Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Forecast, May 2013
Capt. Tom Van Horn
May 1, 2013
Indian River Lagoon - Saltwater Fishing Report
Mosquito Creek Outdoors Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Forecast May 2013
By Captain Tom Van Horn
Events and Seminars
Saturday May 4th, 4 pm to 8 pm, An Afternoon on the Lagoon, Cancer Benefit for Fire Fighter Stephen Whitney. The event will be held at Crackerjacks Seafood and Tiki Bar located on the Max Brewer Memorial Pier in Titusville, Florida. Come join us for cocktails for a cause and help provide financial support for Steve and his family as he fights inoperative stage 4 lung cancer. Donations can be made at any Wells Fargo Bank in the name of the Stephen Whitney Family Cancer Fund. For more details
contact Tom Van Horn at [email protected] or call me at (407) 416-1187.
Thursday May 16th, Fly Fishing Film Tour 7 pm at the Orlando Science Center, tickets can be purchased at Mosquito Creek Outdoors in Apopka, Florida or online at :http://flyfilmtour.com.
Saturday May 18th 10 am, Discover Fly Fishing at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, 170 S. Washington Ave, Apopka, Florida 32703. The free fly fishing event in instructed by FFF certified fly caster and veteran Mosquito Lagoon Guide Captain Chris Myers. For more details visit www.mosquitocreek.com.
Thursday May 23rd 6 pm, Free Rigging Workshop "Near-shore Coastal Fishing for Tarpon, Jacks and More". Conducted by Captains Chris Myers and Tom Van Horn, this clinic will provide you with the ins and outs of catching summertime tarpon, jumbo jacks and more. The event will be located at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, 170 S. Washington Ave. Apopka, Florida 32703. For more details visit http://www.mosquitocreek.com.
May 23rd - 26th Fishstock in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Come out and see the new lineup of T. Borski Apparel and visit me and the host from Fishing Florida Radio. For more information on the event visit http://www.fishstock.com.
T Boriski Apparel: Check out our introductory offer of 12.99 for T Borski Apparel at www.tborskiapparel.com.
May Fishing Forecast
The longer days of summer allow enthusiastic anglers along Florida's Space Coast to take pleasure in spending their afternoons after work relaxing on the water. Warming coastal waters draw streams of baitfish north followed by warm water predators, as our prevailing easterly winds give way to summers genially shifting sea breezes. May serves as the beginning of our summertime fishing for taropn, large jacks, kingfish and sharks just off of the beach, so break out your heaver tackle and join in on the adventure.
Make sure you gear up for these fish as they are tackle busters, and if you are not sure where and how to attack these fish, check out our free seminar at Mosquito Creek outdoors on May 23rd.
Inshore, the bait pods, Atlantic menhaden (pogies), have shown up along the beach, and now is the best time to target the ocean predator shadowing these schools. It's not uncommon to catch large redfish, large jack crevalle, blacktip sharks, cobia, and tarpon from within these pods of bait. To locate bait pods, simply look for feeding birds, flipping and jumping bait, muddy water along the beach, and busting fish.
Spanish mackerel, snook, redfish, jack crevalle, bluefish, flounder, sheepshead and black drum are just some of the species available in the Lagoon inlets and beaches this month. As the baitfish migration moves north, this type of fishing will only get better.
Offshore, dolphin fishing will be the focus of blue water anglers this month. April and May are the time of year when the larger bulls are taken off the Florida Space Coast. The early season dolphin bite has already yielded so big fish. As a bonus, the potential of taking a blue marlin or sailfish are good. Near-shore, the kingfish bite has heated up on the near-shore reefs and wrecks and some cobia are still around. As the seas settle down and the bait schools move in close to the beach, look for the kingfish action to move in also.
On the Lagoon flats, redfish and spotted sea trout will provide the majority of action for light tackle and fly anglers. The water has warmed up to the point where jack crevalle, ladyfish, snook, and tarpon are showing up in good numbers. Although they will bite all day, I like to target redfish and sea trout at first light or at dusk with top water plugs like the Dawdslider by Unfair Lures, or Storm Chug Bug. As the day heats up, change your focus to the deeper edges of the flats (2 to 3 feet deep) jigging with a DOA CAL Shad or 4" & 5.5" jerk baits.
On the St Johns River, increased rainfall has water levels rising and the menhaden schools are showing up between Mullet Lake Park and Lake Harney with schooling largemouth bass and some sunshine bass feeding at first lights and dusk. Also, increased water levels and current should have the larger catfish on the move, so it's once again time to start soaking bait in the deeper bends of the river.
As always, if you need information or have any questions, please contact me. Also, please consider fishing with my guide service if you would like to tackle any of the above species with my assistance.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
www.irl-fishing.com
[email protected]
407-416-1187 on the water
For all of your outdoor needs, visit Mosquito Creek Outdoors at www.mosquitocreek.com, it's where your adventure begin.
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