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Central Indian River Lagoon
Capt. Ron Bielefeld
May 9, 2004
Indian River Lagoon - Saltwater Fishing Report
Capt. Ron Bielefeld's Indian River Lagoon Report - Sebastian Area
Some big trout and snook have been frequenting the shallows early in the mornings and they have been hitting top-water plugs over shallow grassy flats. We caught trout to 8 lbs and snook to 10 lbs this past week. We had one trout on that was the largest I have ever seen. The fish hit a spook was hooked for a second and then was gone. In the moment it hit the plug ¾ of the fish cleared the water. A lot of big trout have been caught from my boat, and I still get excited every time a large fish hits. However, this fish made my seasoned nerves just about short out! Seeing a fish like that is what keeps me, and I bet a lot of you, coming back day after day. This fish was all of 12 lbs. I believe there is a new world record trout swimming the waters of the Indian River Lagoon. I bet there is a fish out there that, when full of eggs, weights in close to 20 lbs. We also lost a snook in the 20 lb class. It is good to see that this caliber of fish continue to exist in the lagoon. Make no mistake; however, the lagoon is far from healthy. Water quality is generally poor and this keeps sea grasses from growing in many places they could. It is the sea grass that the entire system is based on. If the grass goes, so does everything else. Among other things, excess nutrients from lawn fertilizers, sediments stirred up from wind and boat traffic, and sediments washed into the lagoon from various points are all part of these water quality problems. Moreover, careless boaters are tearing up the grass beds with their inboards and outboards. It takes up to 10 years for these scares to heal if they ever do. We must all do our part to make sure this lagoon stays alive. Educate others whenever you can about these problems, and when you see a chance to make a difference, do so. We may think it is our right to be able to fish and boat on the lagoon if we want to, but we will all be better off if we realize sooner rather than later that the lagoon is actually a gift. A gift that injects millions of dollars into our economies every year, a gift that provides us with a place to have fun and get away from life’s stresses. If we are not careful and continue to be short-sighted rather than making some scarifies now for the future. The lagoon will die. Then what will we have? Then where will you fish? Then how much will your house on or near the water be worth? Over 1,000 new people move to Florida every day and 60% of them want to live on the water and 60% want to boat or fish. Just think about it. Until next time, Tight-lines to all.
Sincerely, a concerned
Capt. Ron
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