Compliments of Mosquito Creek Outdoors, Apopka Florida
With the holiday season behind us, it is time to greet the New Year with some serious fishing. We are fortunate to live in the sunshine state where angling is a year round sport, and although we received some of the coldest weather experienced in years this past week, conditions are all ready showing improvement.
Even though angling conditions over the holidays were excellent, the catching for the most part was slow under the full moon and continued to improve as the moon waned. During the first part of the week water levels on the Mosquito Lagoon increased to a point where the redfish dispersed and then regrouped into small nervous schools spread out across the flats. At one point we counted 8 different schools of redfish, and our best success came when we change our tactics from chasing the schools to wait for them to come to us. But, as I check the most recent water levels are falling again, so look for the schools to bunch up in the deeper troughs of the flats.
My first three trips last week on the Mosquito Lagoon involving more chasing then catching. As the moon waned, the bite slowly improved to the point where the fish were more receptive and we even managed to catch a few nice redfish.
On Saturday the 29th, I exchanged the kicker for a paddle venturing up into the Banana River No-Motor Zone with my good friends Larry Carter and JT Thompson, and we ended up locating and catching some bigger redfish. The weather was as good as it gets, and the flat calm and sunny conditions providing excellent sight fishing. As we work our way up the flat, we soon located a sizable school of large redfish tailing in three feet of water. JT was the first to score catching a handsome redfish in the 20-pound range on half a blue crab. After landing, photographing, and releasing his fish, the tails soon popped up again and both JT and I were hooked up with a double, and my fish exceeded the 30-pound mark. After landing the last two redfish the school spooked out into deeper water, and we elected to move on in search of some black drum which never materialized in good numbers.
On the 1st, I elected to ring in the New Year fishing with my good friend Mike Murray, and we opted to check the St. Johns River for American shad. We launched at the east State Road 46 ramp, and we covered the river from Lake Harney to Puzzle Lake. Our plan was for a quick reconnaissance mission and then to be home for football, and although we did not catch any shad, we did see shad caught by other anglers. Combined we caught 7 speckled perch, and Mike managed to catch a hefty 7-pound large mouth bass on chartreuse ¼ ounce Road Runner. The speck bite was on and the shad are here, so hopefully this cold weather will kick the run into full swing.
In closing, I think I will distribute this message and then go fishing.Seminar and Event Schedule:
January 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th, Central Florida Boat Show Orlando Convention Center.
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, and Happy New Year,
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.
Visit http://www.mosquitocreekoutdoors.com/ for your outdoor adventure needs, its Where the Adventure Begins!
