Sunday found fly fisherman Bill Schell (from Washington state) and I floating around in the Mitzi on the Mosquito Lagoon. The sky was unmarred by any clouds at all- pretty rare for this time of year.

Bill could cast. For fly guides that’s usually the kiss of death. As a general rule, good caster = no fish. And so it seemed at the first spot, that I had just scouted three days earlier. Absolutely nothing there.

Hit spot #2 on a whim. There were some big trout there and Bill had one hit his sexyfly, but it came unbuttoned. No more bites, off the the next place.

Remarkably enough, the next place had quite a few fish, both nice trout and reds. And Bill managed to get one of each. Not great, but so many more than none. Then the east wind came up and although we kept fishing, the fishing had ended.

Bill's first Mosquito Lagoon redfish.

Monday found fly fisherman Bill Schell and I floating around in the Mitzi on the Mosquito Lagoon. Wind was light out of the south, just perfect. Again, no clouds. Someone must be living right.

We went straight to the third spot from Sunday. He had to blind cast at first since the sun was too low to penetrate the water. It’s not like the fish cooperated by tailing or anything.

He hooked and lost a trout, then caught a redfish and another trout by casting blindly with a PolarFibre Minnow.

Bill got a couple of trout like this one.

Pass number two we tried a slider. Again, one trout, one redfish by blind casting. We were starting to be able to see but all the shots were in close and none worked.

Pass number three we could see well. Casts to redfish made with the slider were studiously ignored. Out came a crab pattern. The first fish he threw it to took it, as did the second. Then a couple refusals happened before a last fish took it.

The crab fly produced Bill's best fish- and at the end, how it should be.

Again, the east wind ended it for us, but it had been a good morning.

Wednesday I went to the Econlockhatchee for a couple of hours. A weird thing happened. I saw quite a few bass and became interested in trying to catch one. They ignored my bluegill bug, and would inspect but not eat the streamers I tried. If anyone has any good patterns for catching bass in the Econ, would you please share one with me?

Sunfishing was slow- only got a few modest redbellies.

Thursday Scott Radloff and I went to the Indian River Lagoon. Unlike me, Scott is a Gulp fan. He got a redfish on one within five minutes of my shutting the motor off. He would get another a few minutes later.

I hooked and lost three nice trout on a Chug Bug.

We saw a lot of both trout and redfish that wouldn’t look at our offerings. Literally. They would see them and either turn around or make a wide circle around them.

We saw a lot of fish but ended up catching one nice trout, two slot reds, and a couple of ladyfish.

John Riggle joined me on Friday. We again fished in the Indian River Lagoon. The weather was spectacular, with a very light breeze from the north.

John started the morning tossing a Chug Bug. A slot redfish was his first victim, followed by trout after trout. The constant bites on the surface plug were wonderful to see.

One of many trout caught by John Riggle on Friday.

I was able to set the skiff on an easy drift, parallel to the shoreline, and fish a little myself. Tossing a DOA Bait Buster I got a slot red and several trout too.

We caught at least a dozen trout. The smallest was 17 inches, the largest 23. Five or six reds were caught too. There were a lot of missed strikes.

Once the wind cranked up, about 10 AM, the bite slowed way down. The boat was on the trailer about noontime.

That is this week’s Indian River Lagoon and Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short. Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2012. All rights are reserved.

What makes a fly spin? Probably more things than I have listed here, but here’s an at least partial list-
-an offset hook;
-a fouled wing;
-a fly that’s lopsided or off center, usually a hard fly like a popper.

Flies that spin often work well in the water. A streamer tied on an offset hook tracks just fine. A popper that spins during the cast can be a fish catching machine while on the water.

Why then are they bad?

Flies that spin during the cast cause your leader and fly line to get twisted. Once your fly line is twisted it won’t shoot any more. When it gets bad enough you have to stop fishing since the line has become uncastable.

If your leader looks like this, your fly is twisting your line.

The only way you can get the twist out of a fly line in a place without a strong current is to take the fly off, get in a boat, get moving, and drag the line behind you until all the twist has come out. In my skiff I like the tow to be at least a couple of miles at planing speed.

I haven’t tried towing a twisted line behind a paddle craft. I think it would take a long time to get the twist out that way.

If the current is strong you can just let the fly-less line out into the current until the twist comes out. Expect to be there a while, perhaps a long while.

With the exception of a fouled fly, flies that spin are sneaky. They look fine. You can’t see them spinning. The only evidence you have that they are spinning is a leader that’s all twisted, or worse, a fly line that becomes twisted while you’re fishing. If you notice either of these things, change flies immediately.

Flies that are fouled should be changed immediately. Not only do they mess up your leader and line, fish generally won’t take a fouled fly. Throw it away, or give it to someone you don’t like.

Flies that spin- they’re sneaky, and can wreck your fly fishing.

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

Upcoming Event- Inaugural Space Coast International Surf Fishing Tournament, Memorial Day weekend, May 25-27. For more information click here http://internationalsurffishingtournament.com/

Sad News- Vic Dunaway passed away on Thursday. Vic was the original editor at Florida Sportsman magazine and guided that publication to a pre-eminent position among American fishing magazines. Vic bought the first article I ever wrote, a piece about fishing at Lostman’s Key in Everglades National park, for which I will ever be grateful to him.

His daughter Mari writes, “His wishes were that there be no funeral. He just wanted to be cremated and his ashes scattered in the Gulf of Mexico. If you wish to honor his memory, please send a contribution to the Coastal Conservation Association of Florida, P. O. Box 568886, Orlando, FL 32856. As I’m sure you know, the preservation of Florida’s coastal waters was important to him.”

I’m sure the next issue of Florida Sportsman will run a glowing tribute to him, which will be well deserved. Florida sportsmen will miss him, and should honor his legacy.

To all you discoers, Donna Summers also passed on Thursday. She worked hard for the money!

Fish of the Week- still the Spotted Seatrout!

My boat trailer is an aluminum frame EZ Loader. Aluminum or not, it had some galvanized parts and leaf springs, all of which were getting very rusty. Whoever said, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” obviously never had a boat trailer.

Tuesday I brought the trailer to EZ Loader in Port St. Lucie for some refurbishing action. After I dropped it off, I drove to Jensen Beach and met Mark Nichols for some fishing action down the south end of the IRL.

We went wade fishing. Fishing was good. Steady action from slot trout with the occasional crevalle and bluefish thrown in kept us entertained. The lure of choice, as might be expected, was a three inch DOA Shrimp.

It was great to see Mark and spend some time with him. The fish were a gift from God.

Wednesday I went to the Mosquito Lagoon to do some scouting. I had a fly charter on Thursday and wanted to show the guy some fish.

I started at the south end of Tiger Shoal, using the trolling motor to save some time. I went almost all the way to the north entrance with a couple of small trout to show for it. All the reds and big trout that had been up there were gone. So sad.

I looked in quite a few other places. The best I found was moderate numbers of single reds in shallow water, which I did not fish. There was a lot of barren territory.

When I get a new fly rod I do not take the plastic off the handle until that rod catches a “real” fish. I have had a new Temple Fork rod for at least a month that still had the plastic on the handle, which was beginning to irk me. I stopped at a bar on the way back to the boat ramp and got three trout there on a black and purple streamer, the first of which was 24 inches long.

The plastic is finally off the handle.

Thursday Shaun Waterman, a fly fisher from Ontario, joined me for a day’s fishing. He’d never fished in saltwater before. It wasn’t windy at all, but it was very gray. As I headed to the spot I found the fish on Wednesday I was praying they would be tailing.

Of course they weren’t. We did see the occasional tail, but it would be up, down, and no more. In addition to the clouds, the water where we were fishing was kind of dirty.
We ran over quite a few but never got any kind of real shot. We just couldn’t see. I had him try blind casting with a spoon fly for a while but that didn’t work either.

After a couple frustrating hours I decided to see if we could find anything better. We didn’t.

After a while I brought Shaun to the bar where I had caught the trout the day before. There were two people wading there. I gave them wide berth and we started fishing the bar about halfway up, blind casting the streamer to the edge of the dropoff.

We ran over a couple nice fish but no bites.

In a brief interlude with sunlight I thought I saw a fish on the inside of the bar. I wasn’t sure what it was because it was motionless, and facing right at us, but I pointed it out to Shaun. He dropped the fly about a foot in front of it and what turned out to actually be a fish zoomed up and immediately ate.

It was a redfish about 20 inches long. Not huge to be sure but Shaun’s first saltwater fish on fly. Congratulations, sir!

It was the only bite we got. We went back to near where we started. The fish had started tailing, not hard, but enough to keep us busy. Shaun had one great cast I thought sure would work but the fish never responded to it. Then the east wind came up and we never saw another fish.

It rained hard Thursday night and my roof started leaking. No more fishing until that problem is fixed.

That is this week’s Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short. Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2012. All rights are reserved.

Upcoming Event- Inaugural Space Coast International Surf Fishing Tournament, Memorial Day weekend, May 25-27. For more information click here.

Fish of the Week- The Spotted Seatrout!

Tuesday Chris McClemmon joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. I hadn’t been out there in over a week. The numbers of redfish seem to have thinned some, at least where I had been fishing them. But the trout were on fire. Using a DOA CAL jerkbait Chris got 15 or so to 20 inches, with no shorts. Gotta like that!

Jim Lewis, a fly caster from  Colorado, joined me Wednesday. We saw reasonable numbers of redfish. They were very spooky- it was hard to get close enough for a cast. We fished the same places as Chris and I had on Tuesday, but Jim only had one bite, a small trout. At the end of the day we fished along a bar and saw good numbers of trout and some reds, but did not get a bite, in spite of trying four different flies.

We got a late, 10 AM start on Thursday. Rodney Smith, son Alex, and I went to the same bar where I had seen the trout the previous day. We fished it by wading with fly rods. I did not get a bite. Rodney got a trout, Alex missed one. We wrapped it up at noon.

That is this week’s Mosquito Lagoon  Fishing Report. Don’t forget Mother’s Day!!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short. Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2012. All rights are reserved.

I went to one the other day. I took the kayak. I hadn’t been there since last spring and so wasn’t sure what I would find. What I found was six fine redfish tailing.

The first fish was clearly a nice one. Fly fishing from a kayak demands precise boat positioning in order to garner success, so I first got upwind and up-sun of the fish. Once in position I made my cast. The first missed, but he charged the second and nailed it. Bingo! The fish weighed about 15 pounds, the nicest one I’d gotten in months. I’d been out only 15 minutes and the day was already an outstanding success.

The next four shots were not as fruitful. The fish either spooked off the fly or ignored me completely. Finally another fish took the fly. He ran through some weeds, which collected on my line. I don’t know if that had anything to do with the loud CRACK that scared the daylights out of me, but next thing all I had in my hand was the butt of the rod. The rest had broken off and slid down the line.

Although I got the fish, my fishing for the day was done. Just as well. It’s one of my secret spots. I treasure it, and I certainly don’t want to abuse it.

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com 

Bonnie entered our lives 18 years ago. Susan somehow got her from a litter of a feral cat. A beautiful calico color, she had a bad temper and was prone to bite and scratch us, as well as any visitors who dared to touch her. I don’t know about Susan, but Maxx, Alex, and I all have Bonnie scars.

I’m not a cat person. While I can tolerate them, I was not a big fan of Bonnie. Susan loved her, though, and that bond grew very strong while Susan was weak and sick from chemotherapy treatments. Bonnie would sit on her lap and purr as Susan stroked her. I have no doubt she helped with Susan’s recovery, perhaps more than I did.

For me though, Bonnie was mostly a pain in the neck. She shed hair all over my clothes. She spit up. She brought fleas into the house. One time, for reasons known only to her, she peed in my sneakers. After four separate washings, I threw them out. No amount of washing was going to get that smell out. Because Susan loved her, and I love Susan, I put up with Bonnie. What choice did I have?

Bonnie wasn’t all bad. She certainly cleaned up any extra fish we had. Her coat felt wonderful, thick and silky. There’s something soothing about stroking a purring cat. And we have never had a problem with rodents here.

The past few years, as she got old, she mellowed some. But she also became demanding at meal times, meowing a wailing cry that would make someone think we were trying to starve her. Any impartial observer could easily see that was not the case.
She also got in the habit of lying as much in the way as she could possibly be- for example, right behind me as I was trying to prepare supper. Yes, I stepped on her, more than once. And while on the one hand you feel bad, on the other it’s, “Stupid cat, what did you expect?”

Bonnie also started going deaf, a dangerous situation for her when I’m always backing boat trailers. I dreaded to think what Susan’s response would be if I flattened her cat.

As it turned out, Susan flattened her cat. It was much worse than if I had done it.

Susan was clearing the driveway of oak leaves, using an electric blower. She used it on Bonnie, who was, as was her habit, right in the way. Bonnie didn’t like the noise or the stream of air, and scampered away. Unknown to Susan, she scampered right back.

In the meantime Susan needed to move her car in order to get the leaves that were under and on the other side of it. She put down the blower, got in the car, and moved it.

Tragically, Bonnie had lain down right in front of her passenger-side tire. Susan never saw her. Bonnie never moved.

Susan came running into the house, hysterical with grief and remorse. I had no idea what was going on. I ran out with her only to see Bonnie, broken and bleeding, kicking her leg futilely a few times. Then she was still. Gone.

Susan’s anguish was almost beyond belief. I tried to console her, without success. Our neighbor Tom had heard the commotion and came over to see if he could help. No one could have.

I was grim and Susan was still crying while I dug the grave in our yard. Susan begged me to dig it deep so Bonnie wouldn’t be disturbed. It was hot, hard work and I had to rest several times. But the hole got deeper and deeper and finally Susan said, “That’s enough”.

To my surprise I sobbed as I covered Bonnie. It was the saddest I’ve been since my father died, a long time ago.

I knew that Bonnie was annoying, a pain in the neck. I knew that Susan loved her unconditionally. But I didn’t know, until that moment, that I loved her too.

Goodbye, Bonnie. We miss you.

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

Monday- Maxx, Alex, and I drove to Pineland early, arriving at Tarpon Lodge a little after eight. After checking in we got the boat launched and headed out to the Gulf through Captiva Pass.

Pine Island Sound was UGLY. Grey skies and east winds at 20 to 25 with strong gusts had the water all churned up.

We pulled into protected water along the beach and rigged tackle. Just as I finished the first fly rod, a hundred pounder rolled about 30 feet away. It was the first of many we saw.

We anchored off the beach in a few different spots and finally found one the fish were passing pretty regularly. We threw to tarpon all afternoon with a variety of flies, and a big Fin-S on a spin rod. We had one look on the Fin-S and no interest whatsoever on the fly- no eaters.

The fish were almost all down on the bottom, perhaps because of the wind?

There were lots of clouds that made them hard to see. When the sun was out it was easy but when the clouds were overhead the wind and chop camouflaged the fish like a smoke screen.

About five o’clock the clouds got solid and we couldn’t see at all any more so we headed back. Going back across the sound was nasty.

Tuesday- came through Captiva Pass. There was a big school of tarpon right there. We were not very ready and hardly got a cast off.

There were lots more fish for an hour or so, and we had many shots. We did not get a bite, nor did anyone else.

We went up the beach, anchoring first off Piney Point. We saw maybe a half dozen fish, no shots, in a couple hours.

Went farther north, off Murdock Point, or what’s left of it. Reasonable numbers of tarpon came by and we had shots, but no looks, much less takes. We saw another boat jump one.

A big raincloud appeared in the distance. We watched it get closer and closer. I wasn’t anticipating the increase in wind speed when it got to us. Rain poured, wind howled, waves crashed over the bow and into the skiff.

Here it comes!

I thought after the storm passed the sun would come out again. I was wrong. The wind did not diminish either. Since it was obvious we would not see any more fish, and since it was after five o’clock, we went back to Tarpon Lodge.

Wednesday- Came through Captiva Pass anticipating a repeat of the previous morning’s fishing. Ha! I should know better. We hung around the pass for an hour or so and saw maybe a half dozen rollers, no shots. The water got very dirty overnight.

Idled all the way up the beach to Murdock, where we anchored. Couldn’t see the bottom anymore, water was dirty. Sat there about three hours, saw maybe three fish. Finally decided to go looking.

Went and checked Johnson Shoal- nothing. Crossed Boca Grande and looked along Gasparilla Island, all the way to Gasparilla Pass- nothing. Came back to Boca Grande on the inside.

There were a lot of fish rolling in Boca Grande and relatively few boats (for there) We saw several boats with fish on and one fish get eaten by a shark.

Another crowded day fishing at Boca Grande.

Went back to the now very rough water off Murdock and sat, looking, for a couple hours. Did not see a fish. Many waves joined us in the boat. At 4:15 we decided to go to Café Brazil. We returned to Tarpon Lodge, then headed to Fort Myers.

At Café Brazil we all had the muqueca. Gostoso muito! The boys each had a caipirinha. I had to drive, wasn’t going there! I tasted Maxx’s. It was delicious. So was the muqueca. I love going to Café Brazil. My only regret was I had no room for pudim. Tudo bem, rapaiz!

Thursday- I hope we hook a couple of fish today. Fishing so far has been disappointing.

When the weather has been nice, and it has been, it has been gorgeous off the beach. The state park is lovely in one direction, and the Gulf is imposing in the other. Puffy white clouds scud across the sky. There are little birds that fly just above the waves. They look like goldfinches. I can’t imagine why they are out dodging waves but we’ve watched them every day.

Of course we see the usual suspects when it comes to birds- brown pelicans, ospreys, terns, gulls, frigatebirds. On the beach are ibis and sanderlings. They are all fun to watch.

The birds take as much interest in us as we in them.

What we have not seen are many signs of fish. The threadfin herring are missing, as are the cow-nosed rays. We have seen only a few Spanish mackerel and no crevalle. We haven’t seen any whitebait. Sharks are conspicuous in their absence.

Where are all the fish?? Maybe we will find some hungry tarpon today.

We head out at about 7 am, turn the corner at Captiva Pass and head north. Tarpon are rolling everywhere. We watch and figure the path most fish were taking and get on it. I have a bite on a black and purple streamer. The fish just gets to the backing when the line goes slack. Never even saw it, no jumps, nothing. The hook had broken. AAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!

Here is the heartbreaker. Never saw one break where this one did.

Four days to get a bite and something stupid like that happens. Aggravating.

We spent the rest of the day trying to get another bite. Fish moved reasonably well until the tide turns. We only see one after that in about three hours. Do not get that other bite.

In my next life I'm gonna have a nice sailboat.

Friday- Check out day. We have to be checked out by 11 AM. That gives us enough time to run out to Captiva Pass and see if anything is shakin.

It is by far the calmest day since we’ve been here, and despite the overcast I am guardedly optimistic as Maxx pilots the Mitzi toward the pass. We turn the corner, head north, and throttle down. The Gulf stretches out to infinity, grey, unbroken. There are no fish.

We idle up to Piney Point and back. We see four tarpon roll in two hours, do not come close to a shot. Time is up. Alex pilots us back to Tarpon Lodge. We pack our belongings into the chariot, load the boat onto the trailer, and hit the road.

Fishing was not good. I got to spend most or part of five straight days in a boat with my now-adult sons. Wonderful. Who knows when that might happen again? If I had to do it again (which of course I cannot) I would do it in a heartbeat. It was a fantastic trip.

The Brothers Kumiski

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com 

Let Them Paddle: Coming of Age on the Water, by Alan S. Kesselheim, paperback, 336 pages, Fulcrum Publishing, $19.95, is part coming-of-age story, part adventure story, part ecology primer, part family history, richly seasoned with personal philosophy. A husband and wife conceive their first child while on a cross-continental wilderness canoe trip across Canada. Their two subsequent children likewise accompany them in utero on lengthy river trips.

When each child comes into their early teens, the family takes a paddling trip to that child’s river of record. The story starts on the Kazan, a 550 mile long river interspersed with large lakes, that flows into Hudson Bay. The youngest member of the expedition is only nine years old. They deal with rapids, headwinds, weather, insects, polar bears, their own doubts and fears, and more. It makes a riveting adventure story.
“We are in deep, hundreds of miles from anywhere civilized, having scratched our way across trackless space. We are utterly alone, and feel that way. Isolation is too small a word for this. An unequivocal embrace of humility is the only possible response.”

River number two is the Yellowstone. It’s not the same as when Lewis and Clark came through. In spite of that I find myself considering paddling it myself.
They go swimming. “The river mauls us, pulls us under, slaps water in our faces. On top of the waves, we catch glimpses of each other, grin like fools. Then we slide into the trough and disappear. The bulges of boulders go under us, sometimes bumping our butts. The current momentarily keeps us in the backwash of holes, twisting and pulling. Through with the thrill ride, we stroke hard to regain the boats.”

River number three is the Rio Bravo, along the Texas-Mexican border, apparently as remote an area as you’ll find in the lower 48. Again, I found myself thinking, “I want to do this myself.”
“The only real rapid in Mariscal Canyon is called the Tight Squeeze… It’s best when the river does the work for you. Lined up on the outside edge of the passage, Sawyer and I hardly have to maneuver. We draw away from the rock with current piling into it and blast through clean, then pivot into an eddy behind a rock the size of a one car garage.”

On one hand I thought the Kesselheims were crazy for bringing their kids on a wilderness expedition like the one in Canada. OhmyGod, what if something happened? On the other hand you can’t help but have the utmost respect for them. How lucky were those kids to have parents who would take them on such adventures? They’re an American family that’s not dysfunctional!

To be nitpicky, I wasn’t crazy about the cover (although the muscle development, especially in the females, was impressive). But the writing occaisionally dabbles with lyricism, and the storyline is first rate.

I want to meet the Kesselheims. I want to paddle with them. Heck, I want them to adopt me.

If you like to paddle, if you love wild places, if you enjoy true life adventure stories, you have to read this outstanding book. It has my highest recommendation.

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com 

Monday- John Napolitano and son Alex joined me for a day on the Mosquito Lagoon, launching at River Breeze. What a day it was! Cold (high in the low 70s), windy (20-25 from the NW with gusts), it was a good day to fly a kite, not so good for fishing. I was cold all day, wearing my raincoat with the hood up trying to stay warm.

To my surprise we saw a reasonable number of fish, even a few tailing reds. You needed a good cast- you were only going to get one chance before we blew by. Of course with that wind a good cast was real hard to make. We got a few trout to 20 inches, on DOA Shrimp.

Tuesday- Met fly fisherman Dan Johnson at River Breeze. Unseasonably the air temperature was 49 degrees when I launched the boat. It was still windy, but not as much as the previous day. As we idled down the ICW I predicted we wouldn’t see much until the water temperature started rising, as it had dropped into the high 60s, almost ten degrees, in two days.

Dan got his first fish just before lunchtime, a fat flounder he found by blind casting. We had seen perhaps a half dozen fish to that point.

The flattie chased off the skunk.

After lunch we had shots at both trout and redfish pretty steadily. The fish were not very aggressive. Dan got a personal best trout at 24 inches, and missed one other strike. But most fish fled in terror when he showed them the fly.

Dan's best seatrout to date...

Thursday- I picked up Ed and Ian Normand and their friend Justin at Turtle Mound at 7 AM. It was chilly but a beautiful day with a forecast high of 87. There were no clouds and not much wind. I thought we would kick fish butt. We did not.

We looked on every flat and hole around Oak Hill, seeing one fish here, three fish there, no fish there. It was a major search mission. We only had five or six bites all day, and caught one redfish and a couple of trout. Although we had a good time, I wanted these folks to do well and the result was disappointing.

Friday- Dr. George Yarko and I launched the Mitzi at Haulover at 7 AM. At the first spot we found two schools of tailing reds. Where were they yesterday? Using a gold spoon and a jerk bait we hooked three, putting two in the boat. Both were handsome fish of over 30 inches.

We poled quite a way before we saw any more fish, and they didn’t bite. We went back to the first spot and while they had moved we found them again, getting three or four more. Four boats (!) poled in on us, so we left. I hate fishing in crowds!

The Doctor is IN the fish- again.

At the last spot we had shots at several reds and big trout, and got one more red, along with 10 or 12 trout on a DOA Shrimp. The weather could not have been any nicer, just a perfect day.

Saturday- Dr. Mike Sweeney and Colonel Mike Sweeney, father and son, joined me for a day’s fishing on the Mosquito Lagoon. Again, I hoped for a respectable day. The Doctor is one of my neighbors and the Colonel just got home from his eighth overseas deployment, commanding a brigade of Marines in Afganistan. Didn’t he need a good, relaxing day?

The fish were not suicidal but there were good numbers around. We couldn’t fool the reds with metal or plastic so we resorted to meat in the form of mullet chunks. That didn’t work great, but it worked well enough to put five or six into the boat.

The Colonel gets a break from combat by getting some redfish.

We then went trouting with DOAs. That was slow. We only succeeded in getting a few shorts. Fortunately, the puffers, who have been out in force, weren’t biting either.
After a lovely day and reasonably successful session we knocked off at about 2 PM.

That is this week’s Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short. Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2012. All rights are reserved.

For local trips I usually carry mine in my van or boat, fully rigged. The rods are definitely at risk when carried rigged inside a vehicle, though, particularly since I don’t have a rack in the van. I just lie them in the back, over the back seat.

For airline travel a four piece fly rod stuffs into my suitcase. It’s hard (but not impossible!) to damage a rod inside a metal case.

If you want to carry a rigged rod ON your vehicle, one solution can be found at http://rodmounts.com/  I haven’t used their products so cannot recommend them, but they look like a good, safe solution to the problem of safely transporting fishing rods.

Let me know your favorite method. The best ones will receive a free copy of Flyrodding Florida Salt.

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com