06-06-2002, 07:32 PM
Capt. Rob Blake’s fishing report from Florida’s Mosquito Lagoon and Upper Indian River-updated June 6th 2002.<br><br>If you want some tailing redfish action this time of year, you need to get up early. On the weekends you need to get up even earlier to beat the crowds. <br><br>Todd Capitano from North Carolina opted to pursue the wary full moon reds with a flyrod. We saw quite a few nice groups of fish, but getting them to cooperate was difficult. Todd, however, never became frustrated and pulled through in the end. After several careful approaches, we got a nice red on fly. It was just “one of those days” when the fish were acting very spooky and not letting us get very close to them at all. <br><br>Manny Smithson and his son Jeffrey experienced more cooperative fish the next day and together they caught a dozen reds and a handful of trout. The surprise of the day was a nice flounder that was caught on a blindcast. Sightcasting with live shrimp to groups of 5-10 redfish made up the bulk of the day. Good job guys! As Manny said, “Not bad for a couple guys from Nebraska, huh?”<br><br>“That thing looks like a carp! But it sure doesn’t fight like one!” This was Kenny Harper’s first comment after hooking his first redfish on Mosquito Lagoon. Kenny escaped the Orlando crowd for a day away on the water and was rewarded with a mixed bag of reds; to include a nice 19-pound fish caught on a soft plastic jerkbait. This was Kenny’s first saltwater fishing trip and from what I could tell, he just may give up bass fishing altogether.<br><br>Water levels are way up in the entire Indian River Lagoon. I scouted out some areas of the Banana River and found some nice schools of 25-100 redfish. At first light, these fish are tailing pretty hard, but become wise to the boat fairly quickly. The friendly, hard bottom of the Banana River invites the wader to sneak up on these fish and sometimes experience more success than fishing from a skiff.<br><br>The weather over the past week has been very, very cooperative. Sunny skies and light to no wind for most of the day make for very pleasant sightfishing conditions.<br><br>The water temps are climbing steadily, so take the extra time to revive your fish!<br><br>Capt. Rob Blake<br>www.redfishonfly.com<br>1-866-RED-DRUM Toll Free<br>1-321-633-0923 local<br>1-321-544-5041 cell<br><br><br>Contact Capt. Rob at 1-866-RED-DRUM <br>or 321-633-0923 or 321-544-5041 (cell).