Mosquito Creek Outdoors Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report
Capt. Tom Van Horn
January 7, 2013
Indian River Lagoon - Saltwater Fishing Report
Mosquito Creek Outdoors Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report, January 6, 2013
By Captain Tom Van Horn
Upcomming Seminar and Events:
Tuesday January 8th - 7pm to 8:45pm - Orlando Kayak Fishing Club meeting located in the Outback at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, 170 South Washington Ave in Apopka Florida. Special rod crafting seminar instructed by Mike Kosiba.
Thursday January 10th - 6:30 to 8pm - Dick Sporting Goods Seminar Night located in the Seminole Town Center in Sanford, Florida. Free American shad and crappie seminars instructed by Captain Tom Van Horn and Coastal Angler Magazine's Charlie McCullough. Topics cover tactics and techniques for catching both crappie and shad. Door prizes, raffle and giveaways benefit the Orlando chapter of Anglers for Conservation.
Saturday January 12th- 10:00 to Noon, free Seminar, Discover Fly Fishing instructed by FFF certified casting instructor Captain Chris Myers. The event is located in the Outback at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, 170 South Washington Ave in Apopka Florida.
Thursday January 17th- 6:30 to 8:30pm, free Seminar, Crappie and American Shad on Fly instructed by FFF certified casting instructor Captain Chris Myers. The event is located in the Outback at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, 170 South Washington Ave in Apopka Florida. Come enjoy an evening learning the tackle and techniques essential for catching both crappie and American shad on fly.
Saturday January 19th- 10:00 to Noon, free Seminar, Successful American Shad and Crappie Tactics instructed by Captains Chris Myers and Tom Van Horn. The event is located in the Outback at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, 170 South Washington Ave in Apopka Florida. Come learn the tactics and strategies essential for catching both crappie and American shad from two of Central Florida's most experienced and successful professional captains.
Thursday January 24th, 6:30 - 8:30 pm, free Seminar, Rigging Workshop on Catching Bass during the Winter Months, instructed by Coastal Angler Magazine's Phil Wolf. The event is located in the Outback at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, 170 South Washington Ave in Apopka Florida. Come enjoy an evening learning the rigging techniques essential for catching spawning largemouth bass during the winter months.
This Week's Fishing Report
Besides the snotty and unpredictable weather we've experienced this past week, 2013 has started off with some great fishing both on the Lagoon and on the St. Johns River.
I know many of my loyal blog followers and clients have been patiently waiting to hear the words, "The American Shad and Specks Have Arrived" in the headwaters of the St Johns River south of Lake Harney. On the St Johns River from Mullet lake Park south (upstream) to Lake Harney and Puzzle Lake as predicted, dropping water levels are draining the flooded upland pastures bring hordes of ditch minnows and grass shrimp into the main river channel. This influx of bait has started to draw predator species out of the big lakes into the river to gorge themselves on easy prey, and that's what we experienced this past week. We still have about a foot of water to go before it really gets good, so things will only get better as the shad run progresses.
This past week, we caught speckled perch, largemouth bass, wipers (sunshine bass), catfish, brim and both hickory and American shad all in the same spots. The bait these fish are feeding on is extremely small, so matching the hatch size will improve you catch and most of the fish are feeding on top, so fishing light and shallow was providing the best results. Another consideration is to look for locations where the current is forcing bait away from the protected shore line and fish feeding on the surface. Most of our fish caught this week were on 5 weight fly tackle using a floating line with a 6 pound tippet and minnow imitation fly. We also did very well using spin tackle and a white TTI Blakemore Roadrunners with willow blades.
On the lagoons, the water levels have fallen fast, so please be very mindful of these conditions when operating your boat for safety's sake and to prevent damaging the bottom and sea grass beds. The water has cleaned up and the cool temperatures have bunched up the redfish and black drum schools. As usual, the clean water and shallow conditions equals very spooky fish, so a very stealthy approach is the only way you will get within casting range of these fish. You will also improve your odds if you focus on casting to stragglers on the outside perimeters of the schools to prevent the entire school from pushing up and running away. Also, the larger sea trout are still holding in the shallow water in the potholes, and a well presented DOA Shrimp or unweighted CAL Shad Tall has been producing some very respectable over slot fish.
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
[email protected]
407-416-1187 on the water
For all of your outdoor needs, visit Mosquito Creek Outdoors at www.mosquitocreek.com, it's where your adventure begin.
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