12-19-2001, 05:52 PM
This week's fishing report on the Mosquito Lagoon from Capt. Rob Blake updated December 19, 2001. <br><br>It looks like the 80-degree days are going to be over….for a while at least. Temperatures have cooled to the upper 60s and a taste of Florida winter is on the way. Not to fear-this is a good thing for the fishing. If you can get out on the water between the blustery conditions, you are sure to find hordes of redfish and the biggest seatrout in the skinniest of water. With the recent warm weather, some areas of the Mosquito Lagoon have clouded up a bit. We even saw the return of summertime phosphorescence over the past two weeks. The cooler weather should clear things right up in the short term.<br><br>Despite the warm December thus far, we are still finding redfish throughout the day. Some days are more productive than others, but the anglers are getting plenty of shots at some very nice size (some to 36+ inches) redfish on the flats. Look for more schooling fish after this next cold front!<br><br>Paul Mason and Dan Macmillan fished with me on Tuesday of last week. Despite a late start, Dan and Paul did not go away disappointed. Dan caught his first spotted seatrout…a 9-pound gator in a foot of water. He was using a soft plastic jerkbait and casting over the potholes. Dan later caught another very respectable 4-pound trout. Paul and Dan later sightcasted to reds using live shrimp and ended the day with 
s all around.<br><br>On Saturday, Pete Fleming opted to duck hunt in the morning and meet up with me on the water around 10am for some fly-fishing. The day started out wonderfully with slick calm conditions. The fish, however, were very finicky. Pete had numerous shots at some nice sized reds, but the wind came up out of the NE at 20+ mph and we were forced to call it early. Fly fishing certainly does not produce the number of catches that spin fisherman get, but the satisfaction of fooling them with the long rod can’t be beat!<br><br>Monday I scouted out the north Indian River and found loads of spotted seatrout in the 20-inch range willing to eat soft plastics and just about any fly you threw. Most of these fish were hanging around larger bait pods of mullet. Later in the morning I found some small schools of very large black drum sunning themselves on the flats. These fish were all over 40 pounds, and I saw one that had to go about 60-70 pounds. These fish are extremely hard to fool with a fly, but I tried for 3 hours anyway. I came up empty. Anglers using bait/crab probably would have done better…what a sight!<br><br>Happy Holidays to all! <br><br>Capt. Rob Blake <br>www.redfishonfly.com <br>1-866-RED-DRUM <br>321-633-0923 <br>321-544-5041 <br><br><br>Contact Capt. Rob at 1-866-RED-DRUM <br>or 321-633-0923 or 321-544-5041 (cell).
s all around.<br><br>On Saturday, Pete Fleming opted to duck hunt in the morning and meet up with me on the water around 10am for some fly-fishing. The day started out wonderfully with slick calm conditions. The fish, however, were very finicky. Pete had numerous shots at some nice sized reds, but the wind came up out of the NE at 20+ mph and we were forced to call it early. Fly fishing certainly does not produce the number of catches that spin fisherman get, but the satisfaction of fooling them with the long rod can’t be beat!<br><br>Monday I scouted out the north Indian River and found loads of spotted seatrout in the 20-inch range willing to eat soft plastics and just about any fly you threw. Most of these fish were hanging around larger bait pods of mullet. Later in the morning I found some small schools of very large black drum sunning themselves on the flats. These fish were all over 40 pounds, and I saw one that had to go about 60-70 pounds. These fish are extremely hard to fool with a fly, but I tried for 3 hours anyway. I came up empty. Anglers using bait/crab probably would have done better…what a sight!<br><br>Happy Holidays to all! <br><br>Capt. Rob Blake <br>www.redfishonfly.com <br>1-866-RED-DRUM <br>321-633-0923 <br>321-544-5041 <br><br><br>Contact Capt. Rob at 1-866-RED-DRUM <br>or 321-633-0923 or 321-544-5041 (cell).