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Indian River Lagoon
Capt. Tom Van Horn
June 19, 2006
Indian River Lagoon - Saltwater Fishing Report
Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report
Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report, June 19, 2006
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charter
First, let me apologize for this late and lengthy report. I planned on publishing it on Friday, but due to a busy schedule, my Friday report became a Monday feature.
Prior to the arrival of Alberto, the near-shore bite was beginning to show some real promise with some nice bait pods in close to the beach and some quality kingfish, large jack carvalle, and tarpon taken along the Port Canaveral buoy line and just off of the beach. Then, Alberto moves in and like the waning moon, the bait along with the predator fish fades. Cooler currents are beginning to move in, and the concentrations of fish have been more prevalent over hard bottom and other structure in 70 to 90 feet of water. Also, the cooler water has provided us with a brief mid summer cobia run, pushing the fish inshore in search of warmer waters. As conditions settle and the near-shore waters clear up, the bite along the beaches should improve once again.
For me, Alberto brought some much needed time off as I postponed several charters until further into the month, and hopefully some better fishing conditions. Instead of fishing, I spent most of the week catching up on my writing assignments, boat and tackle maintenance, and honey-dos.
I did manage to get out Friday for an inshore venture into the No-Motor-Zone, and although the bite was slow, it was consistent. I was joined once again by my good friend Larry Carter and his grandson Taylor, and the Banana River Lagoon was as pretty as it gets. At first light, the surface of the lagoon was a slick as a baby’s backside, and it remained that way for at least four hours, before a stiff east wind kicked up. Our tactics consisted of working small surface plugs, and the Chug Bug, (black/silver) took top hook. Between the three of us, we caught seven sea trout over 20 inches, two lower slot redfish, and two snook, all on top water. We also miss a good number of quality fish, which always seems to be the case.
On Father’s Day, I was blesses to fish in a 10,000 gallon glass pond at the Bass Pro Shop in Orlando, although the fish were thick, the bite was still off. The highlight of the day was when I got to hand feed the fish in the tank, and it was nice making new friends and visiting with everyone again.
Today, I was honored to fish with Rick and Adam Hayes on the Banana River Lagoon. Again, we started out catching a good number of nice sea trout on Storm Chug Bugs, (blue/chrome this time), during the low light hours. When the trout bite slowed, we managed to locate a sizable school of redfish, and Adam accomplished his goal of catching a trophy redfish.
While on the water this week, several observations were made. First, the water levels have dropped at least 4 inches since last week, making access into some backwater areas challenging. Also, the widgeon grass is extremely thick and growing to the surface in two to three feet of water. Additionally, unlike last year, very few blue crabs have been seen up on the shallow water flats. Low water levels affect all of these conditions and the higher salinity brought on by the lack of rain. Even with the two and one half inches of rain Alberto brought to Central Florida, little relief from our drought condition has been noticed.
Lastly, NASA has a Delta II and a Space Shuttle Launch scheduled in the next few weeks, so be prepared for some area closing. The Delta II is scheduled for tomorrow, June 20th, and Discovery’s launch is Saturday, July 1st. Both of these launches will result in limited closures aroung the Space Center, just a heads up.
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 cell
866-790-8081 toll free
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