Due to a commitment at work, I missed out on the incredible Chokoloskee Boondoggle trip to the 10,000 Islands area of South Florida. Well, this past week work paid me back. I got a chance to go to Florida to work for a few days, and had the bonus of taking Thursday and Friday off to do some fishing. I quickly hatched a plan - not only was I going to get out on the warm Florida waters, but I was going to get to finally get to give the new Jackson “Cuda” a sea trial.

Mini-Doggle: Definition - Not quite a Boondoggle - almost, but not quite.

Kayak fishing for me is all about the adventure. Not knowing what’s around the next corner, the anticipation of an unknown area and what it could hold, the challenge of unlocking those hidden secrets - that’s what draws me to the sport. So it was a no-brainer when Chip Gibson called me and asked if I wanted to fish Mosquito Lagoon. Did I want to join him and Brad? ”Of course!"

I know it seems crazy to sojourn across the state of Florida, lose out on sleep, sustain yourself on trail mix and those little peanut butter crackers just to get together with good friends and chase fish around in little plastic boats.

But, whoever thinks it’s crazy to do such things, hasn’t had the opportunity to fish Mosquito Lagoon with two of the best kayak fishing guides on the east coast of Florida.

In the movie business, if a studio releases a blockbuster movie, you can bet the house that a sequel is being planned before the movie ends its run in the theater, because the sequel is going to bring in dividends 40-60 percent of the original, and in that line of work, that’s pretty good business.

Well, the same goes for fishing trips with the Yakangler/Kayak Fishing Radio Crew. Before you could get the mud washed off your kayak and your gear put away after our triumphant return from Mosquito Lagoon during the Presidents Day Boondoggle, another trip to “The ‘goon” was being planned.

With all the recent success us yakangler's have had at the lagoon, I decided it would be a good time to help my girlfriend, Sarah, catch her first yak redfish. Shes relatively new to fishing and hasn't had much luck from the kayak other then catfish.

They say 3:00 AM comes early but, they must have never fished at Mosquito Lagoon….

Chip woke me at 3:00 AM. We had loaded up all of our kayaks and gear the night before. I was sleeping in the clothes I was going to wear anyway, so all I had to do was roll out of bed, make a run to the bathroom, and brush my teeth.

I woke up around 5AM and looked outside and said to myself "self you should go fishing". So to the garage I go to gather a few things and I find I am out of D.O.A CAL baits so I grabbed a few packs of Bass Assassin Blurps and jumped in the truck and headed over to Action Bait and Tackle for some shrimps just to have a backup plan. Chatted with the owner for a minute then off I went on the long fifteen minute drive to the Mosquito Lagoon.

After fishing with Rob we had 12 hours before hitting the road for Titusville.  Adam and I made a quick stop to Dogfish Tackle to pick up a few things we would need for Mosquito Lagoon.  James Lowe of Dogfish, who is also a kayak fishing fanatic, helped us grab the necessary gear we would need for the next day…

I met Charles Levi Jr. aka Redfish Chuck about six months ago on our website.  In those six months he has become one of YakAngler.com most supportive and active members. Who is this part time Emotion Kayaks sponsored guide and YakAngler Regional Editor?  I stole an hour of his time last week to find out a little more about Redfish Chuck.