Big Reds in the No-Motor Zone
Capt. Tom Van Horn
May 9, 2010
Indian River Lagoon - Saltwater Fishing Report
Mosquito Creek Outdoor's Indian River Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report, April 16, 2010
By Captain Tom Van Horn
This Week's Report
Catfish Run Wild on the St. John's River
Every spring, big blue and channel catfish invade the upper reaches of the St. Johns River on their annual spawning run right here in Central Florida. Rising water levels and fast currents provided for some of the best catfish fishing experienced all year, which was evident during the recent filming of the Ultimate Catch fishing show hosted by Captain Eric Ciocher. During the filming of the show, Captains Eric Ciocher and Tom Van Horn caught a good number of 10 pound plus catfish. The action was non stop all day, and should make for another exciting and informative adventure caught on film.
The show will be featured on the Sportsman Channel. Here are the air-times and dates for Ultimate Catch on Sportsman Channel Network: Tuesday June 15 1:00 AM, Wednesday June 16 9:00 AM, Saturday June 19 7:00 PM, Sunday June 20 3:30 AM. Past episodes can also be viewed at any time online at http://www.ultimatecatch.tv.
As the days grow hotter, fishing in all areas of Central Florida heats up as well. On the St. Johns River, the freash water catfish bite continues to provide consistent action, which was the case when I fish with Melvin from Apopka, Florida, and during the filming of the Ultimate Catch fishing show. The best results came from fishing on the bottom in the deeper bends of the river using fresh pealed shrimp as bait.
On the inshore waters of the Banana River Lagoons' No-Motor Zone, light westerly breezes provided some calm conditions for a change and some great sight fishing opportunities. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of fishing with my good friends Captain Chris Myers and Doug Olander, editor of Sport Fishing Magazine. The water conditions were very good compared to a week ago when we were blown out by strong southeast winds.
The top-water action has picked up, as schools of finger mullet and ladyfish have returned for the summer, and at one location I was receiving multiple strikes on every cast. Our main objective for the day was to sight fish over size redfish on lures, and as we moved deeper into the zone we located a large school. In our case, locating the fish required some searching , which was the easy part, getting them to eat proved to be even harder.
Near-shore along the beach, the pogie (Atlantic menhaden) pods have arrived and the tarpon and big yellow jacks are begriming to show up, and there are still some manta rays and cobia around. I also received good reports on tripletail and Spanish mackeral.
Also, be sure to check out the May addition of Coastal Angler Magazine Orlando in print and online for free at www.coastalanglermagazine.com.
Asalways, if you need information or have any questions, please contact me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
www.irl-fishing.com
[email protected]
407-366-8085 office
407-416-1187 on the water
For all you outdoor shopping needs, visit Mosquito Creek Outdoors at www.mosquitocreek.com.
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