Indian River Lagoon
Capt. Tom Van Horn
December 26, 2002
Indian River Lagoon - Saltwater Fishing Report
Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report
As a Christmas storm blankets the Northeast and a chill moves swiftly across Florida, I’m obliged for the opportunity to sit within the warmth of my office and collect my thoughts. It’s the simple things in life that are often taken for granted; all are blessings when one takes the time to ponder them. Such are the blessing of a loving family, loyal friends, good health, trusting pets, and a career both challenging and fun. Christmas is the occasion that facilitates these reflections in my life, leaving me with a greater respect for those within my circle of influence. When you look at your reflection on the surface water, you seldom notice the objects in the background. Next time take a closer look.
This past week, prior to the passing of the front, fishing off the Indian Lagoon coast was hot. The air was warm, winds calm, the seas flat, and the bite was on. The conditions were so nice on Monday, my loyal fishing companion, Mad Man Mike, and I ventured far into the open waters of the Atlantic. We departed Port Canaveral at sunrise on a northerly track to the area of Chris Benson reef. Our plan was to troll Spanish sardines targeting cobia, kingfish, and sharks. I prefer trolling with live bait, but with the bait run finished, frozen sardines are the next best thing. The technique I like is to use the standard wire kingfish rig, with the addition of a King Buster plastic skirt.
The Chris Benson area in located roughly 16 miles northeast of the Port off the coast of the Kennedy Space Center. The area is known for hard bottom littered with shallow inshore ledges and rocks, great for inshore bottom fishing and diving. It is also known to hold cobia and kingfish this time of year. Once we arrived at our destination, we trolled slowly across some interesting bottom structure, marking good fish on my Furno. Our focus quickly changed as we decided to target these fish. The structure we located was a nice six-foot ledge in about fifty feet of water. For the next three hours, we experienced continuous action, catching blacktip sharks, red grouper, yellow tail and red snapper, sea bass, and triggerfish. All of the grouper and red snapper were just undersize, but they were great fun on the light spinning tackle.
On our return trip home, we decided to venture out to the area of 8A reef, which proved to be the highlight of the day. We reverted back to our trolling rigs, and the kingfish action was the best I’ve ever seen. The kingfish were skyrocketing on the baits as soon as they hit the water. The area was littered with both recreational and commercial boats, all of them hooked up. Unfortunately for us, the sky grew darker and the wind started to pick up, both presenting a bit of a challenge for my 17-foot Maverick. We still managed to burn all of our remaining baits, and we landed several nice kingfish before calling it a day.
With this cold front in our past, we should experience warmer conditions and flatter seas by the weekend. I can’t wait to return for some more fast action and screaming drags.
As always, if you need information or have any questions, please contact me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
[email protected]
www.irl-fishing.com
407-366-8085
866-790-8081 Toll Free
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