It was a windy Thanksgiving week and end of November. I’m thankful that it finally calmed down for a bit going into December making it fishable out in the Lagoon systems. Once the wind laid down and the sun popped out after weeks of wind, rain, and cool temperatures, it was a whole new world out there. The fish are now out and about sunning themselves in shallow water. Since it has been slick calm conditions lately, the fish have been extra spooky and some say that they have been having a hard time catching them. There are a few things to remember that might increase your chances of catching fish when they are being like that in cold/clear water.
1. Scale down your lures/flies so that it will not make loud plops when casting
2. Keep your distance when sight casting to fish. Stay as far as you can but make sure you keep a distance that you feel comfortable enough to make an accurate cast.
3. Slow down your retrieve
4. Use natural colors and nothing bright and flashy.
5. Use a push pole and not a trolling motor to keep stealthy, if you do not have a poling skiff, get out and wade.
Keeping those simple steps in mind can help increase your chances of catching spooky fish in the Winter time when temperatures are a bit cooler and water is clear.
Kyle and his Dad Kevin joined me on one of those windy days. D.O.A Shadtails in natural colors worked well for them.
Kelly coming in from Canada was in Orlando for a work conference and had a little bit of time to sneak out and fly fish the Lagoon with me. We got rained on for most of the morning, but did have a few opportunities where the sun peaked out enough for Kelly to get some shots in.
Jeff from California has never caught a redfish before, he can now scratch that off of his list of species to catch on fly.
Tim comes down from the Panhandle of Florida once a month to fish with me. Every time he comes down, he tends to beat his personal record redfish on fly or catch a new species on fly. This time, he beat his redfish record.
Tim was generous enough to let me get in on the action since we had big redfish swimming all around the flat. Thanks Tim, catching that fish felt good!
Of course I do enjoy a day off fishing with my buddies and fellow guides. Billy Rotne and I took a day to enjoy some top notch Mosquito Lagoon sight fishing and shot some video of our adventure which I have posted in my last entry and in my video section if you would like to check it out: https://www.nativeflycharters.com/wordpress/videos/
Here’s a photo of Billy from that day.
As long as we have good sunny days and light winds, fishing in all 3 lagoon systems should be very productive all through the Winter. This is one of my favorite times to sight fish for laid up Sea Trout and Redfish along with Black Drum roaming the flats.
– Capt. Willy Le
321-303-7805
nativeflycharters@gmail.com
