05-10-2002, 12:38 PM
Capt. Rob Blake’s fishing report from Florida’s Mosquito Lagoon and Upper Indian River-updated May 10th, 2002.<br><br>The waters of Mosquito Lagoon are absolutely packed with baitfish. Everywhere you look, you'll see pods of mullet frolicking about in the lush grassflats. Over the past week, the water levels have dropped considerably, and if we don't experience any significant rainfall in the near-term, the water will remain low. Not to worry, however, my Maverick Mirage HPX-T is right at home in the low water conditions!<br><br>Fishing remains a "hot one day, so-so the next" affair. The weather has been exceptionally cooperative with almost slick calm conditions through 11am, and a seabreeze kicking in around noon.<br><br>Capt. Mark Thomas and I spent a vacant Tuesday on the waters of Mosquito Lagoon hunting our copper friend with a flyrod. On this day we saw no less than 800-1000 redfish as we stalked one flat to the next. The reds were out in force!<br><br>Sweat rolled down my face in the 97-degree heat, easing into my eyes and causing an irritating sting. The Florida heat and humidity gave me no break as poled down the flat. Despite the tendency to shut my eyes to ease the pain, I couldn't take my eyes off the school of 100 35"+ redfish tailing in a foot of water. Mark was on-deck, fly in hand, as I poled up towards the school of VERY happy fish. Mark began his cast and laid the fly in front of the school. Strip-strip-strip...nothing. "Cast again," I whispered. Mark again made a good presentation. Strip-strip-strip-strip...nothing!<br><br>We worked this one school for about 90 minutes…the tails were unbelievable! When you see a school of reds "flashing" near the surface or daisy chaining, they will normally devour any offering. Today was different.<br><br>As frustrating as these fish were, we both had a day we will never forget. My turn on the casting deck yielded the same results...refusal after refusal. They just didn’t want to eat the fly on this day. We could have easily picked up a spinning rod and had a double-digit day, but we held true with the long-rod and went away empty. That's fly-fishing...<br><br>Spin fishermen are doing very well. We are picking up trout before sunrise through 9am or so. Concentrating on deeper edges as the day wears on will produce for the patient angler. Sightcasting live shrimp, as usual, is the top producer and can turn "tough" fish into catchable ones. We have also been picking reds and trout up on soft plastic jerkbaits and topwater plugs.<br><br>This week's outstanding catch goes to my girlfriend. She sightcasted to a fish that turned out to be a nice 17 pound specimen. The size of this fish was quite a surprise because all the other fish she caught were around 7-9 pounds and found meandering in less than a foot of water.<br><br>Congratulations to Sloan Hutchinson of Jupiter, Florida for scoring a double-digit day on his first visit to Mosquito Lagoon. Sloan caught on to the sightfishing game real quick and was rewarded with 13 fish throughout the 6 hour trip, not including one that got off in mid-fight. The biggest fish of the day was 12 pounds. Nice casting Sloan!<br><br>As the waters continue to warm, please take the time to spend an extra few moments reviving your fish. Warmer waters contain much less dissolved oxygen than the cooler temps we experience in the winter. A good release helps to ensure our fishery remains healthy! Practice CPR...CATCH-PHOTOGRAPH-RELEASE!<br><br><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><br><br><br>Contact Capt. Rob at 1-866-RED-DRUM <br>or 321-633-0923 or 321-544-5041 (cell).