East Central Florida Report
Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 10:31 amHigh winds kept me off the water for most of last week. Friday, the winds subsided and I began a three day fly fishing adventure with Dr. George Wheeler from New York City. We began in the Mosquito Lagoon. Although the bait was plentiful, the reds were not in the same locations they had been the previous week. We found some oversize fish which completely ignored the fly. Moving on, we located some slot sized reds in sandy holes. The fish were laid up and when presented a fly, they would show no interest. Late in the day, we found a small school and landed one red on a brown and gold bendback in very shallow water. One ladyfish was caught fishing a clauser under the mullet schools in the deeper water to end a slow day.
Saturday, we decided to change tactics and try the Sebastian River for tarpon and snook. The water was a bit cool in the morning and the fish were not showing themselves. We spooked a few large laid up snook and only saw about a dozen tarpon rolling. A few other boats in the area fishing baits were also having no action. We moved out to the Indian River around the inlet. A few jacks and a lookdown were boated before we moved in along the shoreline to look for reds and snook. We saw several oversize snook, one large red, a few smaller reds and a half dozen large trout. None showed any interest in the fly. The water temps had reached 80 when we went back to the Sebastian River. We located a section holding numerous small tarpon but, again, not one bite.
Sunday Morning, Dr. Wheeler and I fished the Indian River. We found a large school of oversize fish and presented them with at least ten different flies which were totally ignored. A few other boats were casting live pinfish and hooking up but we also saw chunks of fresh blue crab go untouched. After three hours of casting to these fish, we moved to the Lagoon. By now, the winds had picked up making fly casting difficult. Dr. Wheeler, however, made some amazing casts into a stiff breeze to multiple slot size reds and upper slot trout. Two redfish were brought to the boat using a small crab pattern.
Monday morning, I fished with Bob and Pam Lunsford from Maryland. We found some big fish early, but they quickly disappeared in the high winds and cloudy conditions. We located several small schools and Bob and Pam used gold Exude jerk baits to land about a dozen reds and two trout in a couple hours. Considering the weather conditions, it was not a bad half day of catching.
Tons of mullet have returned to the Mosquito and Indian River Lagoons. Jacks, ladyfish, and trout can be caught fishing topwater plugs or jigs around the mullet schools. Most of the larger trout have left the shallows but the redfish remain. The reds have been concentrated in small areas and you may have to cover a lot of water to find them. Look for large mullet, stingrays, and catfish to be in the same areas the reds are holding.
Capt. Chris Myers
321-229-2848
www.floridafishinglessons.com
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Saturday, we decided to change tactics and try the Sebastian River for tarpon and snook. The water was a bit cool in the morning and the fish were not showing themselves. We spooked a few large laid up snook and only saw about a dozen tarpon rolling. A few other boats in the area fishing baits were also having no action. We moved out to the Indian River around the inlet. A few jacks and a lookdown were boated before we moved in along the shoreline to look for reds and snook. We saw several oversize snook, one large red, a few smaller reds and a half dozen large trout. None showed any interest in the fly. The water temps had reached 80 when we went back to the Sebastian River. We located a section holding numerous small tarpon but, again, not one bite.
Sunday Morning, Dr. Wheeler and I fished the Indian River. We found a large school of oversize fish and presented them with at least ten different flies which were totally ignored. A few other boats were casting live pinfish and hooking up but we also saw chunks of fresh blue crab go untouched. After three hours of casting to these fish, we moved to the Lagoon. By now, the winds had picked up making fly casting difficult. Dr. Wheeler, however, made some amazing casts into a stiff breeze to multiple slot size reds and upper slot trout. Two redfish were brought to the boat using a small crab pattern.
Monday morning, I fished with Bob and Pam Lunsford from Maryland. We found some big fish early, but they quickly disappeared in the high winds and cloudy conditions. We located several small schools and Bob and Pam used gold Exude jerk baits to land about a dozen reds and two trout in a couple hours. Considering the weather conditions, it was not a bad half day of catching.
Tons of mullet have returned to the Mosquito and Indian River Lagoons. Jacks, ladyfish, and trout can be caught fishing topwater plugs or jigs around the mullet schools. Most of the larger trout have left the shallows but the redfish remain. The reds have been concentrated in small areas and you may have to cover a lot of water to find them. Look for large mullet, stingrays, and catfish to be in the same areas the reds are holding.
Capt. Chris Myers
321-229-2848
www.floridafishinglessons.com
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