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Indian River Lagoon
Capt. Tom Van Horn
January 15, 2003
Indian River Lagoon - Saltwater Fishing Report
Indian Lagoon Coast Fishing Report
Indian Lagoon Coast Fishing Report, January 17, 2003
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
As a fishing guide, I love to spend my days on the water enjoying the outdoors, but I also realize there’s more to guiding then fishing. It’s imperative to expand our circle of influence by educating and guiding others on the importance and sensitivity of the lagoon. This past week, I spent my time off the water representing Coastal Angler Magazine at the Stuart Boat show. Coastal Angler is the only magazine that exclusively covers angling, boating, and environmental issues concerning the entire 156 miles of the Indian Lagoon system. I also have a commitment to support CAM at Daytona Beach Boat Show this week on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Respectively, I still managed to keep my eyes and ears on the lagoon. This report consist of some of those observations.
While in Stuart, we stayed at the River Palm Cottages situated directly on the west shore of the lagoon. It’s botanical gardens and peaceful environs, make it the place to stay if you plan to fish the Jenson Beach and Stuart area. One of the many amenities River Palms provides is a long dock with deep-water boat slips and easy access to the inlet. Stuart and Jenson Beach are famous for their snook, and one walk down the dock at sunrise was all it took to convince me of that fact. Standing in one location, I could not count all of the snook within my site. Other action in the area consisted of a tremendous Spanish mackerel and bluefish bite in the inlet, and 126 sailfish caught and released in one day during a local tournament.
If pompano and giant redfish are to your liking, Sebastian Inlet is the place to go. The oversize reds have been concentrated just outside the jetties at slack tide feeding on school of silver mullet. Most anglers have been taking the reds utilizing live bait, but heavy jigs in the one-ounce range with plastic tails have experienced equal success. Also, the pompano have returned to the area of the monument on the inside. These fish have been taking jigs tipped with fresh shrimp or sand fleas (mole crabs). I prefer to drift through the area working my jig slowly near the bottom, and when you locate the fish, drop you anchor.
Other action reported to me this week consisted of a good redfish and trout bite in both the north Indian Lagoon, and the Mosquito Lagoon. Water conditions have cleared up considerable after the heavy pressure applied to the area during the Redfish Tour, and the fish have begun to return to the flats. One angler reported catching over fifty rat too slot size reds by himself in a period of four hours last weekend while his fishing partner stayed home to watch football. This weekend, the temperature is predicted to drop into the thirty’s, so your focus for trout will be the deep water holes, and target the reds in the afternoon once the flats heat up. If the weather’s too cold for fishing, come visit us at CAM’s Traveling Lagoon Booth at the Daytona Boat Show.
As always, if you have questions or need information, please contact me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
www.irl-fishing.com
[email protected]
1-866-790-8081
407-366-8085
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