The month of May brought continued great fishing the east central Florida. Schools of big redfish have been showing consistently and reds of all sizes are feeding on the wide variety of baitfish that have arrived this month. Trout, ladyfish, a few tarpon, and even some bluefish are feeding around the schools of bait as well. With the summer just around the corner, the tarpon fishing will only get better each day. For the light tackle anglers, use lures imitating baitfish such as the DOA CAL jigs, spinnerbaits, and surface lures. Fly fishermen will have success with pinfish and mullet flies or bendback streamers.
On his first fly fishing trip to Mosquito Lagoon, Joe, who was visiting from Great Britain, wanted to catch a redfish on the fly. The breezy conditions made casting a bit of a challenge but his persistence was finally rewarded with redfish that took a brown and copper bendback fly.
The following day, Cam and Adam joined me on the flats. Cam started with the flyrod and had shots at some redfish over twenty pounds as well as plenty of average sized fish. Adam hooked into a huge redfish on the spinning rod but the hook pulled halfway through the fight. As the winds increased, both guys switched to spin tackle and landed redfish on DOA CAL tails.
Tom and his wife were on board for space shuttle launch day. We saw plenty of fish but caught only one. Much of the day was spent viewing manatees, birds, and the final launch of the shuttle Atlantis.
Doug fished with me last week on an instructional charter. He cast a variety of lures at redfish throughout the day and had the best success using a spinnerbait.
Paige and Garrett had a great day last Friday catching numerous trout and ladyfish using a DOA Deadly Combo as well as a 3 inch CAL tail on a jig head. We had multiple shots at redfish and Paige connected with a 34 inch fish.
Monday, I went out searching for some early season tarpon after having seen several during my charters. I only saw twenty or so and had shots at a couple that did not eat. I expect the tarpon fishing to be getting much better soon.
Tuesday, Gary wanted his wife to catch a big fish. We had storms around us much of the morning but managed to stay dry. The day was a success when Janet caught the fish of the month, a 33 pound redfish. Gary caught a couple himself and all were released to be caught again another day.
Cindy and Jeff had an excellent day yesterday landing six redfish to 13 pounds.
For some excellent light tackle action, watch for schools of mullet getting blasted along the deeper edges of flats. Ladyfish, trout, jacks, bluefish, and even tarpon can be under them. When these fish get into a feeding frenzy, they will eat nearly everything you cast at them. A noisy surface plug with a single circle hook can provide some fast catch and release action for anglers of any skill level.
Capt. Chris Myers
