Let me begin my report by expressing my deepest gratitude to the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice  defending the freedoms we enjoy so much in America.  Please take a moment on this Memorial Day weekend to reflect on and honor these heroes who defended freedom with their lives, so we can enjoy our time on the water with family and friends.

Although the water clarity on the Mosquito Lagoon hasn’t shown much improvement, we are still managing some very respectable fish.  Such was the case yesterday when I was honored to share some Mosquito Lagoon memories with father and daughter team Steve and Natalie Huston from Oviedo Florida. We pushed away from the dock around  6 am, and before the sun cleared the horizon Steve was hooked up on 30 plus pound redfish .  It is always nice to catch a big fish on the first cast, but as most anglers know this can sometimes be the kiss of death.  You see this was only the second time Natalie had ever fished, and my hopes were to put her on the fish of her lifetime.  Again her father Steve hooks up and catches his second respectable fish, 15-pound black drum, and still no luck for Natalie.

Once the bite shut down in our first spot, I made the decision to move on to my second location and I was please to see several very repeatable marks on my Hummingbird side imaging sonar as I idled past a channel marker.  After positioning the boat up current, Natalie presented her cast and within a few minutes her line was tight with a big fish taking drag. As Natalie battled the the big fish it made a long run past and around the channel marker and I thought my hopes for her big fish were gone.  Over the years my experience in this situation is to simply open the bail and let the fish run free as we reposition the boat around the obstacle and clear the line, and that’s exactly what we did and it worked. Once the line was clear of the piling Natalie continued her battle and ended up landing a 30 plus pound black drum. Not bad for her second time fishing.  As we ended the day I presented Natalie with the challenge I give most young anglers on my boat after catching their all time best fish. Today we set the bar high and you have a long life ahead of you, so my challenge is for you to catch a bigger fish and be both respectful and grateful of and for our fisheries and the experience.

As always, if you have questions or need more information, please contact me.

Good luck and good fishing,

Captain Tom Van Horn