Orlando Area Fishing Report

[Capt Chris M]

The Mosquito Lagoon flats fishing has been about as good as it gets these past couple weeks. Except for a couple days of windy weather, both the conditions and the fishing have been outstanding. Anglers have been encountering from 500 to over 1000 fish per day. Our three springtime species, redfish, trout, and black drum, have all been cooperating. Both fly and light tackle anglers are having success on a variety of lures and fly patterns. Big schools of mullet have arrived in the lagoon and the fish are feasting on them.

Richard spent a couple days on the front of my boat this month targeting fish on fly. He had lots of shots at fish and managed to catch all three species. The black redfish worm and bendback patterns were the most successful.

The third day Richard was to go with me, we arrived at the ramp to 20 knot winds. After some consideration, he decided he would rather not go out in the tough conditions. Since I was already there, I hopped in the boat for some fun fishing. The winds unexpectedly dropped and I was able to get in some decent sight fishing. The redfish were very aggressive and willing to eat anything I threw from Baitbusters to topwater to CAL jigs and flies.

The following day we found some large schools of redfish at first light. They would allow the anglers one shot before moving out of range. As the sun got higher, there were consistent shots at single fish on the clear flat. Several redfish were caught and released. They ended the day with some nonstop catching action for trout using a jig and CAL tail in 3-4 feet of water.

Friday was nearly a carbon copy with more schools of redfish. During the day we found a spot holding redfish, trout, and drum well off the beaten path and had shots at them for nearly 2 hours.

Last Monday I had the pleasure of fishing with John Machin and Paul Procter. They are both fly casting instructors in the UK and needed every bit of their skill as it was the only day last week the wind was blowing. As luck would have it, most of the schools were nowhere to be found. Both guys put on a top notch fly casting display, however, catching both black drum and redfish in sustained winds up to 24mph.

Tuesday there was no wind, clear skies, and redfish in every direction. Jon had an excellent day of sight fishing on the flats catching his first Mosquito Lagoon slam.

Tom got to experience some great redfish action using a DOA Baitbuster that he threw to tailing fish. Reeling the bait along the surface to mimic a small mullet, he caught some nice reds and lost a few as well. Later in the day, he finished with some nice seatrout.

The husband and wife team of Ray and Kim were on board for Thursday's trip. Ray landed the first red on a Baitbuster while Kim followed up with several nice drum and a redfish of her own. They then proceeded to catch a trout nearly every cast for the last half hour of the day.

On Friday, Bob and his son Joe made their first trip to Mosquito Lagoon. The action started off good with some nice schools of reds in the first half hour. After a brief lull in the action, we came across plenty of singles and small groups. The day ended with several large trout being caught and released on 5.5" DOA CALs with a Woodies Rattle.

The redfish have turned their focus to mullet and pinfish and have been very aggressive the past few weeks. Lures imitating mullet will be effective on both the redfish and trout. Watch for trophy sized trout to be lying on shallow sand holes. Once you see them moving the chance of getting a bite is significantly reduced. Get the lure or fly to them before they see you and your success rate will be much higher. Look for the outstanding sight fishing to continue through this month.

Capt. Chris Myers

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Guide

[Priority1]

Capt. Chris, Thanks for the FL report.