June 8, 2012
By Captain Tom Van Horn
Captain John's Respectable Sea Trout
This Week's Fishing Report
As many of you who live here in the sunshine state know, our sunshine this week has mostly been in the liquid form, with squally conditions dominating our forecast. Although it's been a little wet, the fishing has still been very good on the inshore flats and on the St Johns River for those willing to venture out into the rain, and God knows he's doing us a favor as we really need some relief from our extremely dry conditions.
My first adventure last week was a trip to the Banana River Lagoon No-Motor Zone with my good friend Captain John Kumiski. The winds were from the southwest at about 5 knots, so we selected to fish the area I refer to as the middle bar. John was throwing fly (popper bug) and I was fishing with a shallow running DOA Bait Buster, and we commenced to wear out the sea trout. Between us, we caught at least 30 trout with a good number surpassing the two foot mark. I know you have already heard me say this, but I'll say it again, this has been the best sea trout action I've experienced in years with not only good numbers coming to the boat, but also sizable fish as well. The trick is the same as always, find concentrated mullet schools and you'll find trout.
My next adventure was a trip on Sunday with Les and Denise who were one of the winners at the Orlando Predators/Fish on Fire giveaway, and we decided to fish in the North IRL near Titusville. We started early to beat the weekend crowed, but the bite was very flat because of the full moon. For some reason, flats fishing is always tough for me during the full moon. I think the fish are very active, feeding all night, and them they are fat and lazy during the day. Although the bite was tough in the morning, it turned on around 1 p.m., and we ended the day with some very respectable fish. Most of our fish were caught on top water Skitterwalks and Chug Bugs, and Denise also did well on 3 inch DOA CAL Paddle Tails.
My last adventure was on Wednesday, where I fished the First Annual Catfish Challenge on the St Johns River. The recent rain has the river water levels rising and the catfish moving. The challenge was between three boats to see who could catch the most largemouth bass and catfish, and I was teamed up with Mark Blyth, sports editor for the Orlando Sentinel. Well to make a long story short, we won the event catching 17 channel and blue catfish, with two over 10 pounds on fresh dead shrimp. I love catching the larger catfish on light tackle, and I look forward to the first significant rainfall of the year to get these fish moving.
As always, if you need more information or have any questions, please contact me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
(407) 416-1187
http://www.irl-fishing.com
mosquitocoast@cfl.rr.com
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