CastawayDays.com Fishing Reports

Hot Trout Bite on Mosquito Lagoon This Week

The Report from Spotted Tail 5/14/11

Upcoming Events-
-Space shuttle Endeavour’s launch, Monday, May 16, 8:56 a.m.
-On May 21, Fly Fishing for West Coast Tarpon seminar at Mosquito
Creek Outdoors, starting at 10 AM. Tom Van Horn will also be giving a
tarpon seminar aimed at east coast fish.

On Monday I finally got onto the Atlantic, accompanied by Scott
Radloff. Our goal was to find some bait, then search for tarpon first
and giant crevalle second.
We found bait, both mullet and menhaden, near and past
Cape Canaveral. While we were fishing around the mullet we noticed a
very dark spot moving north off the beach. It turned out to be a
school of crevalle, not giants but rather fish of about five pounds.
There were thousands of them.
We chased them up the beach for several miles. We didn’t
count but we caught a lot on DOA CAL jigs.
When we finally gave up on them we fished around the
menhaden schools they had led us to. The bluefish were thick, but
there was not much else. We saw one shark and three or four barracuda,
nothing more. All we caught were blues.
It turned out to be a 50 or 60 fish day, but nothing
spectacular in the way of size. Still, it was beautiful out and even
the smaller fish were quite entertaining.

On Tuesday I was back in Mosquito Lagoon, joined by fly fishing
Canadians Mark and Cody Zimmer. We found loads of big redfish tailing.
They would not take any of the flies we tried. We had a bright moment
when Mark cast a crab fly into a small school of big tailers and his
line came tight. The fish he caught was a red of maybe 16 inches. In
the middle of all those big ones, too!
Cody wanted a fish bad so the last 30 minutes we chunked
with mullet. He got a four pound and a six pound trout, then a red of
about 15 pounds.
Again, it was a beautiful day and tons of big fish were
spotted, but it was frustrating not being able to convince them to eat
anything.

Wednesday Steve Kas and Jim Trub came up from Boca Raton, bringing
Steve’s Archer Craft. I joined them and we went looking for all the
fish I’d seen the previous day. They flat out disappeared. We looked
from Pelican Island to Georges Bar and saw one redfish all day.
On the bright side the trout bite was pretty strong. We
got a couple dozen to about 20 inches by casting jigs around the
outside of several different bars.
Still, they wanted redfish. It was maddening not being
able to find any after seeing so many the previous day. Ya shoulda
been here yesterday!

Spotted Tail was on the Mosquito Lagoon again on Thursday, joined by
Karl Dienst and his friend Brad. Tossing DOA Shrimp and CAL jigs we
got a lot of trout, ranging from eight inches to almost 20.There were
a lot of ladyfish around, too. We concentrated on trout fishing most
of the day. With about an hour to go we went looking for reds. We
found a few slot fish and Brad got two on ladyfish chunks.

On Friday Jim Shwartzentruber and his friend George, fly casters from
Utah, joined me hoping to bag a big red or two. It was not to be. We
searched all day, me poling and them blind casting with a black bunny
fly, and saw maybe a dozen reds. Once the wind started cranking the
fishing got very tough too. They did get three or four decent
seatrout, but again, those were not the target.

I hope the reds start cranking again like they did on Tuesday. I have
every day this coming week booked up.

Embrace simplicity.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- go fishing!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John
Kumiski 2011. All rights are reserved.

The Seatrout fishing has been great this January 2011 on Mosquito Lagoon. We have been targeting the deeper holes and sloughs with Gulp shrimp jigs and live shrimp fished right on the bottom in the cold 50’ F water conditions. On most trips the last couple weeks the fish count has been from 40 to 75 fish, mostly Trout, also a good numbers of fun small size baby Redfish, with a few Flounder and Black Drum thrown in the mix. Most trips have had several or more keeper Trout with many smaller trout also in the count. Lots of fun fishing on light spin tackle and mostly artificial lure fishing. On the low wind days we are also targeting the shallow flats Redfish schools, a fun but challenging sight fishing tactic for better size Redfish.
Here are a couple of pictures of clients with the winter Seatrout we have been catching this month.
As Florida spring time arrives and the water begins to warm up a little, we will also start to do backcountry mixed bag fishing trips again for Seatrout, and Redfish, but also catching Bluefish, Sheepshead, Black Drum, Jacks, Ladyfish, and more species. You never know what type of saltwater fish you will pull up. This style of fishing on the mixed bag trips is mainly drift fishing and bottom fishing while free lining live shrimp and Gulp shrimp on light tackle which make for lots of rod bending fun. Good for experienced anglers and an easy way for less experienced anglers to be successful at catching lots of fish.

MY BOAT COMFORTABLY ACCOMMODATES 1 TO 4 ANGLERS
Located close to DAYTONA BEACH, NEW SMYRNA BEACH and ORLANDO, FLORIDA. Feel free to contact me at any time with questions you may have about my fishing charters.
CHILDREN ALWAYS WELCOME – FAIR PRICES
Capt. Michael Savedow
Edgewater River Guide, Inc.
386-689-3781
email> EdgewaterRiverGuide@cfl.rr.com
website> http://www.EdgewaterRiverGuide.com

December 2010 has brought early winter conditions to East Central Florida with several below freezing nights and very cold water temperatures before the first day of winter. I am pictured with a frosty morning Redfish taken on a scouting trip right after the cold spell began. After the Reds and Trout got used to the cold water temps down in the high 40’s and low 50’s on the cold mornings, our early winter pattern of schooled up fish in the sand sloughs and pockets began to be the go to fishing style. On the beautiful sunny post cold front days we are also finding larger sized Redfish schooled up on the shallow flats looking for some warmer water in the sunshine. Lately I have had several charter trips with catches of 50 to 100 plus fish, mixed Redfish, Trout, and a few Flounder mainly from the sand sloughs. Most of the Reds have been “fun to catch on light tackle”, smaller fish around 15” to 20”, but many of the Trout have been quality fish up to 17” to 20”, with lots of smaller sized mixed in also. These numbers of fish are exceptional for fun catch and release fishing, but the Seatrout season will reopen after New Years Day so we can start to keep some for dinner again. The trip catch numbers of fish will begin to be lower at some point through the winter as the big totals as of late are the exception not the rule. But fun fishing will continue here on Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River. The other picture is client Steve from Connecticut with a beautiful 14 spot Redfish.

Come fish with me on beautiful Mosquito Lagoon for flats fishing, we will target Redfish and Seatrout. This type of sight fishing can be challenging and very rewarding when you hook up with a drag pulling Redfish,or Trout. Good for experienced anglers or the less experienced anglers looking for a new fishing challenge. Or you could try one of my Indian River Backcountry Fishing trips, on WINTER mixed bag fishing trips we catch mainly Seatrout, Redfish, Bluefish, Sheepshead, & Black Drum, the style of fishing on the mixed trips is mainly drift fishing and bottom fishing while free lining live shrimp on light tackle which make for lots of rod bending. Fun for experienced anglers and an easy way for less experienced anglers to be successful at catching lots of fish. Lots more different species of fish return to our area in the springtime.
MY BOAT COMFORTABLY ACCOMMODATES 1 TO 4 ANGLERS
Located close to DAYTONA BEACH, NEW SMYRNA BEACH and ORLANDO, FLORIDA. Feel free to contact me at any time with questions you may have about my fishing charters.
CHILDREN ALWAYS WELCOME – FAIR PRICES
Capt. Michael Savedow
Edgewater River Guide, Inc.
386-689-3781
email> EdgewaterRiverGuide@cfl.rr.com
website> http://www.EdgewaterRiverGuide.com

December is almost here and I have had some great trips during the end of November 2010 on Mosquito Lagoon Florida. On a charter with cousins Frank and Joe from West Palm Beach and Pennsylvania respectively we caught 10 Redfish including the 30” beauty Frank is holding in the picture, also caught several Seatrout along the way. On another trip a few days later Donovan and his friend Doug from Daytona Beach caught 6 big Reds along with 8 more smaller ones. Here is a picture of them with a double they landed at the same time on this chilly windy cold front day.

Come fish with me on beautiful Mosquito Lagoon for flats fishing, we will target Redfish and Seatrout. This type of sight fishing can be challenging and very rewarding when you hook up with a drag pulling Redfish,or Trout. Good for experienced anglers or the less experienced anglers looking for a new fishing challenge. Or you could try one of my Indian River Backcountry Fishing trips, that is mixed bag fishing for Seatrout, Redfish, Black Drum, Jack Crevalle, Ladyfish, Bluefish, Snapper, & many more saltwater fish. On the average Backcountry trip we catch between 10 and 15 (or more) different species of saltwater fish.You never know what will bite with this type of fishing, mainly drift fishing while free lining live shrimp on light tackle make for lots of rod bending and drag pulling. Fun for experienced anglers and an easy way for less experienced anglers to be successful at catching lots of fish.
MY BOAT COMFORTABLY ACCOMMODATES 1 TO 4 ANGLERS

Located close to DAYTONA BEACH, NEW SMYRNA BEACH and ORLANDO, FLORIDA. Feel free to contact me at any time with questions you may have about my fishing charters.
CHILDREN ALWAYS WELCOME – FAIR PRICES
Capt. Michael Savedow
Edgewater River Guide, Inc.
386-689-3781
email> EdgewaterRiverGuide@cfl.rr.com
website> http://www.EdgewaterRiverGuide.com

I have had a very busy summer of inshore saltwater fishing trips here on the Mosquito Lagoon flats and in the Backcountry at Edgewater and New Smyrna Beach, Florida. On the grass flats the Redfishing has been very steady with the summer pattern of fishing the mullet schools early and sight casting the sand holes later in the morning. Also some nice size Seatrout coming aboard. Backcountry trips have had steady action with some keeper Seatrout, Black Drum, and Mangrove Snapper. The Jack Crevalle and Ladyfish are always there to provide exciting strikes and fish fights from these fun catch and release game fish. We even had a few exciting moments from Tarpon strikes and jumps which were a little to much for our light Trout tackle to handle for long.

Come fish with me on beautiful Mosquito Lagoon for flats fishing, we will target Redfish and Seatrout.This type of sight fishing can be challenging and very rewarding when you hook up with a drag pulling Redfish or Trout. Good for experienced anglers or the less experienced anglers looking for a new fishing challenge. Or you could try one of my Indian River Backcountry Fishing trips, that is mixed bag fishing for Seatrout, Redfish, Black Drum, Jack Crevalle, Ladyfish, Bluefish, Snapper, & many more saltwater fish. On the average Backcountry trip we catch between 10 and 15 (or more) different species of saltwater fish.You never know what will bite with this type of fishing, mainly drift fishing while free lining live shrimp on light tackle make for lots of rod bending and drag pulling. Fun for experienced anglers and an easy way for less experienced anglers to be successful at catching lots of fish.
MY BOAT COMFORTABLY ACCOMMODATES 1 TO 4 ANGLERS
Located close to DAYTONA BEACH, NEW SMYRNA BEACH and ORLANDO, FLORIDA. Feel free to contact me at any time with questions you may have about my fishing charters.
CHILDREN ALWAYS WELCOME – FAIR PRICES
Capt. Michael Savedow
Edgewater River Guide, Inc.
386-689-3781
email> EdgewaterRiverGuide@cfl.rr.com
website> http://www.EdgewaterRiverGuide.com

The past weeks of fishing here in the east central Florida area has been extremely great. On fire to be exact. Earlier sunrises and later sunsets mean more fishing time along with nice weather to deal with – no more cold! The warm weather arriving has also brought on tarpon, jacks, blues, lady fish and all of the other seasonal species which move into the lagoon and river here when summer time arrives. Along with these fish have of course been the outstanding year round bite of redfish, trout and black drum. Again summer time fishing here in Florida is by far the best place to be on the planet. Why go any where else. As the weather keeps getting into the summer dog days the fishing will continue to improve along with it as well. The lagoon is alive and active.

Redfish have been seen and caught throughout the entire Mosquito Lagoon system and in the Indian River using a large variety of baits. Most of the fish I have been targeting have been up on the flats and in the backcountry waters of the Mosquito Lagoon and the New Smyrna Beach area. Tailing reds can been seen at first light eating a variety of baits among the grass flats. The fish are moving across and along sand bars chasing the bait schools that become active in the morning light. Mullet have made an invasion into the grass flats along with the blue crabs, pin fish and of course the summer specials of pig fish. It seems the past couple of trips mud minnows have been the choice of the day. A well placed mud minnow in front of feeding redfish is a bait that will not be turned away. The key with using them is the presentation and care of the bait. Mud minnows are a favorite of redfish(along with flounder) due to the baits characteristic qualities of heading, well, into the mud. It basically swims into the reds mouth or very close to it. If sight fishing with them try to keep them alive in the water as you are poling around in search of reds. Either keeping them in the live well on the hook or hanging them over the side of the boat or place a small bucket in your boat and refresh the water every so often for optimal care. The next thing you do not want to do is to land on top of the fish when making your cast. As I have said before this will scare them. If several redfish are feeding and you scare one them you will scare them all. No doubt. So cast past them, anticipate their direction and speed but close enough to them to slowly bring it to them for the attack. The redfish will hammer them. The DOA shrimps in the natural colors have been working great as well as the DOA CALS in mullet patterns used on weedless rigs with lighter weights on them. Fish them in the same way as the mud minnows for your presentation and approach.

Trout have been caught in good numbers along sand bars and drop off early in the morning using jigs and top water. Search along the bars that drop off to deeper ledges and specially noting if there is a large presence of bait fish moving about in the area for better success. Larger trout will be roaming the flats in the grass beds in search of baits and will be vary wary of your presence so be very cautious when approaching them. They are the apex predator in the lagoon. Of course as always please handle them with extreme care for a positive release and a high survival rate of them. Black drum are mixed in on the flats roaming in schools and will appear with the redfish as well. The best baits of choice for them are small crabs or smaller shrimp placed on a 2/0 or 3/0 circle hook with a small weight to help it get down to the fish. Jacks, lady fish and blue fish can be caught in massive numbers all over the deeper waters(5-7 feet) using almost any kind of plug, jig or bait thrown at them. Watch for diving birds, dolphin, predator fish crashing baits and large bait pods moving about to locate them. Be sure to step up your leader to a higher strength due to the blues.

Captain Drew Cavanaugh
Florida Inshore Fishing Charters
New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Cell/352-223-7897
Visit us at: http://www.floridainshorefishingcharters.com/
Fish the world famous Mosquito Lagoon. The redfish capital of the world!
Located along Florida’s beautiful Space Coast.

Kelly also caught this 27” Seatrout which weighed almost 7 pounds. To further show up the guys on the boat, she also caught this 31” Redfish at 11.5 pounds. We are still having fun Edgewater Indian River Backcountry trips with lots of easier fishing type action, lots of Jack Crevalle and Ladyfish with Trout and Black Drum in the mix also.

I offer Mosquito Lagoon Flats Fishing trips for Redfish, Seatrout, & Black Drum .This type of sight fishing can be challenging and very rewarding when you hook up with a drag pulling Redfish, Drum, or Trout. Good for experienced anglers or the less experienced anglers looking for a new fishing challenge. I also offer Indian River Backcountry Fishing trips, that is mixed bag fishing for Seatrout, Redfish, Black Drum, Jack Crevalle, Ladyfish, Bluefish, Snapper, & many more saltwater fish. On the average Backcountry trip we catch between 10 and 15 (or more) different species of saltwater fish.You never know what will bite with this type of fishing, mainly drift fishing while free lining live shrimp on light tackle make for lots of rod bending and drag pulling. Fun for experienced anglers and an easy way for less experienced anglers to be successful at catching lots of fish.

Edgewater River Guide, Inc.

MY BOAT COMFORTABLY ACCOMMODATES 1 TO 4 ANGLERS

Located close to DAYTONA BEACH, NEW SMYRNA BEACH and ORLANDO, FLORIDA. Feel free to contact me at any time with questions you may have about my fishing charters.

CHILDREN ALWAYS WELCOME – FAIR PRICES

Capt. Michael Savedow

386-689-3781
email> EdgewaterRiverGuide@cfl.rr.com
website> http://www.EdgewaterRiverGuide.com

The fishing the past couple of weeks has taken off fantastically. No doubt that it is here to stay for the long haul. From here on out it will continue to just get better and better as the warm summer days approach. Next thing you know it is July. Just awesome! There is nothing better than fishing in the summer in Florida. A few tarpon have been seen here and there in the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River which is a great sign. If these tarpon are seen in the lagoon and river they will be along the beaches in full force in not long at all.

Redfish, trout and black drum have been on fire on the flats in the early morning on the Mosquito Lagoon and very active throughout the day as well. As long as the sun stays out and the wind and weather work with you the fishing will be very intense. The key as always is to get an early start and avoid other boats at all cost. If you see another boat flats fishing try your hardest to avoid them, they may be approaching fish in a quiet way. Again 600 to 800 feet is a good thing and not that much on the water but just enough to give your fellow angler the space they need. There is more than enough water to fish in the area, it just takes some work to find it. Use tactics such as trying new areas and you will discover new grounds to fish. You never know until you try. Stealthy approaches are important to a good days success, so take your time and pole towards fish as much as possible.

Redfish are feeding on numerous baits. Mud minnows, live small blue crabs, live mullet, shrimp and plastics seem to work perfect. Weed less rigged DOA shrimps and CALS will produce very nice catches of redfish and trout. Black drum are perfect candidates for the fly fisherman. Use a small black crab pattern or shrimp pattern for feeding drum and hook ups should follow.

Trout are finally being caught in fairly good numbers which is a really good sign after this winter. Top water plugs are always fun for these apex predators and there is nothing like seeing the explosion of this hit on the water. Search drop offs and sand bars for smaller trout and search the backcountry flats and pot holes for the bigger trout that will be secluded. As with all of the fish you catch please handle them with extreme care for the perfect picture and even better release. Also with water levels low use caution for your navigation.

Captain Drew Cavanaugh
Florida Inshore Fishing Charters
Cell/352-223-7897
Visit Us At: http://www.floridainshorefishingcharters.com/
Fish the world famous Mosquito Lagoon. The redfish capital of the world!
Located along Florida’s beautiful Space Coast.

We are always having fun hunting for Redfish when fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. Pictured are my friend and client Randy and his son Scott showing off the 30” Red that Scott caught fishing with me on the flats. We caught 6 Reds while sight fishing a school on a beautiful, calm, Mosquito Lagoon morning. The other picture is Jake from North Carolina and his 5 pound Black Drum caught on one of my Edgewater Backcountry mixed bag trips. Also caught were 3 other Drum along with Seatrout, Bluefish, Jack Crevalle, Ladyfish, and more. Summer is coming soon with its picture perfect calm mornings, and light w

arm breeze, then our cooling afternoon sea-breeze. Fishermen and fish alike will be enjoying our wonderful, East Central Florida, Indian River, and Mosquito Lagoon salt water backcountry.

I offer Mosquito Lagoon Flats Fishing trips for Redfish, Seatrout, & Black

Drum .This type of sight fishing can be challenging and very rewarding when you hook up with a drag pulling Redfish, Drum, or Trout. Good for experienced anglers or the less experienced anglers looking for a new fishing challenge. I also offer Indian River Backcountry Fishing trips, that is mixed bag fishing for Seatrout, Redfish, Black Drum, Jack Crevalle, Ladyfish, Bluefish, Snapper, & many more saltwater fish. On the average Backcountry trip we catch between 10 and 15 (or more) different species of saltwater fish.You never know what will bite with this type of fishing, mainly drift fishing while free lining live shrimp on light tackle make for lots of rod bending and drag pulling. Fun for experienced anglers and an easy way for less experienced anglers to be successful at catching lots of fish.

MY BOAT COMFORTABLY ACCOMMODATES 1 TO 4 ANGLERS

Located close to DAYTONA BEACH, NEW SMYRNA BEACH and ORLANDO, FLORIDA. Feel free to contact me at any time with questions you may have about my fishing charters.

CHILDREN ALWAYS WELCOME – FAIR PRICES

Capt. Michael Savedow

Edgewater River Guide, Inc.

386-689-3781
email> EdgewaterRiverGuide@cfl.rr.com
website> http://www.EdgewaterRiverGuide.com

Springtime fishing here in Edgewater and MOSQUITO LAGOON, Florida has been great. On my backcountry mixed bag trips we have been catching Seatrout, Black Drum, Redfish, Sheepshead, Bluefish, Jack Crevalle, Ladyfish, and more. You never know what will bite with this type of fishing, mainly drift fishing while free lining live shrimp on light tackle make for lots of rod bending and drag pulling. Fun for experienced anglers and an easy way for less experienced anglers to be successful at catching lots of fish.
REDFISH and Seatrout fishing on the flats of Mosquito Lagoon has also been lots of fun with many great Reds and Trout being caught. This type of sight fishing is more challenging and very rewarding when you hook up with a drag pulling Red. As summer arrives, Redfish and Seatrout fishing will only get better as the fun summer pattern of MOSQUITO LAGOON fishing returns. Pictured below : Capt Mike Bales and myself with a pair of twin Reds and client Chris with a great 30” Redfish.

My boat accommodates from 1 to 4 anglers. Located close to DAYTONA BEACH, NEW SMYRNA BEACH and ORLANDO. Feel free to contact me at any time with questions you may have about my fishing charters.
CHILDREN ALWAYS WELCOME – FAIR PRICES
Capt. Michael Savedow
Edgewater River Guide, Inc.
386-689-3781
email> EdgewaterRiverGuide@cfl.rr.com
website> http://www.EdgewaterRiverGuide.com