F ishing has been consistently good in the Mosquito Lagoon all season and I see no reason why it will not continue through June. Water clarity is good throughout the southern region and exceptionally clear in most locations. Some shoreline waters are becoming stained or dirty. Once encountered it’s our job to figure out if mullet are stirring up the bottom as they feed or if a localized algae bloom is messing up the area. If feeding mullet is creating the dingy water I’m happy to fish the area. After all schooling mullet is Mother Nature’s mobile buffet line! On the other hand if no mullet are present and the water smells “funny” it’s likely we have an algae bloom to deal with.
Once a bloom covers an area, be it a bay, cove or larger region we’re typically better off leaving in search of better conditions. If, however the bloom is localized we can often do extremely well by fishing the color change from dirty and smelly to clean and relatively clear. Rest assured if mullet and other baitfish inhabit this transitional area so will the predators.
Top-water plugs have been extremely effective throughout our spring season. I’ll go out on a limb here and say this will continue through June and summer. Yes, some areas will have too much floating grass to fish the plug all the way back to the boat without collecting a salad, but often you’ll only need a few feet of free movement to entice a bite from a toothy gator trout! I really like the small and medium sized Fender Walkers by Banks Lures when the water is calm. Once the water surface becomes fairly rippled I tend to go to a plastic plug with rattles and when it gets a little choppy I’m back to wood plugs by Banks Lures that “pop” and “chug” with a cupped mouth or “splash” with a tail propeller. Few anglers can resist the thrill of a surface explosion resulting in a bent rod and a screaming drag!