After the Seagrass Collapse, Is Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Again?

Florida never represented Disney to me as a kid. It was always fishing. When I heard the state mentioned, I pictured tarpon in the air, anglers wading for bonefish, and guides poling skiffs across endless flats.

A New Kind of Fly Fishing

TV shows like The American Sportsman, and Walker’s Cay Chronicles showed me clear blue water and exotic fish I had never seen before. They were using fly rods, but everything else was different.

Adventure Fishing

I grew up fishing for rock bass, bluegill, and the occasional trout. If I fished saltwater, it was jigging for cod. What those guys on TV were doing was “adventure” fishing. It seemed a world away, and I wanted it.

Mosquito Lagoon, Florida

When I was older, I got a job guiding in Alaska. I remember a client telling me about a place in Florida called Mosquito Lagoon and the big redfish they sight-cast to there. He described crystal-clear water, small lagoons, and flats filled with seagrass, manatees, crabs, and shrimp.

Chasing the Dream

The conversation took me straight back to the fishing shows I watched growing up. The fire was lit again. I had money in my pocket, I was single and rootless, with plenty of free time in the winter. As soon as the season ended, I was heading to Mosquito Lagoon to live like Jimmy Buffett, chase fish all day, and hang out with writers and artists.

It didn’t happen.

No Seagrass, No Fish

I called guides to set up the trip, and they spelled it out bluntly: the Mosquito Lagoon fishery had collapsed. No seagrass, no fish. Not damaged — gone.

I didn’t dwell on it. I was young and moving fast. I chalked it up as one of those places I’d simply missed. The window had closed before I ever stepped on the skiff. C’est la vie.

An Invitation

An email I received last year invited me to fish something called the Space Coast. I double-checked to make sure I’d read that right. I'd never heard of "The Space Coast."

Anglers fishing the Mosquito Lagoon during early morning hours. — The magic hour. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

Oh, That Space Coast.

Digging into it, I learned the Space Coast is a stretch of Florida’s east coast built around the space program, where rocket launches share the horizon with miles of shallow lagoon water. And in the middle of it all sat Mosquito Lagoon — the place I’d tried to fish years earlier.

Had the seagrass and redfish returned? "Yes" is what I was hearing. The lagoons were healthy, with grass, and able to sustain life.

A redfish of the Mosquito Lagoon in Florida's Space Coast — The seagrass and fish are back. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

Leaving On a Jet Plane

I accepted the invite, packed a couple of my favorite 8-weight fly rods and booked a flight to Melbourne, Florida.

Good Morning Florida

On my first morning, I followed the instructions from Capt. Troy Perez and arrived 15 minutes early to a boat ramp on a small lagoon. The place looked like a postcard. The water was clear, full of grass, and dotted with about ten manatees doing what manatees do.

A Space Coast Original

Capt. Perez has been guiding Mosquito Lagoon and the surrounding waters for more than forty years. His résumé includes tournament success and more than 70 IGFA world records set by anglers fishing with him. He witnessed the seagrass collapse firsthand and managed to keep his head above water.

Capt. Troy Perez holding a massive redfish while sitting on the bow of his boat in the Mosquito Lagoon — The lagoon is home to some very big redfish. | Photo provided by Troy Perez

A Fishery That Did Not Dissapoint

I don’t have memories of a past Mosquito Lagoon to compare it to, but the version I was looking at was exactly the Florida I envisioned fishing as a kid.

Writer Ken Baldwin with a Mosquito Lagoon redfish in his hand and his fly fishing gear on his lap just before the release. — Sight casting to reds - love this kind of fishing. | Photo by Troy Perez

All the Signs of a Healthy Fishery

Capt. Perez took me to small, unpressured lagoons, tucked out of the wind. We found willing fish in feeding schools or paired up. I was mostly looking for redfish, but he let me know it was realistic to get a shot at a 30-pound black drum.

Capt. Troy Perez with a big black drum caught in the Mosquito Lagoon. — A Mosquito Lagoon black drum. | Photo provided by Troy Perez

A Seagrass Comeback

Redfish, black drum, manatees, seagrass, crabs, shrimp. Capt. Perez is cautiously optimistic about what he’s seeing and how quickly the grass has returned. He’s not only seeing redfish again — he’s seeing big ones: large schools of 30-plus-inch fish, with some 40-inchers mixed in.

More to Explore

I had an excellent two days of fishing. It wasn't crowded, there were a lot of fish, and the scenery was beautiful. I have a standing invite from Capt. Perez to come back, and he'll get me into some largemouth bass with topwater poppers. There’s a lot of good fishing water here, and it's not all salt.

A Lot More to Discover

I made a deal with my wife. If I really liked the Space Coast, I'd go again and bring her. It has plenty to do to make it a vacation destination. Cocoa Beach offers restaurants, shopping, a walkable downtown, and a pretty amazing beach. You can tour NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, and if you time it right, you can witness a rocket launch. ~Ken Baldwin-Follow me on my Instagram account

"Slow down...listen to the hoppers...be patient with yer wife...eat sardines with hot sauce... catch “Gagger” trout!!!" – Flip Pallot