Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River Fishing Report - Feb. 2010 Update

Although I personally haven't been knocking em dead, a guide friend of mine said the fishing on the north Indian River flats has been pretty decent up till the cold front this week.

I've gotten reports of several large gator trout being landed in the 8 to 9 pound category just north of Mims, Fl. and sporadic landings of slot size redfish in the same general area.

Live shrimp, and DOA CAL jerk baits are what worked on the sea trout and almost all of the redfish were caught on DOA shrimp, live free lined shrimp, and CAL jerk baits.

The large bull redfish don't seem to be as numerous as the slot sized four to eight pounders that are on the shallow flats during the warmer parts of the day.

I noticed that the past few times I night fished the causeway with the shrimpers; the huge bull redfish that usually follow the sea trout into the lights, were AWOL.

I suspect during the cold fronts, they are spending their time in the deeper holes along the Indian River Lagoon canals or in the deeper waters of Haulover Canal.

This weekend I plan taking my wonder dog Elmo and finding out precisely where they are.

From my past experience and notes I have taken, the gator trout bite will definitely improve as the weather warms up and as we get closer towards spring.

March and April are the prime months for targeting the spawning female gator trout in the north part of the river, as well as the Mosquito Lagoon. Believe me, I'm 'jonesen' to get in some topwater action this spring.

I picked up some new subsurface, walk-the-dog lures from Gander Mountain on my way home from Savannah last week that I'm dying to try out.

My neighbor went crappie fishing last week somewhere in the St. Johns, and came back with a nice bucket full of fish. He caught them all drifting using small chartreuse and white jigs on light 4# line, with spinning tackle. He asked me to post his success, so here it is.

Until next time, hopefully this weekend, Tight Lines to All!