Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report November 11, 2015
Capt. Tom Van Horn
November 11, 2015
Indian River Lagoon - Saltwater Fishing Report
I've said it before and I'll say it again, we are only this earth for a short ride, and sometimes the good Lord and life in general remind us it's time to step back and start appreciating the simple things we often pay little attention to in our fast pace lives. Well these past few weeks on my short ride around this sun I experienced both pain and the many blessings God has for us. You may recall back a few weeks ago my wife Sandi and I were attending the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association conference in Eufaula Alabama when I thought I pulled a muscle in in my back. Well it turned out what I thought was a pulled muscle was several pulmonary embolisms and I ended up spending a total of nine days in the hospital.
You never know when this type of life event will hit you, and you never realize how many people you've touched in your life, that reach back and touch you. Although this illness was a setback in some ways, it was a blessing in so many others. With that said, I would like to thank all of my family and friends their thoughts and prayers and for being there and caring for me, I love you all.
Even though this situation is a hindrance for me, my road to recovery includes slowing down a bit and fishing more, so for me it's actually a win win because slowing down and fishing more are right up my ally. With that said, I've fished four out of the past five days and I'm scheduled for my annual week of fishing the Sebastian Inlet area starting on Friday and I'll let you know how that goes in next week's report.
Around the same time the cypress trees begin to change color, the crappie begin to bunch up in the three connecting lakes of the St. Johns River.
Fishing for me this past week started with speckled perch (crappie) fishing adventure on Lake Monroe with my good friends Wade and Charlie, and we fished out of Charlie's pontoon boat. Although the weather is still warm, the crappie are starting to form up and we managed to catch 24 keepers between the three of us slow trolling (1.7 mph) longlines with TTI Blakemore Roadrunners and vertical jigs tipped with live minnows.
On Saturday Wade and I returned to Lake Monroe in my skiff to fish in the Coastal Angler Orlando Magazines Crappie Derby Tournament and things did not go as well. First the trim on my boat failed and one of my trolling motor batteries was dead, so the slowest we could troll off of the main engine was 2.1 mph which was too fast. Our next option was to fish minnows under corks, but there was zero wind and the air temperature was 89 degrees, so we only managed to catch two crappie. We ended the day by returning to the house and working on my boat.
On Sunday I fished my first charter since my illness and surprisingly it went very well. Lucky for me my anglers were repeat clients and very good fisherman. I was once again honored to fish with John and his two adult sons Cory and Kyle as they celebrated their dad's birthday together on the water. I selected to fish the north Indian River Lagoon near Titusville and although the fishing was tough, we still manager four redfish and four sea trout. The water levels in the Lagoons have come down some, but it was still high enough for me to pole the very edge of the mangroves.
Yesterday I had the pleasure to fish with my good friend Captain John Kumiski out of Port Canaveral in his Mitzi Skiff and our goal was to catch some Spanish mackerel and bluefish for his smoker. Hurricane Kate had kicked up the seas to around four feet but a steady west wind increased the wave interval to about 10 seconds, so although the seas were bumpy they were fishable. Our day started out decent as we found a good number of finger mullet still around and catching bait was a piece of cake. We then headed out of the Port and finding fish became the challenge. After several hours of looking, we finally found a school of pogies (Atlantic menhaden) and there was both bluefish and some trophy redfish eager to take a bait as both John and I ended up with about four trophy redfish each and a mess of bluefish for his smoker.
Even though the seas were bumpy and we encountered a stout rain squall on the way in, I found this experience quite exhilarating and faced the squall head on enjoying the sting of the fat raindrops on my face and being alive to fish another day.
As always, if you have questions on need more information, please contact me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
407-416-1187
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