Indian River Fishing Report For Week of August 20, 2011

This Indian River fishing report is for the week of August 20, 2011. 

The water levels in both lagoon systems has risen over the last couple of weeks and has opened up some fishing areas, particularly in the marsh areas,  that were previously on dry land.

The best bite has been early in the morning for sea trout that are targeting the schools of bait fish that can now be found in good numbers in both the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River.

Top water plugs or a live ladyfish or finger mullet free lined on the surface will get the larger fish.

As the water gets warmer in the late morning, the trout have been moving into the 3 and 4 foot depths around large pot holes and over the sea grass.

You can catch them using a variety of baits but the one "do nothing" rig that works well that my wife Karen swears by, is a Cajun Thunder clacking bobber rig with either a D.O.A. shrimp or a plastic paddle tail bait under about 12" to 18" of fluorocarbon leader.

The D.O.A. Deadly Combo Lure, Oval Float, Gold Glitter works just as well and is less expensive but be sure to use a loop knot when you fish it and give the bait time to settle between jerks.

Flip the rig out and twitch it.  When the bobber sits upright in the water,  wait a second or two and twitch it again.  Every time it flips upright, the shrimp drops slowly to the bottom and this is usually when you get the hit.

This rig is really deadly using live shrimp.

The grass beds that are in 3 to 5 feet of water in the northern part of the Indian River are loaded with good sized sea trout right now and there's not much fishing pressure in this area.

I've got a few reports about the Dummit Cove area being full of big sea trout feeding over the grass beds and some guys catching nice sized redfish in the shallows throughout that area.

The grass flats that parallel the Western shore of the Indian River from Titusville north have always been a relatively under fished area for schools of big redfish in depths from 1 to 3 feet

Some really big redfish in the 30 pound plus class are now being caught on the flats south of Titusville by sight fishermen.  I talked to a couple of guys at The Fly Fisherman who pick them off with Dahlberg Divers.

These fish are spooky right now and require longer casts with lighter line.

The eastern shores of the Indian River in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge from  Peacocks Pocket south, is still hot for redfish in the shallows and sea trout in the early mornings and late evening.

My wife and I have only been able to get out just before dusk but we have been spotting some really big redfish and sea trout throughout this area.

Again the best baits are live finger mullet, ladyfish, D.O.A. jerkbaits or top water baits.

Yesterday evening we picked up several trout, a garfish and missed three over sized redfish in only a little over an hour of fishing. 

I caught the trout on top water STORM Rattlin' Chug Bug - 3.25" - Gizzard Shad and missed all the reds on large finger mullet.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get more time on the water on Sunday.

Till then, Tight Lines.

Indian River Trout Bite

The Indian River trout bite is still good early in the morning and just before dusk in the evening along the shallow flats.

My wife and I fished Peacocks Pocket road Friday evening just before dusk.

Since it was late, I didn't feel like fooling around with a cast net getting live bait. Instead I used a D.O.A. white paddle tail swim bait on a 7' graphite spinning rod loaded with 10# mono tied directly to the lure.

The setup was apparently what the fish wanted.

I missed several smaller trout and landed one about 22" in about an hour of fishing.

The fish were attacking small baitfish that were meandering close to the bank in very shallow water.

As I released the fish, I couldn't help but notice how hot the water temperature was.

Although I didn't have a thermometer with me, the water had to be at least in the upper 80s.

I took a some pics of this big wild boar we saw in the marsh area along with the beautiful scenery and a quick one of one of the fish I caught here.


Although Karen and I didn't get into the area until about 7:30, we never saw a single soul fishing or sight seeing in the area.

I just love having the area to ourselves!

Hope to get out tomorrow and try out the bluefish that are supposed to be running in the surf from Playalinda Beach south.

Till next time.

Tight Lines and good fishing.

Indian River Fishing - Fishing The Mud Bottom Shallows

February is a good month for Indian River Fishing, especially when fishing the the mud bottom shallows on the northeast portion of the river.

This weekend was the first really warm weekend in a long time that my wife, my wonder dog Elmo, and I got to enjoy fishing both the lagoons without taking a chance of contracting a case of pneumonia.

The fish are cruising the shallows over mud bottom areas around the Merritt Island National Wildlife refuge, and they are very spooky.

If you care to wade these areas and are careful about not making too much commotion; you can pick up slot sized redfish in singles and small schools using fresh cut bait, live shrimp, and slow moving soft baits.

I watched one wade fishermen catch a nice sized black drum on a white CAL bait wading north of Peacock Pocket, and just south of Catfish Creek. A couple other fishermen, not so interested in getting their feet wet, picked up slot redfish in the same area.

I was targeting sea trout for a friend of mine who wanted the fish and didn't fare so well. I picked up a couple of undersized fish on a natural colored Creme paddle tail bait, along with on legal fish of about 17" that I didn't bother keeping.

The trout weren't biting in their normal haunts for this time of year, which I believe is partially due to the recent cold snap fish kill. Last year, I was picking up good numbers of sea trout and even a couple of snook during this time period.

I predict when the water warms up a bit, the fish will move back into their old hunting grounds.

Towards evening I started targeting redfish that were cruising the mud bottom shallows. I tried gold spoons, a new Rapala "twitch" bait, and the usual array of soft bodied baits. I missed one slot redfish on a DOA CAL white paddletail swimbait and spooked two others because of badly placed casts.

On the way out of our fishing area, we found the road closed at the causeway bridge and had to get home via the long route over Haulover canal. Thank the Lord that the new bridge construction and fishing pier construction seems to be going full speed ahead. It seems like the every other week they can't get the turnstyle bridge to close and they have to redirect traffic.

Well, we hope to get out Sunday providing the bridge is open. Perhaps I'll have a better report.

In the meantime, enjoy the pics.

By the way, I have absolutely no idea why the house was being pushed down the ICW. If anyone knows about this please post a comment, I'd love to know.

Meanwhile, Tight Lines To All!

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!