Dog Days Of August Are Here

The dog days of August are definitely here!

With the temps in the high to mid 90s and the water temperature on the mud flats almost as hot; the fishing has dwindled to the early pre dawn hours and late evening on both the Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River.

If you miss the early morning bite, you might as well pack it in and get a late morning breakfast.

The fishing for redfish and sea trout is exceptional this month, but you have to be a morning person or a night owl to enjoy the really good fishing.

Some of the largest "bull" redfish of the year are being caught as they congregate for their upcoming spawn, but the best times to get one is early and late.

Boat fishermen will generally fare much better than bank fishermen, but there are many places where boaters just don't have the access that bank and wade fishermen do.

My wife and I fished several north Indian River Lagoon areas on Friday and Saturday afternoon until dusk with varied results.

On Friday, I could have just stayed home. The only fish that bothered taking my lures was a lone redfish that hit a gold spoon in a ditch next to the river, a ladyfish that almost jumped onto the bank, and some very small trout.

I switched to shrimp and still could only round up some hard head catfish that acted like redfish, and a couple of small sting rays.

The roaming thundershowers that I thought would stir up the fishing both afternoons, only seemed to cool down the air temperature.

Saturday afternoon my wife managed to catch two small redfish on the marsh side of the river, several catfish and a large redfish that shook the hook as she tried to slide down the bank and land it.

I didn't get one hit on any of the lures I was throwing!

I did see several very large trout following the schools of mullet and occasionally killing one for dinner, but they weren't taking my top water Zara Spook Jr.

Close to dusk after the storms moved through, I saw a small school of "bull redfish" swim into the shallows from deeper water that were in the 30# range.

There were two redfish that looked to be close to 50" that came in just short of casting range, however I couldn't get a bait out to them without spooking the fish.

Two guys in an aluminium skiff about 40 yards from shore were doing much better. I heard them yelling as their boat was being pulled by a huge redfish out to deeper water.

The fish was probably part of the school I saw feeding in the shallow mud flats.

Anyway, as the storms moved on I pulled out my camera to take some pics of the beautiful blood red sunset.

Maybe tomorrow?

Tight Lines.

Almost Skunked!

Today' late afternoon trip, netted only one small redfish.

The air temperature was 75 degrees, and the water a bit cooler with balmy conditions.

There was a decent breeze on the water, and the overcast conditions should have made for a great fishing excursion. Unfortunately, no one bothered telling the fish.

My wife and I hit the river late this afternoon; just to get out of the house.

We fished the Indian River north of Peacock Pocket, near a "duck blind" that occasionally produces redfish and some larger trout.

I used gold and silver spoons, gulp shrimp and crabs, a DOA shrimp under a bobber, and several paddle tail lures only to miss two redfish.

When I finally switched to dead shrimp, I caught two catfish and a small trout that was just enough for me to say; I didn't get skunked.

My wife landed a small redfish right out of the box, with a dead shrimp for bait, and then managed to catch a puffer and catfish.

There were several dolphin trying to corral some dinner in the shallows bay where we were fishing, but they weren't pushing the fish far enough in to our location.

The rest of the time we were out on the river, neither of us caught another fish.

I guess that's why they call it fishing; not catching!

Here's a pic of the redfish just for the heck of it.

Tomorrow's another day!

Tight lines.

November Indian River Lagoon Fishing

Despite the windy conditions throughout the day on the upper Indian River Lagoon, the fishing has been upbeat.

Finger mullet are still all over the river.  There are bait pods are being followed by trout and redfish,  all over the shallows on both banks of the Indian River.

Farther out in the river in deeper water, jacks are busting bait pods along with some gator trout.

My wife and I, and of course our wonder dog Elmo, didn't get the tackle out until about 3:30 this afternoon.  Since we got a late start, I decided to hit the "swamp" instead of taking out the boat.

We fished the kayak and canoe launch area at Peacock Pocket, right through to the end of the road.
      
Artificial lures produced only a few small trout today, mostly on ChugBug top water lures.

I had a good hit that could have been a redfish, on a Creme swimbait, but I was enjoying the scenery instead of paying attention to the fishing.

My wife Karen, caught and released a decent trout using a large dead shrimp near the Pocket, and later picked up a slot sized redfish in another area we frequent with the same bait.

The deep colors on the fish are just beautiful, this time of year as you can see by the photos.

As dusk approached, the wind picked up and it looked like a winter storm was going to blow in, so we decided to call it a day.

With any kind of luck, we might get out tomorrow for some more Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River Fishing.

Till next time; Tight Lines To All!!