launched the Bang-O-Craft at CS Lee Park. My idea was to run up the Econ and float back down. I never made it past the confluence.

Crappie on the fry minnow.

There were breaking fish there. Using both fly and spin rods I got at least 30 fish- three crappie, three striper hybrids (I love those!), a dozen or so bass, and a lot of bluegills and redbellies.

This is the largest hybrid I’ve seen in the St. Johns, caught on an Al’s Goldfish.

For flies the fry minnow worked well. On the spinner I got a few fish on an Al’s Goldfish, but most came on a Creme Spoiler Shad.

Bluegill on the Creme Spoiler Shad.

One weird thing was that fishing was best at mid-day and got slower and slower as the afternoon progressed. You would have expected that to be reversed.

And that is this week’s St. Johns/Econlockhatchee Rivers Fishing Report. Thanks again for reading!

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 2019. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Orlando Fishing Report, Paddle Fishing Florida, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , ,

A Short Econlockhatchee River Fishing Report

May 11, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

A Short Econlockhatchee River Fishing Report

Only got out two days this week, both walking trips on the Econ. I did not take any pictures. Thank you for reading this short Econlockhatchee River Fishing Report!

FANTASTIC OFFER
We are still running the book offer- three of my book titles are now available for five cents each, only from my website. Thanks to all of you who have already taken advantage!
-Flyrodding Florida Salt
-How and Where to Catch Redfish in the Indian River Lagoon System
-Fishing Florida’s Space Coast
Shipping is still $5.95 each. The mailers cost money, the post office wants a cut, and the mail boy has to bring the package to the post office. But you can have each of these titles delivered to your door for six bucks until June 15. Act now!

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Readers of this blog may have noticed a lot of paddle fishing around Florida by yours truly over the past couple years. I do like to paddle fish, but I was also researching a book. This email (segment) came this past week-

“We have scheduled the publication of Fishing Florida by Paddle: An Angler’s Guide for October 28, 2019.” So all you paddling fishermen should start saving your pennies so you can get this new book! 🙂

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Fishing News- https://www.theonion.com/u-s-fish-and-wildlife-service-reintroduces-straw-hat-w-1834677493

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MONday
Shore-fished a section of the Econ with spin tackle and soft plastics, worms and shad. Caught fish on both. No big ones landed. I had one about four pounds swim up the middle of the river, high in the water. Tossed the worm in front of it and to my surprise he took it. Thought I stuck him pretty good, but when the fish jumped off the point of the hook was in the worm. Saw quite a few fish, but had to work for every one. All in all it was a lovely day.

Thursday
Shore-fished a different section of the Econ with spin tackle and soft plastics, worms and shad. Only got two fish, both on a purple worm. Got the first while fishing on a high bank, watched the fish come right up beneath me and suck that worm in like it was a piece of linguini. Fish was about a pound.

For the second I was standing on a different bank and three fish came swimming down the river, over a shallow flat. I tossed the worm past and out in front of them. When it hit the water they raced each other to it. I got the winner, also about a pound.

Only got one other bite other than the gar, which I missed.

That’s this week’s Econlockhatchee River 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 2019. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports · Tagged: , ,
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