November 2015 Mosquito Lagoon / Indian River Fishing Report
Here is the November 2015 Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River fishing report. The fishing has been consistently good throughout the month. Lots of Redfish on the flats of the Indian River Lagoon system and plenty of Redfish up shallow on the shorelines.
If you’re around Central Florida right now or coming to visit the Orlando, Daytona Beach, New Smyrna Beach or Space Coast you need to make some time to get out on the water. We are definitely into our Fall fishing pattern. The weather has cooled down, we’ve experienced our first few pushes of cool air from the North (bringing with it some strong winds) and the fish are happy. Everyone is reporting large amounts of bait in Mosquito Lagoon, Ponce Inlet and Indian River Lagoon.
Fishing around bait pods early in the morning with plugs can be very productive this time of year for a mixed bag, expect to find trout and redfish by casting to areas with good bait activity. If you don’t get into a bite fairly quickly either move along the flat or pick up and go look for another area holding bait. As the light levels get higher throughout the day, expect for the bait activity to taper. As this happens, I typically change gears and start sight fishing for Redfish, Trout and Black Drum (believe it or not still finding some baby Tarpon around but I expect that to Taper as the water temps drop lower).
The water levels in Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River are beginning to drop, along with the air and water temps. This should only improve conditions and fishing. The fishing has been a little off due to the the high water and there are days where you are struggling to find fish and other days finding good numbers hasn’t been a problem.
Recently, I guided Chris, a fly angler from Germany, on his first flats fishing experience. Chris had booked 2 days with me, our first day together incredible…. It was the day before a cold front moved through and we had one of those really good days were the fish were actively feeding on the shorelines way in the back country of Indian River. Chris does a lot of fly fishing in Germany for Trout. While I’ve never fished for Trout, I’ve guided lots of anglers that have. There is a big difference between the saltwater flats of Florida and the rivers of Germany. We were dealing with some brisk Northerly winds and some pretty heavy cloud cover but Chris was able to get it done towards the end of our day with a healthy slot Redfish. This ended up being Chris only fish of the trip as our 2nd day together cancelled due to weather. Chris has already told me he’ll be back for more this year, as he frequents the Central Florida area for business.
Here are a few images from a cloudy, windy November morning on the Mosquito Lagoon. Stone is a young angler and also my nephew, who is hungry to learn about fly fishing. He’s been working on his cast and having some good luck fishing in some ponds around the Orlando area. He’s been dying to get a redfish on fly, so we made that happen for him. He fed 7 redfish and we landed 3. It was a blast guiding him and watching it all come together…. Congrats Buddy! Here’s to many more….
As always, if you’re coming to the Orlando area, do yourself a favor and stop by Orlando Outfitters. Its an awesome fly shop, run by a great group of knowledgeable fly anglers. Stop in check out the shop, they have an awesome selection of materials, tackle, flies, apparel and more!