# MOSQUITO LAGOON - FIRST TIME



## Bill Payne

There are people on this forum more familiar with the Lagoon than me, but I can tell you one thing, these fish get a lot of pressure. As a result, they are super weary. I have a friend from Charleston that is an avid and very successful redfish angler, and he says the lagoon reds the smartest redfish he has ever seen.

The best advice I can give is to be super stealthy, and make really long, down-wind casts with as light a tackle as you can.


----------



## TheAdamsProject

Our Lagoon fish are very pressured and can be very moody at times. One day they can be just like you mentioned and the next day you can go back with the exact lures you got snubbed on and do very well. Pick out an area and get up on the poling platform and scour that area. Too many people in the Lagoon act like they are fishing the Bassmaster classic. They haul ass into a cove or flat because they are too lazy to pole or put the trolling motor on 80% and burn shorelines. When they don't see anything they jump up on plane and buzz to another spot. Don't be that guy and you will be rewarded.


----------



## el9surf

nativejax said:


> Our Lagoon fish are very pressured and can be very moody at times. One day they can be just like you mentioned and the next day you can go back with the exact lures you got snubbed on and do very well. Pick out an area and get up on the poling platform and scour that area. Too many people in the Lagoon act like they are fishing the Bassmaster classic. They haul ass into a cove or flat because they are too lazy to pole or put the trolling motor on 80% and burn shorelines. When they don't see anything they jump up on plane and buzz to another spot. Don't be that guy and you will be rewarded.


Agreed 100%


----------



## el9surf

Nobody likes the guy leap
frogging on the trolling motor, or the guy that burns miles of shoreline leaving prop scars the entire way. Be patient, willing to cover ground on the pole, courteous around others and you will be rewarded.


----------



## Smackdaddy53

el9surf said:


> Nobody likes the guy leap
> frogging on the trolling motor, or the guy that burns miles of shoreline leaving prop scars the entire way. Be patient, willing to cover ground on the pole, courteous around others and you will be rewarded.


This applies anywhere


----------



## Capt. John Kumiski

i make my living there- see this article- http://www.spottedtail.com/free-fishing-article-tactics-for-heavily-pressured-fish/


----------



## PorSiLasFlys

I couldn't agree more. As a matter of fact I took my trolling motor off years ago for that reason. I was getting lazy and not polling enough. Fishing in Flamingo is the same thing. One day they love and me and the next they don't even turn to look at me. I definitely put in my time on the platform. Its just i found so many fish in the lagoon but they just weren't having it.


----------



## Capt. John Kumiski

they do get moody...


----------



## DeepSouthFly

I've fished that place a few times. It is a beautiful piece of water. Fish are spooky but like they've all said just be patient and as silent as possible. I've asked the same question you did on here and the guys that fish that area were very helpful with me. I doubt there are any "secret spots" anymore being all the fishing pressure. I know they were having water quality issues a little while back. Hope most of that has been fixed. That's too awesome of a natural body of water to lose to water issues.


----------



## MRichardson

It _was _a beautiful piece of water.

We aren't losing it. It's lost.


----------



## Capt. John Kumiski

water quality problems certainly have not gone away, nor will they until all we humans go somewhere else


----------



## el9surf

MRichardson said:


> It _was _a beautiful piece of water.
> 
> We aren't losing it. It's lost.


I think this view depends on how long you have fished there. Many of the new guys are still optimistic about seeing grass and fish. They have no reference point of what it was 20 years ago. Yes there is some grass and some fish but it is very different. I spent many years fishing random flats out there that weren't named, they were just random shorelines in between all the top spot named areas. Pretty much anywhere you went the flats were loaded with big fish.

As bad as the lagoon is the IRL is 1000x worse at this point. The IRL used to be so good you didn't even need to go to the lagoon. Less pressure and loads of dumb fish.


----------



## MRichardson

True. If one doesn't know any better, it seems acceptable. Those of us around before know what it coulda/shoulda been. It's just too depressing for me. 

Florida sucks as far as stewardship goes. It really does. I have to start making my alternate retirement plans as I get the impression that in another decade our waters will look like those in China.


----------



## el9surf

I'm hopeful that ml can recover. I think the irl will take decades. With the population exploding I just don't see how it's going to get much better.


----------



## TheAdamsProject

@el9surf I agree. I see some good things and some not so good things in the Lagoon right now. The IRL is a different story, I am amazed how bad it looks compared to last year and last year it didn't look great.


----------



## Ice Cream Man

This 29 1/2 " trout was caught & released last week by my buddy Matt from NC.
It was his first trip to the Lagoon. So don't give up..... ICM


----------



## Backcountry 16

el9surf said:


> I think this view depends on how long you have fished there. Many of the new guys are still optimistic about seeing grass and fish. They have no reference point of what it was 20 years ago. Yes there is some grass and some fish but it is very different. I spent many years fishing random flats out there that weren't named, they were just random shorelines in between all the top spot named areas. Pretty much anywhere you went the flats were loaded with big fish.
> 
> As bad as the lagoon is the IRL is 1000x worse at this point. The IRL used to be so good you didn't even need to go to the lagoon. Less pressure and loads of dumb fish.


I think that applies to everywhere in Florida (except maybe the nature cost) now overpopulation.I fish Pine Island in Swfl and have watched it decline for the 50 plus years I have been here to a shell of what it use to be.


----------



## Net 30

el9surf said:


> I'm hopeful that ml can recover. I think the irl will take decades. With the population exploding I just don't see how it's going to get much better.


X2. A couple years ago while fishing I met a group of scientists from UF or FS that were doing water sampling between Ft. Pierce and Sebastian in the Indian River Lagoon. We talked for a bit and they admitted the Lagoon had finally passed it's tipping point and was now in a free fall.

When asked about the Lagoon ever rebounding, they said a minimum of 15-20 years to fix the problems *IF* the funding was available. They all kinda laughed about the possibility of getting the necessary funds....sad.


----------



## RSC

Smackdaddy53 said:


> This applies anywhere


What does frogging on the trolling motor mean?


----------



## el9surf

If you're poling down a bank leap frogging is the guy that motors in 50 yards ahead of you, shuts down and starts fishing the same line you are on with no regard to the fact that they just cut you off. Or worse the guy that uses his trolling motor at full speed to pass you on the pole and fish the same heading you have been on. Both happen frequently.


----------



## Smackdaddy53

el9surf said:


> If you're poling down a bank leap frogging is the guy that motors in 50 yards ahead of you, shuts down and starts fishing the same line you are on with no regard to the fact that they just cut you off. Or worse the guy that uses his trolling motor at full speed to pass you on the pole and fish the same heading you have been on. Both happen frequently.


Grown men behaving like children.


----------



## 994

Some of you guys are acting like you’ve been fishing the lagoon since the good ole days in a dug out canoe with the Timucuan Indians. These islands have been named since before the 30’s so if you were fishing unnamed flats it’s because you didn’t know the name. 

Lots of talking about how bad it is, also lots of people dedicating their lives to turning it around. Check out a local city council meeting, or spend a day volunteering with one of the many non-profits along the estuary to be a part of the solution.


----------

