12-04-2001, 01:35 PM
Capt. Rob Blake’s fishing report from Florida’s Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River-updated December 4th, 2001.<br><br>Is it really December? You could never tell by being outside these days. Temperatures in the 80-degree range and bright sunny skies have greeted Florida’s East Coast as of late, and with the good weather means excellent sightfishing opportunities. In general the fish haven’t been schooled up that well, however the amount of fish in the skinny water is still high and makes for exciting times…practice your casting!<br><br>Scott Guthrie and friend Joe drove down from Jacksonville to give the Mosquito Lagoon a shot this past Friday morning. Action was somewhat slow in the AM hours, with Scott hooking three reds and landing only one. His friend Joe later landed a nice 10- pounder on a gold spoon that was sitting in a deeper hole. In the afternoon, we hit the jackpot and found some very cooperative fish in about 18 inches of water. For the last 2 hours of the charter, Scott and Joe pretty much caught one red right after another as they sightcasted shrimp to cruising and tailing fish. When it was all over, the two JAX guys got their fill of sightcasting to reds in the Mosquito Lagoon. Something tells me they will be back soon…<br><br>The next day I fished with Norm O’Doole, a fly fisherman from Key West, Florida and a retired fighter pilot. We started well after sunrise, and immediately found fish in the 20-inch range along lee shorelines. Only one fish cooperated early on. A diligent search for more cooperative fish paid off in the end. Norm eventually brought 4 more reds in the 25-27 inch range to the boat. The last fish boatside signaled our time to make the long run back to Beacon 42 boat ramp. Along the way, a beautiful sunset blazed westward…and yes, it IS December and we were in shorts and t-shirts enjoying every second of it!<br><br>‘Til next week…<br><br>Capt. Rob Blake<br>www.redfishonfly.com<br>1-866-RED-DRUM<br>321-633-0923 local<br>321-544-5041 cell<br><br><br><br><br><br>Contact Capt. Rob at 1-866-RED-DRUM <br>or 321-633-0923 or 321-544-5041 (cell).