Compliments of Mosquito Creek Outdoors, Apopka Florida
Winter clearly had a firm grip on most of America this past week, including Central Florida, and its influence has dominated our weather with snotty conditions all week. Although the weather was tough, I did manage one outing on Wednesday as part of a 15-boat group charter. The morning greeted us with 50-degree temperatures and east winds of about 15 knots, not the best conditions by far.We met our group at Parrish Park in Titusville around 7am, and as they unloaded from the buss I could immediately tell they weren't from Florida. My anglers, Keith and Sean were some of the first to department the buss, and Keith was wearing a short sleeve shirt. One of the great things about guiding anglers on the Indian River Lagoon is meeting folks from all walks of life and from distant locations, and the less they know about the our diversity of our fishery the more enjoyable the experience. As it turned out, both Keith and Sean we from Minnesota, and they were fishing through a hole in the ice just a few weeks earlier.
Keith Meierhofer's 38-inch redfish caught on 01-16-08
The weather conditions were not bad at first, and as I attempted to poll into our first spot we could see redfish tailing and pushing in the distance. Currently water levels on the Lagoon are extremely low, and as hard as I tried, we couldn't reach the fish. Next, we departed the flat to fish in deeper water, and finally caught the two largest redfish in the group.
Sean Cheslock's IRL Redfish caught on 01-16-07
My good friend and lagoon mentor Captain Rodney Smith once said "as a fishing guide, on some days you are a hero, and on some days you a zero", which sums up this weeks charters. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of fishing Catherine and Jim from Canada, and the weather was a bit windy but enjoyable. The only problem was we couldn't buy a bite, and after fishing hard for six hours, our net result was one redfish.
This photo is a correction to my last report which should read," Tom's No-Motor Zone redfish caught on a Salt & Pepper RipTide Flats Chub". From left to right, brothers Chris, Tom, and Bill.
Seminars and Events
February 10th, Gander Mountain, Meet Your Maker Event
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 online from the comfort of you own desk at: http://www.mosquitocreekoutdoors.com/.
