Mosquito Creek Outdoors Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report, June 14, 2012
By Captain Tom Van Horn




Up Coming Events and Seminars

Saturday July 21st , 10:00 to 12 Noon "Free Seminar" Class 6 of Fundamentals of Flats Fishing series , "Catching and Using Natural Baits on the Flats" instructed by Captains Tom Van Horn, Chris Myers, located in the Outback at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, 170 South Washington Ave., Apopka Florida, www.mosquitocreek.com.

Thursday July 26th - 6:30 P.m. to 8:30 p.m. "Free Seminars" "Summertime Inshore Tactics for Redfish and Sea Trout" instructed by Captains Tom Van Horn, Chris Myers, located in the Outback at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, 170 South Washington Ave., Apopka Florida, www.mosquitocreek.com.



This Week's Fishing Report

My angling adventures this past week carried me away from the central lagoon coast to an exotic location where I was privileged to attend the D.O.A. Outdoor Writers Conference held at the River Palms Cottages in Jensen Beach Florida. Hosted by Captain Mark Nichols and his DOA family, the event also included two days of fishing with members of the D.O.A. Pro Staff. This invitation only event provides an opportunity to rub shoulders with an exceptional group of outdoor journalist and industry experts while learning about and fished with D.O.A.'s newest product innovations.

The setting for the three day event was the River Palms Cottages in Jensen Beach. Staying at River Palms is just like stepping into a tropical paradise. This low-key resort presents the feel of a far away tropical island were the exotic flora and the lagoon beach draws all of the life's tension from your bones as soon as you step foot on the premises. The resorts owners have planted hundreds of exotic tropical fruit trees and shrubs on the property giving you the feeling of a coastal jungle paradise. Located just minutes from the St. Lucie Inlet the resort features a large outdoor pavilion, deep water access dock, swimming pool and white sandy beach. For those of you reading this report, there is no need to travel thousands of miles and spend thousands of dollars to escape to a tropical paradise, simply book a few days at the River Palms instead (http://www.riverpalmcottages.com).


River Palms Cottages


River Palms looking east

On my first day of fishing, I had the pleasure of spending the day with Captain John Irwin form Charleston South Carolina and Captain John Young as our guide. Our plan was to start out fishing for big trout just south of Fort Pierce on the IRL but only landed several smaller trout and mangrove snapper on a 3 inch DOA Golden Glow shrimp. Next we ventured back to the St Lucie River and I caught a nice 30 inch snook fishing the bridges on the old reliable brown dog (rootbeer Terror Eyz). Although the bite was slow and we didn't catch a lot, we had great fun and there were some larger snook caught by other boats.


Captain John Young with a St Lucie Inlet Sunrise



Captain John Young with a St Lucie Inlet Snook

On my second day I fished again with Captain John Young and we targeted the south jetty of the St Lucie Inlet, catching several smaller male snook before sunrise, again on the Golden Glow 3 inch DOA Shrimp. The remainder of the morning was the same old story you hear from snook fisherman, missed two big fish, one came unbutton at the boat and the other cut me off on a dock.

Although my escape was quite and enjoyable, strong easterly winds made fishing conditions tough, but with the support of the DOA Pro Staff Guides and some hardcore anglers, we still managed to catch quite a few snook over 30 pounds. The big females were holding up in the inlet near the "Hole in the Wall", as they fell victim to the big Terror Eyz in the rootbeer/gold glitter color bounced on the bottom during the falling tide. For me, I managed to catch four snook from 18 to 30 inched fishing docks, jetties and bridges.

In closing, I would like to also thank Hobie Kayaks, Minn-Kota, seagar fishing line and Eagle Claw, for co-sponsoring the event and my guide, Captains John Young() for putting me on fish despite the blustery conditions.

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
www.irl-fishing.com
407-416-1187

For all of your outdoor needs, check out www.mosquitocreek.com, it's where your adventure begins!

Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report
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

Amelia Island Fishing Report 6-10-2012

The Redfish were spread out in May but the ones we caught were in the Slot. We were also catching hungry Seatrout on artificial grubs with red head jigs and every once in a while there would be a keeper sized fish. Flounder were biting at the Fort Clinch finger jetties. Keep up with all the fishing action at the Amelia Island Fishing Report. In June expect to be fishing with the manatees! They ought to be showing up in herds. Almost everything will be biting -Redfish, Seatrout, Flounder and Blues, Ladyfish and Bonnethead's. We'll have a good shot at Slot Reds fishing with jigs and the Seatrout, Blues and Ladyfish will be nailing the shrimp under floats. So if you want to Get Away From it All, give me a shout and we'll go fishing!

Capt. Lawrence Piper
The Anglers Mark
Amelia Island, Florida
904-557-1027
lwpiper@comcast.net
theanglersmark.com   

Tampa Bay Fishing – June 3rd, 2012




Although tarpon season is in full swing, many quality snook and reds are being caught. This 31″ fish was caught after we spent the first few hours’ tarpon fishing. This was Matt’s biggest snook to date.

With the weather warming up it is important to get an early start. Often we have a tarpon hooked up before 7am. That means pulling away from the dock between 5 and 5:30 am. In this case, the early bird gets the worm [tarpon]. Being courteous and working with other boats is important while tarpon fishing. I wish that I could say that I have been perfect in that, but I still make mistakes. Do not worry, if you make a mistake, the other boaters will help you out and set you back on the right track. Hopefully, they will be gracious as they do.



When we hooked up with this tarpon, I got excited and started my motor while the pod was underneath my boat. I should have let the fish string out and swim out of the pod before following it. Thankfully, the fish kept biting and another boat was able to hook up. We fought this tarpon for 30 minutes or so until our line broke.

Tarpon fishing definitely presents a unique set of challenges, but that is why we love it. The tarpon bite in Tampa Bay has been very good. It brings me a lot of joy to see clients catch a tarpon for the first time in their life. Most all of my tarpon bites this year have come on threadfins. Getting out and catching bait while it is still dark is key. The bait is everywhere this year. When I am catching threads I am also catching greenbacks. These are a welcome site because that means I will have good baits to snook and red fish with.

So after we fought that tarpon Matt and his wife wanted to fish the mangroves and while chumming in front of a creek mouth we caught this red:



If we had caught a keeper trout we would have had a grand slam–tarpon, snook, red fish and trout–all in the same trip. Tampa Bay fishing is really good right now. Fish are everywhere and biting real well.

Captain Rick Reddick
813-787-0249
Tampa Fishing Charters | Tampa Fishing Guides| Tampa Bay Fishing

Sarasota Bay Fishing Report 6-2-2012

Sarasota Fishing Report
6/2/2012
by Capt. Rick Grassett


Anglers fishing Sarasota Bay with me on my Action Craft flats skiff the Snook Fin-Addict, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, caught and released trout and snook on CAL jigs with plastic tails and top water plugs during the past week. Although a persistent west wind all week long kept us from tarpon fishing in the coastal gulf, we found protection from the wind on the west side of Sarasota Bay and had some action.

A group of 8 anglers consisting of Keith McClintock and Barry Slee, from Lake Forest, IL, Paul Browring, from the UK, Dave Kinnamon, from Milwaukee, WI, Dan Kinnamon, from Miami, FL, Greg Short, from OH and Steven Liska and his friend, Matt, from NJ, fished all week long with Capt. Andy Cotton, Capt. Kelly Stilwell, Capt. Jack Hartman and me. The week started off with west wind from tropical storm Beryl and with an approaching front the wind continued out of the west all week long. Some of the group spent some time tarpon fishing in a couple of areas in Sarasota Bay and Tampa Bay and had a few bites on live crabs and pinfish but no hook ups. Capt. Jack’s boat caught and released a 24” grouper in Tampa Bay one day. Capt. Kelly ventured out onto the beach the same day off Anna Maria with Barry while the rest of us fished the inside waters of Tampa Bay. Although conditions were tough, they doubled on tarpon with a threadfin and a crab and landed one of the fish. The group also caught and released snook, trout, bluefish, jacks and a red on jigs, flies and top water plugs during the week in Roberts Bay and near Bishop Point and Buttonwood Harbor.

Although a normal weather pattern this time of year is an east wind in the morning switching to an afternoon sea breeze, occasionally the wind will shift to a westerly flow. Usually this is the result of a tropical disturbance or a late season cold front. However, when conditions aren’t good in the coastal gulf to tarpon fish, we can usually find some protected waters to fish for other species in Sarasota Bay.

When conditions allow us to get back into the gulf to tarpon fish, they should be hungry. Look for schools of tarpon at first light in the morning in deeper areas along beaches. Spin anglers may hook up with live crabs, pinfish, DOA 4” shrimp, Baitbusters and Swimming Mullet. Fly anglers should do best in shallower water with baitfish fly patterns such as Lefty’s Deceiver and EP flies in dark colors fished on intermediate sink tip fly lines.


Tight Lines,

Capt. Rick Grassett
FFF Certified Fly Casting Instructor
Orvis- Endorsed Outfitter Guide
CB’s Saltwater Outfitters-2011 Orvis Outfitter of the Year
Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.
(941) 923-7799
E-mail snookfin@aol.com
www.flyfishingflorida.net and www.snookfin-addict.com