April 2016 Mosquito Lagoon/Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report

Sorry, I’ve been slacking hard on my monthly blogs. It’s been a busy start of the year for me with charters and my 2 little ones running/crawling circles around me. I’m back on track now and with good news and bad news.

The bad news is that we had a massive fish kill in the Indian/Banana River Lagoon a few weeks ago due to Brown tide/Algae Blooms. It was a major one stretching from Port Canaveral down to Melbourne area killing millions of fish including our favorite game fish like Redfish, Sea Trout, Black Drum, Snook, and Tarpon.
photo were taken from the web:

This video by Dylan Hansen explains it best, please take a look at it if you have the time:

The good news is that this brown tide/algae bloom did not effect the Mosquito Lagoon or northern parts of the Indian River. Fishing up there remains good and water quality is improving a bit but we are not out of the woods yet. This massive fish kill got the attention of the media nationwide and is an eye opener for recreational fisherman, guides, residents, and visitors. Hopefully things will be done to help prevent this from happening again. If you watched the video above, it has some good information on where to start and what we can do to help prevent another massive fish kill.

Moving on to the fishing report. This month has been EXCELLENT for sight fishing. I have been fishing an area in the Indian River with clean sand flats that hold big Sea Trout, Redfish cruising shorelines, snook in the mangroves, big jacks busting in the deeper water, and bonnethead sharks that are willing to take a fly.

Mosquito Lagoon has also been good this month. Lots of shots at redfish in very shallow water putting your finesse casting skills to the test.

Scouting days are always fun with friends..
photo credit: Dominic Agostini www.dominicphoto.com

Dominic can catch fish on fly too:

Zach from Georgia got to feel the real power from a Jack Crevalle on his 8wt.

Regulars Brian and his wife Allison from Connecticut joined me for 2 days of perfect sight fishing conditions. Always fun having these two on the skiff.

Alex and Brandon from Maine chose a day where the winds were blowing a stiff 20-25mph. We had to hide behind high trees where we were greeted with plenty of shots at fish.