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Indian River Lagoon
Capt. Tom Van Horn
March 24, 2004
Indian River Lagoon - Saltwater Fishing Report
Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report
Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
Fishing on the Indian River Lagoon Coast this past week was difficult for the most part, due to our typical spring weather patterns. On calm days, fishing opportunities flourish, and on the blustery ones, the fishing was tough. In March, the tough angling days generally out number the nice ones, two to one.
The major story this past week was the cobia and tripletail bite out of Port Canaveral. On Friday the sea conditions were perfect, and good number of cobia and tripletail were taken between 40 and 50 feet of water along the lagoon coast between Port Canaveral and Sebastian Inlet. As the winds and seas conditions progressively increased, fishing opportunities decreased. Today, we wisely postponed our cobia charter, as another front has once again kicked up the seas and eliminated offshore opportunities for the next few days. Once conditions improve, anglers shouldn’t hesitate to take advantage remaining run of cobia before they move north for the summer.
Along the beaches, reports of Atlantic menhaden (pogies) have been surfacing from the area south of the Cocoa Beach pier. As these bait pods move in, so do the predators who feed on them. In the past, the first wave of bait has been shadowed by the oversize redfish and jacks, as well as black tips, tarpon, and an occasional cobia.
On the inside, larger redfish schools have and will continue to form up in deeper water, 2 to 3 feet, in preparation for their move into the skinny water near the end of the month, but again choppy water conditions have made site fishing difficult. Additionally, the trout bite has shown improvement with several quality fish finding their way into my boat last week. Soon we will enter into the top water fishing season for both trout and redfish, so I included the results of the anglers survey I conducted last week. Listed in order is the top ten top water plugs based on reader response, and I hope you find this information as interesting as I did.
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 office
407-416-1187 on the water
866-790-8081 toll free
Lagoon Top Water Plugs
On March 13th, I sent out a request for information on your favorite top water plugs for redfish and sea trout, and included is a summary of the 67 messages I received. Below are the top ten plugs in order. I also received numerous tips, which I plan to add on a future date. With top water fishing season just around the corner, I hope you find this information as useful as I did.
Thanks again,
Captain Tom van Horn
Lagoon Angler’s Top Ten Choices
1) Heddon Zara Spook, red and white
2) Strom Chug Bug, black and silver
3) L&S Lures, Top Dog Jr., red head, chartreuse body, #21, black back, silver sides, white belly
4) Excalibur Super Spook Jr., mullet color
5) L&S Lures 7M Series Mirrolure, #18, green back, silver sides, white belly
6) Rapala Skitterwalk, red head
7) L&S Lures Top Pup, #11, red head, white body
8) L&S Lures 94MR Top Dog, # 21, black back, silver sides, white belly
9) L&S Lures She Dog, #21, black back, silver sides, white belly
10) High Roller, Florida special
I. L&S Tackle (Mirrolure)
A. 7M Series (10 votes)
1. #18, Green back, silver sides, white belly (5)
2. #CH, chartreuse back & belly, gold sides (2)
3. #11, Red head, white back and belly (2)
4. #19, Green back, yellow belly, gold sides (1)
5. #21, Black back, silver sides, white belly (1)
B. Top Pup (8 votes)
1. #11, Red head, white back and belly (5)
2. #18, Green back, silver sides, white belly (3)
C. Top Dog Jr. (12 votes)
1. #11, Red head, chartreuse top & bottom (5)
2. #21, Black back, silver sides, white belly (5)
3. CH11, Chartreuse and gold (2)
D. 94MR Top Dog (8 votes)
1. #21, Black back, silver sides, white belly (4)
2. #18, Green back, silver sides, white belly (2)
3. #11, Red head, white back and belly (2)
4. BN, Bone (2)
E. 95MR She Dog (6 Votes)
1. #21, Black back, silver sides, white belly (4)
2. GLO, Glow in the dark (2)
F. 28 Series (4 votes)
1. #18 Green back, silver sides, white belly (3)
2. CH, chartreuse back & belly, gold sides (1)
G. 5M Series (3 votes)
1. #11, Red head, white back, white belly (3)
H. 44M Series Popper (1 vote)
1. Gold (1)
· Unable to locate in catalog
II. Bagley’s
A. Jumping Mullet (4 votes)
1. Natural mullet color (3)
2. Olive back with silver glitter (1)
B. Twitching Rattler (1 vote)
1. Pearl color (1)
III. Bomber
A. Long A (4 votes)
1. Silver flash, white back, red head (4)
IV. Heddon
A. Zara Spook (16 votes)
1. Red and white (6)
2. Bone (4)
3. Black shiner (3)
4. Chartreuse (3)
B. Zara Pup (4 votes)
1. Red and white (4)
V. Yo-Zuri
A. Crystal Minnow (2 votes)
1. Black and silver
B. Mag Popper (1)
C. Mag Darter Mullet (1)
VI. Rapala
A. Skitterwalk (9 votes)
1. Red head (4)
2. Black back, silver sides and bottom, red spot (2)
3. Silver mullet (1)
4. Black back, orange sides and belly(1)
5. Bone (1)
B, Skitterpop (1)
VII. High Roller
A. High Roller (6 vote)
1. Florida special (2)
2. Silver shad (2)
3. Red head (1)
4. Bone (1)
B. Rip Roller (4 votes)
1. Silver Shad (1)
2. Florida Special (2)
3. Red Head (1)
C. Poproller (1 vote)
1. Silver Shad (1)
VIII. Bill Lewis Lures (4 votes)
A. Slap Stick
1. Chrome Blue (3)
IX. Storm
A. Chug Bug (16 votes)
1. Black and silver (5)
2. Blue top, white and silver belly (4)
X. Rebel
A. Pop-R (2 votes)
1. Blue and red
XI. Excalibur
A. Super Spook (4 votes)
1. Green, white belly, orange throat (2)
B. Super Spook Jr. (10 votes)
1. Mullet color (4)
2. Brown, white belly, spot on tail (3)
XII. Trader Bay (1 vote)
A. Mangrove Sticks
XIII. Johnnie Rattler (4 votes)
A. Red and white (4)
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