Mosquito Lagoon Redfish

Gulp shrimp on a circle hook seems to be the ticket for Mosquito Lagoon redfish this week around the Edgewater, Oak Hill areas.

A guide friend of mine who was on the water Thursday in this area caught 15 slot sized and over size redfish using this combination, mostly by sight fishing.

A few of the fish were caught by casting to the white sandy holes amid the fields of sea grass in the shallows.

The clear waters in the Mosquito Lagoon this time of the year, are perfect for this type of fishing providing you use stealth fishing tactics.

Fish your baits very slowly using light lines and longer than average casts if you want to improve your hookup ratio.

Fishing around the Port St. John area is also picking up as the waters temperatures begin to stabilize.

Live mullet or live shimp seem to be the ticket in this area if you want to some nice trout and redfish.

A friend of mine who fishes the Port Canaveral area said that the tripletail were just beginning to show up in 35' to 40' depths around any type of floating debris just outside of the Port.

Unfortunately I've been suffering with an ear infection all week that has me feeling crappy enough to not go fishing. Hopefully by Sunday if the weather is decent, I'll get out to try my luck with some reds.

Till then,

Tight Lines!

Early June Culvert Fishing On The Indian River

Early spring is the time to load up on Gator trout, as well as slot sized dinner fare.
These were caught using D.O.A. watermelon jerk baits, and D.O.A. jig heads, with 4" Gulp "Nuclear Chicken" jerk baits.

This slot sized trout fell for a black and silver Rapala floating diver.
You can jump fish these trout around likely looking culverts, that are used to control the water levels in the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge area.

The drives that boarder the Indian River, in the Wildlife Refuge, offer the opportunity for some fine wading ,or bank fishing when they are open for traffic.
High water levels, that cause flooding of the drives, and the launching of a space shuttle, cause closures of the drives for safety and security reasons.

There are times, when the powers that be, close the drives for no apparent reason except to piss off the local anglers.

I also enjoy taking pictures of the breathtaking scenery in and around the Wildlife Refuge. Some of the sunsets are here for your enjoyment.

The photograph below was taken north of Haulover Canal at a "secret" fishing spot my wife and I frequent.

The photo below was taken last week, around the Indian River, in an area where I occasionally pick up Snook or two.

Both pictures were taken using my Nikon Cool Pix 8700, 8X optical zoom that I picked up for a steal on an Ebay auction. The pics were taken without the need for a tripod at dusk.

There are times when life is just plain enjoyable; and being on the Indian River fishing, or taking pics. with my wife and wonder dog Elmo, makes all the rest of the BS that is going on in our country irrelevant.

The shuttle that was going up this morning didn't make it because of fueling problems, so I imagine that the Refuge area will be closed. When I get a report, it will be posted today or tomorrow at the latest.
Good Fishing And Tight Lines To You 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!