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Indian River Lagoon
Capt. Tom Van Horn
October 18, 2002
Indian River Lagoon - Saltwater Fishing Report
Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report, October 18, 2002
Cooler breezes have arrived. It’s days like today, that make Florida such wonderful place to live, works, and fish. With the emphasis on the fishing, for those of you who spend most of your time working. If you been waiting all summer for the perfect opportunity to lay down the tools and pick up a rod, don’t hesitate. It’s time to take advantage of some of the best fishing conditions and species diversities Florida has to offer.
The fall bait migration is in full swing, with heavy concentration of silver and black mullet bunching up in the inlets. Last Saturday I fished with my life long friend, E. Roland Hill III, (Skip) from South Georgia. We started fishing in Port Canaveral before dawn along the north jetty. The bait was pushed up into the pocket were the jetty meets the beach so thick, the pelicans didn’t even have to get their feet wet to engorge themselves. Schools of jack crevalle, large ladyfish, and bluefish were working the bait so hard that the mullet were literally jumping onto the beach to escape the carnage. It’s been a good 25 years since I’ve had the opportunity to fish with Skip, and we ended the day catching eight different species.
At Sebastian, Port Canaveral, and Ponce inlets, fish the ends of North jetties. The most productive times are during the tide changes, with slack to incoming tide producing the majority of the fish. The technique I prefer is to drift, bouncing live baits, such as, pigfish, pinfish, or finger mullet on the bottom. This technique is productive only if other boats in the area cooperate by following suit, which is rarely the case. Each boat takes its turn drifting through the productive area, and at the end of the drift, you move back up and start the drift over. If you prefer to anchor up, anchor to the sides of the jetty out of the way of the drifting boats. These techniques allow more anglers to share the productive area allowing everyone to join in on the fun. This past week, large numbers of oversized reds and snook have been takes in these areas. Also, when fishing these areas, it is important to stay alert and be cognizant of the sea conditions and other anglers. These inlets can be dangerous at times and very congested on weekends.
On a side note, anyone who may be interested in fishing the Mercury Redbone @ Large Celebrity Fishing Tournament, in new Smyrna Beach Florida, May 1-3, 2003, please contact me. This tournament provides you a great time fishing, but mostly raises research money needed to change the meaning of “CF” from Cystic Fibrosis to Cure Found!
As always, if you have any questions or need information, please contact me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
www.irl-fishing.com
[email protected]
407-366-8085
866-790-8081 toll free
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