Nasty Weather Orlando Fishing Report
We had several days of nasty weather this week, thus the nasty weather Orlando fishing report.
People tell me, "I miss the change of seasons." Geez, folks! Open your eyes!
The beauty berries are ripe now, gorgeous purple clusters of berries surrounding the stalk. Beauty berries are edible, but certainly not delicious. Goldenrods are blooming all over the place. I haven't seen any purple asters yet but they ought to be around. Orion is high in the sky before first light. He'll be in the eastern sky right after dark in a few months. And the autumnal equinox is this coming week- the quality of the light will be noticeably different from that of say, July. Finally, there are some serious mullet running along the beach, always a harbinger of autumn.
Monday found me in the canoe on my favorite bass pond. Fishing was real slow. In five hours three small bass, one bluegill, and one spotted gar came to hand. For a change of pace, most fish took a bassquid streamer. That's two slow trips in a row there. I guess I'll give it a few weeks before returning.
Tuesday found Alexandre Pinto, a fly fisher from Sao Paulo, in the Spotted Tail. He wanted to add redfish to his life list. Based on the forecast I thought it would be a tough day. On the Indian River Lagoon, we had clouds and wind, and high, dirty water, not a good combination for finding redfish you can see and cast to. First spot- nothing. Second spot- nothing. Next spot- a few spooky fish and zero shots. Next spot, a few spooky fish and zero shots. Now desperate, I just picked a piece of shoreline at random and started poling along, watching the clouds get ever higher, wondering when the lightning would start...
There were a few fish there. Alex had a few shots and got an eat. Oh, no, he missed it! He had a few more shots and got another eat. He stuck this one, and good thing, too- the storm was about a mile off and coming our way. The fly was the redfish worm, the fish was about two feet long, and after releasing it we raced the storm back to the ramp, barely staying ahead of it. Once the boat was on the trailer all hell broke loose. Made it!
Wednesday saw atrocious weather. Several honey-dos got done.
Thursday saw more atrocious weather. Since unlike most of you I am aging, and because my wife asked me to, I read Social Security for Dummies. Not exactly compelling reading, but it did tell me several things I certainly need to know. If you've hit the magic six-oh, you should probably get a copy and spend an afternoon perusing it.
So after that chore, some fishing needed to get done. I grabbed a four-weight and a couple flies and went to a retention pond not too far from Mud Hole tackle. In forty minutes I got exactly one chunky little bass on a popping bug, a very satisfying fish from a spot I had never fished before.
Friday the weather was supposed to be bad again. I couldn't stand being home again so tossed the kayak on the roof of the van and drove to KARS park. The park is closed for repairs. :-(
I went to Banana River Drive, launched the kayak, and started looking for fish. To my pleasant surprise the water, although high, was fairly clear in most places. The grass looked great, both the manatee and widgeon grass. And I found a spot that had a few fish. To my surprise, a redfish took my Gurgler, the first red I've gotten on a surface fly in years. To show it wasn't a fluke I would get another later. In between a little snooklet and a baby tarpon took a popper as well. To finish the day a school of reds came by and one took a bucktail streamer. So I got a hat trick on the reds with a snook and a tarpon thrown in. How do you spell S-L-A-M?
Not only that, but I got to watch an alligator eat a horseshoe crab. It seems like an odd thing for a gator to eat, but they can eat whatever they want I guess.
On a rare Saturday fishing trip, Tammy met me at the Port just before seven am. We went into the bight, hoping to fly fish for breaking fish. There were a load there, all ladyfish, nice big ones. We got six or eight each on streamers, then went looking for other types of fish. That was not happening. We found acres of menhaden and absolutely nothing was feeding on them that we could see, other than pelicans.
And that is this week's Nasty Weather Orlando Fishing Report.
Life is great and I love my work!
Life is short- Go Fishing!
John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
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