Happy New Year! Let us kick off the New Year with thanks and a desire to catch more fish with friends and family. We are so fortunate to have the opportunity and ability to go fishing. Let’s not forget that in 2017! With that being said, here’s January’s Orlando, Mosquito Lagoon, Central Florida Fishing Report from Capt. Jonathan Moss of Go Castaway Fishing Charters. Freshwater: The St. Johns continues to hold good numbers of crappie. Slow trolling curly tail jigs has been an effective method to find and catch fish. Look for drop offs in the bend of the river or the mouth of a creek. A few American Shad have also been caught and in occasional Hybrid Bass. Work the edges and drop offs using a mini Rat-L Trap. I prefer the color scheme, chrome with a blue top. Boy they are a blast on light tackle! Saltwater: Redfish are continuing to tail in schools or as either singles or doubles. The key to catching the single fish is lure placement. A correctly placed lure or bait will not spook the fish, which in turn greatly improves your chance at catching the fish. To accomplish this, make a cast in front of the fish but past the fish. Keeping your rod tip up at a 45 degree angle, slowly work your bait or lure towards the fish. As you get in front of the fish, stop your retrieve, give you lure a twitch and hold on. Effect baits consist of, live shrimp, soft plastic jerk baits (I prefer the FlatsHQ in New Penny), DOA Shrimp, or a Berkley Gulp. Top water lures will also get it done! Don’t forget to keep a rod rigged with a pompano jig. Pompano and Flounder should be making a grand entry in the coming weeks. Fly Fishing: This month’s patterns are flies that mimic shrimp and crabs! Reds are filling their bellies with shrimp and crabs and a fly that “matches the hatch” or their main source of food, will most definitely ensue the bite. A Borski Slider has been the fly of choice for my Anglers. pOG Flies has a nice variety but my favorite has been in the orange and yellow patterns. It pops in our dirty water and has provided the action we all are looking for on the fly! Pro Tip: This week’s Pro Tip is how to connect braided line to a fluorocarbon leader. There are a few knots that you can use, but my preferred is the uni to uni knot. This is a simple, easy to tie knot that proves to be highly effective and strong. But the Pro Tip I want to focus on, is the size of the knot. It is crucial that each uni be similar in size. This is vital to the strength of the knot. This can be done in one of two ways. First, using a leader line that is similar in diameter to your main line or your braid. This is not always an option so that brings us to our second option, looping your braid portion of the uni with a few extra wraps. Let me explain. When I tie my leader portion of the uni, I will wrap it 5 times. With my narrower braid, ill wrap the loop 7 or 8 times. This will build up my braid portion of the uni, allowing it to be similar is size to my leader portion and create a stronger connection. In the coming weeks, I will post a how to video in the blog to help you accomplish this knot! Tight Lines Y’all , Capt. Jonathan Moss Go Castaway Charters