Orlando Area Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 5/30/10
Upcoming Events:
Coastal Angler magazine Boating and Fishing Expo
June 12, 9 AM – 6PM
Boaters Exchange, 2145 US 1, Rockledge FL
Speakers include Keith Kalbfleisch, Chris Myers, Rodney Smith, Ron Presley, Tommy Smith, Jerry Butz, Rich Lasby, and me. We hope to see you there!
Last week I stated that responsibility for the Gulf oil spill rested on all of us. Todd Fleming said, "As much as I hate to admit, we are all to blame for the Gulf oil disaster - for all the reasons you note. We've got to get it stopped and cleaned up fast." My cousin Chuck, who lives in metro New Orleans, had a lot more to say:
"We are all sick of the oil spill and it is unfortunate that we will all pay the price for this accident. Yes, it is evitable, because accidents are bound to happen.
"But Corporate greed is to blame for this. What they have failed to do is have a viable plan in place to deal with this situation. I believe that they were (and still are) more interested in finding a way to save the oil leaking from the well rather than stopping the flow. Why else would it take over a month to come up with the first attempt to actually stop the flow.
"I believe that they (BP) made the decision from day one that this would be a clean up effort rather than stopping the flow. They don't care about the seafood industry, sport fishermen, wildlife, or the ecology. They care about the oil.
"It is not because we all want fast cars, cheap gas, or any other crap other than greed. Remember we don't control anything. They determine the price, how much comes out of the ground and when they will give it to us. I know it's a lot more complicated that than, but that's it in a nutshell.
"Neither you or I are the blame for wanting the things you mentioned. They have and had the power to do the right thing from the start. Our demands or wants have nothing to do with how they go about their business. BP failed to have a plan. While local fishermen were standing by ready to help in anyway possible they (BP) didn't have a clue how to handle it. Or did they!
"I believe they didn't want to stop the flow they wanted to corral it so they could save the precious oil. God forbid they stopped the flow and had to drill another well to access it again.
"BP failed us and our Government seems to be just as inept at stopping this mess. They will form committees and do studies out the ying yang, but what good does it do. It seems that they are more interested in telling us that we should keep our house warmer, drive more efficient cars, insulate our house, then ensuring that a disaster like this can be minimized.
"We can all go green and use one one thousandth of the oil we presently use, but it will come out of the ground the same way and the people responsible for preventing it from happening to this degree again are the oil companies."
So Chuck didn't exactly agree with me but that's OK, because this is America. If there's one thing we all ought to agree on it's that it's OK for us to disagree.
I'd like to thank Chuck and Todd for responding.
Hey, I actually got out fishing three days this week.
Early in the week a "gentleman" by the name of Robert called me and said he wanted to go kayak fishing on Friday. Like a fool I did not get a deposit.
Scott Radloff and I went scouting by kayak on Thursday on the Mosquito Lagoon. We found fair numbers of fish, mostly reds but a smattering of trout too. I had three solid shots and got two slot reds on a crab fly. I ran over several fish (the water was shallow but quite dirty) and passed up several good chances, saving them for Robert. Scott found some fish but had rather less luck than I did, but that's fishing sometimes. We were out about three hours.
Anyway, I called Robert twice and emailed him once Thursday evening but he never responded. So irritated a little at him and a lot at me I found something else to do on Friday, something involving home improvement.
Saturday Karl Dienst and Mark Suda joined me for a day on the Indian River Lagoon. I was expecting an armada out there on Memorial Day weekend and was pleasantly surprised by the light boat traffic. We found quite a few fish, both trout and reds. We did not get a red but did get a half dozen trout. Karl and Mark each got a trophy sized fish on green jerkbaits. Karl got his while wading so it didn't get sized but Mark's was 27 inches on the ruler, a very handsome fish.
We also had a school of crevalle start busting right next to us. We got six altogether, and even had a triple. We ended our day that way as the rain was closing in, making the decision to bail out easy.
This morning Mark and I went straight back to the spot where the trout had been. For the most part they were not there, although we did find one ten foot square spot where there were a dozen of so lying together. Of course we discovered this by running them over so did not get a fish.
A short time later we moved about 70 reds. I pulled the boat into shallow water and we got out to hunt them down on foot. They were not very cooperative, but Mark managed to convince one to take a redfish worm fly. It was a fine fish at the top of the slot or perhaps beyond, Mark's first red on fly. Darn nice work, sir!
With the exception of a few short trout that was all we got, but the first of anything on fly makes for a good day. Again the rain chased us off the water about noontime.
I have a new saying: Embrace simplicity.
Life is still great!
If you're not going fishing use some other excuse to get outdoors!
John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com