Complements of Mosquito Creek Outdoors, Apopka Florida
Although some nice fish were caught on every outing this past week, the catching was very slow for the most part. Over the past 8 days, I had the pleasure to fish on the St. Johns River for American shad on three occasions, the east side of the Banana River No-Motor Zone, and a solo scouting trip to the Indian River Lagoon in Titusville.
For starters, I fished the St. Johns River in the area south of Lake Harney, and the American shad have arrived, but they are not in good numbers yet. On both of these excursions we caught several nice shad each and a mix of some nice bass, speckled perch, and even catfish, but the catching wasn't on fire.
Billy's No-Motor Zone Redfish Caught on a Salt and Pepper RipTide Flats Chub
On Friday, I had a charter with three brothers Chris, Tom, and Billy on a quest for a large redfish, so we paddled in to the east shore of the No-Motor Zone. Although it was a nice morning, with light winds from the south at about 5 knots and a marine forecast of 5 to 10 knots in the afternoon, I was a little concerned about this wind situation because paddling in would be a breeze; paddling out would be a challenge. In the afternoon my apprehensions proved true as my experience with the marine forecast is a prediction of 5 to 10 knot winds means you add the two together, and in this case, as we faced at least 15 knots right down the teeth on our return trip. Notwithstanding the wind situation, we did not see a single tail the whole day, and our final score was 6 puffers and one nice upper slot redfish caught by Billy on a RipTide Salt & Pepper/ Chartreuse Flats Chub.
Due to the windy conditions today, I returned to the St. Johns River with Captain Chris Myers. I wish I could tell you the bite was on fire, but the truth be known, it was not. We fished hard in the area of the old Marina Isles Fish Camp, and I caught one shad on a pink crazy Charlie, and between us we boated a half dozen speckled perch. As my good friend Captain Chris stated, "It was a good day to be out of the offices".
Seminar and Event Schedule:
January 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th, Central Florida Boat Show Orlando Convention Center.
No Motors, No Problem Seminar Friday the 18th at 700 PM.
January 22nd, Orlando Kayak Club Meeting, Gander Mountain in Lake Mary 7 PM, Rigging Soft Plastic Baits for Redfish and Sea Trout.
March 1st, 2nd, and 8th Bass Pro Shop Spring Fling, Orlando Florida
April 18th, 19th, 20th, Coastal Angler Magazine Boating and Fishing Expo, Melbourne, Florida.
As always, if you have any questions or need more information, please contact me.Good luck, good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
http://www.irl-fishing.com/
407-366-8085 landline
407-416-1187 on the water
866-790-8081 toll free
Book a charter, and let's go fishing.
Stock up on your outdoor needs from the comfort of you own desk at: http://www.mosquitocreekoutdoors.com/.
