Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report, July 29, 2007

 

Complements of Mosquito Creek Outdoors, Apopka, Florida

 

Working as a professional fishing guide and as associate editor of Coastal Angler Magazine has been a blessing to me, and earlier in this week I was grateful for the invitation to attend my first D.O.A. Outdoor Writers Conference at the River Palms Cottages in Jensen Beach.  Captain Mark Nichols and the D.O.A. staff hosted the three-day event involving two days of fishing with D.O.A. pro staff guides, and socializing with tackle industry experts and outdoor media legends.  I had a great time, and I even managed to catch a few of those line sided soap fish to boot.

Sue Cocking of the Miami Herald and our Guide Captain John Young

If you are ever looking for a great place to stay close to the St. Lucie Inlet with deep-water access, the River Palms Cottages sets the stage for a tropical paradise on the shore on the Indian River Lagoon, and it’s only two hours south of Orlando.

River Palms Cottages http://www.riverpalmcottages.com

With the summer heat upon us, an early morning or late evening start has been an essential requirement for catching fish.  This past week we’ve experienced exceptional mornings in regards to wind and seas, but the scorching summer sun and afternoon thunder storms have shut down the bite early, and produced dangerous conditions when the squalls blow in.

Inshore, the hot ticket has been the early morning trout bite, 5am to sunrise on most of the major flats on the north Indian River, Banana River, and Mosquito Lagoons.  Last week I fished the north IRL on the flat north of the ICW spoil islands west of Haulover Canal, and we boated over 20 sea trout up to 5 pounds throwing High Roller’s Rip Roller, Storm’s Chug Bug, and Rapala’s Skitterwalk plugs.  Once the sun grew bright, the bite shut down, we fish the deeper edges of the flat with soft plastic baits like the RipTide Flats Chub on a ¼ ounce Screw Jig with a Woodies Rattle inserted.

 Another hotspot has been the nighttime redfish and black drum bites around the Haulover Canal and the railroad bridge.  Doug from Skeeter Lagoon’s Bait and Tackle in Titusville reported that a good number of large redfish and black drum have been caught in the discharge end of the Haulover canal fishing with live blue crab on the bottom.  When targeting these larger fish, use a one-ounce slip sinker rig or greater if the currents running hard, and step up the size of your tackle and line to lessen the battle.  Warm water holds less oxygen, so please avoid long battles and revive your catch completely before releasing it.

Near-shore along the beach, the bait pods have completely disappeared, along with all of our other scaly friends; so if your looking for baits this week, focus your attention inside the Port.  I’m not sure if it’s cold water moving in, of just the full moon phase, but many hours and gallons of fuel were wasted last week running the beach in search of fish.  There was some bait located south in the Melbourne Beach area, and some nice kingfish too, but it’s a long run with storms looming.  Also, several nice kingfish were taken on the buoy line, but the better bite has been north of Canaveral around the Chris Benson Reef in 70 to 80 feet of water.  In addition, the cooler bottom temperatures have pushed some cobia inshore. So keep a sharp eye out and a cobia jig rigged at all times.

Another interesting tidbit is reports of nice pompano in the surf along Playlinda Beach, and yes I didn’t stutter, some permit in the 10 to 20pound range, with a bunch of whiting and some small black drum mixed in.  Also, remember we have a Delta Rocket Launch scheduled for August 3^rd, and a Space Shuttle Launch scheduled for August 7^th, so be cognizant of our standard security closures.

Last but not least, I would like to inform all of the ladies about the Mosquito Creek Outdoor Ladies Social Angler Seminar and Wine Tasting scheduled for September 29^th from 10am to 3pm. This free event is designed to teach the ladies the basic fundamental needed to enjoy fishing with their family and friends.  Mosquito Creek Outdoors, Woman in The Outdoors, and Coastal Angler Magazine, sponsors the event and it features speakers like Robin, Fish Girl, Folsom and Captain Rodney Smith of Coastal Angler Magazine, Captain Chris Myers D.O.A. Pro Staff, and Captain Tom Van Horn RipTide Pro Staff. For more details, check out the attached PFD.

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

Good luck and good fishing,

Captain Tom Van Horn

Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters

www.irl-fishing.com

captain@irl-fishing.com

407-366-8085 landline

407-416-1187 on the water

866-790-8081 toll free

FLYFISHINGFL.COM 

Complements of Mosquito Creek Outdoors, Apopka, Florida

 

As the mid-summer doldrums settle in on the Indian River Lagoon Coast of Florida, summer weather patterns dominate and angling success requires a shift in tactics to beat the heat and afternoon thunderstorm.  An early morning predawn start allows anglers to enjoy cooler conditions and magnificent sunrises, and have the boat trailered and home in time for a snooze in the Lazy-Boy while the afternoon storms brew outside.  Once the storms have past, the window of opportunity reopens for some excellent angling conditions as the sun settles below the horizon, and after dark.

 

Angling on the in-shore lagoons will continue to show improvement, with fishing in the predawn and late evening hours being most productive.  Look for schools of redfish in the skinny water holding in the vicinity of bait concentration, and target them utilizing smaller top-water plugs.  Once the sun starts to grow hot and the top-water bite will shut down, bait becomes your better option.  For larger trout, fish live pigfish close to docks and other structures adjacent to deeper water.  In deeper water, look for large schools of ladyfish, small trout, and tarpon pushing schools of glass minnows near the surface. These schools are easy to locate by watching for concentrations of birds, terns and cormorants, joining in on the frenzy, and they are perfect for fly anglers who are interested in the continuous fast and furious action provided by these speedsters.  Look for pompano schools to become more prevalent in the shadows of the causeway bridges and on the flats.  Fish small pink jigs tipped with shrimp or sand fleas (mole crabs) along the deeper edges and drop-offs and in areas of skipping fish.  Lagoon water levels are typically low, so please use caution when accessing skinny water.

Offshore, the Labrador currents have pushed in on queue, cooling down bottom temperatures and the bottom fishing a bit, which is normal this time of year. If bottom water temperature drops into the sixties, finding warmer water is the key to locating fish.  Look for the blue water bite to improve along the inshore reefs and wrecks of Chris Benson, 8A Reef, and Pelican Flats, with kingfish, dolphin, black fin tuna, and cobia serving as the primary species, along with an occasional wahoo or sailfish.  This is also the time of year when cooler waters sometimes push the giant manta rays in close to the shoals off the Bite of the Cape, bringing us a mid-summer cobia run. Further off shore, the Gulf Stream typically moves in closer making tuna a possibility for smaller boats, and as long as the summer squalls stay away, running to the other side of the stream isn’t out of the question.

Along the beach, look for the silver kings (tarpon), smoker kings, blacktip sharks, jumbo jack crevalle, and redfish to be shadowing pods of Atlantic menhaden (pogies), threadfin herring (greenies), Spanish sardines, and bay anchovy (glass minnows) in close to the beach.  Also look for snook fishing in the surf to improve, as we get closer to the commencement of the fall bait run.  Remember snook are out of season, so if you target them, handle and release them with care. In and around the inlets, look for Spanish mackerel, tarpon, jack cervalle, and bonita to be working schools of glass minnows on the outside, and snook, redfish, mangrove snapper, and flounder in the area of jetties and other structures.  If snook are of interest, Sebastian Inlet is the place to be.

Last but not least, I would like to inform all of the ladies about the Mosquito Creek Outdoor Ladies Social Angler Seminar and Wine Tasting scheduled for September 29^th from 10am to 3pm. This free event is designed to teach the ladies the basic fundaments needed to enjoy fishing with their family and friends.  Mosquito Creek Outdoors, Woman in The Outdoors, and Coastal Angler Magazine sponsors the event and it features speakers like Robin (Fish Girl) Folsom and Captain Rodney Smith of Coastal Angler Magazine, Captain Chris Myers D.O.A. Pro Staff, and Captain Tom Van Horn RipTide Pro Staff. For more details, check out the attached PFD.

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

Good luck and good fishing,

Captain Tom Van Horn

Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters

http://www.irl-fishing.com/

captain@irl-fishing.com

407-366-8085 landline

407-416-1187 on the water

866-790-8081 toll free

FLYFISHINGFL.COM