Early Dog Days of August

The Dog Days of August have come early in east central Florida with temps in the 90 degree mark daily.

This makes for very early and late fishing as I know so well from experience.

Yesterday, my wife and I took Elmo and Odie for a spin around Bio Lab road and the Vistas on Playalinda Beach road.

I tossed a few paddletail baits and a Skitterwalk around until my wrists gave out and only had one bump on the Creme paddletail bait.  

The area we spent most of our time around was in the southernmost section of the Mosquito Lagoon around Pelican Island.  

There were several big tarpon in the area and a bunch of juveniles darting around the shallows.  I spotted two tarpon jumping that were easily in the 100 pound category but nothing was interested in what I was tossing.

After an hour of fishing that area, we decided to hit a couple of Vistas on the beach road.

Both Vistas I fished proved to be a bust.  It was around 4:00 pm when we decided that the 92 degree temps were just too much for us, especially Elmo and Odie.

Both dogs had their tongues hanging out and I was afraid Elmo was going to have a heart attack.  The poor guy is 17 years old, almost blind from cataracts, and deaf as a doornail but he still loves to go with me and Karen for a "road trip" fishing.

I took a few pics of the areas we fished but unfortunately no fishy pics today.

Maybe next time,

Till then, Tight Lines.

The Dog Days Of August Are Upon Us!

The temperatures are hovering in the low to mid 90s, and the water temperatures in both the Mosquito Lagoon, and Indian River, are warm enough to harbor the larger tarpon I've been trying to get for the past couple of weeks.

I've been getting reports of tarpon from 50 to 120 lbs in the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoons, but I've not personally hooked up with one of them yet.

I've seen mostly rolling fish in relatively shallow water, but schools of daisy chaining tarpon and laid up fish are all over the place.

I've missed several good sized tarpon on artificials, but still haven't put one in the boat!

It never ceases to amaze me how you can see a bunch of tarpon rolling all over the place, and every damn one of them with a case of lockjaw! I guess tarpon are acting like tarpon usually do!

Anything resembling a mullet seems to get their attention. My all time favorite lure has become a Chug Bug topwater lure. The big trout and redfish love it, and every now and then I'll get a hit from a tarpon.

The trout in the Indian River have been running in the slot to 24 inches with an occasional gator trout between 5 and 10 pounds being caught. They are everywhere and relatively easy to catch. The best time to get a big one, for me, is just before dusk.

Again, the best baits to use are top water lures, D.O.A. Baitbusters, jerkbaits and live pigfish under a Cajun Thunder bobber, or free lined.

My wife has still been using her tried and true shrimp under a bobber rig, with minimal success.

If you're going fishing during the month of August, better go very early, or late in the afternoon. This is and continues to be the most productive times to be on the water.

Didn't get any good fish pics this weekend except for some trout that didn't come out right so I'll pass on the photos.

Till next week, tight lines!