Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report with Capt. Chris Myers (Dec 30, 2012)
The final weeks of 2012 brought both excellent and tough days of fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. Some days the weather was perfect, on others, we had high winds, clouds, and cold that dropped water temperatures by 15 degrees or more. One the good days, there were schools of tailing redfish in every direction. On others, we did not see a tail the entire day even though the fish were still around.
Since the water cooled down, most of the redfish are in schools and are extremely sensitive to noises. If you do not use a stealthy approach, the entire school will lift up and swim off long before you are in casting range. Some schools of black drum have been showing and they can display the same behavior. Big seatrout have been hanging around the shallow sand holes and grass edges. There are nearly impossible to spot soon enough when the sun is low or skies are cloudy. If sight fishing is not an option, long casts with a DOA CAL and a Woodies Rattle across likely areas rarely goes unrewarded.
In addition to having cooled down, the water level has dropped 8-12 inches. Many flats are now inaccessible that have been flooded the past 6 months. If you have not been out recently, use extra caution when navigating at low light. I have heard numerous vessels running aground the past week.
Henrick, a fly angler from Denmark, fished on a cloudy calm day when the redfish were happy and tailing. He was an excellent caster and had no problem feeding a black redfish worm fly to numerous reds.
Matt used a DOA shrimp and CAL baits to catch redfish, pompano, and trout on a half day trip.
Newlyweds Jeff and Ashley both landed their first redfish and nearly 20 trout on a pleasant winter day in Mosquito Lagoon.
Ryan and Sarah live in North Carolina but wanted to learn how to fish in Mosquito Lagoon as they visit this area frequently. We started the morning targeting some shallow water tailing redfish.
As the fish stopped tailing, it became increasingly difficult to see them with the cloudy skies. The wind picked up and we took shelter behind the islands where they enjoyed some steady trout catching on the DOA Deadly Combo.
My final trip of the year was one of the coldest starts, the longest day, and one of the most disheartening trips of the year. I was fish Seth, a fly fishing guide from Wyoming. The morning began at a crisp 35 degrees. Not exactly the weather people come to Florida for. The winds were light, however, and hopes were high. The huge schools of tailing redfish that had been so prevalent all month were nowhere to be found. The fish we did encounter were not moving until we ran into them. As the sun got high enough so that we didn’t need tailing fish to spot targets, clouds moved in. We ran into big schools of drum that we could not spot soon enough. Most spots held at least some fish and we encountered lots of giant seatrout throughout the day, usually as they were fleeing from the boat. We gave up after 10 hours of trying. I hope he will have the chance to return on day with more favorable conditions.
With low and crystal clear water, sight fishing will be your best bet on sunny days. The fish can be spotted from long distances on the shallow flats. If you fishing day falls around one of the winter cold fronts that bring clouds and wind, blind casting in deeper troughs and sand holes with a lead headed jig can be productive. During times of cold water, the fish will congregate in these deeper areas. You may have to do a bit of searching to find them but once you do, it can be a bite every cast.
Captain Chris Myers specializes in the finest inshore, flats and backcountry fishing in the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River, on Florida’s Space Coast. Click here for more details
