Fishing has hit the summer doldrums for me lately, so I asked myself what should I do. I've tried a number of places and flies, but many of the fish seem to be lying still on the flats.

I came up with the brilliant idea of "back to basics". Sunday was black clouser day, and it worked. In addition to half a dozen trout I lost one redfish and caught this one.

As I looked through the flies for this week's test, I thought to myself, "what is the redfish's favorite food?"  Even though the creeks are absolutely full during the summer, shrimp are not the food of choice. Look at the redfish's inferior mouth (opens downward). It is designed to eat from the bottom. Crabs are the preferred food.

With this in mind what crab did I think would work best? I selected the Casablanca Raghead #4 in olive. This crab is small and easy to throw. It has a felt body over epoxy and is tied weedless with small dumbell eyes and sili legs. The tail is hackle and very fine rabbit fur.

Now, time to try it out. I poled onto a mudflat and saw several fish backing out with the falling tide. The fly fell about a foot in front of the lead fish and he ate it immediately. He really ate it! I had to dig the fly out of his throat. Later in the morning I caught another and lost two more (no explanation for that).

I would highly recommend this fly based on my experience this morning, and I look forward to throwing it to a sheepshead.

I am involved in a project to photograph and catalog items for the upcoming Salty Feather online store. After photographing literally hundreds of saltwater flies, a number of them really caught my attention. Some look perfect for now, and some I plan to use later in the year. I will be writing a review of my favorite flies taken from the inventory here at the store. After subjecting them to an on-the-water test you will see a photograph of the results. 

Most of my fishing is done from a 16 foot American Eagle square stern canoe. This is an extrememly stable boat which allows me to stand on the seat or pole from a platform laid across the gunnels much like a skiff. For power I use either an outboard, a trolling motor, a paddle, or a pushpole depending upon the water I'm fishing.

I have been seeing redfish feeding on thousands of small shrimp in the creeks, so this week I selected a Spawning Shrimp pattern. This fly is a very realistic imitation in both size and color.

It is tied weedless with an EP Dub Brush body, EP fiber on top of the body, monofilament eyes, and weighted with a medium silver dumbell. The antennae are sili legs and flashabou accent. All of this is tied with orange thread which is a great accent. In the extremely shallow creeks (we're talking canoe and kayak water here) I would throw the beadchain weighted version rather than the dumbell weighted one.

If you want to tie your own, John has all the materials at the Salty feather.

How did it work? I caught two nice reds out of school in very shallow water this weekend.

This week’s fishing report from Capt. John Kumiski 10/5/08

At the end of my last report, two weeks ago, I asked this question-

If you could take any fishing trip for any species anywhere in Florida, with money not being an object, where would you go and what would you fish for? Why? I’ll share the best answers with all my readers, and send out a Spotted Tail prize pack or two. Let me know! Thanks! My email address is john@spottedtail.com.

I only got two responses. Thank you, gentlemen! Paul McGinnis said he wanted to fish in the restricted areas at the Kennedy Space Center, with the goal being 100 pounds of seatrout in ten fish. Chris Ivich said he would kayak fish in the Mosquito Lagoon. He did it once before (with me) and loved it!

I need more responses! How about if I add to the question another question- what’s the best trip you’ve ever taken in Florida. Why? The prize pack offer is still good. I look forward to seeing your responses! Thanks!

Fishing has been awesome lately. The weather has been outstanding, and the crowds minimal. Catching has been pretty darned slow, though. The water in the lagoons and the St. Johns River is still very high, and it’s still dirty in a lot of places. In the Mosquito Lagoon you can find clean water, especially out off the shoreline.

On Monday last week Aaron and Paul Singleton, a father-son team, joined me for a day on the Mosquito Lagoon. We searched from south of Pelican Island to north of Georges Bank. We searched enough that I ran out of gas, an embarrassing moment not to be repeated. We did not catch a redfish, although we did find some five pound crevalle breaking on top (on the north side of Tiger Shoal) and got several on Bait Busters and popping bugs. We had a good time, but fishing was tough.

Friday Shawn Healy and I went out of Ponce Inlet in his Sea Pro. The mullet run is supposed to be on. We couldn’t find any, spending most of the morning looking and catching exactly one. The water inshore was nasty dirty.

            We found a shrimp boat working along the beaches in the dirty water. We fished behind it, along with several other boats, for about 30 minutes. We didn’t get a bite, nor did we see anyone else do so. We decided to head out, looking for cleaner water and perhaps some weeds.

            We went out 10 miles. The water did get cleaner, and we found two strong lines of sargassum that went on for miles. We idled along the weeds for a couple hours. In that time we saw one small barracuda- nothing else. There was quite a bit of bait under the weed clumps, but they were barren of fish. Finally giving up, we were heading back in when we spotted a floating pallet. Ordinarily something like that is a tripletail condo, but one small fish was all that was under it and he wouldn’t bite. It was as bad a skunking as I’ve gotten in quite a while.

Tuesday Scott Radloff and I went out on Mosquito Lagoon. We got a late start. We found breaking jacks right away and got a few, along with several short trout. They were on the outside of Tiger Shoal. There were all kinds of finger mullet and glass minnows there. Then we went looking for redfish.

            We found some reds, not good numbers of them though. I thought we should have gotten one or two but they didn’t bite. We did get a few legal trout to 21 inches, on DOA jerkbaits rigged on Woodie’s Rattle Hooks. So we did get some fish.

Wednesday I put the kayak on the roof and went to River Breeze. I was bummin’ when I got there. Of course the water was high, up to the top of the dock. But it was nasty dirty, too. I left, and went down into the wildlife refuge to cruise the dike roads. They were all barricaded off. I did castnet a few mullet and ladyfish for future reference at a flowing culvert, but that was the extent of my fishing.

Thursday fly fisherman Richard Mertz joined me on the Mosquito Lagoon. Wanting immediate gratification I headed to Tiger Shoal to look for the breaking jacks. Of course they weren’t there. There were small ladyfish, and we got several before searching for redfish.

            It wasn’t hot fishing but working hard and finding fish every now and then Richard got his first and second redfish. The first took an olive colored Clouser Minnow, the second a Dupre Spoonfly. Both were slot fish, both released.

This weekend the Hunt for Reds tournament was scheduled. I had a Saturday charter booked. Picturing hordes of crazed tournament anglers in my favorite fishing spots I went to Kelly Park on Friday. I figured to scout the Banana River Lagoon and hoped to find a less crowded place to fish. The plan was good, but the fish weren’t there.

I motored down to Pineda Causeway, stopping at the Thousand Islands. There I used the trolling motor to work along the edges of the islands. The water is high and dirty there, and I saw exactly one fish, a redfish. A stiff east wind kept me from spending much time on the west side flats, but I didn’t expect much there. Besides, the weather forecast for Saturday was a 15-20 mph east wind.

Saturday morning found fly fisherman Bill Silverman and I on the east side of the Mosquito Lagoon, as far back in the pole-troll area as I could get. Tournament or not, boat traffic for a Saturday was pretty light, much to my surprise.

            Up against the shoreline the water was pretty dirty. I poled for miles, almost all the way up to CNS parking lot five. We saw very few fish and only had two decent shots, neither of which was converted. Bill’s an MD and we had a non-stop high level conversation which touched on health, life, death, cosmology, language, internal combustion’s obsolescence, teenaged children, and a variety of other topics. In spite of the tough fishing it was a very enjoyable day.

Isn’t that what fishing is about?

I will be glad when the water drops some, and clears up, though.

Life is great and I love my work!

John Kumiski

www.spottedtail.com

www.johnkumiski.com

Guys there are lots of species being caught from downtown to the backcountry!!  Yesterday, in a short 2 1/2 hr birthday trip with a couple of very young kids-----We had Redfish,Trout, Big Yellowmouth Trout, Croaker, Mangrove snapper, Sheephead, and Bluefish!! What a  couple hours!! The day before, we had all the same plus flounder. Fall is a great time to fish!! See you on the water.

Capt. Tony Bozzella / 904 651-0182  www.tonybozzella.com

It's that time of the year when the big boys come out to play!

Big over size reds cruising the ledges of the river in 12 to 30 feet of water.

Using the gulp sinking minnow and the rapala D16 crankbait.

Captain Chip Wingo

904 662 1226

shallowminded@live.com

 The high tide redfishing keeps getting better and better. The fish seem to be very happy, where you see one you see four to five. I finally layed down the rod long enough to snap a few shots.

Capt. Scott Dykes

912-585-1593

www.georgialighttackle.com

Advanced Inshore Fishing School

        Dec. 5th and 6th 2008 Full

  Jan. 9th and 10th 2009

Feb. 7th and 8th 2009

Mar 7th and 8th 2009

The who’s who of Northeast Florida’s inshore fishing. Over a hundred years of light tackle and fly fishing experience. Captain’s John Bottko, Larry Miniard, David Borries and Tony Bozzella have teamed up to present North Florida’s first inshore fishing school.  This two day seminar is limited to only 12 students so you will be up close seeing what’s in each of the Captains tackle bags and how they rig their boats.  Many of the classes will be broken down to even smaller groups with two captains teaching six students.

The seminar is going to be held at Deep Creek Lodge, which is located just south of Jacksonville on the ICW.  This pristine setting will allow both class room and on the water instruction. There will even be kayaks available for you to use after class if you would like to try out what you learned.

The first day is going to cover tackle and techniques. You will learn how to use all the tools from fly rods to trolling motors. This is where you will learn the secrets of what to use and why. There will be casting and retrieving lessons with both fly and spin.  And plenty of one on one time to get all your questions answered.

The second day is going to cover structure and reading the water. Northeast Florida is unique in that it has seasons and water temperatures that vary from the high forty’s to the low ninety’s. It has tides that move from four to seven feet of water every 6 hours and six area inlets that vary in clarity from tannic to clear.  With all these varying conditions, you will learn what to fish for and how to fish twelve months of the year.  We’ll even touch on cooking and cleaning what you catch. And of course there will be plenty of time to get all your questions answered.

Cost is $600.00. Lunch and munchies will be included. Class is limited to the first 12 paying students.

Spend the day with Capt. John Bottko and learn his secrets from 25 years on the water fly fishing N. E. Florida. This seminar covers everything you need to know about fly-fishing the Jacksonville area.. Whether you are experienced, or a beginner, the course will help you to be a better fly fisher. Topics covered include tackle, knots, rigging, casting, fighting fish,  line management and fly selection. A special emphasis is placed on what species are available in N.E. Florida to the fly fisherman  and how to catch them. The class is taught by Capt. John Bottko. Lunch is included. Cost is$150.00. Call the store to reserve your space 904-645-8998. Class is limited to six students.

Next Class: Nov. 8 2008

Have you been tying flies for awhile? Would like to take the next step?  In this class we teach fly design from the point of view of imitation.  You will learn baitfish, crab and shrimp patterns designed to fish the inshore waters of N.E. Florida. You will learn to tie the epoxy spoon and to work with epoxy to strengthen all your patterns. This class is for everyone that has a basic knowledge of fly tying. Capt. John Bottko will not only teach you tie his favorite patterns, he will teach you where and when to use them.  Cost of this four week class is $150.00.  All materials are included.

The art of fly tying is one of the most rewarding facets of our sport. Catching fish on a fly is one thing, but creating that fly takes the catch to a whole new level. This course will get you tying the flies you need for our local waters in just four weeks. The topics covered include tool selection, knots, and the use of all the different materials. The lessons do not stop there though, also included is a lot of discussion about how and where to catch fish on the flies that you tied. All materials and tools are included. If you already own a vise and tools you are encouraged to bring them. Cost: 150.00 Four consecutive Tuesdays or Thurdays, starting between 6:00pm and 6:30pm