On March 8th, I spent several hours helping a friend and guide break in his new Mercury 90hp motor on his Hells Bay Guide boat. Captain David Rogers and I wanted to just run around and scout for fish. While in most cases this might sound boring, but being on the water is the most relaxing thing that I can think of. Captain Dave is one of my favorite people to fish with also, and we are close and good friends. Captain Dave is well known for big redfish, and while I enjoy catching big reds, I prefer catching tailing redfish in shallow water and stalking them. Skinny water, sight fishing is my favorite way of catching Redfish on the Lagoon. While the weather has been very nice, the wind wasn't in our favor if we had decided to take a break and break out the rods. We saw several boats up north going after a large school or overslot redfish. Reports were that two large fish were caught by one guide, while the two other boats weren't as successful. Baits included broken live blue crabs, shrimp and other plastics, mostly Mister Twister Exudes or Berkley Gulps. Exudes and Gulp are probably the most popular baits in our area, with Gulp being the bait of choice because of scent. When Gulps were first introduced to our area, redfish would attack the plastic bait, but recently I have begun to think that our redfish now know the scent and don't aggressively attack the plastic bait.
While Dave and I talked to several guides while on the water and at the boat ramp, Captain Jon Lulay of 2 Castaway Fishing Charters had the most incredible morning that we heard from. Captain Jon put 33 Redfish in the boat for his clients. Captain Jon was fishing the lagoon, skinny water in the back country. Captain Jon is another well respected, well known fishing guide on the Mosquito Lagoon. Jon and I have been out a couple times, and each time has been some of the better fishing that I have done. Last year I had a great time taking photos of Captain Jon and his client for Coastal Angler Magazine. The day wasn't the best for taking photos, but Jon was able to get his client a monster Redfish. I climbed into the water and snapped a couple photos.
If your in Orlando and you are looking for a fishing guide, please email me and I will set it up for you. Tight lines and screaming reels...sc
