The last 2 trips for Native Fly Charters was with new clients Kyle and Chip from Georgia on the last couple of days of 2011. This was their first trip to the East Coast of Florida to do some fishing and their main goal was to see and catch tailing Redfish. On the first day of the 2 day fishing adventure, it seemed like it was going to be cloudy, cold, and windy for the first half of the day so I took them in the Indian River along the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge for some big Trout that have been roaming the flats. Making long casts with topwater lures around sand holes resulted in some nice trout and some fun blowups.

Once the clouds finally cleared up, the skies were blue bird and the wind laid down giving us the perfect glassy conditions for an afternoon of tailing Redfish. This day was the first major cold front of the year for Florida, making the fish a little sluggish. Most of the fish refused Kyle and Chips offerings except for this one Redfish at the end of the day that was tailing 10ft from the boat. Kyle made a perfect presentation by slowing down the retrieve and dropping the D.O.A. 3″ Shadtail CAL right in front of the fishes nose.

The next day our main goal was Redfish all day in the Mosquito Lagoon. The morning temperatures were in the 50′s with slick calm conditions and blue bird skies. We found Redfish in small groups pushing on the flats first thing in the morning but these fish were on a mission to get somewhere and were pretty spooky. After chasing those fish around for a while with no luck, we headed to another flat where we would see some single fish cruising around still sluggish from the cold morning and also spooky. They too did not want to cooperate with us. It wasn’t until the sun heated up the flats late in the afternoon when the Redfish wanted to tail and start feeding. Kyle and Chip both had numerous shots at tailing fish but did not quite get it close enough to the fish until the fish saw us and took off. A couple fish did get hooked up but only one came to the boat at the end of the day. Both Kyle and Chip ended 2011 in a great way, they got to see some great Wildlife including a family of Wild Hogs wading in the water, Momma Dolphins teaching their babies how to catch mullet, Manatees, Alligators, Exotic Birds, and best of all they got to see the Tailing Redfish that they came here to see. They get to go home with great memories and great photographs! Next on the list for them is Tarpon so we will be seeing more of these guys in the future!

This was a perfect way to end my 2011. Weather was beautiful, I got to spend it on the water and met 2 new very cool friends that work hard for a living and love to hunt and fish! Happy New Year everyone!

-Capt. Willy Le
www.nativeflycharters.com