The past few weeks of fishing here in Florida have been simply incredible! Our famed crystal clear waters have returned and are equally famous redfish schools are beginning to form. However, the highlight of the month is the incredible catch numbers we are posting on a daily basis. Whether it be redfish, trout or snook, we have landed an average of 24 fish on every charter or day on the water in the Mosquito Lagoon over the past two weeks. Eight of the past 10 days saw us catch and release over 20 redfish; and on 5 of those days we landed over 15 snook as well. I hosted a writer a two weeks ago and we caught 9 redfish, 24 snook, and got a 7.5lb trout on all plastics. It has been one of the best Novembers I have seen, and there is no signs that it is going to slow down heading into December. Every fish in the region is eating with reckless abandon as they prepare for the winter months...and my skiff is sitting in front of the buffet table.
Sight fishing for Redfish around Mosquito Lagoon has been epic...no better way to describe it. During the 21 days I spent on the water in November, we landed over 230 redfish. The water temperatures have chilled into the 50's and 60's and the crystal clear waters are starting to form our famed 100-300 fish schools. The shrimp runs have taken off and the reds are stuffing themselves on the new food of choice. The action has been hot and heavy in the deeper water, sand spots, sloughs, and creeks. Catching and releasing 20 redfish every day has been the norm for my clients the past two weeks. Soft-plastics have been my best producer (DOA's, Gulps, and Zulu's). On poor weather days or when we have had kids in the boat, we've been drowning shrimp with excellent results. Sliders, shrimp, and crab flies have been my flies of choice for fly anglers. While doing some exploring around the Mosquito Lagoon lately, I have also located three schools of GIANT redfish in the 15-30lb range, and I had clients land a few from some in the 12-15lb range.
Snook fishing has to be the number two option as of late. Ask how many guides are putting 10-20 snook in the boat a day right now around here and you will not find many (if any). Now throw in the fact we are doing it all on artificial lures. We had recent days of 22, 23, 24 and 27 snook caught and released on days leading up to Thanksgiving, so even with the cold weather, the bite is on. We landed over 190 snook during the past month. All of the the fish we have landed are ranging from 1-10lbs. Our top lures of choice have been a DOA or a Zulu or ZToo soft plastic. We are catching them in Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River, and up at Ponce Inlet, but the deep winter holes have yet to fill up...it is still a shoreline event. We have been sight fishing a couple of shoreline in particular (with crystal clear water) and they are stacked with hundreds of laid up snook. Snook season closes in two weeks (Dec 15th), so I will be making a last minute push to land some 28-32" fish before the season closes until February. Ponce is smoking for slot and overslot snook if you know how to fish em.
Spotted Sea Trout should not be forgotten about. We have had great success on trout lately. (Today I sightcasted a 10lb trout on soft plastic, then followed up 10 min later with an 8lber on the same plastic.) We ha've also caught a few fish over 7lbs, a lot more in the 4-6lb range, and too many to count in the 15-20" range. The patterns changed and now the big trophy trout are working their way up onto the flats to spend the day sunning themselves in sand spots and slough edges. We are getting a shot sight casting to at least one trout every day over 10lbs. Soft plastics continue to be my ticket to success. Clouser and seaducer flies have been my choice for fly anglers, but long leaders and accurate casts are a priority. The water is clear and the fish are super spooky!
The Flounder run is on in areas around Ponce Inlet, the colder weather has brought a ton of Bluefish inshore around New Smyrna Beach, Black Drum are still on the flats in the Mosquito Lagoon, and I am still spotting occasional Tarpon as well in various areas...all of the above good opportunities for anyone looking to do something different than what was discussed above.
So much for a down economy...December dates are filling up fast. Maybe it is because the fishing is so good. There is a 2008 highlight slideshow on my website. Call or email today to book a trip. 386-212-4931
http://www.floridasightfishing.com/report.htm