Mullet Run and Love Bugs
Capt. Tom Van Horn
September 6, 2008
Indian River Lagoon - Saltwater Fishing Report
Mosquito Creek Outdoors Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report, September 5, 2008
By: Captain Tom Van Horn
What is black and orange and makes love for days at a time, and its lover is the last thing going through its mind as it splatters on your windshield? If you guessed the unspeakable love bug, you are absolutely right. We have all heard the saying "match the hatch", but on the east coast of Florida, the dreaded love bug hatch is not so good for the paint job on your car, but it's actually a good thing as it equates to fishing. No, we do not tie and use love bug flies to catch fish, but the hatch does signals the end of summer and the beginning of the fall fishing season. Shorter days, cooler nights, and prevailing easterly breezes all mark the beginning of the fall bait run as hordes of baitfish, primarily silver mullet, and predatory species begin their southerly migration along the beach and through the Indian River Lagoon system.
This past week, mullet have been forming up in the lagoon and good reports of redfish, sea trout, ladyfish, tarpon, and snook have been coming from all areas of the Lagoon. The heavy rainfall deposited by Tropical Storm Fay has flushes both finger mullet and minnows out of the backwater creeks and impoundments into the lagoon, and the predators have pinned the baitfish up against the shoreline taking advantage of the deeper water. The deeper water also facilitates the drafts of our flats skiffs, allowing us easy access to areas we would not normally float, so push in as close to the shoreline as you can and watch for feeding activity in close and minnows showering on the surface in an attempt to escape.
Although I did not fish much this past week, I did have the opportunity to visit the Osceola Outback Adventures is Saint Cloud, Florida along with some good friend to research an article scheduled for the October or November Coastal Angler Magazine Orlando, man it's a tough job. The team consisted of Captain Ron Presley and his grandson Robert, Captain Tom Carver, Charlie McCullough, Mark Blyth, and yours truly. If you haven't heard of the Osceola Outback before, it a fish farm where of all things, they raise Australian barramundi. Barramundi are a close relative to the common snook, but they are farm raise and sold primarily as a food stock. For a fee you and your guest (up to four anglers) can catch barramundi without even leaving Central Florida. We met the sight manager Byron Hennecy and our guide Joey around 1:30 in the afternoon, and by 3pm together we had caught over 50 fish ranging from 7 to 12 pounds. For more details on this expedition, watch for the complete article in the October issue of the Greater Orlando Coastal Angler Magazine or contact Byron Hennecy at Cell: 407-908-3216 or [email protected].
In closing, please say a prayer for the safely of those in the path of Hurricane Ike as he swings through the Gulf of Mexico, and have a great week of fishing.
As always, if you have any questions or need more information, please contact me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
www.irl-fishing.com
407-416-1187 on the water
407-366-8085 landline
Visit www.mosquitocreekoutdoors.com for your outdoor adventure needs, its Where the Adventure Begins!
Target Species:
Redfish, Sea Trout
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