Orlando Florida Report 3/24/08

[Capt Chris M]

March winds continue to blow here in east central Florida. Last week was especially tough with five straight days of 15-25 mph. I cancelled two trips but managed to get in three days of fishing. More and more baitfish are returning to the flats with each day. The finger mullet have still not arrived but the trout are feeding on glass minnows and shrimp.

Last Tuesday, Canadian anglers Derek and Stacey joined me for a cloudy and blustery day on Mosquito Lagoon. Although they had never fished for redfish, this husband and wife team were excellent anglers and were prepared to face the tough conditions. We fished DOA CALs in watermelon seed and morning glory colors all day. They started the day off catching a few jack crevalle. Next, we spent a couple hours trying to catch some large redfish. Poor visibility made it nearly impossible to keep track of them and we went in search of easier quarry. Derek and Stacey combined for six redfish and Stacey landed a nice trout.





Friday, Tom and Marion, from Kansas, took a break from the theme parks and spent the day relaxing on Mosquito Lagoon. Like the previous day, the big redfish would show themselves briefly and then disappear into the deeper water that had been stirred up by the consistent high winds. Several schools of 3-8 pounds fish provided us some shallow water sight fishing action and Tom hooked up first with the morning glory CAL. The wind made casting a challenge but we had clear skies and good visibility. Several more redfish were fooled by the lures before the day was through.



By Saturday, the winds had finally subsided. Tim and Debbie joined me for a spectacular morning. With the slick calm conditions, we were easily able to spot several schools of redfish at our first stop. Within twenty minutes, the couple had landed three redfish to 36 inches. Before long, there were boats in every direction and the clouds had covered the sky. We left the redfish in search of a less crowded area. I tied on a couple DOA Deadly Combos and Tim and Debbie spent the next hour enjoying some non-stop trout action. They caught too many to count before we decided to hunt for some more redfish. We tried several more spots but landed only one more red.





The March winds will be blowing the next couple days but are predicted to subside by mid week. The calm winds with warm temperatures should provide some excellent fishing. The redfish can be spotted in very shallow water while the trout bite should remain consistent in 2-4 feet.

This weekend is the Federation of Fly Fishers National Fly Expo in Lakeland, Florida. It will feature lectures and workshops on all aspects of fly fishing. Capt. Keith Kalbfleisch and I will be giving a seminar on fly fishing the Space Coast on Friday afternoon.

April 18-20 is the Coastal Angler Magazine Fishing and Boating Expo in Melbourne. Capt. Tom Van Horn and I will be at the Mosquito Creek Outdoors Angler Improvement Center to answer your questions about shallow water fishing.

Capt. Chris Myers
Central Florida Sight Fishing Charters
http://www.floridafishinglessons.com

[Norfolkboy]

Some lovely fish Chris

[maghouse]

As ever, great report & some great looking fish .... I think I should become your UK correspondant and report weekly on the lagoon .... all expenses paid of course !

[Capt Chris M]

That sound like an excellent idea, as long as you are paying the expenses.

[maghouse]

I knew there would be a catch ......

[pingu]

nice one chris
lately we would dream of mild 15mph winds, been terrible down here lately


dave

[Twiddler]

As per usual, a cracking report/pics there Chris...some superb fish were caught.


I WANT TO GO TO FLORIDAAAAAAAAAA and catch proper fish, not the tiddlers I keep catching here