Mosquito Lagoon Tarpon

After installing a new indexing valve on our sprinkler system this afternoon, Karen went to pickup a prescription and I decided to grab a couple of rods and hit Bio Lab Road to see if anyone was catching fish.

I was told that the Mosquito Lagoon Tarpon and black drum bite along Bio Lab road was pretty decent, but the rain and accompanying wind associated with the upcoming cold front might be putting down the bite.

When I drove into the Bio Lab, the wind was whipping up waves in the lagoon and the air temperature was dropping.

I tried fishing a Skitterwalk topwater bait but it was impossible with the wind, so I tied on a Creme Spoiler Shad paddletail bait and started pitching it around some "fishy" looking areas.

Despite the wind blowing across the lagoon, several groups were parked along Bio Lab fishing for black drum and reds.  

I talked with a couple of groups who said they were getting bites with shrimp but couldn't hook the fish.  The wind was making hookups difficult.  The other group of bank fishermen said all they were catching was catfish.

I moved down the road to fish a relatively sheltered area where I found snook, sea trout, and tarpon in the past.

When I got there, I was surprised to find I was the only angler in the vicinity.

The first thing I noticed was a sea manatee up close to the open culverts.  The air temperature was 66 degrees and dropping, so I guess the manatees were moving into deeper, warmer water.

I noticed an occasional fish blasting the surface apparently after baitfish, so I started pitching the Creme Shad around the area to see if I could scrounge up a hookup.

I noticed a lot of fish fry tight along the banks of the entire area trying to hide from predators so I guess that was what the fish were after.  

Anyway, after several casts I had a few hits but couldn't hook into a fish.   A large alligator was moving into the area so I opted to move past the wire rope barrier and started fishing another area a bit more sheltered.

After a couple of casts hooked into a juvenile tarpon about two feet long.

The fish jumped twice before disgorging the lure.  I continued fishing the area and was getting hookups on almost every other cast.  The problem was that I couldn't land a fish.

The tarpon were ranging in size from around two feet in length to three fish that were at least five feet long.

The big tarpon were out in the middle near some sunken tree limbs and would take the lure as it hit the water or on the drop.  

After losing the only three Storm lures I brought along, I changed baits to fish a 1/4 oz. Berkley Pogy Swim Shad Powerbait that I had lost in the center console of the truck.

The baits seemed more effective at getting hookups and after losing three or four more tarpon in the 3 foot category, I managed to land and release the fish below.

It was around 3:00 pm when the bite abruptly came to a halt.    After a dozen or more unfruitful casts, I finally decided to walk the bridge to build up my cardio and head for home.

As I walked back across the wire rope barrier, I took these videos of the manatees huddling up to the open culvert.

They are almost cuddly looking in a weird way.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.