 |
Indian River Lagoon
Capt. Tom Van Horn
August 17, 2005
Indian River Lagoon - Saltwater Fishing Report
Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report
Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report, August 15, 2005
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
For the past week, the early morning sunrise has reflected off of the lagoon’s halcyon surface like a mirrored piece of glass, as the summertime doldrums maintain their grip on the east coast of Florida. These slick calm conditions are perfect for sight fishing and for the early morning top-water plug bite, but as the sun clears the horizon and the heat quickly intensifies, the magnificent view quickly becomes distorted by the sting of sunscreen and sweat ablaze in your eyes.
On the lagoon, the smaller top-water plugs retrieved using a light presentation have produced consistent strikes from sea trout and ladyfish in deeper water around bait pods (2 to 3 feet) and slot size redfish in the skinny flats (1 foot). Chug Bugs (blue/silver), Skitter Walks (redfish and sea trout colors), Super Spook Jr. and Top Dog Jr. (bone and red/white colors) have all produced. As the sun grows higher in the sky and the top-water bite slows, darker color soft plastic baits like the Rip/Tide Flats Chub and Exude RT Slug (golden brim) have fashioned the best results. Additionally, medium size tarpon (60 to 80 pounds) have started to show up in the deeper areas of the North IRL like the dredge holes along the NASA Causeway, and channel leading into the Titusville Municipal Marina. With the extreme heat, most of the action has diminished by noon, so arrive early, fish early, and leave early.
This past week, four different trips into the north IRL had inconsistent results ranging for stinking like a skunk to outstanding, with the latter trips showing the most improved.
On Sunday, I had the pleasure to fish a three boat charter with Captains Jim Ross and Kevin Mulligan in the north IRL. The trip was organized and financed by David Lawrence from Akzo Nobel Coating Inc. as a reward to some of his clients, and all three boats had respectable catches of redfish and sea trout. Aboard the Three Quarter Time, my anglers were David and Bob Collins, President of Wheel Coach Ambulance in Orlando. We departed Parish Park at 6am, and we headed north into the IRL. We began throwing top-water plugs in the area of the bomb target, and Bob scored a respectable sea trout on his first cast. Moving to the north, we soon located a large school on mullet in deeper water, and David hooked up a nice ladyfish weighing 4 pounds on the Boga.
The top-water action continued as I poled us in close to the shoreline. Soon tails started popping up, and we ended the day with seven redfish up to 26 inches, 9 sea trout, and a couple fat ladyfish. All of the redfish were taken on the dark color soft plastics in less than one foot of water.
In closing, next weekend Titusville host the FLW Redfish Tournament with over 150 boats, so if you plan on fishing the lagoon, do it during the week, and plan on fishing near-shore out of Ponce Inlet or the Port next weekend.
As always, if you need information or have any questions, please contact me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
www.irl-fishing.com
407-366-8085 office
407-416-1187 on the water
866-790-8081 toll free
More Fishing Reports:
|
|
|
|
