Slot Redfish - Fishing The Culverts

Fishing the culverts, especially when the water is flowing, is an excellent method of jump fishing for redfish, trout, and an occasional snook.

This slot redfish was caught on a Chartreuse/Blue Back  2" Creme Spoiler Shad  swimbait at an open culvert flowing into the northern Indian river lagoon near Titusville, Fl.

It was a beautiful day just to get out and enjoy the scenery.

Later in the day I tried fishing Haulover Canal and had some success with slot size sea trout.

The manatees were out feeding and playing in the basin at the Bairs Cove boat launch.

I saw two that were unlucky enough not to get out of the way of a boat's propeller.

It's a shame to see them with the scars on their backs.

Most of the fishermen I know in the area obey the slow motor zones and heed the manatee signs. Unfortunately, some either don't know or don't care about the manatee zones.

Every year I see and hear about manatees being run over by boaters that are ignorant to the zones.

This Florida Manatee Program link has tons of information on the Florida manatee that you might find interesting.

This link has HTML and .pdf maps to the no motor and manatee zones that will help you keep in compliance with the current regulations.

Till next time,

Tight Lines!

Evening Redfish

Went out Sunday evening and picked up a couple of slot redfish.

The fishing was slow, but the scenery was awesome.

The water level in the Indian River is higher than usual for this time of year, and the redfish were in the shallows looking for free meals of mud minnows and small crabs.

Most of the culverts were closed in the Indian River area but I did find one that was open in the area of the photo to the right.

The mangroves provide cover for bait fish that act as a magnet for trout, reds and snook.

I plan on going out tomorrow to try and duplicate today's catch.

Till then,

Tight Lines.

Multi-spotted Redfish

Multi-spotted Redfish are occasionally caught and can win a fishing tournament if you catch a keeper at the right time.

I picked up this small multi-spotted redfish on a DOA shrimp fished in about three feet of water outside of the Whale's Tail grass flats.

This section of the Mosquito Lagoon has respectable fishing almost any time of the year.

This fish didn't qualify as a "Bull" redfish like some in this area; but on a tournament fishing day, it could possibly win you a nice prize.

Being out on the lagoon on a nice day just makes one happy to be alive in central Florida.

Hope you get to enjoy the same some day.

LUCK to you all and Tight Lines!

Early Season Waterfowl

Early season waterfowl are abundant in the shallow grass flats that surround the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River.

These pictures were taken late February while on an extremely successful fishing trip around Bio Lab road in the South end of the Mosquito Lagoon.

There were several flocks of rosette spoonbills in the Mosquito Lagoon wetlands area near Playalinda Beach along with wood storks, many types of ducks & coot, the usual great blue herons and egrets that grace our flyways.

The fishing was great as were the photographic opportunities as you can see here.

With any kind of luck my wife and I hope to repeat this trip tomorrow.

Tight Lines.