Night Shrimping On The Indian River

Planned on getting out and making a few casts before dark, however I drove in from Savannah, Ga. and ran into some unexpected traffic and didn't get home early enough. After my last traffic stop by Volusia county, I try to keep it way under 95 mph! Just Kidding!!

Anyway my wife, Elmo and I drove down to the causeway bridge to see what was happening.

There were few fishermen on the water, and about a dozen or more shrimpers doing their thing from the bridge and a wooden fishing dock.

The old timers complained about the slow shrimping. Several told me that this time of the year should be when the shrimp begin to run in ernest, but the cold snap of the past week put the shrimp down. The general concences is that Feb. or March should be when they really turn on.

One thing is certain, the trout were there in droves and I suspect they were the main reason no one was loading up on the shrimp. The trout were eating everything in sight. The water column above the shrimp lights looked like a fish hatchery.


I took a couple of videos of the fish activity you all might find interesting. Turn down the audio unless you love the sound of generators.



The videos were taken about 7:45 . Later on in the evening, the big bull redfish come cruising in like miniature torpedos looking for a trout dinner, I suspect.

In any event, I hope to get out and bend a rod tomorrow. Till then.

Tight Lines.

Hunt For Reds In October

This weekend was anything but what you would expect an October weekend to be like.  The weather has been nothing short of blissful and the fishing has started to improve.

Some of my friends, who religiously fish the Mosquito Lagoon, say that the fishing this past week has started to improve.  Small schools of redfish are still cruising the flats, and with the windy conditions have made it easier to cast to them.

Sea trout are still easy to catch however the larger, gator trout, aren't hitting like they were earlier in the spring.
You can still pick one up early in the morning or just at dusk, but the sow gator trout get that way because they are extremely wary.  The clearer water make them doubly so come winter.

My wife, my wonder dog Elmo and I spent some time on the Indian River Saturday, and this evening, getting some nature pics and a little fresh air.

I fished top water Chug Bugs, SkitterWalks, a shallow running Yozuri Minnow, gold spoons, jigs, and just about everything else you can think of trying for a redfish or large trout.  Other than a few small trout, nothing earth shaking occurred.

My wife removed her Cajun Thunder rig and fished large dead shrimp both afternoons with some better results.  She picked up several catfish, a large stingray, puffers and missed a couple redfish.

After wearing out my casting arm, I reverted to fishing frozen shrimp in a small canal we often frequent.

 I picked up a top end slot redfish just at dusk that put up a great fight.  The particular rod I was using was threaded with 10 lb. Cajun Red Lightnin line and 20 flourocarbon leader, so I had to spend some time getting the red to land.

Until this evening, I was beginning to think I had some sort of fish curse on me.
Oh well, that's why they call it fishing instead of catchin.

Till next time; Tight Lines To You All!

Night Time Trout Fishing

Well it was a beautiful day in central Florida today. The wind was gusting to 20 mph and both the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoons were choppy.

I had intentions of taking out my Maverick and hitting the flats for some of those April gator sea trout everyone has been catching, but mowing the lawn, cutting down some dead trees and working around the house seemed like a better idea, according to my wife.

Not content to giving up a beautiful day without going fishing, I grabbed a spare rod I just respooled with 10 lb. Cajun Red Lightnin' line, put on a black and silver D.O.A. Terror Eye and scooted down to the bridge near dusk.

When I got to the causeway, it was sparsely populated with shrimpers and a few bridge fishermen.

The shrimping this past week was "so, so" according to Hank, one of the regulars. He said the shrimp were running sporadic and were "Oak Hill" sized. (Meaning mediums to small)

The week before, as I have already posted in this blog, they were "loading up on 9 to 12 inch shrimp" but this week the shrimping has not been consistent. Five gallon limits were were being scooped up, but "they weren't Titusville shrimp", as on gentleman told me.

Knowing that night time trout fishing is pretty much overlooked in this area, I decided to see if I could pick up a gator sow sea trout.

When it got dark I started pitching the D.O.A. outside the shrimp lights and caught and missed several small trout.



Moving out to deeper water just outside the shrimp lights, a good sub-gator sized trout grabbed the D.O.A. lure and tried her best to run under the bridge. After a couple of very nice runs, I finally landed the respectable 21 inch trout.

Fish for dinner tomorrow evening! I usually don't keep them but it's been a dry spell for nice sized keepers.

Last week end, my wife and I hit the preserve area of the northern Indian River and didn't do as well as we hoped.

I caught 13 or 14 small trout and missed a nice over sized redfish, and Karen missed one red and only caught several catfish. That is the main reason I almost exclusively use lures and not bait.

I took a few fish pics and am posting the collage here for your viewing.

Maybe the fishing will be better tomorrow. The weather should be great.

Tight lines to all!

North Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report

The North Indian River Lagoon area north of Mims, Fl., is definitely the place to catch a heavyweight redfish this time of year.

The unusually shallow water levels of this past fall and winter are slowly disappearing and giving way to freshly covered grass and mud flats.

The dried mudflat areas are now covered with water deep enough for the large bull redfish in the area, to charge into for an easy meal of crabs, mud minnows and anything else they can get their maws around. The most active feeding time seems to be in the late afternoon and evenings.

Although the reds in the Mosquito Lagoon are longer, and are more within the slot limits, the bruisers in the north Indian River Lagoon are bulkier and weigh well over 40 pounds.

The Scottsmoor landing area is producing bull redfish as well as the 5 to 10 pound redfish that are seen tailing in medium to large sized schools, and an occasional single.

The start of the spring mullet run has made the redfish aggressive towards top water lures. My favorites are a silver and black "chug bug" and black and gold "skitter walk" plugs. A D.O.A. jerk bait rigged weedless, without a keel sinker on the hook, is also an all time favorite of mine.

My wife usually uses dead shrimp or mullet and does quite well, especially later on in the season.

The lush grass flats between Titusville, Fl. and the north end of the Indian River are famous for sight fishing for the tailing redfish as well as the gator trout that stake out their ambush spots around the sandy potholes.

I have gotten reports of sow gator trout that were caught on top water lures that weighed in at over 13 pounds this past week. Ten pounders are routinely caught in these waters and I believe the world record was also caught in the Indian River Lagoon.

For those of you not in the know, these fish can exceed 30 inches in length. It's no wonder that the Indian River Lagoon is noted as an exceptional area for these early spring tackle busters.

All this talk makes me want to go fishing. It is late Sunday afternoon; So, I think I will!

Tight lines.

April Gator Trout Fishing

Early spring fishing in central Florida's Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River systems is noted for producing huge Gator trout. In normal years, April would hail the mullet migration into the estuaries, however this year the silver schools may be running a bit late.

The abnormally low water levels that we experienced this year, cleaned out the river system and produced the crystal clear waters which is good for the estuary.

The February and March low water conditions provided some incredible sight fishing opportunities for gator sea trout in the sandy pockets of the Mosquito Lagoon's grass flats, and also for early morning tailing redfish on the shallow flats.

The fly fishermen in particular did quite well, using stealthy approaches, and making long casts, to fish in crystal clear water less than a foot deep, in many locations.

If the rains begin on time, and the water levels start rising,we should see some great trout fishing this April.

Egg laden female gator trout of up to 3 feet long will be spawning in the shallows before the new and full moons and chasing silver mullet schools all over the place. This is really the best time of year for anyone interested in snagging a trophy trout.

Early morning and late evening fishing with top water skitter walks or chug bug lures will get you some action with the trout and redfish if they are in the area.

Don't forget the huge schools of redfish. The rising water usually draws slot size schools of reds into the shallow flats to feed. Larger "bull redfish" are often cruising the sand bars and deeper areas just off the flats.

As the sun warms the water, you can easily see the redfish tailing in the shallows and grabbing a bite to eat.

I am eagerly waiting for April's showers .....

Tight lines to you all!