Saltwater Fishing Trip by Paddle Craft in the Lagoons near Orlando, Florida (Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River Lagoon, or Banana River Lagoon).
This is our second most popular trip. It’s available year-round, and works for physically fit fly fishers and conventional tackle anglers. Using a canoe or kayaks we mostly sight fish for Redfish, Seatrout, and Black Drum in shallow water. The reds average about five pounds, but could be over 20. The trout average about 15 inches, but could hit 30. A winter-time no motor zone trip could yield behemoth black drum.
Paddle fishing requires some effort on the part of the angler. You must be in good physical condition for these trips.
What is Included:
Flies, Tackle, Rod & Reel if needed
| Boat | 1 - 2 anglers | Daily | 1 day | $ 450 | | Boat | 1 - 2 anglers | Daily | 6 hours | $ 425 | | Boat | 1 - 2 anglers | Daily | 4 hours | $ 400 |
Part of Florida's Indian River Lagoon system, Mosquito Lagoon lies between the sand dunes of Canaveral National Seashore and the marshes, hardwood hammocks, and scrub of the Merritt ... moreIsland National Wildlife Refuge. Its protected shallow waters are the permanent home to some of the largest redfish and seatrout in Florida. Other fish species of interest to anglers here include black drum, jack crevalle, bluefish, snook, tarpon, flounder, and more. It's an awesome place to fish!
Fly fish or use light tackle for redfish, seatrout, snook, tarpon, black drum, and more on the waters of the Mosquito Lagoon. Everybody should be able to enjoy fishing here!
In addition to the various species of fishes, the Merritt Island NWR contains over 1000 species of plants, 68 amphibians and reptiles, 330 birds, and 31 mammal species. During a day's fishing you can expect to see bottle-nosed dolphins, the West Indian manatee, a wide variety of birds, and quite possibly an American alligator. Even the inevitable slow fishing days exhibit a fascinating display of wildlife.
Look no further than Capt. John Kumiski’s Spotted Tail Fly Fishing Charters for thrilling guided fishing trips in both salt- and freshwater. We’re only one hour’s drive from Orlando, ... moreFlorida! We fish on the Mosquito Lagoon, the Indian River Lagoon, the Banana River Lagoon, the near-coastal Atlantic waters, and the St. Johns River system. John’s anglers have been catching fish on central Florida waters for over 25 years.
Fly fish or use light tackle for redfish, seatrout, snook, tarpon, black drum, and more on the waters of the Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River Lagoon, and Banana River Lagoon.
Or you may prefer to fish the near coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean for tarpon, snook, cobia, king mackerel, sharks, and many other species. Or maybe a day of fishing for bass and bream is more your style.
Spotted Tail Fishing Charters supplies all fishing tackle for both fly and light tackle. We also supply the flies, lures, or bait, and all necessary licenses* and permits.
Fish from our skiff, or by kayak or canoe.
We love experienced fly anglers, but are equally happy taking beginners or children. Everyone should be able to enjoy a day on the water!
Do what thousands of other happy fishermen have done and make your next Orlando fishing trip one to remember with Spotted Tail Orlando Fishing Charters, the most enjoyable and educational fishing trips in Orlando.
Memorial Day Orlando Fishing Report This weekend try to take a few moments to consider all those people who made the ultimate sacrifice defending our way of life. Because Monday is ... moreMemorial Day, we have the Memorial Day Orlando fishing report this week.
If you have a few extra moments in there, please say a prayer for both Steve Baker and TC Howard, both of whom are battling illness and could use a spiritual hand. Steve was a mentor to me when I first got to Florida and taught me a ton about fishing here. TC is the master rod builder, retired firefighter, and Viet Nam vet. Good men, both.
Still trying to sell that EZ Loader- Details at this link- http://www.spottedtail.com/sale-rebuilt-aluminum-ez-loader-trailer/
OK, Fishing!
On Monday long-time friend Tammy Wilson joined me out on the Atlantic. Our goal was to hook into a couple of those mongo jack crevalle with flies. Last week when all those fish were out there the wind was from the west. Monday it was from the northeast. Not only was the Mitzi at or slightly beyond its design capacity for the waves, most of the fish were gone. We saw two small groups of fish, got one lame shot that did not work, and got a good, solid, old-fashioned skunking. Ouch.
The wind was out of the east the remainder of the week, making the ocean an impossibility for the Mitzi.
Thursday Scott Radloff and I went kayak fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. The east wind was not our friend, but we managed four redfish between us, me with a fly and Scott with a jerkbait. I even selfied myself with one that got fooled with a black bunny leech. The water is still brown and disgusting looking.
Scott does quite a bit of work in Sarasota. He asked me not to disclose the place we kayak fished on Friday. While the fishing was not red-hot, we did get some nice fish. I even managed to fool a snook on a redfish worm, and selfied myself again! Can’t say the water looked much better there, either.
Still selfie-ing!
Still have open days this month. Give me a call if you want to go fishing!
And that is the Memorial Day Orlando fishing report from Spotted Tail. Please enjoy the weekend safely!
Life is great and I love my work!
Life is short- Go Fishing!
John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski
All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2016. All rights are reserved.
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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, port canaveral fishing report · Tagged: adventure fishing, kayak fishing, mosquito lagoon fishing report, Mosquito Lagoon redfish, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, Port Canaveral, redfish
Jackzilla Port Canaveral Fishing Report
May 22, 2016 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment
Jackzilla Port Canaveral Fishing Report and Photo Essay
Four days fishing out of Port Canaveral this week led to some outstanding catches, particularly if you consider a 30 pound plus crevalle jack an outstanding catch. The fishing out there was fairly sizzling. So we have the Jackzilla Port Canaveral fishing report this week. Still trying to sell that EZ Loader- Details at this link- http://www.spottedtail.com/sale-rebuilt-aluminum-ez-loader-trailer/
For sale!
The Indian River Lagoon is not the only great Florida waterway suffering from gross mismanagement. See this link about Lake Okeechobee- https://jacquithurlowlippisch.com/2016/05/15/sucking-in-the-algae-bloom-lake-okeechobees-s-308-slrirl/. We desperately need a new governor and an almost entirely new legislature. Not that I have strong feelings about it! Monday was not about the Port, though. Monday morning found two gentlemen from Jacksonville in the Mitzi, Mr, Jeff Weir and his friend Marinis. We were out on Mosquito Lagoon, looking for redfish. We found decent numbers of fish, although they were uncooperative enough that they only got one each. We had a good time!
Jeff with his only redfish of the day.
Tuesday Scott Radloff and I went out of the Port. It was snotty at first and I almost turned around. Jim Ross gave me a bunch of menhaden and invited us to follow him, which was really nice of him. We did. It took a while to get a bite, but when we did it was a double of mongo jacks. Quite a way to kick off the action. Jackzilla!
Scott’s hands were full for a while with this beast.
Soon there were jacks swimming all around us. One day several years ago Scott and I hooked 14 of the beasts, but we’re older (and maybe wiser) now, besides the been there done that aspect. So after he got his second one it was time to look for some other action.
He’s happy it’s no longer on his line!
The wind layed down, and the sun came out. The weather just continued improving all day.
Jackzilla!
We found some tarpon rolling. They were scattered and I didn’t think we’d hook one, but a fatty came up and ate my pogy. It proceeded to jump all over the Atlantic trying unsuccessfully to dislodge the hook. What it did succeed in doing was to saw through the #80 fluorocarbon leader. So it got away. And the rest of the fish disappeared. While we soaked baits hoping a stray was still around the biggest, baddest, meanest jackzilla of all bit my bait and proceeded to cause me some serious pain. No kidding, that fish kicked my alpha, you know what I mean?
This fish caused me some pain. Although it does hurt so nice…
Now I was really done with the jacks. We were still seeing them all around, but neither of us wanted anything else to do with them. I saw some activity and went to check. Breaking tunny! I love tunny! We fired jigs out. Bam! I was on. Still trying to recover from the jack, now I had the tunny. Tunny are awesome but compared to a crevalle pushing 40 pounds it was pretty easy. We got a couple more before we were done.
A phalanx of blacktips.
We saw another bunch of activity and went to check. It was a school of sharks, sharpnose and blacktips, up on the surface, on a ball of anchovies, with Spanish mackerel and tunny blasting through them to get at the anchovies. Neither of us wanted anything to do with the sharks as far as a fishing rod was concerned, but I wanted photos. I got the camera out and started firing, resulting in a couple good shots.
Sharks and ‘chovies!
So the day started slowly, and ended up being my best day out of the Port this year. Lots of big fish, hungry, and awesome weather. Yeah, it was good. Thursday found me back on the Atlantic, this time with Tom Finger in the Mitzi. Tom’s biggest crevalle to date was about eight pounds- I’m not sure he believed me when I told him there were 30 pounders out there. Again, it started slow and just kept getting better. His first fish was a small shark, which did nothing to prepare him for the second fish- a 30 pound crevalle. Jackzilla! He fought it hard, and in only 25 minutes or so had it boatside. I pulled it in and photographed him with it, and off it went.
Tom with a small shark, one of many.
The sharks were almost a nuisance. The tunny never showed up. We hooked several more jacks, and then found some tarpon. Tom jumped a smallish one, and then another fatty ate my bait. This fish, well over 100 pounds, jumped only once and proceeded to kick my alpha. Twice in two days! He got down on the bottom, and despite using every trick I know I could not lift him. After 20 minutes I broke him off.
Tom met jackzilla, too.
Tom got one more shark and we called it a (great) day. Friday Mike Conneen and son Alex joined me, hoping for some big fish, especially tarpon. Alex started off the festivities with a big tunny that smoked some line off the reel before succumbing rather easily, at least compared to some of the other fish we would hook.
Alex and Mr. Tunny.
Then Mike hooked and got butt kicked by a big shark that in 30 minutes we only got a couple glimpses of. Finally the fish, tired of toying with Mike, bit through the leader and made his getaway.
Mike got a hand from Alex so he could boat his fish.
Mike then hooked a massive crevalle. Jackzilla! When he finally got the fish released he said, “I do not want another jack today.” OK!
You can’t really blame him for not wanting another one. Jackzilla!
We found some breaking tunny. Alex got one on a jig. I love tunny but it was as a minnow compared to everything else we got. We went looking for tarpon. We saw a handful but nothing that was really targetable (is that a word?) But we did find another school of jacks. Alex cast a menhaden in front of them and they raced each other to get there first. Alex hooked and caught the winner. Unless you compared it to the one Mike had caught it was a giant.
What is this again? Jackzilla!
We spent the rest of our day searching without success for tarpon. We got in just before the sky cut loose with torrential rains and winds. Saturday Dr. Jacob Garrett of Fort Worth joined me on the Atlantic, hoping to meet some sharks, some big jacks, some tarpon. He fought the first creature he hooked for 30 minutes. It broke off without us ever seeing what it was, not even a flash of color.
Dr. Garrett was thrilled to catch this shark.
Without going into the sordid details, he got a small hammerhead, a large jack, hooked and lost two tarpon and got broken off a few times, just an outstanding day. Thank you for fishing with me, sir, and I hope to see you again!
Jacob was certainly not to be outdone by my other anglers.
Still have open days this month. Give me a call if you want to go fishing!
Dr. Garrett, hooked up again.
And that is the Jackzilla Port Canaveral fishing report from Spotted Tail. Life is great and I love my work! Life is short- Go Fishing! John Kumiski www.spottedtail.com http://www.spottedtail.com/blog www.johnkumiski.com www.rentafishingbuddy.com https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2016. All rights are reserved.
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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Orlando Fishing Report, Photo Essays, port canaveral fishing report · Tagged: adventure fishing, crevalle jacks, florida fishing, Jack Crevalle, Orlando Area Fishing Report, orlando fishing, orlando fishing charter, orlando fishing report, Port Canaveral, port canaveral fishing report, tarpon fishing
Lone Ranger Orlando Fishing Report
May 13, 2016 by john kumiski · Leave a Comment
Lone Ranger Orlando Fishing Report
Somewhat self-fishly, I fished alone every day this week. Thus the Lone Ranger Orlando Fishing report.
I fish alone, yeah, with nobody else.
You know when I fish alone, I prefer to be by myself!
My apologies to George Thorogood.
Fishing alone lets me try new techniques and places I probably wouldn’t try if someone else was with me. So this week was an opportunity for personal growth. Yeah, that’s it.
My old EZ Loader trailer has been rebuilt. It is now for sale. Details at this link- http://www.spottedtail.com/sale-rebuilt-aluminum-ez-loader-trailer/
Some fascinating reading about dinosaurs here-—
I would love to tie some flies with these feathers!
Who doesn’t love reading about dinosaurs? I would like to tie some flies with dinosaur feathers. Probably won’t happen…
Monday, went out in the Mitzi on the mightly Atlantic. I wanted two things- Spanish mackerel for my aunt and a neighbor, and tarpon for me. Got the macks, at least. There was a load of them out there. Yes, the Sting Silver from Haw River Tackle is probably the best mackerel lure on the planet.
I did see one tarpon roll- talk about the Lone Ranger! My booby prize was a mongo crevalle jack that crushed a DOA Bait Buster. I got to try my new fighting belt, it worked quite nicely. It was an awesome day that I enjoyed tremendously.
This fishie crushed a deep running Bait Buster.
Tuesday morning found the kayak on the Econlockhatchee. Of course I was expecting it to be as good as the last time I was there and of course it was not. Five hours, five small bass, a missed strike or two, and again, one redbelly that managed to impale itself on the bass bug. The river looked great, running low and clear. It was an awesome day that I enjoyed tremendously.
Wednesday found the kayak on the Mosquito Lagoon. It had been wet all of five minutes when my somewhat disbelieving eyes spotted a pod of eight or ten redfish, tailing. The cast, the bite, the 16 inch trout that spooked all the other fish.
A few minutes later a pair of tails appeared, but disappeared before a cast could happen. Splash! Crash! Something chasing a shrimp. The fly (a rootbeer colored Sparkle Crab) fell there and an 18 inch trout bit. So I’ve been out ten minutes and have already released two fish. Before lunch I would release four reds, all in the slot, all sight fished.
After lunch six or seven more would get released, with a couple at the top of the slot, excellent fishing. Plus there were missed strikes and blown shots. It was going on! I got to that wonderful point where you say, “I do not want to fish anymore.” And I passed up a bunch of shots paddling back to the launch. It was an awesome day that I enjoyed tremendously.
For the fly tyers, here’s a photo of the very simple Sparkle Crab.
Thursday, doing something I don’t often do. I went to Playalinda hoping to pull a fish or two out of the surf. This involves walking the beach, as far into the water as I’m comfortable going, and casting a pair of bucktail jigs (rigged tandem) into the waves.
The surf was high enough that conditions were marginal. So was the fishing. In a little over an hour I had jumped a single bluefish.
Since I had the kayak and a fly rod, I went to a different spot in the Mosquito Lagoon than the previous day. Of course I was expecting it to be as good as the last time I was there and of course it was not. There were fewer fish and they seemed more spooky. But eight or ten decent shots came my way, and two handsome, seven pound redfish were released, still on the same Sparkle Crab. It was an awesome day that I enjoyed tremendously.
Friday I went to my favorite spot on the St. Johns River. Before launching the kayak I knew it would be tough fishing- there was no fishy activity going on. The bullfrogs were ribbeting, the birds were chirping and scolding, the coots were being goofy as always- but no fish. I never thought I would get skunked there, but that’s exactly what happened. I was out of there before noon. I had the whole place to myself, and it was still an awesome day that I enjoyed tremendously.
Hard to believe you could get skunked in a place like this, but there you go.
So fishing was a mixed bag this week, and I learned a few new things. The weather was great all week. I am so lucky to be able to do what I do.
Still have open days this month. Give me a call if you want to go fishing!
And that is the Lone Ranger Orlando fishing report from Spotted Tail.
Life is great and I love my work!
Life is short- Go Fishing!
John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski
All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2016. All rights are reserved.
Date: Wednesday, 1 Jun, 2016
Cancellation Policy
Standard
- Cancellations made 14 days before will be fully refunded.
- Cancellations made 7 days before will be refunded 50% of the amount paid.
- Cancellations made at a later date will not be refunded.
Payment directly with Paddle Fishing, Mosquito or Banana River Lagoons with Spotted Tail.
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