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Fishing Reports
Mosquito Lagoon Florida Report 2/19/07
February 19, 2007
Posted by Capt. Chris Myers
Email: info@floridafishinglessons.com
Current Report
This week ended with some of
the coldest weather we have
experienced so far this year
and before the cold came
some of the highest winds of
the year. The weather made
for some tough fishing
conditions but we did catch
a few quality fish and did
not get shut out during four
days of fishing.
Monday brought mild
temperatures but we faced
clouds and rain as I fished
with Bob Caruso from
Connecticut. Our first stop
brought is to a school of
about 100 redfish from 15-30
pounds in two feet of
crystal clear water. We
spent several hours fishing
this school trying to get
Bob two fish but they were
not in the mood to eat. Bob
did land one nice fish from
this school, however, a 38"
fish weighing over 20
pounds.At our next stop, we
were greeted by a school of
several hundred black drum
and a few large reds. Bob
hooked and landed two black
drum using a circle hooked
shrimp. To end the day, we
poled some extremely shallow
water looking for a big
trout. Despite the
cloud cover, we did spot a
few nice trout along with
some tailing redfish.
Although none of the trout
found their way onto the
hook, we were happy having
seen hundreds of trophy
fish throughout the day.
Tuesday, I fished with Ken
Van Every from Michigan. The
nicest weather day of the
week brought us a slick calm
morning and a school of big
redfish. Despite the
seemingly perfect
conditions, the reds were
not interested in eating
anything we had to offer.
While it is always fun to
watch a school of big reds
in shallow water, it would
have brought a bit more
excitement if we had caught
one. After a couple hours,
we gave up on those fish and
went searching for some
others. Our next stop held
more large reds that were
just as reluctant to feed as
the first group. After much
effort, Ken was able to land
a respectable redfish, his
first fish of 2007.Again, we
went searching the shallows
for trout. We only saw a few
but Ken managed to fool
another redfish using a 4"
DOA CAL tail in Arkansas
glow.
By Wednesday, the weather
began to take a turn for the
worse, I fished the next two
days with Waite from
Washington State. An
accomplished fisherman,
Waite wanted to fish redfish
on ultralight tackle.
Wednesday morning, we found
a flat holding dozens of
schools of redfish in very
shallow water. Waite had a
few bites on a 3" CAL tail
but no hookups. Once the
fish realized we were on
their flat, they never let
us get close to them again.
By 10am, the
winds were pushing twenty
knots forcing us to search
for shelter against the
shoreline. With the low
water, however, we were
unable to get close to the
shore. With only one trout
to show, we left the
Mosquito Lagoon and went to
the St. John's River to try
for some shad. By now, the
winds were gusting over 30
making casting the light
jigs difficult. We tried
trolling for a while and saw
a few others hooking some
shad. Only one speckled
perch took
advantage of our offerings
and we called it a day with
only 2 fish and a case of
windburn.
Thursday brought a cool
start but was not quite as
windy. Waite and I started
off in the Mosquito Lagoon
again looking for some
schooling reds. After a bit
of searching, we found a
couple schools and Waite
landed a red on a green CAL.
The school never let us get
close enough for another
shot. We continued seeing
reds throughout the morning
but the fish were very
skittish and reluctant to
eat. As the clouds rolled in
and the rain began to fall,
we moved over to the St.
Johns for another shot at
the shad. Action was slow
but Wait did get two nice
shad on a tandem chartreuse
jig setup.
By early next week, the
weather should be stabilized
and a warming trend will
bring temperatures in the
80's by next weekend. With
the water temperature
increasing daily and
the winds forecast to be
light, it should be an
excellent week of sight
fishing the flats.
Look for tailing fish on the
shallow flats in the
afternoons. There should be
ample shots at them and they
will be willing to take a
well placed fly or small
soft plastic.
Capt. Chris Myers
Central Florida Sight
Fishing Charters
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