North Indian River And Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

After the past weeks rains, what was previously boggy marsh full of feeding birds, has been transformed into shallow water flats full of bait fish.

Summer is here on the Space Coast and the fishing is great on the Mosquito Lagoon and North Indian River flats. First light, early morning fishing on the flats, has been nothing short of sensational.

Redfish, trout, snook and small tarpon are moving up onto the newly formed shallows to much on the thousands of baitfish that have come into the area.

Fish along the grass flats at the drop offs and ledges at early day light with pigfish or top water plugs for large "sow" trout and an occasional redfish or snook. Later on in the morning; pitch a pigfish, live shrimp, D.O.A. jerk bait or D.O.A. shrimp to edges of the white sandy potholes to pick up trout. This past week, the fish have been getting a bit more aggressive towards the afternoon.

The redfish in both the North Indian River, and Mosquito Lagoon, are feeding in the shallow water areas that though out the drought have previously been dry land. They are hitting all kinds of soft plastic baits as well as live and fresh dead shrimp. There is nothing quite like the feeling you get from pitching a well placed artificial to a large tailing red, watching it suck up the lure, and peel off line from your reel on the first run.

The Picture Below Is Prime Snook And Gator Trout Territory

This time of year, the old standby of fishing a live finger mullet or mud minnow, can net you a huge gator trout or big bull redfish.

There are reports of small tarpon being caught in moving water, in both the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River north of Mims, Fl. Moving water and pods of baitfish seem to be the winning combination to find these fish. Tarpon

Pinfish, large live shrimp and soft plastic lures work well for both tarpon and snook. Although some snook are being caught, the fishing gets much better as the summer progresses and the water temperatures warm up.

There is no place on earth, that has great year round fishing like the Mosquito Lagoon, and Indian River, and I'm glad to be fortunate enough to be able to live here and enjoy it.

Great fishing and tight lines to all!

May High Water Trout Fishing

Be careful what you wish for.

The rains were something I was hoping to see for the past few months, and this week my wish was granted.

Water levels in the Indian River have risen substantially, enough as a matter of fact, so as to have the Wildlife Refuge people close off Peacock Pocket road right through to the causeway road.

Friday evening my wife, and Elmo my wonder dog, went to jump fish the open culverts only to find the drives closed to vehicle traffic.

We went instead, to an area I seldom fish, around Pump House road.

We didn't expect much in the way of fishing because of the rain, so with no great expectations, we parked the truck , took a short walk and started casting lures.

It was close to dusk before we started getting some hits. My wife got a couple of hits on a green Creme paddletail swim bait she was using and I was using a 3" Heddon Swim N Image plug.

Karen kept missing the trout with her swim bait, and also missed a very large redfish pushing a good sized wake in the narrow canal near the pump house.

I finally got my retrieve right and picked up several medium sized trout on the plug.

Sorry, I didn't get any pics of the fish because of the weather, but we plan on hitting the water again tomorrow after I take care of some chores.

With any kind of luck, I'll have a better report tomorrow evening.

Tight lines!

Mid May Fishing On The Indian River

Hot weather this weekend, and work around the hacienda, prevented me from checking out the Mosquito Lagoon fishing.

So, late Saturday afternoon, my wife and I took Elmo for a ride down to the Merrit Island National Wildlife Preserve.

There were not as many people in the area fishing as I would have thought, and those that were enjoying the weather, didn't seem to be catching much.

Undaunted, I
Undaunted, I proceeded to jump fish the areas around Catfish Creek and the area around Peacock Pocket.

I was using a D.O.A. Terror Eye with nothing to show but a trout a little bit larger than the lure.

My wife and I chased several redfish and finally scored one on a dead shrimp that she was using under a "Billy Bay" Pop N Gurgle in shallow water.

I continued with the D.O.A. and several other
lures with little to show for my efforts other than the beginnings of a sun burn.

We finally hit a stretch alongside the Indian River that we call "Snook point", and for good reason.

Opposite the point in the adjacent canal, I finally started getting some good trout hits.





Fishing in about 2 feet of water with a Creme paddle tail swim bait, I picked up about nine trout in 20 casts. The fish were scrappers, but only two over the legal limit.



I grabbed my Nikon Cool Pix, and snapped a couple pics of the fish and some early Spoonbills for posterity.

We are expecting some rain this week which hopefully will raise the water level in the river a bit.

The flats fishing is still pretty great around this area but some rain should give it a bump.

Hope you all enjoy the scenery and until next week; tight lines to all.

East Central Florida Fishing Report

Trout fishing this weekend is good to great on the Indian River, and Mosquito Lagoon North of the Haulover Canal, and east of the spoil islands.

Some very large gator trout have been caught early in the morning on the flats east of Beacon 42 boat ramp and around the spoil islands with top water plugs.

Chug Bugs and Skitter Walks are my top water lures of choice but just about any lure the size of an injured mullet, will take one of the bruisers when manipulated properly.

I picked up several small trout yesterday, missed a huge redfish and generally had a good late afternoon outing on the Indian River around the Catfish Creek to Peacock Pocket area.

My wife missed a good redfish and caught several catfish and stingrays using her usual dead shrimp for bait under a Cajun Thunder rig.

The weather has been brutal for this time of year. With the temperature in the mid 90s, the fish are doing their early morning late evening thing like clockwork.

The Merrit Island National Wildlife drive is closed Sunday for the Hubble shuttle launch on Monday, so I don't plan on a Sunday fishing trip unless the weather changes and I can sum up enough energy to take out my Maverick.

I received a fishing report from a friend down the street said the Snook were hitting with regularity in and around Port Canaveral at night. He uses 10" long medium diving plugs and gets as close to the anchored ships and docks that is allowable under current regulations.
He's been getting some bruisers from there and along the jettys.

The snook are also being caught farther south in the surf at Patrick AFB later in the day using large finger mullet on a sliding sinker rig, about 3 to 4 feet of 30# flourocarbon leader and a 5/0 hook.

Well, as long as the shuttle goes up on time, we should have another good weekend of fishing coming up.

Till then.
Tight lines!

Early May Culvert Fishing On The Indian River

Late Friday evening, May 1st., my wife and I decided to try for a late April snook or gator trout in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Preserve.

The wind was up and the weather was great. Unfortunately, the fishing could have been a bit better.

My wife lost a nice sized redfish in the canal alongside the drive. Her drag was set to tight and the line broke off in the brush at roadside. I missed several trout and caught three that were under limit on a silver and black D.O.A. Terror Eye lure.

Saturday was also a nice day but the wind was gusting to at least 20 knots. I caught several nice trout, no gator trout, and missed a redfish. My wife caught a couple of catfish and again missed a nice redfish.

Trying to fish without getting a birds nest in the line every other cast or getting hung on the brush along side the road became a drain on my emotional stability. We started late and fished till dusk without any real success.

Sunday was a clone of Saturday's weather except the wind was gusting higher.

My wife and I decided to wait until late afternoon for the wind to die down before trying our luck.

Unfortunately, the wind never died down. I took pictures of a gang of wind sailing enthusiasts and some jet skiers that took advantage of the windy conditions.

The culverts were open and water was flowing throughout the north Indian River system so we decided to fish the open culverts. I caught several trout before stopping at a favorite hole. A swirl caught my eye and I suggested to my wife to tie on a dead shrimp and give it a shot despite the wind.

Almost immediately, she hung into a nice slot redfish that just about yanked the rod out of her hands. After a relatively long struggle, she landed and released a fat 26 inch redfish.

After stopping at another open culvert near dusk, she tried to duplicate her success without luck. I gave up on the dark colored D.O.A. and tied on a white Creme swim bait to see if my luck would change.

On the third cast, I hooked into an over sized redfish that bumped 30 inches. I was using 10# Cajun Red fishing line and had to run alongside the canal to keep up with the fishes run.


After about 15 minutes I finally managed to land the plump female.

After taking pictures of her, which I included here, I released her to continue her breeding.

May is an excellent month for both gator trout, and redfish, throughout East Central Florida.

Hope you enjoy the pics and till next time; tight lines!