Summer in the Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River: Fishing Report-August, 2012

The summer fishing has started off strong in the Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River, and the Atlantic Ocean. The short drive to the coast from Orlando is very worth the time. Tailing redfish have been the target as of late. Many of the schools have been difficult to find, due to an algae bloom after Tropical Storm Debby dumped more than a foot of rain in the Lagoon and surrounding waters. The fishing before the storm was phenomenal, the fishing has still been good, it’s just been a change.

With the summer time’s warming water and calm wind, the near shore fishing in the Atlantic Ocean and Canaveral Bight offers another option. Huge menhaden schools swarm the beaches now. With the menhaden; tarpon, sharks, huge jacks, bonito, and king mackerel, move in to feed. This is a weather dependent fishery, since it takes place the Atlantic Ocean, light winds and calm seas are a must.

The sea trout fishing this year has been the best that I have ever experienced. Gary Krol sight fished this nice trout fish on a Berkley Power Mullet. She was released unharmed.

The Brannigans with a nice double on top water plugs.

Early morning plugging!

Doug caught a bunch on plugs!

Another big trout fooled by the Power Mullet!

And another big trout caught and released on the Power Mullet.

Breno sight fished this nice trout on the “secret fly".

Sea trout released to make the future generation.

7 double hook ups and many other single hook ups resulted in over 25 redfish for the Gabeharts.

How about a triple?

The little guy was less than excited!

Skinny water redfish schools.

Top water double for the Govan boys! Two days of fishing resulted in 50 plus redfish and an equal number of trout

Maury and his son Craig caught over 30 redfish on a cloudy day.

Switched to jigs to give them a shot, worked!

Craig’s first redfish on fly, ever!

My buddy Chris came into town from Washington State to fish and catch up for a few days. He had the unforuntate luck to be here when Tropical Storm Debby came through.

Big girl there!

Matt with a nice Mosquito Lagoon redfish.

Ed and his son Jared have been fishing with me for years. Gennerally we fish schools, but the dirty water in the Lagoon has relegated us to look for tailing redfish in shallow waters. 10 fish by 10am, I’ll take that any day!

Fly Fishing

Jake tricked this redfish that was backing down a shallow shoreline.

No spot redfish!

Jamie caught this fish on one of my Louisiana flies.

Dan got in the action too.

Carl pulled this redfish out of a deep water school.

Michel came from Poland to cathc his first 7 redfish on fly in the Mosquito Lagoon. Mike has only been fly fishing for a few years, but is an excellent caster and sight fisherman.

Summer time tailers!

Odds and ends

Beach bonita!

My buddy Jeremy with a nice 6lb bass that he caught while we were fishing the St. Johns River. The bite was great! We landed 30-40 bass on plastic worms, mostly in the 2-3lb range. Great fun!

Future of tarpon! Ross has been fishing with me for nearly 10 years. We decide to try something that we have never done, shoot for a Grandslam. Here in Centeral Florida, a redfish, sea trout, and a Tarpon are our species. We were able to catch a slam both days that we fished. Not a giant tarpon, but we were able to land 15 in two days. The exciting part, besides seeing the baby poons blow up on topwater plugs, was the gator that thought that a tarpon would be a good meal. I changed his mind a coquina rock fast ball.

Canaveral Bight tripletail on fly

As you can see, the fishing has been great! Come sight fishing!

Capt. Scott Mac Calla
www.redfishonfly.com
Ph: 321-795-9259

GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE!

Also offering offshore and near shore fishing for Cobia, King Mackerel, and other pelagics on the custom built 32’ Mirage “Southern Charm”. Contact for Scott for details.

Spring Mosquito Lagoon: Fishing Report-2012

March has been a very strong month in the Indian River, Mosquito Lagoon, and the Canaveral Bight. The warm spring has resulted in fantastic fishing. The redfish and big sea trout have been very active and aggressively eating. The near shore in fishing in the Atlantic Ocean for cobia and king mackerel is in full swing too. Spring is an excellent time to fish Florida’s Space Coast. This great fishing will continue into April.

John with a nice sea trout caught in the Mosquito Lagoon with 25mph winds.

He and his uncle also landed 12 more trout and 15 redfish in the breeze!

Bill Hovda with one of 12 redfish caught on soft plastics in a productive morning.

Tom Fabro of the Backpackers Shop had two fantastic days of fly fishing. He landed 20 plus redfish and 3 big trout, almost all of the fish were caught on one fly. Don’t tell anyone about the fly Tom! Thanks for the great casting and angling!

Yes! There were white caps on the flats! Rich and his son hammered them in the blow!

Avid striper angler Gene Dyer with of his two first Mosquito Lagoon redfish on fly.

The Sanderson boys doubled up on a big trout and a nice slot sized redfish. They made well it into the double digits on redfish and big trout.

Patrice tricked these redfish on my “secret” fly!

The Fricks with a Daytona 500 week double!

One is just a little bigger!

Mr. Nobles threw his smallmouth flies and our redfish and they worked great! The fish were running them down!

Jer Wagner’s adventurous spirit paid off! I wanted to go look for some fish that I had not fished for since October. The conditions looked right to go exploring. I asked Jer, “Are you a Gambler?” He asked why and after I explained what I wanted to do, he said, “Let’s do it!” 15 nice black drum and a pompano later on fly, we decided the gamble was worth it! Couldn’t convince him the pompano was a permit!

Nice 30”er!

Rick and Richie come to Daytona every year for the Daytona 500 and normally fish a day or two after. They had strong fishing, landed 8 and hooked others. Both are good anglers and are a blast to have on the bow. Thanks again guys!

That “secret” Fly worked for John too!

As you can see, the fishing has been great! Come sight fishing!

Capt. Scott Mac Calla
www.redfishonfly.com
Ph: 321-795-9259

GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE!

Also offering offshore and near shore fishing for Cobia, King Mackerel, and other pelagics on the custom built 32’ Mirage “Southern Charm”. Contact for Scott for details.

Mosquito Lagoon Winter Fishing Report-2012

Back in Florida after several months guiding the Louisiana marsh for several months with my partner Capt. Nick Sassic. The Mosquito Lagoon has been productive, lots of tailing redfish and schools of trout on the sand holes. I’ve been fortunate to catch several anglers their first redfish on flies the past few weeks. The winter bite should continue to be strong, especially between fronts.

The fall seasion in Louisana was great for my partner Capt. Nick Sassic and I. The big redfish and black drum were plentiful and very cooperative. We caught countless redfish and black drum over 20lbs, the majority were sight fished on flies. The bayou is a great fishery! Nick and I will be headed out again in January for a few weeks.

This was the most memorable fish of the trip for me. Christian joined us for Thanksgiving ,along with his cousin and one of my best friends Brandon. Christian had a sever neck injury a eightteen months ago while mountain biking. Besides being forunate to survive, he has gained the majority of his function back. He has limited sensation in his finger tips, Christian must look at his hands to strip the fly. His patcience and persistance paid off. This was the largest fish that he has caught since his accident. Brandon caught a giant on Thanksgiving Day. (pictured below)

Brandon "Seven6" Stewart of Missoula, Montana with an amazing 25lber.

Dan “Rooster” Leavens of Stonefly Inn and Outfitters with a nice 25lber.

The Fertman boys put over 15 fish in the boat over 20 on fly in two great days in November. Jared had to take a swim (unintentional) to get things going, but his Dad appreciated it!

Lucky Murray! We’ve been fishing together for years and years, he always hits it perfect! Murray is a great caster and can spot fish, he makes me look good!

The bay that we caught this fish in had schools of big black drum as far as we could see.

They don’t grow like this in Jacksonville do they Dennis?!

Rob was nothing less than happy!

Mike worked against tough conditions, cloudy and reallllly breezy to get this fish! She ate 10 feet off the boat!

Cap’n Steve fished both in November and December and was successful both months. He is new to fly fishing, but has jumped in head first! I love getting people their first redfish on fly!

My best friend Mike and his brother Richard flew out to fish a day and drive back to FL with me. They were rewarded with the best day of the season. We landed 20 fish over 20lbs on fly and spin, many doubles! Mike caught his fist redfish on fly too. After wearing them out on big fish we moved shallow and caught another 20 5-10lbers.

Come Sight-fishing!

Capt. Scott Mac Calla
321-795-9259

Gift Certificates available!

Mosquito Lagoon Early Fall, Late Summer Fishing Report-2011

August, September, and October are out best months to catch our big redfish on artificials and flies. This year has been more difficult than previous years. We've experienced the worst algae bloom that we have had in 25 years. The water is extremely green, but the fish are still aggressive. Tracking them is the tough part! The cooler water temperatures of the fall and winter will kill the algae and then our normally clear waters will return.

Butch Murphy ended up landing 2 big redfish on flies, the biggest being over 30lbs. Butch is a great angler and has been fishing with me for years, normally before a work trip into Orlando. He brings his own flies, generally smallmouth patterns from Virginia. They ALWAYS produce!

After a short flight across the big pond, Richard Abson also landed a nice 15lb redfish and hooked several others on fly. We had to do our searching, but it paid off. Rich has also been fishing with me for years and is also a great fly caster.

Bob Bagby joined some of his co-workers from Zebco and landed 10 big redfish on lures. He caught this fish and close 10 more all on artificials. This redfish was caught on one of the new EXO reels from Quantum on 8lb fluorocarbon. A little under-gunned, but he got it done! Thanks for the support!

The biggest fish that I have had a client catch on fly

Rich Fulton has been fishing with me since 2003, when I purchased my first Hell's Bay Professional. I've watched Rich improve his casting and angling abilities ten-fold over the years. We have had plenty of great days, some okay days, and our past few trips have greeted us with wind and clouds. Not exactly the best conditions for sight fishing with flies. We were due for a solid trip. We found several giant schools of big redfish and Rich tricked 6 to the boat on fly. No easy feat! The largest fish was 36lbs! This fish was 42" long, but had a 28" girth! Not only was this the biggest fish that I have had a client catch on fly, but it is the largest male that I can honestly say that I have had on the boat.

After hours and hours and hours of searching for the big redfish, Kevin Taylor was rewarded with his patience with a nice fly-caught 21lb black drum. Thanks for being positive and excited about the hunt!

October will close-up our season for big redfish. Winter will bring cooler waters and tailing redfish. Post-front fishing can be excellent!

Come Sight-fishing!

Capt. Scott Mac Calla
321-795-9259

Gift Certificates available!