John Kumiski, Central Florida

Tax Day Central FLorida Fishing Report

Happy Tax Day to everyone, especially the CPAs. Thank you for reading this Tax Day Central FLorida fishing report.

Cartoon of the Week-

FISHING!

MONday Tired of not getting bites, decided to try something different. Loaded the bicycle and a spin rod into the car. Drove to a park. Unloaded the bicycle and fishing rod, wired the rod to the bike. Put hooks and purple plastic worms into my pocket and rode into the woods to a spot I’d been to only once before. Did not carry a camera.

Found the stream, surrounded by second growth cypress. The woods glowed a lovely spring green. Was not encouraged by the appearance of the stream- small, shallow, overgrown, hardly any current. Tossed a worm into a little hole. BAM! Two pound bass.

Under the trees the woods were dark, and other than the songs of birds, quiet. The air smelled sweetly. Lizard’s tail (https://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/saururus-cernuus/) was blooming. I found some old footprints but did not see anyone else. Only three pieces of trash were noted.

Lizard’s Tail, Saururus cernuus

The bass attacked that worm like they were starving. At one spot got three two-pounders on three casts without moving my feet. Don’t recall that ever happening anywhere with bass. I didn’t get any bigger than about two and a half pounds, but didn’t get any smaller than one pound. Got 25 or 30, enough to wear most of the skin off my left thumb. The fish were beautiful, healthy, fat. Almost black they were so dark. Even got a mudfish, a personal favorite. In a way the tiny creek reminded me of brook trout fishing in my youth.

Had a pair of otters swim almost right up to me. We observed each other for a couple minutes. I asked them how they were doing. They responded by swimming around and away. They looked like they were enjoying themselves too.

To illustrate just how good it was, after I loaded up the car and started driving home, it started to rain. Perfect timing, too! God smiled on me on Monday.

Would love to go back. Tiny spots like that are delicate, though. It will be quite a while before I return.

Thursday loaded up the expedition kayak (Prowler 15) and went to Spruce Creek, which is not much of an expedition. The boat handled beautifully. Fishing was slow. Got a decent trout (18”?), a smallish crevalle, and a flounder. Hooked and lost a beefier jack. That was it. Didn’t see much other than fishermen. Quite a few of those.

Friday Tom Van Horn joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon flats fishing. The wind was stiff from the south. We could not find any clean water, saw exactly two redfish. Did not get a shot, did not hit a fish blind casting the plastic shad. A juvenile blue crab pinched my line and was brought into the boat, our only animate catch. Does that chase the skunk away??

That’s this week’s Tax Day Central FLorida Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com