Indian River Lagoon
Capt. Tom Van Horn
July 12, 2003
Indian River Lagoon - Saltwater Fishing Report
Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report
Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report, July 12, 2003
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
The weather on the Lagoon coast of Florida this past week was hot, but it felt like a cool spring day when compared to the catching. Angling adventures led me into four completely different locations, and we experienced quality fish each time.
The week began with and open water excursion to the near shore reef of 8A and the wind and sea conditions were perfect. The bite was slow but steady, putting two large kingfish, and two nice dolphins in the boat. The water conditions are extremely clear all the way to the beach, but the cold water summertime currents are moving in quickly, so don’t look for the bite to last. Also catching bait (pogies) has proven to be tough. The bait concentrations have been scattered this week, and they have been located on the beach in the morning between the south jetty and the pier, and then they move into the Port in the afternoon.
The next adventure involved fishing in the Indian River Lagoon out of Kennedy Point, where I joined up with a group of angling advocates from California. The group consisted of five anglers who are closely involved in trying to protect the rights of anglers on the west coast, and they wanted to fish our area to experience first hand what the Indian River Lagoon is all about. We started our day fishing the area of Banana Creek quickly locating a school of tailing reds that were reluctant to play, catching one slot fish. We then moved over to the North power plant and caught a nice 30-pound tarpon, and we ended the day targeting trout and ladyfish in the deeper flats.
The next day we ventured into the Banana River No Motor Zone for one of the nicest fishing days I’ve seen all year. The wind was so calm, it was like fishing on a sheet of glass, and the fish were happy, hungry, and playful. We started in the predawn hours fishing Chugbugs, and the trout, ladyfish, and catfish were working over them on every cast. This may sound like a fish story to you, but I actually had a small trout jump out of the water and strike my plug boat-side as it was daggling about six inches out of the water. Once the top water bite slowed, we pulled up on a sand bar for lunch, and I tossed out a few chunks of ladyfish. During this brief rest, we manager to catch two redfish, 18 and 26 pound, and we were spooled by another. Shortly after noon, during our homeward tract, the water became alive with redfish and black drum tails, but because of pervious arrangements made by the group, we reluctantly left fish heaven for home.
Yesterday, our quest took us out of Port Canaveral is search of the large schools of redfish which typically form up is spawning aggregations this time of year. Again, catching bait was the toughest part of the day. For the first half of the day, the bite was slow managing only a few strikes, but our persistence paid off when we located, with the help of Captain Troy Perez, the larges school of redfish I’d ever seen. In my boat alone, we managed seven reds in excess of twenty-five pounds with three double hook-ups, and one five foot nurse shark. There must have been a thousand breeder reds in this school as it covered several acres. It’s great to see such a sight, considering the amount of angling pressure applied to Florida waters.
As always, if you need information or have questions, please contact me.
Good Luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
www.irl-fishing.com
[email protected]
407-366-8085
1-866-790-8081 toll free
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