Central Florida Fishing Report 1-6

[Fishing Report]

December turned out to be the coldest in recorded history here in central
Florida but we still managed to have some excellent fishing. While the cold
snaps were frequent and severe, they were not as prolonged as last January
and I have not seen any significant fish kills. The water is crystal clear and
redfish, black drum and huge seatrout can be found in schools throughout the
Lagoon.

During mid December, I made a trip to Mosquito Lagoon with fellow guide
Capt. John Kumiski on a frigid morning. With the water temperature at 46, we
did not expect to find any happy fish. To our surprise, the fish we found were a
bit sluggish but willing to eat our flies. During several hours of fishing, we
landed 18 redfish with 13 of them on fly. We used mostly black or olive redfish
worms or crab type patterns.




















The following day, the weather had warmed significantly and I took a canoe trip
with friend Capt. Charlie Imwalle. We had an excellent day targeting redfish and
black drum on fly.








































Mid-month charters brought varying levels of success. We saw plenty of redfish
on each trip but they were very shallow and required quick accurate casts to
get a bite.

The past week, another strong cold front drove many of the fish off the shallow
flats and into deeper channel, sloughs and edges. Even with water
temperatures at the beginning of the week in the lower 40's, the fish were often
fighting over the baits.

Malcolm and Wayne were visiting from South Africa and wanted to try targeting
some redfish. They had an outstanding day of catch and release action landing
at least twenty redfish and several nice trout on 3" DOA CAL jigs.








































The following day, I was joined my Maureen with her son Michael, 12, and
Brittany, 17. It was another banner day with thirty redfish landed and released.




























































The following two days were a bit tougher due to thick cloud cover. We saw
plenty of fish but many were nearly under the boat by the time we noticed them.
At the end of the day on Thursday the clouds finally parted but the wind began
picking up. At our last stop before heading in, Fred talked me in to making a
few casts with him. A nice trout was willing to eat my 3" CAL.





















Friday, we barely saw the sun all day but we did see hundreds of fish. Ray got a
Mosquito Lagoon slam landed several redfish and drum, along with a couple
seatrout.




















This month, anglers should expect more top notch sight fishing. Weather is the
most influential factor during the winter. Because of the shallow depths of the
Lagoon system, water temperatures can go up or down significantly in a short
time. Sudden drops will chase most of the fish off the shallows but they will
return as soon as the water warms. Small lures and flies are the key to
success. The colder the water, the slower the presentation should be.

Central Florida Sight Fishing Charters |
Mosquito Lagoon |
Longwood | FL | 32779
http://www.floridafishinglessons.com/