Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

With the month of July almost gone, I must say that fishing conditions have been anything but typical.

Water levels have been higher than in previous years, and if you are a regular reader of this blog, you already know that the fish are not located where they normally would be during this time of the year.

My plans to fish the southern end of the Mosquito Lagoon were killed, because of the problems with the space shuttle launch, so, most of the fishing my wife and I have been into, is what we call "jump fishing".

The Mosquito Lagoon has been producing nice sized trout since early June, and is now warming up to the Snook bite.

Some nice Snook being caught north of the spoil islands, as well as sporadic schools of tight lipped redfish farther to the south and eastern flats. Fishing the edge of the flats, on the drop, is a sure fire bet for the large trout that lurk there, as well as black drum that are still in all areas of the lagoon.

The no motor, pole only zones, always produce schools of tailing redfish, and the bite has been slowly picking up during this past week.

Unfortunately ,the glassy, flat, calm, early morning fishing that you normally expect this time of year, hasn't been happening. The big fish are still there, but the windy conditions make it more difficult to sight fish for them. Hopefully, the next few weeks should see some improvement.

The big tarpon that are normally in the Indian River, and Mosquito Lagoon during this time of year, still have not appeared in any number. I have seen many smaller tarpon in both of the estuaries, but the larger ones are still AWOL.

Don't fret, there are still tons of trout, ladyfish, jacks, and black drum to catch when the redfish and tarpon don't cooperate.

My lures of choice are a gold Johnson sprite spoon, a 3" CAL on a jighead, or a Creme swimbait. I also like using a DOA Terror Eye, in the gold/black body color and red eye combination.

When conditions permit, early mornings also call for a Chug Bug, or Skitter Walk top water lure. Big trout love em!

Till next trip, tight lines!

Marsh Fishing

The weather this afternoon has been in the high 80s and the wind almost non existent in the North Indian River marsh areas.

The shuttle launch and space station rendezvous has the Shiloh Road area closed to the public.

For me that's too bad; I'm still after my elusive tarpon that simply hate my offerings!

My wife and I jump fished the other open areas and picked up some trout, and probably the smallest redfish I caught all year.

The trout I picked up were larger than the red, but who's measuring!

This outing wasn't memorable like our prior treks turned out to be, however the fish were biting on spoons, jerkbaits, and dead shrimp.

The weather late in the afternoons has been stormy for the most part and the fishing has generally been quite good. Today was no exception, but the fish could have been bigger.

Until next time, tight lines!

Black Drum Are Still In!

Mid July on the North Indian River is still pretty hot for redfish, trout, and apparently black drum.

Usually, the gator trout fishing slacks off a bit during July,but this year seems to be the exception. Large sow gator trout are still hitting in both the Mosquito Lagoon flats and far northern areas of the Indian River.

My wife and I picked up a few small trout this afternoon, along with a couple of ladyfish and a respectable sized black drum.

My wife, Karen, caught the drum right at dusk on a shrimp underneath a Cajun Thunder bobber.

This particular marsh area, that we occasionally fish, usually produces nice redfish; however, today the black drum seemed to be the ticket in the narrow backwater.

Enjoy the pics and until next time, tight lines!

Indian River Gator Trout

Well the Indian River gator trout are still hitting in the north part of the lagoon.

This one measured 29 plus inches long and weighed a ton. It was the largest gator trout I've picked up to date and hopefully it won't be the last!

This one took a gold and silver, Johnson Sprite spoon in about 12 inches of water, more or less.

My wife and I caught redfish in the same general area a few weeks ago, and when the trout hit, I thought it was another redfish!

The temperature was about 83 degrees and the water was totally flat. No wind whatsoever.

I won't tell you the exact area, but the fish was caught around Peacock Pocket in the marsh side of the unimproved road. The last time I gave out a favorite spot, my wife and I haven't been able to fish it since, without someone already being there.

Well guys its not like the fish pitch a tent at the same spot every day!

Anyway, hope you all enjoy the pics!
Till next time, tight lines!

Indian River Marsh Redfish

An often overlooked fishing area in the Northern Indian River Lagoon system, is the marsh canals adjacent to the main body of the river.

These areas provide some great fishing, especially when the culverts are open and water is flowing.

The running water signals a "dinner bell" to redfish, trout, snook, and lately small tarpon that cruise the banks.

My wife and I call it "jump fishing", and it produces phenomenally at times.

Shiloh Road, and others in the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, provide some great "jump" fishing opportunities that are often missed by landlocked anglers.

The pics here are poof that slot sized, and over sized redfish, occupy the marsh side of the roads, as well as the Indian River shallows.

This one was right at the slot limit, and was caught on a Johnson gold spoon at dusk. A slow retrieve got the most strikes with reds and trout.

Since it was so late, and I didn't feel like cleaning the fish for dinner, this one will live to fight another day!

The water level in the river is up due to rains these past few weeks, and the trout and redfish are still hitting artificials with gusto. Prior to catching this redfish, we caught several trout and of course a catfish or two to fill out the short trip.

I've got two weeks worth of vacation time to spend finding the fish, and will report on other areas soon.

Till then, tight lines!

Endeavour Shuttle Launch

This morning's beautiful daybreak was bright and cloudless, however my planned fishing excursion to the Mosquito Lagoon was thwarted by the Endeavour shuttle launch scheduled for 7:39 p.m. ET.

Here is a collage of shuttle shots that might be of interest.

I had planned to fish "whale's tail" , one of my favorite spots in the southern part of the lagoon, to pick up some of the large gator trout that are still mauling the baitfish pods but forgot about the area being off limits before and just after a launch.

Late Friday evening, my wife and I drove down to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to get in some culvert fishing before dark, but were turned away at the entrance by the KSC officers that were closing off the area for the launch.

I totally forgot about it until this morning when I was setting up the boat.

If all goes well, the launch will allow the areas to be opened tomorrow, however NASA officials estimated only a 40 per cent chance for Endeavour's planned lift off. Thunderstorms are threatening this evening's launch which is already running a month past due.

We may go out this afternoon to get in a bit of fishing but with the storm activity will probably get some work done around the home front.

Hope you guys get some fishing in, and until next time; tight lines!

OOPs She Did It Again!

Well, She did it again!

My wife and I tried for some Indian River Tarpon, and got some trout instead. Just like last time, hers was the biggest!

Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I decided to try again for the tarpon that just won't bite, in the far north portion of the lagoon. Lockjaw must be the trend up here.

We went in from the southern entrance way to Shiloh road, and met only one other fisherman all the time we were out on the river.

The weather was beautiful, the mosquitoes were out in mass, and the fish were biting. Except for the damn tarpon!

The culverts were open from the marsh side, and with the flowing water moving the baitfish around, the fish were following.

We spotted several large redfish, trout, and tarpon on both sides of the trail, but only had success with the trout.

As the title indicates, my wife caught another large, "sub gator" trout on her favorite setup; a "Billy Bay"popping gurgle bobber with a large, fresh dead shrimp below.

I on the other hand continued on my quest to subdue a tarpon with artificials.

Although I caught several trout, smaller than my wife's, I could not for the life of me get the damn tarpon to eat my bait. I wore my arm out casting top waters, swim baits, jerkbaits, and Ieven tried a large shrimp with no success.

The scenery was phenominal, as you can see by the short videos and photos, and the fishing was
great except for the tarpon.

July 4th. is another story to tell, if we go out again. Until then, tight lines!

Oh, by the way, her trout was over 20 inches.

Pre July 4th Tarpon Fishing

Got out late Thursday and decided to try for some of the small tarpon that are now in the north part of the Indian River Lagoon, north of Scotsmoor, Fl.

My wife and I saw a few small tarpon busting finger mullet in the north part of the river, and in the salt marsh canal adjacent to it, but had no takers.

I tried mullet imitating lures, as well as smaller swim baits for over an hour, with absolutely no hits. I didn't bring my cast net, so for today, live bait was not on the menu for these tusslers.

The water in the Indian River was a bit choppy from a West wind, and the temperature hovered in the high 80s with a clear sky; so it was almost perfect for this sort of fishing.

At low light, my wife and I moved to a favorite spot where I knew some trout were always on the prowl. Last week she caught an "almost" gator trout, so we decided to try and repeat the performance.

Karen had several hits here, on a shrimp Cajun Thunder bobber combo, and I picked up several trout in the marsh canal fishing a drop off ledge that I knew was there.

I started catching trout on Creme swim baits, but decided to switch to a new top water lure I had in my tackle box, to try for a larger trout comparable to the one my wife caught last week.

Several casts and two misses later, I picked up a small redfish that exploded on the bait.

The little fella acted like he was one of the bull redfish that this part of the river is noted for.

Several casts later, it was apparent that the bite was about over. This is typical for this area.

The fish turn on in spurts, and provide some great action while it lasts; then like someone turned off a magical switch, it's over.

The low light turned to dusk, so we left the preserve deciding to try again tomorrow.

Maybe Friday will be a lucky day for a tarpon! Tight lines!