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March/April Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report
If you can find a day that’s not windy or storming to get out and fish the Indian River or Mosquito Lagoon, then the fishing should be pretty good. Schools of redfish are still around and with the water temps warming up a bit, more singles should scatter the flats which I prefer to fish rather than large schools.
Lots of big sea trout are still lurking the sandy areas and have been taking well presented artificials and flies really well. I’ve been impressed with the numbers of big sea trout that I’ve seen this year.
Don Thomas – a well respected author, outdoor journalist, and photographer from Montana is a doing a piece on the Mosquito Lagoon for a couple fly fishing magazines. Here he displays a smaller fish that beat about 5 bigger fish to the fly, it was crazy watching them fight over it. His wife Lori took some great shots this day. To learn more about Don visit his site: www.donthomasbooks.com
Dale and Robb from Vero Beach, FL. had a fun day catching schooled up and tailing redfish along with some nice trout on D.O.A. shadtails.
Phil from Michigan had to deal with chilly Florida conditions the day after a cold front, fishing was a little tough in the morning, but once the sun heated things up a bit the bite turned on.
Matt and Bill from Oregon had an excellent day catching a bunch of redfish and trout on both fly and spin tackle. This was their first time ever fishing in saltwater.
Tony and Cori from Milwaukee had a fun half day on the Lagoon.
Martin from S. Carolina proudly shows off his biggest Sea Trout to date. A bunch of these came to the boat along with some mid slot redfish.
13 year old Marlin Wakeman and his dad Rufus from Jensen Beach, FL. joined me to try and get Marlin on his first sight casted redfish. Marlin got his wish and also got his biggest redfish to date.
Alissa from Tampa, FL. is now hooked on the Mosquito Lagoon, she has been having some great success sight casting to tailing and cruising redfish using D.O.A. Lures.
She also sight casted her biggest redfish to date using a D.O.A. Baitbuster, what a treat to watch this fish do a 180 on the lure and engulf it right in front of us.
same fish different view
…and something a little creative using Alissa’s eyes as the main subject.
-Capt. Willy Le
www.NativeFlyCharters.com
Rob Meade fly creations, Gutless Crab, Gutless Frog, and the Shuffler
I did a video on the Rob Meade gutless weedless crab fly a couple months ago. With the powers of the Internet at word, Rob, who lives in Australia really enjoyed it. He contacted me and sent me a couple more of his weedless creations.
The two new ones he sent all the way from Australia are the Gutless Frog and the Shuffler. Both super weedless and should be excellent when fishing lilly pad in the fresh water or submerged structure in the saltwater.
All of Rob’s flies are available on Rainy’s flies.
New Fly line management mat by Strip and Feed Research; Toad Loader
*edited to take out negativity.
Today I had a chance to mess with new product that manages fly line on the deck of boat. Not that this is a new idea, there are been several out and the latest one before this being the Line Lair by Carbon Marine you saw here about a year ago when they came out.
To me having competition and choices is good a good thing. The more the merrier.
The new product is called the “Toad Loader” by Strip and Feed Research.
Soft rubber material. The mat has broad conical shape cones that can be stepped on and bounces back. The first shape is oval to reduce line snag. UV coated material made to last in the sun.
Besides trying it out in the lake in the video I have not tested it extensively. They are due out end of March and SFR tells me it will retail for $99.00
The fb page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Strip-and-Feed-Research/359931367398192
http://stripandfeed.com/
Crappy Iphone video I got at the pond today.. sorry about all the wind noise.
G.Loomis Poling and Casting Challenge at the 2013 Salty Fly Clip, History of the Salty Fly write up at the Bradenton Herrald
Excellent write up on the Salty Fly:
http://www.bradenton.com/2013/02/24/4406955/outdoors-salty-fly-tournament.html
Here is a clip of the one of the run at the 2nd Annual G.Loomis Poling and Casting Challenge by Greg Peterson and Dave Dant. This was in the finals as they ended up with the time to beat ofter this what seam at the the moment an unbeatable time.
Radio time for Salty Fly 2013 as well.
Schools in Session
Now is the time to target schools of fish in all three lagoons, Mosquito, Indian, and Banana. With lower water levels, the fish will leave the shallow backwaters and all be concentrated around flats with deeper water nearby. Redfish, Black Drum, and even schools of Sea Trout can be found on healthy grass flats that hold bait fish and crustaceans.
With Spring around the corner, Redfish and Trout will be concentrated on bait fish so it’ll soon be time to break out the surface flies and topwater lures to see some explosive action.
John Kelly from Palm Beach, FL. comes up frequently to take advantage of Mosquito Lagoons excellent sight fishing opportunities. He proudly holds up a nice Redfish that he caught out of a pod of tailers using his 7wt fly rod.
Brett Reed from Chicago came down to target Redfish on fly but the winds were blowing pretty good that day so we decided to change plans and hit the backcountry creeks for Snook and Tarpon. Even though the tarpon were rolling all around us, Brett only managed a few to eat but none came to the boat…that’s tarpon fishing for ya. He did get a few small snook on fly.
Kershel Barfield from Stuart, FL. came up to fish the Mosquito Lagoon for his first time. We got into some large schools of Redfish this day which Kershel has never seen so many grouped up like that before. Well placed D.O.A. Shadtails did the trick on these fish.
BJ and Scott joined me on the Mosquito Lagoon for their annual fishing outing. Wind was cranking a bit but that didn’t keep them from catching fish. Golden Bream D.O.A. Shadtail was the hot lure this day.
John Kelly came back up for more action. I always enjoy having John aboard, fun guy to hang around and a great caster!
A great day for Kevney Dugan from Bend, Oregon. He got his first Redfish on fly this day and witnessed Mosquito lagoon at it’s finest. The water was slick calm and we saw schools of Redfish pushing and tailing from a mile away. Kevney’s good casting ability landed him some nice fish.
I recently had a free day to get out and do some fishing for myself. I called up fellow Mosquito Lagoon guide Capt. Billy Rotne to do some exploring for bigger fish. We did some running around and found some good schools of fish ranging from 12-30lbs. Although I love watching other people catch fish while I’m on the poling platform, sometimes I gotta feel the tug for myself.
Capt. Willy Le
www.NativFlyCharters.com
A Seasonal Shift… Clarity
I hear a strong winter storm approaches our buddies in the NE this weekend and I reflect on how fortunate we are here in South Florida this time of year.
The classic sight fishing scenario in my home waters on the clearer side of the Everglades has been nothing short of epic this year. From fat redfish floating on the surface like a laid up poon to hoards of sheepshead tailing like a school of small permit (just as skittish and at times even tougher to catch on fly). Of coarse, all this fishing helps pass the time between poon season but is lots of fun nonetheless. It makes for a great opportunity to sharpen your skills using clear fly lines, turning over longer leaders, sneaking heavier flies into zones with skittish fish, and of coarse helping to calm your nerves before the day you are confronted with a more difficult or rewarding challenge.
So to my buddies in the NE, I leave you all with some fish porn and wish you all safe passage through this nasty winter storm. Stay tuned… there is far more to come shortly.
A little bow time and my Super Bowl Sunday fishing
iday, I got a text from my friend Brain asking if I wanted get out on the water for few hours. As you guys know Salty Fly is only a 20 days away and things are coming down to wire so I have not had much time to fish. The allure of not having to take a boat or all the camera gear with me was tempting. All I had to do was show up at the boat ramp with my fly rod.
One of the reason I do not fly fish more often is that I often fly fish is the lack of being on the bow and having some one pole me. This was a great opportunity to get me some bow time.
Being the winter tides we wanted to float skinny. Brian 14′ Shipoke which did the job just fine. The tiller configured boat floated skinny, was stable and had good room for 2 people.
Now to the next problem, finding the fish. I poled and poled and poled and for the first 3 hours saw only a couple fish spook off and minimal mullet to zero in on. It was quite a long first few hours I must admit.
We kept moving as we planned on fishing til about 1pm. Regardless of not seeing any fish, it felt good to be on the bow sight fishing, it’s been a while.
We 2 hours left until we had to call it day but out next last flat we wanted to check we started to see some fish. This was a good and bad thing.
It was great to find a few fish but these guys were crazy spooky. As soon as you get out line they would spook after the first false case and many times not even that.
Brian got quite frustrated and then it was my turn to get frustrated. We changed flies, we gave them crazy about of lead, we even went to the spoon fly. We contemplated getting out wading but we lack and anchor so that was a no go.
As we thought about giving up, the action picked up with birds showering some glass baits around us. I didn’t noticed this at first but in hind sight this was when they started to chew. In the next 30 minute we I caught 2 and Brian caught 2.
After this the action died and they disappeared as quickly as it began. It was good to finally get out and get some bow time and it’s better being lucky than good. Thanks Brian!
Above is a photo of my Hobie ProAngler 14 Carbon texture prototype.
I posted that on Facebook and way too many people believed me. Before it got carried away, I had to tell them it was just Photoshopped done in fun.
I did however get a Pro Anlger and Super Bowl Sunday (today as I type this) is my maiden voyage on it. I fished the local waters and mange 3 redfish in my local waters.
I also experimented with the New GoProHero 3 Black edition camera. The above photos is actually shot from the GoPro3. It actually looks pretty good.
I have to say, so far the image and interface on this unit is the best I have every used on any POV camera. I will go into more details as I feel more comfortable using it.
Native Fly iPhone Kwik Klips #1
This is a little series of video clip that I will be coming out with on a regular basis. All of these videos will be filmed with my iPhone 4S and edited on the computer. Here is the first one of a regular client John Kelly encountering a pod of tailing Redfish in the Mosquito Lagoon. Enjoy!
-Capt. Willy Le
www.NativeFlyCharters.com
Happy New Year 2013 Mosquito Lagoon
Happy New Year everyone! I guess the world did not end in December 2012, which means we are stuck on this beautiful Earth to enjoy more memorable days of fishing….DARN!
Fishing in the Mosquito Lagoon/Indian River has been hit or miss. The crazy weather pattern that we’ve been experiencing with 80 degree temps one day and a high of 45 degrees the next, then back to 80 and so on. If this pattern didn’t get Floridians out of whack, it sure did get the fish acting all crazy.
My week of being on the water consisted of a ton of fish schooled up and happy one day, then gone the next. If temperatures decide to stay consistent for at least a week, then the fish should be more predictable and make the lives of guides and anglers a lot easier. But what’s the fun in that?
Well, when the fishing is good, you can find Redfish schooled up in big numbers on the flats, some trophy sized “Gator” Trout laid up in shallow sandy areas, and some small pods of Black Drum roaming around.
Mark Wolaver who is a great caster and knows how to feed fish on the fly rod joined me for a great day of redfishing in the Mosquito Lagoon. This was one of the better days to be on the water with blue bird skies, light winds, and happy fish.
Buck and Jim were the lucky ones to have their trip fall on the coldest day of the year. The thermometer in my truck when I arrived at the Mosquito Lagoon ramp read “ICE”, which was the next level below 37 degrees. This was one of the slower days where fish were scattered and far in between, but they managed to catch a few redfish on D.O.A. Shadtails.
Paul Casserly from Boston, Mass came down for some Mosquito Lagoon action. Plan was to catch his first redfish on spin tackle to break the ice, then switch to the fly rod the rest of the day to try his luck. Well, conditions were still cold and fish were still scattered from the previous cold front. Paul did get his first redfish on the spinning rod but had a few shots with the fly rod afterwards with no luck. Paul will be back for revenge one day.
Tim Creasy came down from Kentucky during the holidays and has planned to fish the Mosquito Lagoon with me for a couple years now. The weather on this day was not so good. 25-30mph winds with a 70% chance of rain and storms. Instead of canceling the trip and Tim being bummed out that he didn’t get to fish while he was vacationing in Orlando, I opted to take him into some small wind protected creeks in the Indian River Lagoon to try our luck on Snook and Tarpon.
Tim ended up catching a couple Snook, jumping a few small Tarpon, a couple jack crevalle, and ladyfish all on fly. We turned what would have been a cancellation into a fun day of catching mini species…..he now can scratch Snook off of his list of fish to catch(almost scratched Tarpon off the list but you know how it goes.)
On New Years day I had a last minute cancellation. I decided to head out solo on a scouting mission for a trip the following day. I forgot how nice it was to get out on the water alone, everything seemed to happen in slow motion and I was enjoying every second of it. I had no worries, no pressure, no rush, just enjoying doing what I love. I found fish, caught a few, but most of the time I was just memorized by all the wildlife and everything happening around me while poling the skiff peacefully down the shoreline.
John Kelly is an avid fly fisherman from Connecticut(now lives in South Florida) that fished a lot of places around the world. He’s caught Stripers, big Bluefin Tuna, Roosterfish, bonefish, Tarpon, Snook, and even Marlin on fly but has never caught a Redfish….until now. John learned that you have to be more patient with tailing Redfish than any other fish. When they tail, you have more time to think than if you were casting at a cruising fish. I had John wait until we got at least 40-45ft from the fish before making a cast, then I had him watch the fish for a minute to see what direction it was facing, once he knew where he wanted to place the fly, take a deep breath, relax, and make the cast. When the fly landed at the perfect spot, a couple twitches of the fly and BAM, John was hooked up to his first Redfish ever! After the first fish, John was catching tailing Redfish left and right.
John also had shots at some monster laid up “Gator” Trout, but feeding these fish are extremely tough, they are as spooky, if not spookier than Islamorada Bonefish. Getting them to eat is a challenge, which makes them even more rewarding to catch on fly…if the stars align.
I wish everyone a Happy New Year and great fishing for 2013!
-Capt. Willy Le
www.NativeFlyCharters.com
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