East Florida, John Kumiski

Shad Run Swan Song Orlando Fishing Report
We fished the St. Johns River three days and the Mosquito Lagoon one day. Shad fishing had been really good, the best in several years. It fell off a cliff this week. Thus the shad run swan song Orlando fishing report.

The Indian River Lagoon Chronicles is now available as a paperback book, either from me or from amazon. It’s getting rave reviews! Please, check it out…

The Alaska fly-tying frenzy has started! I’m tying this…

An articulated king salmon streamer…

…while fantasizing about this!

…for a manatee-sized king salmon.

Should be an awesome summer!

For Sale–
Hotel del Rio, Ambergris Caye, Belize. At this eight cabana waterfront property you can put your feet in the sand- right out your front door. http://hoteldelriobelize.com. Call 407.977.5207 for more information.

Upcoming Events–
-Paddle Fishing Seminar, Kayaks by Bo in Titusville, March 17, 5 PM. Please call to reserve your space. 321.474.9365.

-Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Seminar, March 18, 8:30 AM. Please visit this link for more information…

-Florida Fly Fishing Association meeting, Kay’s Barbeque, Cocoa, March 27, 7 PM. We’ll post more details as we get them.

Monday
Chris Olson joined me for a day of St. Johns River shad fishing. We launched at Mullet Lake Park. We got 15 or so in four hours on ultralight spin, but had to work hard for every one. Seemed like the run was winding down.

Thank you, Chris!

Tuesday
Ian Davidson joined me for a day of St. Johns River shad fly fishing. We launched at Mullet Lake Park. After a hitless hour I pulled the boat and went to CS Lee, where we had three more hitless hours around the mouth of the Econ. Ouch.

Thank you, Ian!

I pulled the boat out and said goodbye to Ian. Then I started getting the boat road-ready. When I went to trim up the motor, I almost stuck my hand right in this guy’s mouth.

orlando fishing report
He was sitting on the trim motor. What???

By the cloudy look of his eyes, he’s getting ready to molt.

orlando fishing report

I wrapped a towel around him, carried him back to the river, and released him unharmed. Snakes are so awesome!

orlando fishing reportLive long and prosper!

Wednesday
I had the pleasure of hosting Rick Callahan and his brother-in-law Bruce on Spotted Tail, which we launched at River Breeze. We had several bites at the first spot, all on plastic shad. A few rat reds were caught, but Bruce got one that could have held batter.

orlando fishing report
Bruce and his redfish.

He released it. He also got some shorty trout, and one decent one that would also have held batter. He released that one too.

orlando fishing report
Bruce and his seatrout.

I told some dumb jokes and we traded stories, laughing a lot. The weather was awesome, and we all called it good.

Thank you Rick and Bruce!

Thursday
The chariot went to the repair shop- tied me up all day.

Friday
My thought was that if the shad were past Mullet Lake and the Econ, maybe they were near SR 50. I drove over with the Bang-O-Craft to test the idea. Two hours produced two shad. If they weighed 100 pounds apiece (and wouldn’t THAT be awesome!), that would be acceptable. Coming in at a couple pounds each, I want more action that that.

I think they’re done for the season.

And that is the shad run swan song Orlando fishing report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com