The fishing on the Mosquito Lagoon these past few weeks has been nothing short of fantastic!! What more can I say? A sight-fishing paradise with schools of huge tailing redfish and large schools of the elusive black drum sharing the same flat. All have been happily eating a well placed fly or lure. The last few trips have been spent stalking tailing fish with light tackle spinning gear and fly rods. The big key to success has been a Stealthy, Patient & quiet approach with an accurate presentation. Casting accuracy remains paramount in these scenarios. An errant or off-target cast may result in a blown school of tailing fish. This will make the rapid heart rate of anticipation drop to a low murmur...Fish have been caught using a variety of offerings to include Live Shrimp, DOA shrimp, Gulp crabs, live blue crabs and of course the fly!
Don with a nice Mosquito Lagoon red.
Lois caught her first sight casted black drum on a live blue crab.
Don with another beautiful Lagoon redfish.
The fly rod can be the weapon of choice on these pods of tailing redfish using small offerings and accurate presentations. For the fly-fisherman, try using Kwans, Crabs, and Merkins for tailing redfish or black drum. A well placed dupree spoon should also do the trick for roving pods of big redfish. A sea-ducer or Deep Clouser pattern should work well probing the depths and sand holes for trout.
Brad caught this black drum on a DOA Shrimp.
The trout bite has been heating up also and the warmer days have them feeding heavily on Live shrimp & Gulp in 3-5 feet of water. If you locate one trout, generally there are more around this time of year. As the water temperatures keep climbing, the trout bite will continue to improve. Several Nice trout have been caught this week using topwater plugs like the Saltwater chug bug or a skitter pop early in the pre-sunrise hour. Please remember to practice catch and release on these fish when possible. Handle trout gently and release them quickly back in to the water for another angler’s future enjoyment.
Brain from Colorado with his first Mosquito Lagoon redfish.
Larry & Brian from Colorado, Joe & Nick from Lakeland, Patrick & Brad from Jacksonville as well as Don and his family from South Florida all fished this past few weeks and did well for reds, black drum and trout. All were a pleasure to fish with and I look forward to having them out on the water again in the future. Get out there and go fishing!
