After a two week break to do some fishing with my wife out of town, I returned to Mosquito Lagoon this week to discover the water level had dropped nearly a foot. This was not a bad thing, though, as the fish have less places to go and were plentiful and easy to find. The vacation was great with daily catches of tarpon and snook with some snapper, flounder, and jacks mixed in. Nearly all of the fish we caught were on the DOA holographic shrimp with a few coming on the Terror Eyz. My Friend Capt. Keith even came down and joined in on the action.
Monday, I went to scout out the area for this week's trips. I spent the beginning of the day looking for tarpon. I did not find any so I turned my attention to snook. I saw plenty of them and convinced one to eat a holographic DOA shrimp. I then turned my attention to redfish, trout, and drum. I found good concentrations of each and landed some on a tan shrimp fly. The DOA crab and a three inch CAL jig also accounted for a few fish.
Wednesday, I was joined by Glen from Maryland. He started the day landing a few black drum. As the other boats began to arrive, we left to search for redfish.
Many of the redfish were crawling through exposed grass with the backs and tails out of the water. They are easy to spot but challenging to catch as they are ultra spooky in such shallow water. In addition to being skittish, the fish often have limited visibility when they are in the heavy grass. Casts must land far enough away from them so they do not spook but the bait needs to get directly in their path for them to see it. Glen had fun trying but did not hook up with any. We moved out to some deeper water where he quickly caught his first redfish. In addition to redfish, Glen landed over a dozen nice trout using a watermelon seed CAL jig.
Thursday, I had the pleasure of fishing for a second time with John, a British fly angler. We had perfect fly fishing weather with no wind and clear skies. John hooked and lost several black drum on a small tan fly before landing his first one using a 6wt rod.
I expected good results when we targeted the redfish crawling in the grass. John had shots at dozens of them but, despite some excellent casts, they either ignored the flies or changed direction as soon as it landed. We tried a different spot where the fish were cruising the outside edge of the flat. John had a several follows and even had one fish eat the fly but turn off before he could get tight. He used a small pilchard imitation fly to land one snook and we saw a few small tarpon but did not get shots at them. The spot that had produced multiple nice trout the day before resulted in only one today. Having no other logical explanation, we decided to blame the slow bite on the full moon.
Friday, Carmello and his son Giancarlo fished me for the second time this summer. This time, he brought his son's friend June. Despite never having fished before, June kept pace with the other anglers and plenty of drum and redfish were seen and landed.
Towards the end of the trip, we encountered some large tarpon, the first I have seen in the Mosquito Lagoon in a while. Unfortunately, we did not have tackle on board large enough to handle these fish and were only able to watch as one of the boats hooked into a 100 pound fish.
After hearing reports of lots of tarpon in the New Smyrna Beach area, I went up there to investigate yesterday morning. The reports were true. Unfortunately, as if often the case when they are in those waters, they were not feeding well and I did not get a bite. Hopefully, more of them we make their way south into the Lagoon where they are often easier to catch.
Mosquito Lagoon Crab Trap Cleanup
On Saturday, August 15, the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge will be coordinating a cleanup of abandoned crab traps. There are dozens of abandoned and often unmarked traps scattered throughout the Lagoon. They are not only a hazard to navigation but trap marine life which dies and, in turn, attracts more fish, crabs, and turtles. Volunteers are needed both on the land and water for this important and well needed event. Interested parties should meet at the Bair's Cove (Haulover Canal) boat ramp by 8am. Mosquito Creek Outdoors is donating a prize pack for one of the lucky participants. I definitely will not be missing this!
Tarpon Update
This week was the first sign I have seen of big tarpon in the southern Mosquito Lagoon. Last year, there were plenty of them here by July but they seem to be late this season. Hopefully, the fish I saw this week are a sign of more to come. While on my recent vacation we targeted tarpon nearly every day. The DOA holographic shrimp was our go to bait this year. The most effective method was to throw just in front of rolling fish and allow the bait to drop naturally, Nearly all of the bites come in the first five seconds. A great bait for skipping under docks and mangroves, it produced snook, snapper, and flounder as well.
This past week, I violated one of my own rules by not having at least one heavy rod on board all summer. Of course, the first day I did not carry one was the day the large tarpon showed up. The large fish will eat the shrimp but it is often tough to cast far with heavy tackle. The sinking Baitbuster, Terror Eyz, BFL, and BFL 5.5 are my choice for the larger fish. For anyone wanting a tarpon charter, I will keep you updated should the fish arrive in better numbers.
If you target tarpon on your own, be sure to pick up a DNA sampling kit from the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institue. More information can be found here -FWC DNA Sampling Kit.
Mosquito Creek Angler Improvement Class
The next class will be August 11 at 7pm. Capt. Tom Van Horn and I will be discussing catching and using live baits for flats fishing.
Capt. Chris Myers
Central Florida Sight Fishing Charters
http://www.floridafishinglessons.com/
321-229-2848
