Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report - July 16, 2007

This week produced some stormy weather and cut a few fishing days short but at least we are not dodging hurricanes as we were
this time last year.

Last Sunday, Paul and I went in search of some tarpon in the Indian River around Cocoa. We didn't find the tarpon, but we did find
some schools of big jacks terrorizing the schools of mullet. Paul landed one on a live mullet before a group of porpoises charged in
and ruined our fun. After spending the next hour or so catching numerous ladyfish on both fly and light tackle, we decided to look for
some redfish and trout action. While the reds proved to be a bit scarce, we did find a small school and  each caught one. The first
came on a DOA Baitbuster and the next on a soft plastic jerk bait. We saw more big trout than  reds and the DOA Baitbuster
fooled a nice fish near the shoreline.




















The jerkbait scored another nice trout for Paul and we left the water as the storms approached.

Monday, I checked out a few areas in both the Indian River and the Mosquito Lagoon I had not fished in a while. The first spot
produced two tarpon, one on a small black fly tied on a #4 hook and the second came on a silver DOA Tiny Terroreyz. A baby bass
colored jerk bait fooled a 27" trout in my second spot but only a few reds were spotted. The third spot held a  more redfish and I
landed one on a gold Capt. Joe's Shredder rigged on a Mustad Power Lock weighted worm hook.

Tuesday, Mark  and Greg  met me at the dock for a day of fishing the Indian River. I had planned on taking them to the schools of
big jacks I had seen on Sunday. When we arrived at the spot at sunup, the jacks were not there but we did see dozens of rolling
tarpon in the 30-80 lb class. By 7am, we were tossing baits to them in the pouring rain but the action was slow. A large ladyfish and
a sail cat were the only bites we got. The next spot produced a few more ladyfish and we left them biting to outrun an approaching
storm. We ran several miles and spotted a school of large reds as we came down off a plane. Rods were baited up with some
fresh cut ladyfish but we only got one shot at the fish before the black clouds caught up with us. We made a run for the dock and I
gave Mark and Greg a rain check.

Wednesday. I fished with Randy  from Tampa. We ran to the spot that had held the tarpon the previous day. The wind was howling
and the tarpon were nowhere to be seen. After grabbing a few ladyfish on topwater baits, we went in search of some redfish. I
spotted a school of large reds but they quickly disappeared. A few small trout were all that followed for the next few hours. After
dodging the first squall line. We ran back south to look for some bigger trout. We only saw about a dozen big trout but Randy
landed one with a well placed cast with a gold jerk worm. We spotted a couple big reds cruising by a full throttle but could not get
them to eat. As the second line of storms approached. We called it a day and had a long wet ride back to the ramp.

Friday, I was back in the Mosquito Lagoon with Jason and his wife Mandy. We found several schools of oversize reds. Spotting
them was the easy part. Staying up with the fast moving schools and getting them to eat was a bit more difficult. Jason brought two
fish to the boat while Mandy's only hookup pulled loose.





















While waiting for a storm to pass by the next spot I wanted to fish, they caught several trout on a rootbeer DOA shrimp and a Capt.
Joe's Shredder in 2-4 feet of water around the mullet schools. The rain passed by and we moved in shallow to target reds. We saw
plenty of fish but could not get any to bite. By the time we left the reds, the wind had picked up and fishing in the deeper water was
less than comfortable with the large waves.

Saturday, Dede and Dennis  of Orlando celebrated their anniversary with a fishing trip on the Mosquito Lagoon. We left the ramp
before sunup after donating several pints of blood to the mosquitoes. As the sun came up, we saw what we were looking for,
several schools of large redfish. For the next couple hours, we poled after these big fish but, try as we might, could not get one fish
to bite. Our luck changed, however, as we pulled up to our second location that was filled with mullet, glass minnows, and diving
birds. A rootbeer DOA shrimp with a noisemaker float produced a couple dozen trout.

















When the trout action slowed, we moved on. While running to the next  spot, we spotted more large schools of mullet and stopped
to catch a few more trout. The rest of the day was spent trying to convince a redfish to eat. All the reds we encountered, however,
seemed to have their mouths glued shut. We never got a red to show any interest in our baits despite some well placed casts.
Central Florida Sight Fishing Charters
Orlando Fishing Charters
Fly and Light Tackle Fishing
Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River
321-229-2848
This is an archived Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report from  Capt. Chris Myers. I offer fly and light tackle fishing
charters in the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon for redfish. I specialize in sight fishing the shallow flats of
east central Florida. Please visit my current central Florida Fishing Report for the latest conditions. You can
find more information  on my the home page at - Mosquito Lagoon Redfish Charters