02-13-2002, 06:40 PM
Capt. Rob Blake's fishing report from Florida's Mosquito Lagoon and Upper Indian River-updated February 13th, 2002.<br><br>February's weather is usually quite unpredictable, as is March, but the angler who fishes between the blustery fronts is usually rewarded with very good catches of "Florida Copper"…redfish that is! Temperatures have remained somewhat cool over the last two weeks, with nighttime temps getting into the low 50s and daytime highs into the mid 70s. This is about average for this time of year. Right after New Year's day, our weather brought temps down into the 30s at night and highs in the mid 50s. This compacted a lot of redfish into deeper holes. As the temps gradually climbed, the schools of reds came out to eat…and eat they did! <br><br>The middle two weeks of January we had several 20+ fish days-even 20+ fish days on the flyrod. However, as the temps climbed into the mid and even high 80s towards the end of the month, things began to fall off as the water temp climbed. Catches of 20+ fish certainly don't happen everyday, but we'll take them when they come around. It seems that now we are back into the "typical" mode on Mosquito Lagoon.<br><br>The water is mostly clear. The redfish are still abundant. The big seatrout can be found schooling in 50-100 fish "herds" if you look hard enough, and the black drum are occasional players for those stalking the skinny water. Despite the abundance of fish, presentation and casting accuracy are the most important factor to angling success.<br><br>By the way, some of you may have noticed that I have created a 2002 Fishing Season photos page on my website. If your picture isn't there, its because you haven't emailed them to me! ;-)<br><br>A big thanks to Scott Jacobsen of Melbourne, Florida for signing up for the 2002 Mosquito Lagoon Redbone Tournament. Scott and his brother-in-law pitched in the $2000 tax-deductible donation to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for the opportunity to fish with me. Hopefully, we will be fishing out of my new Maverick Mirage HPX-T during the tourney…HINT HINT HINT Maverick…?<br><br><br><br>Capt. Rob Blake<br>www.redfishonfly.com<br>1-866-RED-DRUM Toll Free<br>1-321-633-0923 local<br>1-321-544-5041 cell<br><br><br>Contact Capt. Rob at 1-866-RED-DRUM <br>or 321-633-0923 or 321-544-5041 (cell).