Compliments of Mosquito Creek Outdoors, Apopka Florida

Reflecting back on past fishing adventures, April stand out as one of the finest months to experience the true diversity of the fishery existing along the Indian River Lagoon coast of Florida.  April serves as a transitional period where the winds of March give way to the heat and humidity of summer.  As spring progresses and water temperatures rise, fishing opportunities abound with the influx of bait moving north within the lagoon and closer to the shoreline along the beaches. 

April marks the beginning of the fishing season for many blue water anglers, representing the start of the northern migration of dolphin in deeper water, 120’ and beyond. This first wave of dolphin is usually credited with some of the largest bulls taken all year.  It also marks the beginning of the spring kingfish run on the near-shore reefs and wrecks off of Port Canaveral.  Traditionally, April is the time of year when the larger kingfish, 30 to 50 pounds, are caught off of 8A Reef, and Pelican Flats.

As we move into the near-shore waters, we can only hope the cobia are still around.  The cobia run was going on last month with some great catches reported in between passing fronts. On flotsam and along the Canaveral buoy line, tripletail should become more dependable throughout the month.  Along the beaches, pods of Atlantic menhaden (pogies) have been showing up south of the Cocoa Beach Pier, and the arrival of these bait pods is a sure sign of predators lurking in their shadows.  Look for tarpon, jumbo redfish and jack crevalle, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, blacktip sharks, cobia, and smoker kingfish to begin showing up in the vicinity of these bait pods.

Inside Port Canaveral and Sebastian Inlet, look for a good number of sheepshead and black drum to be holding around structure such as jetties and docks and look for Spanish mackerel, bluefish, and jack crevalle in deeper water areas.  Also look for nighttime snook and tarpon action to begin heating up in both the Port and in Sebastian Inlet as we move deeper into the month.

On the Lagoon flats, it’s time to start fishing the early morning and late evening bite with your favorite top water plugs for extreme sea trout and redfish action.  During midday periods, work the deeper areas, 2 to 3 feet, with your favorite soft plastics, jerk baits, or jigs.  Remember, April is one of the months where the larger sea trout (all females) become egg laden for the spawn, so it’s very important to handle and release these larger fish with extreme care.  Sea trout have one of the highest mortality rates of catch and release game fish on the Lagoon.

Last but not least, look for the large mouth bass action to heat up on the St. Johns River.  Look for schooling bass at first light feeding on menhaden from the Osteen Bridge to the Econ Creek.  Some of my favorite places to look are the river bends between Lemmon Bluff and Lake Harney, and the south end of Lake Harney where the river dumps in.  To locate the areas of schooling fish, I simply look for congregations of white pelicans and other wading birds lined up along the riverbanks waiting for an easy meal when the hungry bass push the bait to the surface along the shore.  When in the feeding mood, these fish will eat just about anything, but the heavy bite usually only last from first light to the point where the sun crosses the eastern horizon, so an early start is essential. 

Seminars and Events

April 18^th, 19^th, 20^th, Coastal Angler Magazine Boating and Fishing Expo, Melbourne, Florida, Angler’s Improvement Clinics Sponsored by Mosquito Creek Outdoors, RipTide Soft Plastics, Woodie’s Rattles, TTI-Blakemore Fishing Group, and D.O.A. Lures

Future Hook Kids on Fishing! Program Dates

April 19 - Melbourne: To register contact the Melbourne Leisure Services 321-255-4608.

As always, if you have any questions or need more information, please contact me.Good luck and good fishing,

Captain Tom Van Horn

Mosquito Coast Fishing Charter

Contact Info

Last week brought some unseasonably cold weather to east central Florida . When I met California resident Jim at the ramp at 8 AM on Tuesday, the temperatures were still in the 40’s. The wind was blowing around 20 and we knew we were in for a tough day. Jim had hoped to fly fish the Mosquito Lagoon but we opted to use spinning gear due to the weather. We found several schools of redfish and some black drum as well. Casting was tough and the fish were in a bit of shock from the sudden temperature drop. Jim managed to fool one redfish with a DOA CAL.

Wednesday, it was a bit warmer but the winds were still howling. It did not look like a good start for my two day charter with Dan, a fly angler from New Jersey . Dan is a certified casting instructor and elected to stick with the fly despite the challenging conditions. His excellent casting skills paid off and he landed his first two redfish on the fly. The first came on a tan and gold bendback, the second on a black crab pattern. Dan also had shots at some big trout that did not eat and had a few more redfish bite.

 The next day, Dan and I arrived to find slick calm water and mild temperatures. Our first stop was holding several schools of finning redfish. After casting several different flies to the schools with no bites, Dan finally hooked up on the first redfish of the day with an EP pinfish pattern.

Compliments of Mosquito Creek Outdoors in Apopka Florida   

Although the weather during the first week of April has been sunny, windy conditions have prevailed and the catching has been tough.   I have experienced some very enjoyable adventures this past week spending quality time with great clients and good friends, but the catching for the most part was challenging.

My week started on the 4^th where I had the privilege of spending a day on the No-Motor Zone with an outstanding lineup of notable outdoor journalist and veteran lagoon anglers.  The group consisted of three specially rigged NMZ canoes, with Captain Rodney Smith and Paul Macinnis in one boat, Aaron and Fred Wicks of Kaynoe Paddle products in the second boat, and myself and Rusty Chinnis in the third.

While catching fish was our primary objective, Rusty was working on a future article, and I was interested in putting my newly modified Indian River Canoe to the test.  Several months back, I was approached by the good folks at Kaynoe Paddle Products (www.kaynoe.com) in Orlando, Florida to test out their new canoe and kayak stabilizer system and casting and poling decks, and I must say I’m highly impressed.  The light weight system can be modified to fit most any canoe or kayak, and it can be retracted when paddling from spot to spot, and then deployed when you are ready to standup and fish.  Notwithstanding the extremely rough conditions we experienced on Friday the Kaynoe Stabilizer passed with flying colors.

Besides the Kaynoe Stabilizer, I was also eager to check out my new SAS Stick, invented by George Waters (www.eastwatersdesign.com).  The SAS Stick, Stealth Anchoring System, clamps to the side of your boat allowing you the manually stake it out with very little effort.  Both of these innovations will be on display at the New Products Showcase at the Coastal Angler Magazine Boating and Fishing Expo at the Melbourne Auditorium, April 18^th, 19^th, and 20^th.

Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report, February 21, 2008

Compliments of Mosquito Creek Outdoors, Apopka Florida

Typically, the reports I write are about catching trophy redfish, black drum, and sea trout on the Indian River Lagoon system, but in this case, this is truly a fishing report.  You see, out of the three charter opportunities I had last week, all were scheduled on days with unfavorable weather condition, two were canceled, and the third should have been. 

Day before yesterday, I had the pleasure on fishing with Kristy and her father John from southern Illinois, and they wanted to fish regardless of the weather. I knew we were in for a tough day when at 7am there were only three boat trailers in the Parish Park lot. As I launched my skiff a steady north wind had already kicked up a solid two-foot swell, and as the day progressed, conditions only worsened. 

Kristy and John were great clients, and thankfully they were just as excited about being on the water together as they were catching fish, because after five hours of hard fishing, our score was 6 hardhead catfish and two buck tooth toadies.  Again the porpoises and manatees saved the day and there wasn’t an ounce of snow to be found anywhere.

This morning I tried it again, meeting my good friend Captain John Kumiski at around 7am, and then he and I ventured into the Banana River No-Motor Zone on a scouting mission.  Again our expectations were low due to overcast skies, blustery northeast winds of 15 plus knots, and the full moon.  Altogether we spent about 3 hours looking, and called the day early with very few shots at fish and rain squalls approaching from the west.  We did see a few decent redfish and black drum, but we were unsuccessful in making the connection.

On a side note, I did catch a fat pompano and a few whiting off of the beach on sand fleas while fishing with a group of friends.

Altogether it was an extremely tough week of catching, and as the moon wanes, the bite can only improve.

Seminars and Events

March 1^st, 2^nd, and 8^th 9^th Bass Pro Shop Spring Fling, Orlando Florida

March 8^th Woman in the Outdoors presents a Kids Fishing Day.  Event includes a full day of activities and lunch, and the cost is $25 per child. To register, contact Mosquito Creek Outdoors at (407) 464-2000.

April 18^th, 19^th, 20^th, Coastal Angler Magazine Boating and Fishing Expo, Melbourne, Florida.

As always, if you have any questions or need more information, please contact me.

Good luck and good fishing,

Captain Tom Van Horn

Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters

For contact info visit our Fishing Guide section at www.flyfishingfl.com

www.flyfishingfl.com

Compliments of Mosquito Creek Outdoors, Apopka Florida

Remember in my last report, when I suggested calling in sick during the winter and going fishing on the really nice days.  Well such was the case last week when my good friend Captain Chris Myers suggested we dump all responsibilities and go fishing in the Banana River Lagoon No-Motor Zone.  The weather forecast looked great, so I eagerly agreed, and we invited along another good friend of ours, Captain John Kumiski.

On Florida terms it was cold out (morning temperatures in the in low 50’s), so we launched around 8:30am giving the flats a chance to warm up.  The weatherman hit it right for a change, and the lagoon welcomed us with slick calm conditions.  As we worked our way into the Zone, we soon located multiple schools of slot size redfish, but the glassy conditions made them super spooky, and we could not get within casting distance before they would bump up and move.  It is extremely frustrating when the redfish in the NMZ are spooky as those in the Mosquito Lagoon, so we pushed on in search of sweeter waters and happier fish.

Continuing on, Captain Chris soon spotted a group of huge tails casually bobbing up and down in deeper water, so we staked out the canoe and waded in with our fly rods.  Soon, we were at the edge of what we thought was a small school of monster redfish with their massive tails glimmering in the sun’s reflection.  Being very careful not to spook the school we quietly took up our positions about 100 feet apart.  Very few things in life get your blood pumping like a school of giant tails waving at you within casting range. Chris was the first to line a fish, which bumped  them up revealing the true size of the school, and it was huge!  As the fish pushed away we were unsure of how they would behave, but to my luck, they settled down right in front of me.  Within a few casts, I lined one and the school pushed up again only to move about fifty feet before settling down once more, and that’s when Chris made a solid strip set and the real entertainment began.

After practicing CPR, (catch, photograph, and release) on Chris’s fish, the large school moved off into deeper waters never to be seen again, so we continued our search.  Before long, the south wind picked up, and we ended the day with a score of: Chris, three redfish, John, two black drum and puller hooks on two large redfish, and I caught a 30-inch redfish and a small black drum, a good day by anyone’s terms.

The remainder of the week, my charters lead me to the Mosquito Lagoon and the St. Johns River with mixed results.  On the 1^st of February, I the pleasure of fishing with Randy Lewis, and even with a challenging south wind, he caught two redfish and a black drum, with the largest redfish estimated to be around 25-pounds. 

On the February 3^rd, it was great to fish with Michael Grant from my Freedom Hawk Kayaks on an early morning quest for American Shad on the St. Johns River.  The fog was so thick it was like paddling through the clouds.  The shad were there in good numbers, but we only managed one.  The reason I say they were there, numerous anglers were having a banner day as we watched with frustration.  You see, the shad were running deep and I only had floating fly line, I won’t make that mistake again.  All and all, it was a beautiful morning nonetheless.

Good luck, good fishing, and Happy New Year,

Captain Tom Van Horn

Visit his site under the guides section at www.flyfishingfl.com

Compliments of Mosquito Creek Outdoors Apopka, Florida

Well those Anglers not familiar to Florida may believe fishing opportunities in February are few but far between, but that thought could not be further from the truth.  In reality, angling during the winter on the Indian River Lagoon Coast produces outstanding catches if the right tactics and strategies are employed.

As always, understanding the cycle of passing cold fronts is essential selecting the proper weather day and having the flexibility to get out on the water while the getting is good will add to one’s success.  Passing cold fronts are notorious for delivering several days nasty windy conditions followed by a short window of gorgeous weather, and a prudent angler will focus there attention on boat and tackle maintenance and honey dos during periods on ugly weather and call in sick when conditions are right.

With sea trout, black drum, and redfish serving as the primary targets on the inshore flats, water temperature serves as the most critical element in locating and catching fish.  On colder days, sea trout will search out and congregate in the warmest water they can find, so focus your attention in deeper holes and pockets adjacent to shallow flats.  Another critical element is the fact fish are cold blooded, so during colder periods their metabolic rate slows way down and they eat less, so concentrate your efforts on dredge holes, troughs, depressions, and canals located next to expansive flats, and slow down your presentation to a crawl.   My preferred lure in this situation is a Nite Glow Riptide realistic Shrimp rigged on a 1/16 ounce Screw Lock Jig.  My tactic is to locate a deeper canal adjacent to an expanse of shallow flats and then cast to the edges and let the jig sink all the way to the bottom before retrieving it very slowly.  After the cold snap passes and the weather starts warming up, focus your attention on sandy potholes where both sea trout and redfish like basking in the warming sun.    Also, let us not forget the tailing black drum and redfish on the Banana River Lagoon No Motor Zone.  There are very few thing in life that get the heart pumping better than the sight of a huge black tail raising slowly out of the water within casting range, and one of those is the first long run of a big black drum in shallow water. Remember, an early start is not necessary if the weather gets cold, so sleep in and hit the water when sun has warmed the flats a bit.

Moving offshore, kingfish will still be consistent along the inshore reefs and wrecks, and they will remain there as long as the water temperature stays above 68 degrees.  When targeting kings, focus on bottom structure in the areas of 8A reef, Pelican Flats, and Bethel Shoals to the south. Live bait is often tough to find this time of year, so always carry a box of frozen Spanish sardines with you as backup.

Also look for cobia and amberjack to be present on the inshore wrecks like the Carol Lee, Dutch, and Sub Wreck out of Port Canaveral, and let us not forget the excellent grouper and snapper experienced in February as these fish have a tendency to move in on shallow bottom structure and wrecks.  Near-shore, look for tripletail concentrations to improve greatly along the Port Canaveral buoy line and under floating weeds and structure, and for cobia to move in shadowing manta rays if the surface water temperatures reach the upper sixties.

February is also a great time for shore anglers to target pompano, bluefish, weakfish, small black drum, sheepshead, Spanish mackerel and whiting in the surf and larger redfish and flounder around the inlets and jetties. As the water temperatures cool, the pompano should move out of the lagoon and gather in the troughs along the beach in search of mole crabs (sand fleas) their favorite winter food source.

Last but not least, February is a great time to check out those freshwater fishing holes on the St Johns River, and inshore lakes.  Currently some good catches of American shad, speckled perch, and largemouth bass are being reported.

February 9^th Mosquito Creek Outdoors in Apopka, Woman in the Outdoors presents the Ladies Social Angler Seminar and Wine Tasting, from 9am-2pm.  Cost to attend is $40 per person and includes one-year membership and subscription to The Woman in the Outdoors. To register, contact Mosquito Creek Outdoors (407) 464-2000.

March 1^st, 2^nd, and 8^th 9^th Bass Pro Shop Spring Fling, Orlando Florida

March 8^th Woman in the Outdoors presents a Kids Fishing Day.  Event includes a full day of activities and lunch, and the cost is $25 per child. To register, contact Mosquito Creek Outdoors at (407) 464-2000.

April 18^th, 19^th, 20^th, Coastal Angler Magazine Boating and Fishing Expo, Melbourne, Florida.

As always, if you have any questions or need more information, please contact me.

Good luck, good fishing, and Happy New Year,

Captain Tom Van Horn

To visit Captain Tom Van Horn’s site go to our guide section at www.flyfishingfl.com

flyfishingfl.com 

The weather has been up and down here in east central Florida with some days sunny and warm and others cloudy, cool, and windy. We have been getting decent catches most days despite the weather and high water.

Last Wednesday, Chris, from Buffalo , left the snow behind and joined his friend Debra for a day of fishing Mosquito Lagoon. High winds limited our options but we did manage to catch a black drum around 20 pounds along with a few redfish.

Compliments of Mosquito Creek Outdoors, Apopka Florida

Winter clearly had a firm grip on most of America this past week, including Central Florida, and its influence has dominated our weather with snotty conditions all week. Although the weather was tough, I did manage one outing on Wednesday as part of a 15-boat group charter.  The morning greeted us with 50-degree temperatures and east winds of about 15 knots, not the best conditions by far.

We met our group at Parrish Park in Titusville around 7am, and as they unloaded from the buss I could immediately tell they weren’t from Florida.   My anglers, Keith and Sean were some of the first to department the buss, and Keith was wearing a short sleeve shirt. One of the great things about guiding anglers on the Indian River Lagoon is meeting folks from all walks of life and from distant locations, and the less they know about the our diversity of our fishery the more enjoyable the experience.  As it turned out, both Keith and Sean we from Minnesota, and they were fishing through a hole in the ice just a few weeks earlier.

 www.flyfishingfl.com

The weather conditions were not bad at first, and as I attempted to poll into our first spot we could see redfish tailing and pushing in the distance.  Currently water levels on the Lagoon are extremely low, and as hard as I tried, we couldn’t reach the fish.  Next, we departed the flat to fish in deeper water, and finally caught the two largest redfish in the group.

My good friend and lagoon mentor Captain Rodney Smith once said “as a fishing guide, on some days you are a hero, and on some days you a zero”, which sums up this weeks charters. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of fishing Catherine and Jim from Canada, and the weather was a bit windy but enjoyable.  The only problem was we couldn’t buy a bite, and after fishing hard for six hours, our net result was one redfish.

Seminars and Events

February 10^th, Gander Mountain, Meet Your Maker Event

March 1^st, 2^nd, and 8^th Bass Pro Shop Spring Fling, Orlando Florida

April 18^th, 19^th, 20^th, Coastal Angler Magazine Boating and Fishing Expo, Melbourne, Florida.

As always, if you have any questions or need more information, please contact me.

Good luck, good fishing,

Captain Tom Van Horn

Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
http://www.irl-fishing.com
407-366-8085 landline
407-416-1187 on the water
866-790-8081 toll free

Book a charter, and let’s go fishing.

www.flyfishingfl.com

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www.flyfishingfl.com

Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report, October 18, 2007

Compliments of Mosquito Creek Outdoors, Apopka Florida

As my good friend and lagoon mentor Captain Rodney Smith would say, ”the fishing this week was excellent, it was the catching that varied”.  High water and cooler temperatures have shifted fish patterns experienced on the lagoon last month, so more time was spent looking for fish then catching them.  The winds have settled down a bit and even switched from the south today, but the numbers of quality fish just weren’t there this week.

Corbin is an excellent angler, and he managed to catch all three fish on his own, excepting only limited assistance from his dad.

Several other points of interest this week effecting fishing are the red tide has once again returned in the Atlantic off of Flagler Beach, with some reports coming from as far south as New Smyrna Beach.  Additionally, the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge will be closed this weekend in support of Space Shuttle security measures, so the North end of Mosquito Lagoon will be closed as well as the No-Motor Zone.

Seminars and Events

 November 17^th 9am – 11am Hook Kids on Fishing program at the Volusia County Fair Grounds, Coastal Angler Magazine’s Boat Show & Fishing Expo.

November 16th, 17th, and 18th, Coastal Angler Magazines Boating and Fishing Expo at the Volusia County Fairgrounds, with a full program of speakers and seminars.  Hands on Angler Improvement Clinic presented by Mosquito Creek Outdoors, learn to rig soft plastic baits and utilized braided fishing line, knots, and leaders for inshore applications.

Call now to purchase your holiday charter gift certificate for the 2008 fishing season, and catch a memory with Captain Tom Van Horn.

As always, if you have any questions or need more information, please contact me.

Good luck and good fishing,

Captain Tom Van Horn

Today I was joined by father and son team Corbin and David Koenig from Port St. John, in celebration of Corbin’s 10^th birthday.  Our mission was to put Corbin on his first redfish, and although the catching was again tough, he managed two slot redfish and an 18-pound black drum.

Jason Johnson and his friend George from Sanford, Florida joined me on Wednesday for a half-day on the Indian River Lagoon where we only managed two slot redfish and some ladyfish, but we didn’t get skunked and we didn’t get too wet.