Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report for April

Fishing in Mosquito Lagoon in the month of April has been really good. We've had our fair share of windy days though. While we all love getting to the ramp and seeing the Lagoon slicked out, some of my best days this April came with wind.

I find that the big trout love the windy cloudy days. I don't know whether or not the relax more when its windy or if the bait just moves around more and the big trout have less time to decide whether or not to eat. Whatever it is, the trout seem to bite better with the wind blowing and clouds in the sky. This certainly makes sight fishing tough, so most of the time you have to blind cast to get results but if it results in 30 inch trout.... who cares?

I spent a lot of time this month looking for black drum but with inconsistent results. Ron, from Oviedo, came out and fished with me. We spent the morning fishing some of the flats in Mosquito Lagoon looking for tailing redfish but didn't have much luck until the sun got up high. We got onto a good trout bite, with most of the fish being in the 15 to 18 inch range with our biggest fish going 26 inches. I'm still bummed about this, I was holding the big trout and reaching for my camera, when the trout gave one last kick and I fumbled the fish over the gunnel of my skiff. Ron was a good sport about and we laughed it off. His good attitude was rewarded on his last cast of the day with this nice black drum on a live shrimp.

Ron, from Oviedo, with a nice Black Drum in Mosquito Lagoon.

My next charter was with Ian and his Dad, from Minnesota. Ian and his dad wanted to fly fish for redfish. The morning of their charter, they were greeted with 20 knot winds, so we broke out the spinning rods and got into some fish. Here is Ian with his first redfish, he didn't mind that the smallest fish out of the group ate his DOA 5.5 CAL.

Ian with his first Mosquito Lagoon redfish.

Shortly after hooking up to his first redfish, Ian sight fished his second Mosquito Lagoon redfish using the same DOA lure as before. Here he is with a better red.

Ian admiring his biggest redfish off the flats of Mosquito Lagoon.

Later in the month, I had Alec and Brendan, from Michigan out with me for what was only supposed to be a 6 hour trip. Alec's grandfather, Gary, wanted to tag along to watch the boys fish. Gary had not interest in fishing and wasn't going to be convinced otherwise. Our morning started out slow, catching some small trout while fishing some deeper edges looking for some bigger reds. We picked up and moved north and that changed our luck. Alec hooked into a 28 inch red that swam right across the bow of my skiff. Here he is with his biggest fish of the day.

Alec with his first overslot redfish.

After releasing this fish, I hoped back up on the poling platform and almost immediately, I see a much larger red cruising the flat. I positioned the boat and tried to get Brendan to see the fish, but he couldn't spot the fish. I had Alec make a cast to the fish, talked him through the presentation and BAM! we had another overslot fish on. This fish was easily pushing 20 lbs. I staked out the skiff and just as I was hoping down to begin getting ready to land this bruiser, I hear the line pop. Definitely disappointing but it was still early in the day and there were many more flats in the Lagoon we could hit.

We picked up and moved to the west side of Mosquito Lagoon, I had found some bigger fish hanging out in a particular spot a week ago. The plan was to go look over there and see if we could get into some more big redfish. After seeing some smaller redfish and catching a few trout, we decided to pick up and mover to another flat. By this time we were 6 hours into the trip and Brendan hadn't caught the redfish he came to Florida to catch. He had opportunities but the cast just wasn't there. Nerves had set in and rattled him, it was visible to all of us. Alec and Brendan decided to stay out a little bit longer in hopes of getting Brendan his redfish. Gary was on board too. The pressure was on.

We ran north to a flat that I have always done really well on. I shut down outside of the flat in about 6 feet of water and eased in with the pushpole. Once we got up on the flat, we immediately began seeing fish tailing hard. This is exactly what we needed, the only problem was that Brendan wasn't seeing them. As I poled along, I spotted a redfish tailing in front of us. I called the fish to Brendan but he couldn't see it. I tried to talk him through the cast but he made a presentation that the fish never saw. Alec saw the fish and made a prefect cast. he reeled in his lure, dropped it right in front of the fish and the red lit up and inhaled his jerkbait. Here is Alec with another nice redfish from our trip.

Brendan, Alec and Gary posing for a group shot with Alec's redfish.

The guys were getting a lot of shots at some nice upper slot fish, but Brendan hadn't been able to connect. I was determined to get him a fish but at the end of the day sometimes it just isn't going to happen, whether its the fish or the angler.... Everything has to come together. Brendan was beginning to look defeated, we were down to the last 10 minutes of the trip (in my mind, I was going to keep him out there as long as I could to get him hooked up). Suddenly, we poled up on fish with his face buried deep in the grass with the tip of his tail slowly waiving at us. I called the fish to Brendan, "Ok Brendan, look at 11 o'clock!" Brendan excitedly spots the fish and instinctively makes a great presentation. The fish feels the bait, looks up and crushes his DOA paddle tail and it was on! After a couple nice runs, Brendan brings his first legit redfish to the boat, I get my hands on the fish and bring him into the boat. After a quick couple of pictures, the fish was released and swam off strong. The guys ended up having a great day and both guys caught their first redfish after multiple trips to Florida and also set personal bests for themselves. It was an epic day!

Brendan with his bottom of the 9th, bases loaded redfish.

Upcoming Events:
May 7th at 5:30 PM - Flies and Lies at Orlando Outfitters. Visit www.OrlandoOutfitters.com for more details
May 15th at 6 PM - Fly Fishing Film Tour showing at the Orlando Science Center.You can purchase your tickets from Orlando Outfitters directly or online here. Doors open at 6 PM and the show starts at 7 PM.

Choosing a Fishing Guide in Mosquito Lagoon

You've read about catching redfish, you've seen it on TV, you've day dreamed about your guide poling a skiff while you cast to your first tailing redfish and now it's time to make it a reality. Mosquito Lagoon has lots of fishing guides to chose from. Just like shopping for a new TV, clothes or anything else: there are a lot of options. In your mind, you know the type of fishing you want to do. When "shopping" for your fishing guide, let him or her know what you had in mind. Some guides specialize in different styles of fishing; some soak bait on the bottom, some fish live bait, some fish artificial, some fish fly and some guides do a little bit of everything. Do your research, make a list of fishing guides you are interested in fishing with, call each of them and just talk about fishing. This will accomplish a few things. You'll get an idea of their personality, after talking with a potential fishing guide, do you think you would enjoy spending a day on the water with him? Not all personalities jive. This will also allow you to pick their brain and you'll have an idea of whether or not that particular guide specializes in the style of fishing you are looking to do.

A few things you could expect:

• Your fishing guide should be professional, after all, this is their job. Their skiff should be clean and their gear should be maintained. Your fishing guide should communicate with you the day before your trip to firm up any outstanding details about your charter, for example where to meet in the morning. Keep in mind, fishing guides are on the water most of the time, so if you call your guide and he doesn't answer the phone, don't freak out, leave a message with your contact information and wait for a call back.
• Your fishing guide should work hard for you. As a fishing guide, it is our job to put you in the best situation to catch fish the way you want to catch fish. If you told your fishing guide that it's your dream to catch a redfish on a fly rod, then your guide needs to work hard to make that happen for you. There is no guarantee that it is going to happen, but you should feel like your guide did everything he could to make it happen. That doesn't mean your guide should put a spinning rod in your hand with a mullet chunk on the hook and then cast it out for you, hook into the a fish and hand you the rod to reel it in. It happens. As the client, you made it clear, you wanted to catch a fish a certain way. The client should be able to call the shots, your fishing guide works for you. 

If you are considering booking a fishing guide, please give me a call. I'd love to be your fishing guide for your trip to Mosquito Lagoon!

Capt. Jesse Register
407-448-2017

Tips for Sight Fishing Mosquito Lagoon

What is sight fishing? Sight fishing is a tactic used by many anglers and guides where you see the fish swimming, laid up, tailing or pushing a wake and then make a presentation to that target with a lure or fly. Sight fishing is a preferred method of fishing for many anglers and guides. For a lot of anglers, they've never done this type of fishing before, let alone know what it means or how to do it... It's more like hunting in the sense that you see your target versus fishing with live or dead bait waiting for a fish to come to your offering.

The first and most important element in sight fishing on Mosquito Lagoon, or any body of water, is to be able to see the fish. Your guide spends a lot of time on the water and their eyes are conditioned for spotting fish. Your eyes may not be and that is okay. After a little bit of time on the water and seeing a few examples of your target species doing their thing, you'll quickly pick up on what to look for. There is one piece of equipment you must have in order to have a successful day of sight fishing, that is a quality pair of polarized sunglasses. There is a vast variety of options to chose from including lens colors, frames, lenses materials, etc. My personal choice of sunglasses for sight fishing on Mosquito Lagoon is Smith Optics, specifically their new line of lens, chromapop. The chromapop lenses is their newest technology featuring crisper color contrast and optical clarity. If you're looking to upgrade your sunglasses for sight fishing, definitely check out the chromapop lens from Smith Optics.

Even in cloudy conditions, quality polarized sunglasses will help you pick out a floating fish. Photo credit: Paul Volkerson.

Now that we've gone over the most important piece of equipment for sight fishing Mosquito Lagoon, let's talk a little about what you are looking for. Sometimes sighting fish is really easy, they may stick out like a sore thumb. Below is a picture of a huge pod of tarpon pushing over a white sand bottom. There isn't much for them to camouflage themselves therefore making it very easy to visually pick up on their presence.

Huge string of tarpon swimming high in the water column over a sandy bottom. Photo credit: unkown.

 It's not always that easy to sight your target. Below is a picture of a redfish swimming away over a grassy bottom. As you can see, it can be much tougher to make out your target. There are some tips you can employ to better your odds of picking out a fish, visually, and increase your odds of making a good presentation that invokes an eat from a fish.

Redfish swimming away over a grassy bottom. Photo credit: Jesse Register.

Tip number 1: Whenever you are sight fishing, you want to put the sun at your back. Having the sun at your back helps "light up" the flat and allows you to see through the water much better. If you are facing into the sun, there will be a glare on the water making it next to impossible to see through the water. Additionally, if the sun is at your back and you see a fish in front of you it means the fish is looking into the sun and it will be that much tougher for the fish to see you. 

Tip number 2: When you are working a grass flat, focus on sand holes. Not only do fish tend to hang around the sand holes and use them as ambush points but as a fish swims over a sandy patch it will be much easier to visually pick up on the fish's presence. 

Tip number 3: Slow down. Sight fishing is a game of patience. You can't force it. The slower you work an area, the better your odds get. Poling slowly across a flat will create a smaller footprint in the water, the fish will be less likely to feel your presence and you'll give your eyes more time to dissect the flat.

I hope these tips help your sight fishing improve and result in more hook ups and more fish brought to the boat.