The sight fishing in Mosquito Lagoon has been about as good as it can get in recent weeks. The weather has been generally warmer than usual which has made for some comfortable fishing conditions. To go along with the excellent weather, huge schools of redfish have been the norm. This week, we encountered schools so large you could not cast from one side of them to the other. A wonderful problem to have for a fisherman. Even on the slowest of days, we still have had shots at over 1,000 redfish per day.
We have been catching the fish on both fly and soft plastics. When the fish are tailing, a DOA shrimp rarely goes uneaten provided you get it to them before they see you coming. Once the school begins to take flight, the bite percentage drops dramatically. The faster they are swimming, the fewer bites you will get. A sure way to get the school to flee is to let them know you are coming by making noises on the deck. Stealth is an important factor of sight fishing.Casting speed and accuracy are a close second.
Vern caught his first redfish using a 5.5 inch DOA CAL on a beautiful winter day on the flats.
Marty made his inaugural trip to Mosquito Lagoon with the hope of catching redfish on fly. He accomplished his goal several times.
One fly that has been working well for us recently is a variation of the redfish worm using copper chenille and an olive rabbit strip.Tied on a #4 hook with small lead eyes, this fly has accounted for numerous reds the past month.
For the month ahead, I anticipate more excellent tailing redfish action. The redfish have been so plentiful that we have spent little time looking for other species on most days. Large trout are still around for those wanting to target them and lots of average sized trout can be caught in 2-5 feet of water.
