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March fishing 2012

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Capt. Willy Le

Spring time is one of my favorite times to fish, the weather is just right and the bait fish start to move in the river system and off the beaches in my area and behind the bait fish will be the predators that lurk beneath them. Inshore fishing has been very good these past couple weeks. Redfish are tailing in small pods, Black Drum are schooled up on the flats, and the Sea Trout catches have been really good with fish averaging around 20 inches. Most of the catches have been on D.O.A. Soft plastics rigged on a 1/8oz weedless 3/0 hook. Dark colors(Morning Glory, Rootbeer, Gold Rush/Black back) in the morning and lighter/natural colors(Baby bass, Green back, Arkansas glow) during mid day worked best for me.

Last week I had Steven and Patrick join me on their first trip to Mosquito Lagoon. We got into tailing fish and pods of fish rooting around the grass in search for food. Blind casting in sand holes resulted in some nice sized Sea Trout.

Another favorite thing of mine during the Spring is Cobia fishing off the beaches out of Port Canaveral. During this time of year, the Cobia make their way north for their annual migration. They will be either cruising in pods, singles, under turtles, or shadowing Manta Rays. Most fish can be spotted free swimming on the surface and will look very similar to a shark. I had a chance to sneak out last week to see if the Cobia run had started yet. It wasn’t in full swing, but plenty of fish were out there to be caught. Bright colored jigs work great, but I have best luck on D.O.A. Swimmin’ Mullet!

Woody, Marshall, and Chris joined me last week to search for these fish and try to catch a few for the grill. We didn’t see many, but we had our chance to catch our daily limit hooking 4 fish but only landing 2. Cobia are good at shaking hooks out of their mouths with their powerful head shakes. Here’s Woody with his first ever Cobia!

Of course I had to get in some of the action…

Give me a call if you would like to get in on some of the action whether it be inshore for tailing Redfish or Nearshore for the hard fighting Cobia. Large Tarpon should be showing up soon off the beaches as well for those of you who would like to tango with the Silver Kings!

-Capt. Willy Le
321-303-7805
nativeflycharters@gmail.com

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Mosquito Lagoon 2-24-2012

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Capt. Willy Le

Super windy day today in the Mosquito Lagoon but that didn’t didn’t scare the California boys Tim and John. Tim and John work in the fishing equipment industry and they do a lot of traveling and fishing, but today was their first time in the Mosquito Lagoon. Conditions were tough but we managed to tuck away from the wind in some cuts and coves that treated us well with Sea Trout and Redfish. The water level is a lot higher since a couple weeks ago and the fish are more spread out. Work the edges of grass flats and sand holes for both Trout and Reds. All fish were caught using D.O.A. CAL Jerkbaits rigged on a weighted weedless hook.

We also had a chance to test out Power Pro’s new Super Slick braid in 15lb test. Both Tim and John were very impressed with the line, it performed well in the windy conditions and there were no wind knot incidents all day. Pair that up with any 3000 or 4000 Shimano reel and you are good to go!

Capt. Willy Le
321-303-7805
nativeflycharters@gmail.com

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February Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River, Banana River Report

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Capt. Willy Le

All 3 lagoons have been very productive this month. With the great weather we have been having so far, large Sea Trout and slot sized Reds have been plentiful on the shallow flats. Look for Trout laid up in sand holes and Redfish tailing along shallow grassy areas with deeper water near by. Topwater lures have been productive early in the mornings and soft plastics such as D.O.A. CAL jerkbaits and shadtails rigged on a 1/8 oz weedless hook worked best mid day.

Matt and Dylan joined me on their first trip to the Mosquito Lagoon last week, they both sight casted to and caught multiple Redfish each using D.O.A. Lures. They had a great start to the morning by getting a double hook up on a pod of tailing Redfish.

While Matt caught the biggest Redfish of the day, Dylan ended up catching the biggest Sea Trout to end the day.

This past Thursday, Brent and Gordy from South Dakota joined me for a half day on the Indian River. With the 20-25mph winds, we were limited on what we could do, so we went to a deeper wind protected area, put the Wang Anchor down and both caught around 50-60 Sea Trout ranging from 15″ up to 22″ using D.O.A. CAL Shadtails on a 1/4 jighead. Towards the end of the trip, we pushed along a grass flat looking for Reds and Brent finished the day with his first ever Redfish.

Hopefully the freezing temperatures that’s heading our way, does not affect the fishing too badly. When things heat back up, the fishing should do the same.

-Capt. Willy Le
321-303-7805
nativeflycharters@gmail.com

Posted in Fishing reports | Tagged Banana River, D.O.A. Lures, Flats Fishing, Indian River, Maverick HPX, Mosquito Lagoon, Redfish, Sea Trout, Titusville, Trout fishing Indian River, Willy Le | Leave a comment

American Shad Run – St. Johns River

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Capt. Willy Le

Everywhere that I’ve lived in my life, I was at least 30 minutes away from the St. Johns River and I keep hearing about the Shad run that takes part every Winter and Spring but I’ve never went out and tried catching them until recently. My buddy Dominic Agostini invited me to join him on his new and improved Micro Skiff that he’s been working on for a while now. You may have seen it in one of my previous posts called Micro Skiff = Micro Tarpon. Well, since then he has added a poling platform by BT’s Welding and pushpole holders from Renzetti.

If you ask me one thing about Shad, I will probably scratch my head and say “huh?” This experience was all new to me, so I just sat quietly and took notes while Dominic explained everything there is to know about the American Shad.

Once we launched the skiff and headed north through the windy creeks, It came back to me how pristine this part of Florida was. The scenery and all of the wildlife put me in a whole new world as if I was going on an African Safari Tour. What a great time to break out the Nikon DSLR and the long lens for a photography session while we were on the way to the fishing spot.

Once we came off plane, we immediately saw some flipping on the waters surface. It was Shad feeding on small minnows that were flowing in the current. It didn’t take long until Dominic hooked into the first fish of the day on his 3wt.

Then it was my turn on deck while Dominic was armed with the camera to capture some jump shots.

We caught several Shad each along with some pretty impressive Bluegill that put up a good fight.

After about an hour of catching Shad and Bluegill, we decided to just go joy riding and enjoy the great scenery that the St. Johns River has to offer.

I think I might started taking advantage of living close to the St. Johns River and make more trips out there to enjoy the great fishery and amazing scenery.

-Capt. Willy Le
321-303-7805
nativeflycharters@gmail.com

Posted in Fishing reports | Tagged Fly fishing for Shad, Shad run, St. Johns River Shad | Leave a comment

Bottom Fishing with D.O.A. Swimmin’ Mullet

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Capt. Willy Le

Me, my brother and friends ventured out of Port Canaveral in the 22′ Pathfinder TE this past weekend. Conditions were sloppy but that didn’t stop the fish 80ft below from biting. We used nothing but D.O.A. Swimmin’ Mullet to jig the bottom and caught multiple species including Flounder, Red Snapper, Mangrove Snapper, Sea Bass, Trigger fish, Grouper, Cobia, and Toad fish this day.

-Capt. Willy Le
321-303-7805
nativeflycharters@gmail.com

Posted in Fishing reports | Tagged bottom fishing, Cobia fishing, D.O.A. Lures, D.O.A. Swimming Mullet, flounder, Pathfinder Boats, Port Canaveral, Port Canaveral Fishing, red snapper, Willy Le | Leave a comment

Clear water and plenty of fish

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Capt. Willy Le

Schools of Redfish are now showing up in big numbers on the flats in all 3 Lagoons along with some big Trout that are laid up in potholes soaking up the mid day sun. Water clarity is finally nice and clear like it should be this time of year which makes sight fishing top notch! These fish are also really spooky so scaling down your lures and flies can make a difference. Also slowing down your presentation can give you better results. Most fish that we’ve been catching are on D.O.A. Shadtail Cals on a 1/4 jighead in natural colors, for flies we would have most success on Clousers or Redfish Sliders.

Last week I had Larry Kilbourne and Kurt Mahalik on the skiff. They landed a good number of both Trout and Redfish using the techniques mentioned above.

Today, I had Chad and Kirk from Missouri aboard. This was their first time flats fishing which they did really well at. They had huge schools of fish surrounding the boat landing about 6 and lost a few as well. Chad ended up catching this overslot fish which is the biggest fish he ever caught in his life!

His brother Kirk with a slot Redfish caught on a Gulp shrimp…

-Capt. Willy Le
321-303-7805
nativeflycharters@gmail.com

Posted in Fishing reports | Tagged Banana River, Breeder Redfish, Cocoa Beach, D.O.A. Lures, Indian River, Maverick Boats, Maverick HPX, Merritt Island fishing, Mosquito Lagoon, Native Fly Charters, Redfish, Sea Trout, Trout, Trout fishing Indian River, Willy Le | Leave a comment

A special day for Kent Johnson

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Capt. Willy Le

Kent Johnson from Montana spends his winters in warmer climates to get away from the frozen lakes and icy streams back at home. This year he is in Florida with his 5th wheel in tow and his wife by his side and they plan to travel the whole state staying in each region for 2 weeks then on to the next. This week he is staying on the outskirts of East Orlando and called me up to target Redfish with a fly rod. Kent has traveled the world with his fly rod and has caught Bonefish, Salmon, Tarpon, Permit, Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout, etc. but always had trouble with the Red Drum in Florida. After several attempts in the past years, he has failed to catch one until today, January 10, 2012, which was a very special day for him.

On a sandy flat of 8-12″, we would encounter Laid up Sea Trout, laid up Redfish and also large schools of Redfish. The water was crystal clear and not a lick of wind making the whole river sheet glass, which also made the fish very spooky. Kent had over 50 shots of both Trout and Reds but most of them blew off by seeing the fly line soaring through the air. The ones that didn’t spook off are the ones that either trailed the fly for a few yards before turning away, or ate the fly that imitated a small baitfish.

After landing a few nice Sea Trout (which Kent can also check off his list now) I see a pod of upper to over slot Redfish approaching us. I quickly position the skiff for Kent to fire off a long cast next to the school which he did perfectly without spooking the fish. Once the pod of fish headed towards the fly, Kent makes 3 or 4 quick strips which gets a fishes attention which then turned on the fly and ate. Now Kents first ever Redfish is hooked up on the end of his line and the battle begins.

After about 20 minutes of tug o war with the fish, I give Kent a hand to land his first ever Redfish on fly that he’s been after for a long time.

Kent cherishing the release of his first Redfish which measured 28.5″.

It wasn’t too long after the release of his first Redfish when he made a perfect cast to his 2nd Redfish ever caught.

After a bunch more shots and spooky fish, the wind picked up which made it tough to get the fly in the right spot so we called it a great day and headed back to ramp.

Congrats Kent on your Redfish and I hope you enjoy the memories that these photographs will bring back to you!

-Capt. Willy Le
321-303-7805
nativeflycharters@gmail.com

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Starting the New Year with some great Black Drum action!

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Capt. Willy Le

Ever since my good buddy Capt. Honson Lau(www.purpleisleflyfishing.com) from south Florida came up to fish with me 2 years ago, we got into some insane tailing Black Drum action in the Indian River Lagoon. Since then, he has been making it a tradition to drive up for the weekend to target these fish every year when they show up on the flats in my area so we put January 7th and 8th 2012 on our schedules.

Usually the Drum would show up during the colder months, but since our winter has been feeling like summer, the fish were no where to be found! Finally we get a good cold snap dropping the temperatures into the 30’s at night, so I take a scout mission with my buddy Danny on Friday to see if they are around….and they were!

These fish were tailing and schooled up in the hundreds all around us and coming right up to the boat, it didn’t take long for Danny to hook up on a couple just a few feet from him on a D.O.A. Softshell Crab.

Of course I had to get in on some the action with the fly rod. I used an all black slider and a black crab pattern with gold tinsel to entice these Drum to eat.

…and I also wanted to see how they react to a 3″ D.O.A. Shrimp. They love it!!

The scout mission was a success and I had high hopes for the next 2 days while Honson was in town.

The next morning, Honson and I arrive at the same exact flat that I was at the day before. Immediately we start seeing tailing Drum and after a few shots, Honson hooks into this pig that drug us around the Indian River Lagoon for a while.

After celebrating his victory over the battle, we keep pushing along for the next contestant. The Drum were not as plentiful as the day before so not many shots were to be had. We did run into some Redfish along the way to keep us busy.

Sunday we decide to fish the Banana River in Cocoa Beach, we made the day a fun relaxing day fishing with the spin rods and sight fishing Trout after Trout in the 20″+ range using D.O.A. CAL Shadtails. Honson also popped a bunch of Redfish and big Trout with the fly rod but we quickly switched back to the spin gear and had multiple double hookups on Redfish and Trout just enjoying day and catching fish. The water in the Banana River is crystal clear, making sight fishing for laid up fish at it’s best.

-Capt. Willy Le
321-303-7805
nativeflycharters@gmail.com

Posted in Fishing reports | Tagged Banana River, Black Drum, Black Drum on fly, Cocoa Beach, D.O.A. Lures, Flats Fishing, Fly fishing, Indian River fly fishing, Maverick HPX, Merritt Island fishing, Mosquito Lagoon fly fishing, Orlando fly fishing, Redfish, Sea Trout, Space Coast, Titusville, Trout fishing Indian River, Willy Le | Leave a comment

Great way to end 2011 in the Mosquito Lagoon

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Capt. Willy Le

The last 2 trips for Native Fly Charters was with new clients Kyle and Chip from Georgia on the last couple of days of 2011. This was their first trip to the East Coast of Florida to do some fishing and their main goal was to see and catch tailing Redfish. On the first day of the 2 day fishing adventure, it seemed like it was going to be cloudy, cold, and windy for the first half of the day so I took them in the Indian River along the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge for some big Trout that have been roaming the flats. Making long casts with topwater lures around sand holes resulted in some nice trout and some fun blowups.

Once the clouds finally cleared up, the skies were blue bird and the wind laid down giving us the perfect glassy conditions for an afternoon of tailing Redfish. This day was the first major cold front of the year for Florida, making the fish a little sluggish. Most of the fish refused Kyle and Chips offerings except for this one Redfish at the end of the day that was tailing 10ft from the boat. Kyle made a perfect presentation by slowing down the retrieve and dropping the D.O.A. 3″ Shadtail CAL right in front of the fishes nose.

The next day our main goal was Redfish all day in the Mosquito Lagoon. The morning temperatures were in the 50’s with slick calm conditions and blue bird skies. We found Redfish in small groups pushing on the flats first thing in the morning but these fish were on a mission to get somewhere and were pretty spooky. After chasing those fish around for a while with no luck, we headed to another flat where we would see some single fish cruising around still sluggish from the cold morning and also spooky. They too did not want to cooperate with us. It wasn’t until the sun heated up the flats late in the afternoon when the Redfish wanted to tail and start feeding. Kyle and Chip both had numerous shots at tailing fish but did not quite get it close enough to the fish until the fish saw us and took off. A couple fish did get hooked up but only one came to the boat at the end of the day. Both Kyle and Chip ended 2011 in a great way, they got to see some great Wildlife including a family of Wild Hogs wading in the water, Momma Dolphins teaching their babies how to catch mullet, Manatees, Alligators, Exotic Birds, and best of all they got to see the Tailing Redfish that they came here to see. They get to go home with great memories and great photographs! Next on the list for them is Tarpon so we will be seeing more of these guys in the future!

This was a perfect way to end my 2011. Weather was beautiful, I got to spend it on the water and met 2 new very cool friends that work hard for a living and love to hunt and fish! Happy New Year everyone!

-Capt. Willy Le
(321)-303-7805
nativeflycharters@gmail.com

Posted in Fishing reports | Tagged D.O.A. Lures, Maverick Boats, Maverick HPX, Merritt Island fishing, Mosquito Lagoon, Redfish, Sea Trout, Willy Le | Leave a comment

Mosquito Lagoon Exploring

Posted on December 24, 2011 by Capt. Willy Le

Did some exploring in the Mosquito Lagoon yesterday with buddy Capt. Justin Price. Justin and I decided to check some areas where we haven’t been in a while, and guess what? That’s where the fish were hiding! With the water in the lagoon still dirty and high, it makes for tough fishing and the fish are more scattered. We should have gin clear and low water this time of year but with the Summer conditions we are still having while we are ending December and going into the New Year, things are going to stay Summer-like until the temperatures drop.

I’ve heard a lot of “not so good” fishing reports of where the fish should usually be, instead of going to those spots, we decided to go and look around where not a lot of people check. Boats normally run past these areas to get to the “hot spots” that are normally crowded with boats pressuring the schools of fish with trolling motors. With no other boats in sight, Justin and I did some work with the fly rod on some pretty aggressive and unpressured fish, these fish happily took most of our fly offerings that we presented to them. We had a successful day of finding fish that were tailing, cruising shorelines, and were not spooky. Hopefully they will still be that way for our charters that we have lined up next week!