Mosquito Lagoon & Indian/Banana River Report

Daytona Beach to Cocoa Beach.

March / April  2008

FLATS AND NEAR SHORE

Mosquito Lagoon & Indian/Banana River Report

Daytona Beach to Cocoa Beach.

March / April  2007

FLATS AND NEAR SHORE

SPRING IS HERE!!!  

    Spring is in the air and the fishing is about to blossom along the space and treasure Coasts. With rapidly warming air and water temperatures, the fish show their appreciation by feeding for longer durations and with more intensity that we’ve seen during the recent winter months. Happy fish! Hungry fish! My kind of fish! That’s what spring is all about!

    Along the beaches and near shore water anglers will be looking for the annual spring cobia migration or “cobia run’ as it’s commonly known. This is when Cobia from 10 to 80 pounds move from the offshore wrecks and reefs they’ve called home all winter to the near shore waters in search of an easy meal. There main food sources are crabs, shrimp, and menhaden all of which generally hold in the 30 to 50 foot depths along our coastline. The best part about fishing for cobia is the ability to “sight fish” for these aggressive shark-like creatures. The preferred method for cobia fishing is to go out on a calm day get the sun to your back and simply look into the water for a brownish colored spot. Once located these fish will hit a variety of natural and artificial baits and lures. My favorite is a top water walking style or chugger style plug. This type of lure invokes vicious strikes from most of the fish you throw it at. The other lure I rely on is a ¾ to 1-¼ ounce saltwater assassin Jig head with an assassin 6 inch turbo sea shad tail attached. This lure looks very realistic in the water and creates vibrations that the cobia can home in on easily if I’m working in turbid or off colored waters. Spring Cobia don’t hang around for very long generally for only two to three weeks. They usually show up when the water temperatures hit 68 degrees and leave when the water gets to about the 73 degree mark, but the nice thing about having a trailerable boat such as my Pathfinder 2200V is that you can follow them up the coast by simply launching at various locations between Ft. Piece and Daytona as they make the move northward.

    In the lagoons, redfish and trout transform from rigid, unmoving, “popsicles” that spook at the slightest sign of a live bait or lure in their vicinity, into actual living, breathing, moving, feeding fish. Hallelujah!!!!! This transformation is long over-due in my opinion. But mother nature understand my mental limitations, and just when I’m at my breaking point and I’m about to snap and go postal, she sends a breath of warmth igniting the appetites of the fish throughout our lagoons and restoring my sanity in the process. Small plastic tails on 1/16 to ¼ ounce jig heads, 1/8 to ¼ ounce spoons, soft plastic jerk baits, and top water plugs all begin to work their way back into my springtime fishing arsenal.  So whether you decide to chase cobia along the beaches, or trout, reds, or snook on the flats, spring time is the right time to get out and enjoy what mother nature has to offer

Capt. Jim Ross of Florida Light Tackle Charters!
Until next time...Catch a memory!

Happy New Year!
Mosquito Lagoon & Indian/Banana River Report

January  2006

FLATS AND NEAR SHORE

I hope you catch twice as many fish this year as you did in 2005.

January can be an interesting month along the coastline of East Central Florida. As fisherman we'll need to keep an eye on the weather, as it will have the largest single effect on fish behavior throughout all three lagoon systems (Indian, Banana and Mosquito lagoons). If it remains fairly warm, we should see redfish and trout continue to hold on the shallow grass flats as they have for the past few months. They will be chasing small baitfish and crustaceans that are scurrying around. If Old Man Winter blows through on regular intervals these same areas will most likely be devoid of reds, trout, or anything else, as these fish seek shelter in the deeper portions of the lagoon system.

Warm pattern-Look for trout, snook, and reds to hold in the 2-4 foot depths early then move to the shallowest, wind-protected flats in the area during the mid morning time frame as the sun warms these areas. Long (sometimes very long) cast are required as these fish will become extremely spooky in the cool, crystal clear water they'll be holding in. Small soft plastic baits, spoons, or live shrimp will produce the most strikes under these conditions. When the conditions get right expect to catch 10-15 reds and 20-50 trout per trip.

Cold pattern-Fish deep in dredge holes or canals. Look for areas such as rocks, sea walls, etc., nearby with ample sun exposure to hold warmth (and fish) in these areas. Work your baits and lures extremely slow! In the cold water nothing moves fast, so don't expect a fish to chase your lure moving in an unnaturally fast manner. In most cases when you think you going slow enough-slow down even more. Suspending lures or slow sinking jigs get the nod under these conditions. Live shrimp will too, but you may have to endure the dreaded pinfish attack in many of these deeper areas. Fly fisherman throwing sinking shooting heads or sink tip lines with small minnow or shrimp imitations often out-produce live baiters under these conditions, so if the wind is down, grab that buggy whip and go put a bend in it.

The thing I like best about fishing during the colder periods is that you usually don't have to be on the water until the crack of 9:00 am or so. That's right, sleep in, grab a cup of coffee (or two), and fry up some eggs and bacon before we head out to our favorite fishing hole! Boy! It's too bad this won't work during the summer months.

Recent Florida Light Tackle/Jim Ross catches include:

The Augustine Chan party from Orlando Fl. with 8 black drum to 17 pounds, a couple of redfish, and a dozen trout. Indian River lagoon.

The Dr. Jonathan Payne party from Melbourne Fl. with 8 redfish to 24 inches, 3 black drum, 10 trout, and a snook (which is a 4 species Inshore grand slam). Indian River Lagoon.

The Myron Willard party from Leesburg Fl. with 32 whiting (that's one heck of a fish fry) and eight trout. Indian River Lagoon.

Bill and Kay Moyde, and there daughter Paige Goode with 3 black drum to 8 pounds, 5 redfish, and 6 trout. Indian River Lagoon.

Mike and Vicki Rutherford from Astatula Fl. with 40 + trout (we lost count) and 1 fat pompano, which they invited home for dinner. Mosquito Lagoon.

I took a busman's holiday on Jan 2nd, and took my girlfriend and son out from 1 PM until 5 PM in the afternoon. We (or should I say they) combined for 53 trout and 4 redfish. Actually, I got to land a half a dozen of the trout and two reds. Mosquito Lagoon.

Dan Giordano and his two sons Chris (10 yrs old) and Mikey (8 yrs old) went on Wednesday the 4th. They combined for 35 + trout, 1 redfish, and 1 flounder. Mosquito Lagoon.

As you can see, the "catching" has been good. We don't have very many "giant" sized fish to target during the winter months, but the fish that are here can be a real blast on most days as long as the weather cooperates.

Capt. Jim Ross of Florida Light Tackle Charters!
Until next time...Catch a memory!

Mosquito Lagoon & Indian/Banana River Report

December  2005

FLATS AND NEAR SHORE

The past few weeks on the Mosquito lagoon have been a major transition period with the normal winter patterns emerging. Dropping water levels have pushed many of the fish that were in the backcountry closer the edges of flats and depressions. Slot reds have started to school up, something they will do in great numbers as cooler temps continue.

Look for reds and trout to be sunning in the sandy potholes early in the morning, which is the major wintertime pattern in our area
Soft plastics rigged weedless continue to land the majority of the fish. These lagoon reds aggressively ate an Exude dart in the natural shrimp & mangrove red colors. The normal pattern for the next few months will be a cold front pushing through every 3-5 days. When this happens the dropping temps and high winds will all but shut down the fishing for a day or 2. But the bite will quickly rebound and if you’re lucky enough to be on the water on a warmer day between the fronts the bite can be outstanding.

Such was the case for myself this week, fishing before an oncoming cold front we enjoyed a flat full of redfish tailing. These fish were very spooky and we had several refusals but with the right presentation they were happy to eat a shrimp fly I tied that morning.
Pat scored with this nice 15lb red before 20mph winds kicked up and forced us to ride through the saltwater fire hose back to the ramp.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS
&
MERRY FISHING

Capt. Bryan

Mosquito Lagoon & Indian/Banana River Report

October 1st, 2005


Florida Fishing Report for:
Daytona Beach to Cocoa Beach.
Updated: October 10, 2005.

FLATS AND NEAR SHORE


PORT CANAVERAL-This is the month that everything gets crazy in and around the waters of Port Canaveral. Millions of finger sized mullet are streaming southward on their annual Fall migration, and the Port's basins and beaches remind me of a war zone as predator fishes explode on these hapless baitfish. Virtually every popular species of game fish in the Atlantic are hot on their tails. Spanish mackerel, snook, redfish, tarpon, bluefish, flounder, crevalle jack are some of the more common species one is likely to encounter. But did you also know that cobia, king mackerel, tripletail, various snapper, grouper, and shark, barracuda, and even black drum are possible catches in the frothing water this month? Live offerings are hard for these various predators to turn down. If you insist on tricking them with artificial lures, almost anything resembling a small mullet will usually get you a hook up quickly. Just be sure to bring enough of them to keep you that way. Many of these species have plenty of cutting edges on their teeth and gill plates, making quick work of leader material, or that favorite plug you've decided to cast for them. Anglers running the surf line in skiffs such as my Pathfinder 2200V should have no problem finding the most active battle zones. Just look for diving pelican imitating fighter jets on a bombing run and mullet exploding below them to indicate the areas with the hottest fishing action.

In recent days the weather has really been cooperating. We've had tripletail to 18 pounds hanging out on the bouys. Jigs tipped with shrimp or live baitfish such as pogies and finger mullet have been working best. These fish pull hard, and fight very much like grouper do on the offshore reefs. Also our fall migration of cobia to 40 pounds has started in the nearshore waters. With the calm seas we've been able to "site cast" to these cruising fish with jigs and topwater plugs. Watching a cobia "light up' and hit a top water plugs is one of the best strikes you'll ever see. This month and next should be awesome if the weather stays nice like this.

INDIAN and BANANA RIVER and Mosquito Lagoon-A noisy top water plug is the perfect choice for anyone wishing to capitalize on the overaggressive nature of the trout, snook, and especially the giant redfish. Often these species become almost reckless in their attempts to fatten themselves up for the winter months that lay ahead.

On three separate occasions in the past week we've caught spawning fish that are school up with top water plugs. Last Friday the Ryan Burrows party From Gainesville, Florida landed 6 fish to 36 inches out of a school I had never found before in the Indian River. (Finding a "new" school is really cool because it give you one more option for you future clients.) Plus 8 or 9 trout. On Sunday one of my regular clients Robin Carpenter from Deltona, Florida landed six reds to 27 inches working a small piece of shoreline that was protected from the wind. She also had shots at ladyfish, small tarpon, and landed a couple of trout all on 6 pound class gear. On Tuesday I had local Car dealer Ron Norris out for a 4 hr trip. it was a beautiful morning and the big tarpon (40 to 80 pounds) were rolling for about the first hour after daylight, but try as we may we didn't convince any to bite. So we went looking for trout and reds. Ron landed 2 reds to 26 inches and about 6 or 7 trout from a small marsh runout on the east shoreline of the Indian River. On Thursday I had a photo shoot for Florida Sportsman Magazine. We only went out for two hours but had an increadible midday bite. I located a school of really big redfish and we inticed them to strike our top water plugs. We had the fish so fired up at one point that they were knocking the plug 2 to 3 feet into the air as they struck at it. We managed to keep a few of them from snapping our lures in half (yes they actually broke the plugs in half) or bending the hooks straight. These are big strong fish that averaged 44 inches (26 pounds)on my boga grip scale. What an awesome day!


Until next time...Catch a memory!

Capt. Jim Ross / Florida Light Tackle Charters 866-482-7766
 

Mosquito Lagoon & Indian/Banana River Report

The summer bite is on! Most mornings recently we have had outstanding topwater action for trout up 7lb. Fishing spoil islands & drop-offs that have large schools of finger mullet present are key to landing numbers of quality fish. Poppers and walk-the-dog type plugs are both deadly when worked aggressively around bait pods. Yesterday the fish seemed to prefer a popper while the previous days proved a walking plug more effective. So it’s a good idea to try both to find out what they are want that day.


Once the sun gets up we have been greeted by schools of 20+ pound redfish finning and tailing in the slick calm water. A well-presented topwater, soft plastic, or fly is a good choice for happy tailing fish in the morning.
Unfortunately once other boats encroach upon you and start bombing the fish with live baits the artificial bite goes down hill fast.
This is why the artificial bite on these fish has not been the greatest the past week but giving the fish what they wanted provided lots of action.

Fly anglers are getting good numbers of shots at slot fish cruising shorelines which are eager to pounce on a well presented fly.

We are within a month of the heaviest spawning activity by our local breeder redfish. Soon we will have 3,4,500 and more fish schooled up on the deeper flats of the lagoon and river. This is your best chance of the year for that trophy bull redfish on light tackle or fly. Glenn Pla experienced a great day this month landing fish up to 28lb as he filmed an upcoming episode of the Average Angler Adventures.
this episode should be aired soon.

Tarpon up to 60lb are on Titusville flats ready to test you tackle. These fish can be very tough to get to eat but if you are patient you’ll be rewarded with a river silver king. Live mullet has been best for these fish.

Look for schools of jacks, ladyfish & the occasional bluefish on channel edges slashing through schools of glass minnows & pilchards. Small bright colored spoons, jigs & clousers are all effective.

Pompano have invaded the north end of the river, from the power plants to Scottsmore. Look for fish skipping in your wake or target them around area bridges. Small bright jigs are the ticket. Some like to tip the jig with a piece of shrimp or sand flea as an added attractant.

Look for the most action on the flats early in the morning and target deeper flats as the days heat increases and you should have a consistent bite on a variety of species.


TIGHT LINES

Capt. Bryan Pahmeier
 

Mosquito Lagoon & Indian/Banana River Report

The bite has been great the past few weeks on the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River. Redfish, Trout, Snook & Tarpon are all available to challenge light tackle and fly anglers.

Trout are shadowing bait pods in 2-4ft of water. The topwater bite in the early hours has been awesome. Most are in the 1-3lb range but trout up to 5lb have been landed on poppers. Once the sun gets up switching to soft plastics & flies will result in more strikes. The north end of the river had a great trout bite this weekend. Trying to stay away from the crowds we drifted in 4-6ft of water catching 15-20 trout on bright colored clousers.
Schools of jacks, ladyfish and even bluefish were on the channel edges slashing through glass minnow pods, which made for great action on the ultralight and fly rod. I also had chance to try Tyger leader as a shooting head and was very happy with the results. Connecting a short 15-18inch piece of 70lb. Tyger leader was perfect for getting the floating line down to the trout. This is ideal when all you have on board is a floating line and need to get deeper. Also a short bite tippet of 10-15lb will keep the toothy critters connected and it comes in a variety of colors. Check it out at www.tygerleader.com

Schools of bull redfish finning and tailing in the calm morning hours have been the norm lately. Quietly approaching these fish on the push pole and properly presenting your bait is a key to a hook up. Bonnie McIlrath of Virginia enjoyed battling these Mosquito Lagoon redfish


Look for the action to get hotter as temperatures increase and more bait floods onto area flats.


TIGHT LINES

Capt. Bryan Pahmeier

APRIL FISHING REPORT FOR MOSQUITO LAGOON / BANANA RIVER

Well spring is here, the finger mullet & pinfish are flooding onto the flats
from their winter haunts and right behind them are the Trout, Redfish, Snook & Tarpon.

The trout and redfish bite remained great throughout the winter as it
usually does. The north Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon have been yielding
excellent catches for anglers quietly poling the flats using small soft
plastics like the DOA Cal’s & shrimp. Best colors have depended on how
bright it is. On cloudy days Pearl w/chartreuse tail or chartreuse/silver
glitter got more bites but days when the sun was at it’s brightest darker
colors like Avocado/Red Glitter, Silver Mullet, Rootbeer/Chartreuse Tail
are the colors of choice. I like rigging them on a 4/0 Daiichi Butt-Dragger
w/ the 1/8th oz. DOA pinch weight. If needed I will cut the pinch weight in
half so it’s only 1/16th oz. , usually that’s when I’m in water less than
8inches or am fishing 8-10lb trout which tend to be much spookier to things
landing in the water.

Wind has dictated where we could fish a lot of last month, sometimes we were
limited to hugging the shoreline to find a lee and pick off single fish in the potholes.
While other days were glass calm and we could fish schools of redfish in the 20-40lb range in the 3-6ft depths.
Regardless of the weather we still put bends in the rods

The bites only going to get better and in a month we’ll have schools of Bull
Reds number in the hundreds grouped up. All of these fish will be in the
20+lb range and will crush soft plastics and topwaters when presented right.

Look for snook and small tarpon on area docks aggressively taking
artificials and livies. Remember to use a minimum of 30lb leader for these
fish.


The time is right so get out there and GET 1!!!

Capt. Bryan Pahmeier

 

Capt. Jim Ross

Florida Fishing Report for:
Daytona Beach to Cocoa Beach.
Updated: April 02, 2005.

FLATS FISHING

PORT CANAVERAL-April is one of the best months of the year for anglers
throughout the Lagoons and near coastal waters of the Space Coast. I say this
because this is the month when old man winter finally loses control over this
portion of Florida and we can expect stable temperatures through most of the month.
Stable temperatures are an important part of fishing, because it allows us
to establish definable patterns in the baitfish and predator fish we pursue.
Anglers plying the surf should be able to catch bluefish, pompano, whiting,
redfish, and snook along the beaches (at least in areas where "beach
renourishment" projects aren't ruining water quality and destroying worm rock and
limestone ledges and formations). Near coastal boaters should find tarpon, cobia,
tripletail, and a variety of shark species feeding on baitfish pods (mostly
menhaden) that are just out of reach of the average surf angler. Recently weather
has cancelled many of my planed nearshore trips but we did manage to get out a
few days here and there with good results.

On march 29th I took my 8 yr. old son and two friends out scouting and landed
cobia to 41 pounds.

On March 30th Dan Giordano and his 2 sons from Orlando caught their limit of
cobia to 39 pounds.

On April 4th the Walter Day Paty of Merritt Island, Fl. landed their limit of
cobia as well.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays trips have unfortunately been cancelled
due to rough sea conditions. This really stinks because the fish are thick out
there right now.

Anglers will be amazed at the numbers of large redfish and trout they are
able to catch while using top water plugs that imitate the primary food source
available this month-the mullet. In fact, April is consistently the best month
for my clients to catch trout that exceed the 5 pound mark using these types
of artificial lures. My largest speckled trout (an 11.5 pound fish) and the
largest ever taken by one of my clients (John Duda with a 12 pound monster) both
came during the month of April. Big redfish in the 30 to 45 inch range
become more predictable this month also, and they too will strike a well presented
top water lure or live mullet. The key to catching these large fish is
stealth. If a large trout or red knows you're in the area, the game is over. Push
pole or drift through the areas you wish to fish. A running trolling motor is
about the quickest way to alert them of your presence. To them, a trolling
motor sounds about like an ambulance siren does to us. If you think you can't
use a push pole because your boat is too big, I'm here to tell you that I push
pole my 22' Pathfinder bay boat 100 yards or more to get my clients or myself
into an area of flats that will produce fish like the ones mentioned above.
If you are physically unable to do this, then you can set your boat up to
drift into a spot with the wind or current and achieve similar results. Just
remember, big fish are smart fish, so sneak up on them when you can. Soft Plastic
5 inch Saltwater Assassin jerk baits in the Native Shiner or Gold Pepper
shiner colors work extremely well in stained water and the Native Shrimp and
Salt-n-Pepper/chartreuse tail colors work well in clear water situations once the
sun passes the 9 O'clock position in the sky and the top water plugs lose their
effectiveness.

My recent trips in the river have produced some really nice trout and
redfish.

On March 21st the Hansen Lau party from Miami Fl. landed 9 redfish to 29
inches and 3 trout to 4.5 pounds with me in the Mosquito Lagoon during a morning
trip. Top water plugs and soft plastic baits did the trick for us.

That afternoon David Walter and his 9 yr old son had 4 big trout between 3
and 5 pounds and a mess of smaller trout while using jigs and soft plastic
Assassin jerk baits.

On Tuesday the 22nd Jeff Spyckaboer and his 13 yr old son fished with me in
the Banana River. They landed 13 trout to 5.25 pounds of Saltwater Assassin
jerk baits.

On the 23rd we cancelled the trip because of Tornado Warnings!!!

On the 24th The Wayne Thompson party had 6 trout to 3.75 pounds and 4 reds to
5 pounds on gold spoons on a 6 hr trip.

I fished in the Keys for the next four days and caught snook, reds, jack,
ladyfish and others with my son and girlfriend. Yes I do still go fishing when
I'm not actually "working." (Besides, the Rum Runners are better down there
anyway.)

Until next time...Catch a memory!

Captain Jimmy Ross       Florida Light Tackle Charters

MOSQUITO LAGOON, & BANANA RIVER

As the sun comes over the dunes and burns through the morning fog nervous
water can be seen ahead as hundreds of redfish slowly mill about tipping the
surface with their tales. I quietly poled in range ahead of the school and
we fired 2 soft plastics 20ft ahead of them and waited while they
approached. When they were 5 feet from the lure my client twitched it off
the bottom and the lead fish charged the bait and crushed it. After a few
minutes a nice 11lb red came to the boat

After a quick photo we were back at it, again getting ahead of the fish so
we could lead them with the bait. When the cast and presentation was right
it was a guaranteed hook-up and another nice redfish

After several fish from that school we poled away and left them biting to
look for some bigger fish. A quick run and we found a school of 60-80 bull
reds in 3-5ft of water. We had several shots that were refused because of
casting to close to fish. Once I got my client to lead the fish enough and
let his bait get to the bottom it was on.
After a 20 minute fight we landed this 38lb pig

This has been the norm the past week in the Indian River & Mosquito Lagoon.
We’ve been blessed with stable weather and the fish have been chewing.
Quietly approaching with the push pole is a must and it is essential that
you lead the fish at least 10ft.
Casting to close will only result in spooking the fish and a missed
opportunity.

I had great results this week with the CAL shad tail by DOA, rigged on a
Daiichi buttdragger hook. We had the best results with bright colors like
gold flake early in the morning and once the sun got high switching to
darker colors like rootbeer/chartreuse tail and Avacodo/red glitter produced
more bites.

The bite should continue to be great this coming week for light tackle and
fly anglers and if the weather continues to warm it won’t be long before we
see some snook showing up on the flats and then the small tarpon. The bites
hot so pick to target and go GET 1


TIGHT LINES

Capt. Bryan Pahmeier/  www.floridalighttacklecharters.com

MOSQUITO LAGOON, & BANANA RIVER

 
Well I hope you got on the water the past several days because it’s been
awesome. Hopefully you have a gps because the fogs been like pea soup,
which requires caution to safely navigate in the early morning hours. Not
only to keep yourself from finding a sand bar but to avoid other anglers
already on the water.

Trout up to 10lb are holding in sandy potholes in 6-10inches of water, with
the best areas being shorelines that are protected from the wind and holding
lots of small mullet and pinfish. The best bait is a lively finger mullet in
the 4-6inch range with a 3/0 hook behind the dorsal fin. Hooked this way the
mullet can be cast very far & made to flutter on top which big trout find
irresistible. The best artificial would be soft plastics rigged weedless.
Topwaters are also productive if there is enough water to work them without
hanging up in the grass.

If redfish are your target your in luck; Mosquito Lagoon if full of schools
of redfish numbering in the hundreds. These fish are getting a lot of
pressure so it’s best to be first on the flats and use stealth to approach
these weary fish. Presentation is key to repeated hookups; leading these
fish by 10-15feet is a must. DOA shrimp & CAL jerk baits get the thumbs up
for producing numbers of lagoon reds this week. Best colors were rootbeer w/
chartreuse tail, near clear & chartreuse w/ red flake.

Fly fisherman have had very good success with bright colored mullet
patterns. Hillary joined me for 2 days of fly-fishing in the goon recently
landing numbers redfish on the fly.

Yesterday I spent the day with Capt. Blair Wiggins sightfishing Mosquito
Lagoon redfish for an upcoming episode of Addictive Fishing. The original
plan was to get one of the 10-12lb trout I’ve been on. But that didn’t
happen for us so we switched gears and went for redfish. We fished a school
of 2-300 hundred fish in the north end . Then after they got wise we went
south to finish the day with the standard winter time pattern of fishing the
sandy potholes. It was a foggy start but a great day with fish up to 14lb
landed.

TIGHT LINES

Capt. Bryan Pahmeier
www.floridalighttacklecharters.com

January Fishing In Mosquito Lagoon

You can’t ask for a better time to be on the water.
Take your pick of species Redfish, Trout, Black Drum, Snook, Tripletail,
Cobia!! In January!!!!
I can’t remember when we’ve had such an incredible bite in January. The past
week Mother Nature has blessed us with spring like temperatures, calm winds
and fish chewing the gel-coat off the boat.

The redfish bite continues to be strong in the north Indian River and the
Goon. Fish up to 21lb have been caught the past week and a typical day has
yielded numbers in the double digits. The best baits have been small plastic
baits in the 3-4 inch range. The best colors were pumpkin seed/chartreuse
tail & salt & pepper. Live shrimp will get the fussy fish that refuse the
artificials but I’ve been coming back to the dock with almost all my shrimp
everyday because we never needed them to catch fish.


Pay close attention to the sandy potholes as your likely to see redfish and
trout up to 10+ lbs. lying in wait to ambush their next meal.

Look for black drum to be tailing early on the edges of sand bars and dredge
holes. Live shrimp or black jig/fly is best for these fish.
The snook have made an early appearance south of the power plants. Some
docks are holding 8-10 fish in the 5-7lb ranges that will readily take a
live finger mullet. Remember to step up to at least a 30lb leader

The big bite has been on the beach, yes that’s right the beach. The run to
Pelican will easily yield your limit on kingfish. Late last week the Cobia
showed up in force and the big boats have been catching numbers of 30-50lb
fish everyday. The seas have been calm and allowed light tackle crowd in on
the action. Yesterday we brought 2 30lb Cobia to the boat and several
Tripletail.

Today we landed over 15 tripletail most being 8-10lb. the biggest being a
30lber, my personal best caught on 15lb line.

All of these fish were sightcast to, half on shrimp half on artificials.


The bites HOT!! So go GET 1!!

TIGHT LINES

Capt. Bryan Pahmeier
www.floridalighttacklecharters.com

MOSQUITO LAGOON / TITUSVILLE

WINTER FLATS FISHING

Winter fishing in Florida is either "on" or "off" depending on how the cold
fronts move across the state. For the most part, fishing is best a few days
after a front has past. This is when the weather starts to moderate. That is
exactly what happened this past week for us here on the closest saltwater flats to
Disney World.

Right now live shrimp are the preferred bait for most of my charters but, soft
plastic jigs, and soft plastic jerk baits (at times) are working really well
for the trout, redfish, and snook.

Our biggest redfish this week was a 28 pounder that measured 42 inches in
length. Though this isn't your average winter redfish, it was a really nice
change of pace from the more abundant 16 to 25 inch fish we've been landing.

The trout action is getting really good in the deeper holes of our three
Lagoons (Mosquito, Indian, and Banana) and the snook went on a feeding frenzy at
the beginning of last week. We usually don't catch many of these fish between
December and February, but they went nuts for a few days last week.

Without going to far back, here's the list of catches for my last few trips.

Monday Dec 27th

Morning trip-Stewart Phillips party (4 person) from Michigan. 27 ladyfish, 8
crevalle jack, 13 redfish, and 3 snook. The ladyfish and jack were caught on
plastic Saltwater Assassin 4 inch "turbo shad" plastic jig tails in the candy
corn and sweat pea colors. The reds and snook hit live shrimp.

Afternoon trip-My good buddy Harold Dixon from North Carolina landed 18
redfish and 5 snook on live shrimp. Harold remarked that he could almost count the
number of cast that he didn't catch a fish on one hand during that trip.
Afterward he treated me to a tasty blackened grouper sandwich and a few cold adult
beverages at one of the local watering holes, Thanks again Harold.

Tuesday Dec 28th was a full day trip with Bill Moyd and his lovely wife. They
caught 23 ladyfish, two jack, and 14 redfish on Saltwater Assassin jigs and
live shrimp.

Wednesday Dec 29th was a full day trip with one of my best fly fishing
customers Richard Furman from New York City. Rich flew solo this trip, and landed 5
redfish to 11 pounds and 3 trout to 2.5 pounds. Most of the fish were caught
while site casting to them. With the exception of one red, all of the fish
struck a small "Kwan" fly I tied on for Rich. Back in The fall Rich brought a buddy
of his along and they tag teamed for a good catch of redfish and trout
including a huge 7.25 pound "gator" that slammed a Dan Johnson tied "Redfish Candy"
fly. We spotted this beautiful fish laying in a sandy pothole, and site cast
to it three times before coaxing it to take our offering.

Thursday Dec 30th.

Morning trip-Tim Burkhart party (4 person) from Wisconsin. At least 40
ladyfish and one jack. I lost count they were pulling them in so fast. You can
imagine how busy I was, between re-rigging the baits, re-tying the leaders,
untangling lines, and unhooking fish I could hardly keep up with it all. Plus I
didn't feel very well for some reason.

Afternoon trip-David Cohen party (2 person) from California. By this time I
really didn't feel good. Dave and his son landed a hand full of ladyfish and
two reds before I felt like I was going to puke and cut the trip short. I guess
it was a 24 hour bug but man was it a nasty one.

Friday Dec 31-I braved it and took one of my favorite repeat clients Rick
Montz and his 3 person party from Debary, Florida out for a six hour session.
They racked up over forty trout to 3 pounds and two redfish using Assassin soft
plastic jerk baits and plastic turbo shad jig tails. Not only did the fish bite
well but I didn't puke the whole time we were out. Boy was I happy about
that.

The fishing will continue to be this good for the next few weeks if the
weather cooperates. So if you were thinking of coming to Florida to fish (and get
away from the cold), give me a call and lets get you locked in for a fun
filled day or two on the water.

Until next time....Keep your rod bent!

Capt. Jimmy Ross 

www.floridalighttacklecharters.com

                            Holiday Report

Well the cooler temps have come back and if your like me and hate the cold you’ll be warm and comfy at sunrise drinking coffee and rigging rods. The bite has been better in the afternoon so I’ve been starting around 8, if it’s not cloudy the sun has usually warmed the flats a degree or so and will be
high enough so that you can see better. The lagoon has been the place for numbers of fish. I’ve seen a lot of fish just sunning themselves not showing themselves till their 10 ft. from boat and spook. To get those fish it’s a major advantage that the sun is up, the higher the better and behind you. I’ve seen numbers of Big Reds from 12-40+lb. in the Indian River.. These fish were in 1 ½-3ft. ft of water. You’re not going to see a tightly grouped school, but more an area with a lot of fish and spread out.

  While some of these fish this week ate plastic aggressively. Most were finicky, which required perfect presentation. We had fish this week that passed by live shrimp 2ft. from their head. Also with the big fish be on the lookout for black drum, although we didn’t land one this week. I saw fish in the 20-35lb
range this week. Big trout can also be found with the best place to look being areas with good sandy potholes. Fish up to 7lb. were caught this week. These fish are extremely spooky, so super stealth mode is a must. One of my favorite things to do this time of year is be on a flat 3 hours before dark. Grab your warm jacket & your drink of choice. Put the skiff in
a foot of water and kick back and have a drink. The typical wintertime pattern is that the wind will die down about 2 hours before dark. Leaving the river like a sheet of glass, and then as if someone flicked a switch; a tail breaks the water, then another, another. I’ve sat in one place on winter afternoons and had no less than 100-150 fish tail by the boat and never un-staked. About 8 years ago while in my gheenoe. A young lady on board caught 15 redfish on 12 shrimp, not bad for 7 year old, huh? That spot, which we nicknamed the ‘redhole’ is the flat that runs from Barge Canal up the west bank to the NMZ. Those fish move into the deeper water of the canal on the cold nights and then as the sun warms the flats the next morning go back onto the flat. Since all the fish are not going to move up
all at once, they’ll be spaced out. So by the time sunset comes, you have a nice line of fish all headed back to the canal. Giving you a shot a fish about every 5-10 minutes, that’s not bad. If the first one doesn’t eat, take a shot the 2nd. What makes this even better is if you make a bad cast and spook a fish his buddy tailing your way 200ft down the bank is no more wary
of your presence. Artificial baits will work but shrimp is a guaranteed hook up.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS & MERRY FISHING!!

TIGHT LINES & GOOD FISHIN!

Capt. Bryan Pahmeir

 

NOVEMBER FISHING REPORT

Light winds and bright blue skies have greeted anglers the past week on the
Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon. It was the perfect conditions for anglers
sightfishing redfish and trout on the shallow flats. Both flies and soft
plastics were received well when properly presented.
Such was the case for Terry from west coast had a banner day sightcasting to
one fish after another that pounced all over his baits

The fish are transitioning from their fall to wintertime pattern. While
there are still plenty of fish cruising right on the shorelines, the rest
have taken up station on the outside points and potholes
Quietly approaching these fish by poling or wading is key and will only
become more important as water levels continue to drop.

Keep a keen eye peeled as you pole the flat for trout in the 10-12lb range
lying in the same holes as the reds. Such was the case this past week when a
small cove that had been consistently been holding redfish for weeks seemed
to be invaded by multiple trout over 6lb some of which were easily 33-35inch
fish. The bigger fish were very spooky and would not eat in the bright
conditions. So the next morning I started my anglers off before daylight
throwing topwater. We had several blowups that missed the plugs and hooked
an 8-9lb fish that was able to throw the hooks at boatside. As the sun began
to rise the over the dunes we landed a nice 4lb trout.

Soft plastics rigged weedless in the 3-4 inch range have been most
productive. Lighter colors like white/chartreuse, gold flake have worked
best early in the morning with darker colors like rootbeer, mangrove red
taking more fish later in the day.

The bites hot, so go GET 1
&
HAPPY TURKEY DAY


TIGHT LINES

Capt. Bryan

 

November Fishing Report

By Capt. Bryan Pahmeir

The past weeks have been an awesome bite with sight casting to redfish being outstanding. The water has finally cleared up after the storms and quietly
poling shorelines has yielded multiple shots at fish on a day-to-day basis. Most are ranging in size from 4 to 9lbs and have been crushing flies & softplastics presented to them.

The Indian River remains tannin stained so throwing something that makes noise or puts out a vibration like a topwater or Qausi-jig has been drawing more strikes.  The little flounder creek area produced several slot reds and trout were numerous on the outside of the bar this past week. Moving to the lagoon the water is cleaner and fish were found from whales
tail all the way to turtle pen tailing first thing in the morning.

The northern end of Mosquito Lagoon was on fire this past week with numbers of redfish eating everything thrown at them. The farther north you get the
better the water looks and areas around Georges bar were crystal clear and thick with redfish.  Topwaters were very effective early in the morning and
produced the biggest fish while the most numbers were caught on darker colored jerkbaits rigged weedless. Concentrating on shoreline areas holding
10-12 inch mullet has been the key to finding the most numbers of fish and this pattern has been yielding 10-14 fish days consistently.

Trout to 9lb will be found in the skinniest water waiting to ambush a meal. Again areas with big mullet are most productive and concentrating on the
points of spoil islands has been the most effective technique.  Moving to 3-5ft and finding the schools of bait will yield plenty of trout in the 1-3lb range. Floating a finger mullet or pigfish under a cork is most
effective as are jigs & spoons worked beneath and on the edges of the bait pods.

Snook are still fattening up before it gets cold blasting finger mullet around docks and seawalls. Jerkbaits, swimming plugs, jigs are all effective when worked quickly around pilings and shadow lines.  For live bait a
5-6inch finger mullet hooked through the nose and freelined around the same structure is deadly.  Other effective baits are greenies, pinfish & croakers.

TIGHT LINES

Capt. Bryan Pahmeir

PORT CANAVERAL & the BANANA RIVER

October 25th, 2004

PORT CANAVERAL-This has got to be one of the best months of the year to be a surf fisherman, as the fall mullet run has been in progress for two full months. Novembers' chill brings the tail end of this daunting trek for the weary little fish that are so highly prized by most of the predatory species in the ocean. This same chill cools the near shore waters to the mid 70 degree mark, and makes them feed with incredible ferocity. Snook, redfish, tarpon, bluefish, and spanish mackerel are just a few of the species that provide awesome aerial displays as they hurl themselves skyward through the masses of silver morsels wallowing in the rough November surf. At times, they strike with such recklessness that virtually any moving object that remotely resembles a finger mullet will be devoured. Silver spoons ranging from 1/2 to 1.5 ounces are my favorite lures to use. Why? because they are the easiest (and often deadliest) lures available. Their size, shape, and flash, trigger the feeding instinct in a majority of the predators that are cruising the surf line. Ya'll have heard this from me before, but I'll say it again...it doesn't have to be fancy, it just has to work. Why make a Banana Split when a scoop of plain old vanilla ice cream will do? In addition to the previously mentioned species, I've had clients catch flounder, shark, jack, pompano, whiting, ladyfish, and even little tunny (when the beaches north of the port were open) on silver "gator style" spoons, and you can too. If all else fails you can always net a few fingerlings and hook them up on a sliding sinker rig. If that won't do it, nothing will. In fact, about the only way you can't catch something in the surf this month is to leave your rods at home when you go to the beach.

BANANA RIVER-Here too the finger mullet will be running for their lives along the shallow stretches of this body of water. Big trout, slot sized reds, jack, ladyfish, snook, and black drum will all hit a frisky live offering along the mangrove covered shorelines, bridges, docks, and open flat areas. The first five species usually like a "free lined" offering, while the drum prefer half a bait fish soaked on the bottom. Shrimp will start running in the rivers at night, and anglers will also find them to be a useful bait at this time.  Artificial baits should include top water plugs, soft jerk baits, and gold weedless spoons. Don't be afraid to experiment with color as well. In October my clients would catch fish on dark colored lures (imitators or natural colors) one day, and have great success on bright colors (attractors) the very next.  Why the fish didn't lock onto one or two colors (as they normally do) is beyond me, but I don't question, I just keep looking for the answer. Hopefully you'll find the right answer too.

Until next time...catch a memory!
Capt. Jimmy Ross

 

September & October 2004

HURRICANES!!! What a drag!

 After being pounded by Hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Jeanne, over the past 4 weeks, it's hard to believe that there is anything left standing along the Space Coast of Florida. But we will survive!

 The huge influx of fresh water into our coastal estuaries has had a devastating effect on our usually incredible Fall fishing. But the storm waters are starting to recede, and things are slowly beginning to get back to normal.

 After canceling 14 fishing trips and rescheduling 9 others since these tropical storms began, I'm now starting to get clients back out on the lagoons and near coastal waters of East Central Florida. Some trips have been good and others just fair, but at least now I'm able to get back to what I enjoy doing for a living.

 Here are a few examples:

 On Sept. 16th the Jim Thomas party from Melbourne, Fl. caught 10 redfish to 41 inches (27 pounds) and 6 trout in the Indian River on a 6 hour trip. I had them casting top water plugs and Saltwater Assassin 5 inch jerk baits most of the time.

 On Sept. 24th Justin Leasure and his wife caught multiple redfish, trout, snook, ladyfish, and jack crevalle in the Banana River. We were mainly using live mullet and top water plugs because the water was incredibly dirty and we couldn't get a sniff on any other type of artificial baits we tried.

 On Sept. 28th I had Matt Hamner and his buddy from Steamboat Springs, Colorado out for a six hour fly fishing trip on the north Indian River. They landed 4 reds on fly gear and one on spin in some of the dirtiest water conditions I've ever encountered on this piece of water. Most of the credit should go to Matt's incredible fly fishing skills. He is one of the best fly fishermen I've ever had the pleasure of guiding aboard my boat. I'd rank him in my "Top four" along with Jose' Wejebe', Richard Furman, and Dave Chermanski-(holder of 37 world records on fly gear at last count).

 On Oct. 2nd I took the Chuck Ennis party from New Jersey offshore of Cocoa Beach to sight fish for cobia. They cast to and hooked eight cobia and landed 4 of them up to 28 pounds during our 6 hour trip. We fished just after I finished hosting my Saturday morning radio show. Between the hours of 10 am and 4 pm we had great visibility due to the mid day sunlight and clear sky conditions, and we were able to find these fish feeding along a color change a few miles off the beach.

 And finally, on Monday Oct. 4th Brian Beck of Suntree, Fl. and his father Dave from Minnesota caught 5 redfish to 34 inches, 18 trout, two ladyfish, and a snook on Saltwater Assassin 4 inch turbo shad jig tails with me on the Indian River. Afterward we headed to Laggoons restaurant in Pt. St. John for one of their "world famous" blackened grouper sandwiches and a tall glass of sweet tea.

 During the remainder of October and most of November the fishing should continue to be really good. Redfish, trout, snook, tripletail, cobia, flounder, snapper, jack, ladyfish, bluefish and others will be feasting on the abundant supplies of baitfish that are migrating southward for the winter through our portion of the state. And now that the hurricane season is winding down, we can get back to some serious fishing action along the shores of the worlds most famous beach!

 Until next time...Keep your rod bent!

 Capt. Jimmy Ross

March 2004

Weather conditions have been the major obstacle facing anglers the last month, passing cold fronts bring cold and blustery conditions making the fish sluggish. They seek refuge in the warmest water they can find. Once the front passes, and the sun the quickly warms the shallows they will flood into the skinniest water they can, taking advantage of the sandy spots were they will lay and sun themselves. A ¼-1/2 degree water temp can make all the difference and while we would ideally prefer a bright sun to help see the fish, anglers who work the area fish should be holding can succeed. Such was the case this week with the Teke’s this week, we where faced with overcast, windy conditions as a front approached which hurt sightfishing but thoroughly working Exudes around sandy potholes & funny water produced half dozen fish before the rain forced us off the water.

Best artificials recently are the Exude crab in chartreuse or bullfrog & the RT-Slug in clear gold flake, mangrove red & baby bass. Topwaters has a good
bite this week also (surprisingly??) we landed 4 redfish on a zara puppy Sunday and had twice as many follow the bait but wouldn’t come up.

This is a prime wintertime pattern for fly and light tackle anglers; bright sunny days are producing shots at well over 20 fish a day. And while they
require accurate casts & presentations in the clear water only a few inches deep. Anglers who have prepared by practicing their casts before getting on
the flats are landing double-digit numbers each day.

Perfect example was the Heartling party, The 2 brothers John & James joined me for a day in the IRL. Morning started out with overcast skies and light
winds, I poled into the first flat and 200 yds ahead redfish tails waved good morning as they slowly searched the bottom for breakfast. James stood
ready with fly in hand until we were in position then let his fly land into the pothole the red was approaching and settled to the bottom. One short strip and the 9lb fish inhaled his offering and screamed down the flat
taking 60 yds of fly line with him. After a spirited battled the bronze beauty came aboard for a pic and was released with instructions to “send us
your Mommy”.

Next it was John’s turn on deck, I poled into position on another tailing fish approx. 60ft away, Johns first cast slaps hard on the water alerting the fish and sending him fleeing. Again we position on a tailing fish, first cast 10 ft short, second cast behind him, third cast landed right on his head again sending the redfish down the flat at warp speed. This seen was repeated time and time again. After about a ½ dozen missed opportunities James being the good little brother he was, was happy to show his older sibling that his angling skills were up to the task landing the next 3 fish
he cast at including a 14lb. Brute that was in 8 inches of water with his back out of the water. Later in the day John’s casting improved and he was able to get a fish to eat his fly only to miss the hookset and his best
opportunity. While we were eating lunch, John stated that he hadn’t been fishing in 3months. His brother James said that he has been practicing his casting several days a week over the last month (even took a lesson). James (who is a pilot) said “I’m taking a week off work, flying across the country, hiring a guide for 3 days to do fishing I’ve never done before. Not
preparing myself would be like taking off before making sure the propeller is tight.”

This is a perfect example of how preparing can be the difference between catching and fishing.

The next few days yielded reds up to 23lb on Exudes & cut bait and quite a few slots on spinning gear and fly. I’m also glad to say John did eventually
get his first redfish on fly (on the 3rd day), followed by a 6lb trout.

Snook have been cooperative during the warmer days for those diehards willing to put in the time. One night recently yielded 4 legal fish to 11lbs. Followed the next night by 3 legal and 1 15lb. that was released.
Pins have worked the best free lined on 20lb outfits with a 40lb fluorocarbon leader.

Cobia up to 22lb were landed around buoy 2 outside Port Canaveral this week and it should be any day when they arrive in numbers the waters close to the beach. Fish over 40lb are landed within miles of the beach each year.

We are approaching one of the best bites of the year, as the last of the cold fronts fade and temperatures become warmer and more stable. Water
levels will remain low and the clarity will be excellent. This is one of my favorite times of year for sight fishing the schools of river snook that will be coming out of their winter holes looking to fatten up after a long cold winter. Topwaters, spoons, crankbaits & jigs are ideal for the open water fish while an Exude jerkbait rigged weedless is the ticket for skipping docks, mangroves & other structure. Remember to upsize to a 12-15lb. outfit and 30-40lb. leader if you want to stand a chance of landing Mr. Linesider.

Until next time I’ll leave you with the start to a great day on the IRL,

below is a pod of 10lb reds tailing at dawn.

Capt. Bryan Pahmeier
 

 February 2004

It's been a busy month since my last report. Between running charters, going to boat shows, teaching the Indian River Fishing Academy, conducting seminars around central and south Florida, and playing Daddy to my son, I haven't had time to update this report.

So here we go.

Fishing has been good one day and poor the next depending on what the weather happens to be doing. Some of my better trips have been two to three days after a cold front has passed through the area and the weather has started to moderate a bit.

On Jan. 13th the Shelly Dard party took a 4hour trip and landed 26 ladyfish, 2 redfish, and one snook. On the 15th the George Wells party took a 4 hour trip and landed 37 trout to 4 pounds. On the 17th the Miles Charlesworth party landed 16 ladyfish, a couple of trout, and 3 really nice reds out of a school of about 80 fish. They measured 33, 34, and 42.5 inches respectively (15, 16, and 43 lbs.)

A new cold front blew through and made fishing tough for the next few days. On Jan 23rd I took David, Tom, and two other friends (I didn't get their last names) on a 4 hour trip. They landed 21 ladyfish,7 reds, and two trout.

I also got the privilege to take Air Force Reserve Master Sergeant Cliff Kunde, and Senior Master Sergeant Craig Kennedy of the Air Force 920th Rescue Wing (responsible for rescuing Jessica Lynch from terrorists in IRAQ) on a donated fishing charter to show my support and appreciation for the many men and women serving in our armed forces. Even though the fishing was less than spectacular we laughed, told stories, and had a great time on the water that day.

A few of the other memorable trips run lately are Walter and Garret Yates on the 29th. They combined for 18 trout and one redfish (some on fly gear), Walter Day 23 trout to 5 pounds and two reds on the 30th, Steve Swicker 10 reds and five trout on the 2nd of Feb., Dan Obrien 3 trout and 20 ladyfish on fly on the 5th of Feb. On some of my other trips the catching wasn't quite as good, but the fishing was still a lot of fun.

The spring cobia migration will be starting off the beaches south of Canaveral very soon, and I can't wait to get out on there to sight cast to these impressive game fish.

Also, the next Two Indian River Fishing Academy courses will be on Feb 22nd and March 21st in Melbourne, and we've got a special cobia/tripletail course set for the 28th of Feb. in Rockledge. For more info go to www.irfac.com.

Until next time...Keep your rod bent!

Capt. Jimmy Ross

Capt. Eric Perez

December 2003

Sight fishing in the lagoon has become a very good proposition as a result of the lack of rain.......crystal clear water.  Artificial lures and flies are excellent choices in less than one ft of water:  Redfish & Gator Trout are the mainstay, and there are still Jacks, Snapper, Drum and Sheephead around to provide a little variety.  Find a warm spell and it's very possible to latch on to a Snook or juvenile Tarpon to 30lbs.

Overall, December is progressing nicely.  Find out why Mosquito Lagoon is considered one of the top Redfishing destinations in the world.

Capt. Eric Perez

The fishing on the Mosquito Lagoon and the North Indian River continues to improve with each passing day and each passing cold front. Although the fronts are still mild from a temperature standpoint, the pressure changes that come with the fronts have really fired the fish up. Schools of mullet continue to be thick in the area and all the predator fish in the Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River are taking advantage of them. Catches in the last two weeks have included jack crevalle, bluefish, ladyfish, tarpon, trout and the main targeted species redfish. All these species have been caught in the same areas and the biggest surprise of the week was a school of bluefish that were pushing a wake in less than one foot of water. From a distance we thought it as a school of slot size reds, but as we poled in and hooked the first one it became apparent that they were blues. Still, a fun fight on light tackle.

 Charters this week have started in the Indian River were we have been finding schools of slot sized reds at first light. These reds are on a seek and destroy pattern at first light and cooperated with anything we threw in to them. Mixed in with these reds have been some very large trout, and we have managed at least one over 5 pounds on the last five trips. As the morning wears on I make the move into the Mosquito Lagoon and push into the extreme shallows of the backcountry. Sightfishing is what takes us into the shallows and we have not been disappointed all week. On average we get about 20 solid shots a day at either cruising or tailing fish. The hook up rate depends on the angler’s accuracy of the cast, however, on the tailing fish we are getting so close that getting the bait to the fish has not been very difficult.  

This fall is turning out to be a great time to fish the Mosquito Lagoon. As we progress into November I can’t wait to see how incredible the fishing will be for those willing to pole long distances, be very quiet and make good cast. It will be sightfishing at its best and the Mosquito Lagoon is certainly one of the best places to go sightfishing. 

Until next time, don’t cast till you see the fish.     

Capt. Eric Perez     

September, 2003

Well it’s official, the mullet run has started! and so begins one of the best times of year to be on the water on the Spacecoast. The river system is full of bait, seeing the bull reds thrashing a pod like porpoises is quite a site, especially when you put your topwater in the middle.

  Earlier in the year the best bet for the big ones was bait, but now they will readily take artificials when presented properly. The past week the usual pattern was flip-flopped.  First thing in the morning (which should be topwater time) they haven’t wanted to come up for the topwater but put a Exude soft plastic in front of them and it’s on!  Once the sun comes up and it starts to get hot, they fight over the topwater. This past week has been perfect weather with glassy calm conditions. For some reason the real brutes didn’t want to play this week, we only landed the smaller/medium fish 13-21lb. ,  but the 40-50lb are right in their with them.

April 8th, 2003

Since my last report the water level in the Mosquito Lagoon has come back up to normal from an all time low, then in the last week dropped about 10 to 12 inches. However, the changes in water level haven't stopped the redfish from biting our offerings. March 23rd

Florida Light Tackle Charters very own Betsy Weaver and her friend Chrissy were on board for a few hours on the Mosquito Lagoon. During the 3 hours on the water we saw several tails and brought two slot size redfish on board. Including Chrissy's very first redfish. Which I might ad she caught completely on her own. She saw a disturbance in the water, casted to it and caught her first red. Betsy followed shortly there after with a redfish of her own.  On April 1st and 2nd I had Paul Ryan and his son Chris on board for two days on the Mosquito Lagoon. The first day brought with it unseasonably cold weather. Morning low was about 42 degrees. Afternoon high wasn't much better at only 60 degrees. The cold weather didn't
stop the bite though. We fished in about 10 inches of water all day. We saw at least 100 reds through out the day, but strong winds made accurate casting difficult. Paul and Chris still managed to get half a dozen reds into the boat, including fish up to 28.5 inches long which were the largest reds they had ever caught. The second day brought with it warmer temps but fish that were very spooky. However, we still managed to catch another four to five redfish.  One thing worth noting was the trout that Chris sightcasted too on
day number 2. I was poling down a shoreline pursing a school of reds, when to my left I noticed a large object against the shore that I dismissed as a log. As we got closer Chris and I both noticed the log move. It was the biggest trout I have ever seen in the lagoon system, well in excess of 12 lbs. Chris made a perfect cast, the trout charged the bait but didn't eat it.  We are approaching the time of year that being on the water at first light improves chances of catching gator trout. Redfish have been tailing aggressively during the first light period and then feeding on mullet throughout the day. All of our fish for the past 3 weeks have been caught on artificial baits, with the exception of 3 that were caught on shrimp.

Capt. Eric Perez

February 21, 2003

The south end of the mosquito lagoon has been hot now for the past 3 weeks. Feb 14th I had Ken Policha out for a full day.  He was down from Michigan and was very happy to be away from the snow and in sunny Florida.  20 minutes into the charter we started seeing and casting too tailing reds. Some of the reds were in as little as 6 inches of water. Many of the fish we saw had their backs out of the water.  The wind picked up by mid morning making accurate casting difficult.  However Ken was able to present the baits properly and was rewarded  with three hooked redfish. 

By early afternoon the wind blew us off the flat so we moved to an area that was holding ladyfish and trout.  We spent the rest of the afternoon there and brought 30 to 40 ladyfish to the boat.
Feb 21 St Joe and Rebecca High joined me for a 6 hr charter on the Mosquito Lagoon. Once again the south end was the location of choice.  Cloudy conditions made sight casting difficult, so I poled down the flat at a fast pace until redfish started blowing out, at that point I slowed down and Ken and Rebecca started blind casting with soft plastic jerk baits. Rebecca was first to hook up and landed a nice trout. Ken followed up with a nice red. We stayed on this pattern until it was too windy to keep the boat from moving too fast.

The fishing on the Mosquito Lagoon is improving daily now that the
cold weather is leaving us behind. The water level remains low ,however, it did come up 4 to 5 inches over the last week. As the temps and water rise the fishing on the mosquito lagoon is going to be no less that spectacular in the weeks and months to follow. 

Capt. Eric Perez

 February 3, 2003

Went out today on a four hour trip. The winds were light and the
temperatures expected to get into the low 70's. My client and I launched from the Haulover Canal ramp at 11 a.m.  and ran down to the southern most reaches of the Mosquito Lagoon. While trying to reach a flat I turned the big motor off and used the trolling motor to move in to water shallow enough to pole in. Well the trolling motor turned out to be one heck of a fish finder. 100 hundred yards from the flat a school of approx. 300 fish erupted around us. Throwing soft plastic jerkbaits we landed 16 redfish and 3 trout in the 2 and a half hours that we were able to stay with the school.  Included in the catch was a giant red that went 36 inches on the tape measure and 16 pounds on the Boga. The biggest trout was 26 inches 6.0
pounds on the Boga. This time of year is awesome on the Mosquito Lagoon, the cool mornings and nights really drive the reds and trout up onto to the flats when the afternoon sun has had time to do its thing.

Wednesday 1/29/03

I went out with a long time friend and client Nelson Ponce from Pembroke Pines, FL. We did one of my favorite trips to do. I call
it a bass/ flats fishing trip. We started the morning by meeting at the boat ramp to the world famous Stick Marsh/Farm 13 reservoir in Fellsmere, FL( 1 hour south of Titusville).We headed to the south end of the pond to an area known as "the nursery". Opting for artificial lures I tied a Texas rigged 10 inch worm on one rod, a spinnerbait on another, and I used a lipped 4 inch diving plug. The morning started slow but as the water warmed the bite turned on. By 11 o'clock we had brought 13 bass boat side and missed another
5 or 6. Throughout the morning we talked about how lucky we are to have these great fisheries in our own back yard and with temps near 70 degrees I stared having visions of tailing redfish on the flats of the Mosquito Lagoon. So at 11:15 we put the skiff back on the trailer and drove 1 hour north to the boat ramp in Titusville (Parrish Park). By 1 o'clock we had lines in the water. I pushed the skiff onto a flat known as the carbide flat and right  away started seeing pushes and tails all around us. Throwing exude jerk baits and tubes my guest was able to land 7 redfish in the next 3 hours. All the fish were between 26 and 32 inches in length. A couple of small trout were mixed in with the reds and they too were willing to play with our offerings. By 5 o'clock we had the skiff back on the trailer and
gave thanks that we live in such a place that allows us to catch 3 different game fish from two different bodies of water in the same day. East Central Florida is awesome and I am very lucky to live and work here.