Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Charters

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Fishing Report

April 24, 2008

Complements of Mosquito Creek Outdoors, Apopka, FL

First, let me apologize for the tardiness of this report. This past weekend I was off of the water attending the Coastal Angler Magazine Fishing and Boating Expo in Melbourne, Florida. Although the weather was nice, we still had great turnout, great speakers, and a great show. Yes, nice weather on the same weekend of a fishing show typically draws attendees away, but in this case, our attendance was good. We also conducted another Hook Kids on Fishing event on Saturday, which was a ton of fun and a tremendous success.

My adventures last week started out with the pleasure of sharing a three-day charter with father and son team Rico Panilo and Rico Jr. from New Jersey. Our plan was to mix it up a bit by targeting a different style of fishing each day.

On our first day we launched out of Kennedy Point in Titusville for some sight fishing for redfish and sea trout, and the catching was tough. We had some shots at tailing redfish early out, but after a hard day of fishing we ended up with a good number of ladyfish and small sea trout. The schools of ladyfish have moved into the north IRL and they are working schools of glass minnows under terns and seagulls.

On our next day we opted to fish near-shore out of Port Canaveral in search of tripletail and cobia, and again we had a tough day managing only one tripletail, a spadefish, one flounder, and a sheepshead.

Rico’s Nice Lake Harney Bass

On day three we ventured into the freshwater arena targeting schooling bass on the St Johns River near Lake Harney and again the fish weren’t jumping into the boat, but Rico Jr. did manage some decent size largemouth bass and a 5 pound southern flounder of all things caught on a live menhaden. Oh by the way, we ended up taking the flounder to lunch at the Jolly Gator Fish Camp, where the nice folks whipped up some tasty blackened flounder sandwiches, yum.

Rico’s 5-Pound Lake Harney Southern Flounder

Erik Holds Andy’s 46-pound Redfish

On Monday I guided a group of three into the Banana River No-Motor Zone where we caught a good number of sea trout and ladyfish on top water plugs. The bite was fast and furious at first light with our best results coming from Storm Chug Bugs and Rapala Skitterwalks fished in 2 to 3 feet of water. As the day grew longer and the wind picked up, we decided to chunk out a few ladyfish, and managed a 36-inch and a 47-inch redfish. The larger redfish was 47-inches long with a girth of 28-inches, and using the standard fish weight calculator measured out to be 46.06 pounds

Left to Right, Erik, Jim, and Andy display Andy’s First Redfish

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Fishing Forecast

May, 2008

Complements of Mosquito Creek Outdoors, Apopka, FL

As the days grow longer, angling enthusiasts along Florida’s Space Coast take pleasure in spending their afternoons after work relaxing on the water. Warming coastal waters draw streams of baitfish north followed by warm water predators, as our prevailing easterly winds give way to summers genially shifting sea breezes.

Offshore, dolphin fishing will be the focus of blue water anglers this month. April and May are the time of year when the larger bulls are taken off the Florida Space Coast. The early season dolphin bite has already yielded fish in excess of 60 pounds. Also, as a bonus, the potential of taking a blue marlin or sailfish are good. Near-shore, the kingfish bite has heated up on the near-shore reefs and wrecks and some cobia are around. As the seas settle down and the bait schools move in close to the beach, look for the kingfish action to move in also.

Spanish mackerel, snook, redfish, jack crevalle, bluefish, flounder, sheepshead and black drum are just some of the species available in the Lagoon inlets and beaches this month. As the baitfish migration moves north, this type of fishing will only get better.

Inshore, the bait pods, Atlantic menhaden (pogies), have shown up along the beach, and now is the best time to target the ocean predator shadowing these schools. It’s not uncommon to catch large redfish, large jack crevalle, blacktip sharks, cobia, and tarpon from within these pods of bait. To locate bait pods, simply look for feeding birds, flipping and jumping bait, muddy water along the beach, and busting fish.

On the Lagoon flats, redfish and spotted sea trout will provide the majority of action for light tackle and fly anglers. The water has warmed up to the point where jack crevalle, ladyfish, snook, and tarpon are showing up in good numbers. I like to target redfish and sea trout at first light or at dusk, with top water plugs like the High Roller Florida Special, Rapala Skitterwalk, or Storm Chug Bug. As the day heats up, change your focus to the deeper edges of the flats (2 to 3 feet deep) jigging with a RipTide 4” mullet on a ¼ ounce RipTide Screw Jig.

Good Luck and Good Fishing,

Captain Tom Van Horn