Your August 2010 Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River Fishing Report
Published: Sun, 08/01/10
| Newsletter Issue #12 Fishing Forecast |
August 1, 2010 | |||||||
Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River Fishing | ||||||||
nshore Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River Lagoon Fishing
has been explosive during the full moon and is expected to continue throughout the month of August. Fish the potholes in all the flats early in the morning and later on in the evening towards dusk for the best bite.
Also look for schools of baitfish on the surface getting pounded by trout.
The North Indian River near Scottsmoor has been especially productive for larger sized sea trout and a few nice gator trout, for those of us who like to "walk the dog" using small topwater baits. Any topwater lure that resembles a struggling finger mullet will get you plenty of action on the grass flats early in the morning and later on towards sunset.
Although I'm partial to the small size Zara Spook Jr., Chug Bug, and Rapala Skitter Walks, I recently started using the new Donka Donk with some success in the smaller size, when my bum shoulder allows me to toss them.
August is the month when you can see thousands of Bull Redfish in 50 to over 100 fish shcools in water just 2 to 3 feet deep.
The lower water conditions this time of year make the drop offs just off the shallow flats the best bet for sight fishermen.
Bank and bait fishermen can catch them with blue crabs, pigfish, cut ladyfish, pinfish, or artificials.
give you a rush with these bull reds. A word of caution. When sightfishing for these bull redfish, be quiet and patient. They spook easily in shallow water.
A couple of locals at the Mims boat launch today told me they caught several bull redfish in excess of 40 inches around that area using live pigfish for bait. They said they had been nailing trout early in the morning before dawn and that the bite quit shortly there after.
Generally, during the dog days of August, the fishing stops at about 9:00 am.
Haulover Canal will be a hotspot for over sized bull reds this coming month. The fish use the canal as a type of marine Interstate Highway between the Mosquito Lagoon and the north Indian River. During the hot weather, the fish congregate in the mouth of the canal and can be caught using blue crabs, whole ladyfish, pigfish, grunt, live pinfish or mullet and by jigging gold spoons off the bottom. Haulover Canal is always good fishing, but August can be a prime month. Farther south, the Bananna River sea trout bite on the west side of the thousand islands around Coco Beach, has been phenomenal and will probably continue through August.  Right now the guides I know are reporting 60 to over 100 trout per trip. Skitter walks, #8 size XRaps, and DOA shrimp under a bobber or Cajun Thunder rigs are producing early and late. Fly fishermen are also scarfing up on the trout using pink or chartreuse Clouser Minnows. Around Port Canaveral, the mangrove snapper will continue to aggressively feed on live shrimp around the jetties. Most of the fish will be in the 15" range and the best bite as long as the current calm conditions prevail, will be during the outgoing tides. Snook are also being caught near the jetties and around structure, especially at night during a full moon, using live select shrimp. Free line the shrimp on a circle hook using a medium action spinning combo with 20# test braid and 15# fluorocarbon leader. If you enjoy a good fight, large jack crevalle in the 7 to 9 lb range have been reported viciously attacking top water lures in and around the port. These guys are a blast and put up a great fight on light tackle. Summer flounder are also being caught along the sandy bottoms of Port Canaveral during the past week and the bite should continue well into August. Many of these flounder have been caught while drifting on an outgoing tide near the turning basins and channel drop offs using bright colored jerk baits on a 1/4 oz. jig head. The average weight of these flounder is around 4 lbs. _________________________
Surf Fishing & Near Shore Kayakers and canoers are launching their small craft in the surf looking for tarpon, kings, big jacks and sharks. Serious small boat anglers are rigging up with heavy gear and a supply of 8 to 10 inch silver mullet hoping to get a wild ride behind any of these near shore predators.
Playalinda Beach surf fishermen have the same smorgasbord of predators available to them along with whiting, an occasional pompano and a wandering bluefish or late spanish mackeral. During the week, the beaches are relatively deserted; especially Playalinda Beach as you can see by the photos. The larger whiting are still hitting best on small pieces of peeled shrimp.
 Short casts between the breakers in the troughs with light line and just enough lead to keep the bait on bottom will produce if long casts past the breakers don't get you any action.
Eddy Creek fishermen are catching trout, whiting, large bull redfish around Cucumber Island and grouper in the area near the boat launch.
Offshore Fishing When the sun is boiling during August, savvy east Central Florida wahoo anglers will be heading for the cones and Steeples. This 180 to 400 feet deep coral ridge parallels the 27 fathom ridge between Fort Pierce and Daytona Beach and is where the wahoo gather during the summer months. Some of the biggest fish of the year will be caught in and around the East Coast Inlets during this month.
 Yellowfin tuna throughout the month of August out of Port Canaveral will be caught on the east side of the Gulfstream, starting about 65 to 70 miles out, with the largest concentrations being found 78 to 90 miles offshore. Look for birds circling the bait pods and troll a 9" to 12" purple or black plug, 10 to 12 knots around the schools. Cedar plugs will also produce fish in the 40 to 90 pound range.
King mackeral in the 12 to 15 lb. range out of Port Canaveral, are being caught in 60 to 90 feet of water. Some larger 40 lb. plus fish are moving around closer to shore, chasing concentrations of bait pods and will continue throughout the month. _________________________
Spiny Lobster  the ramps from Ft. Pierce, Sebastian and Canaveral should all be jammed for the re opening of the season. The two day sport diving season already kicked off July 28-29 with some real giants being taken. You can boat your way into 30 feet or less water inshore at Sebastian and dive the reefs that parallel the beach there, or you can even beach dive from several spots around Wabasso Beach and Vero Beach to try your luck. Night diving is allowed in this area and can be very fruitful. Experienced divers go offshore into 80 to 90 feet of water where the real giants lurk. 8, 10, 12, and even super bugs of 14+ pounds are caught here. Even though the east coast doesn't hold as many lobsters as it once did years ago; it beats the hell out of driving down to the Keys and fighting the crowd for barely legal sized "bugs". I'm looking forward to the opening of snook season in November, so until next time; Tight Lines To You All!
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In the Indian River north of Titusville, redfish measuring well over 30 inches have been caught and released during the early midmorning hours in shallow depths of less than three feet.| Link One | Link Two | Link Three | Link Four | Link Five | Unsubscribe to this newsletter |