Typically one of the best months to fish the Mosquito Lagoon as the opportunity exist to target a wide variety of species on any given day weather permitting. The water temperatures are pretty consistent and stay well within a tolerable range to find fish in shallow water foraging on small bait-fish that are abundant this time of year. As the amount of bait increases the ability to target the more aggressive species on artificial will improve greatly.
As a Guide I am always looking for ways to improve my anglers catch ratio without turning it into “rocket science” while making it fun. With the food supply becoming more present you will need to key in on a specific “size” of offering in both artificial and or live/ dead bait. One key thing to remember is these fish are looking for an easy meal and plenty of it fast. The top water action is simply awesome this time of year and noisy surface plugs and gurgler type flies will get the attention of your target from a distance without having to make a perfect cast. While often redfish will strike well within 30 feet of the boat catching a large trophy sized trout will require long cast well beyond 50 feet. A great addition I have added to my arsenal is a weedless soft plastic popper, the Z-Man PopShadz. This lures comes in a 4 and 5 inch model and has taken the worry of fishing grass heavy areas out of the equation allowing it to be worked over a much larger area without obstruction while staying the strike zone longer. In areas with minimal grass the super spook jr in bone is one of the most productive lures on the market today. Take into consideration the weather pattern and the wind direction of the previous few days prior to your outing and it will greatly increase your odds at finding the cleaner water in the lagoon. I had a question from a reader recently concerning water clarity, Charles I hope this helps! Consistent northern wind will clean the water up after a day or two and is optimal after that. Southern wind will push any dirty water way back into the backcountry and will often take several days for it to move out. Here is a great site to observe current and past conditions http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/ uv?site_no=02248380 . As the water rises look for any current or water flow from culverts. Fishing these areas can often produce great action with very aggressive feeding patterns.
I will be putting on a free seminar towards the end of the month at Titusville Bait and Tackle 425 Garden street on May 21st from 2 to 4 pm with plenty of tips and tactics along with some free sample products, I look forward to meeting many of you.
As always feel free to give me a call if I can make your next outing more productive along with helping you become a better angler, until next month “Tight Lines”.
MOSQUITO LAGOON MAY 2016
Capt Pat Murphy 321-278-9852
mosquitolagoonguides@gmail.com
www.mosquitolagoonguide.com