The windy fishing conditions we had during March will taper off and stabilize this month which should make fishing easier for gator spotted sea trout, redfish, and breeder black drum in the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River systems. 

Unfortunately, I can't make the same prediction for the Banana River Lagoon.

For the past week or so, all the baitfish, puffers, catfish, redfish, sea trout, sheepshead, black drum and even stingrays that you will ever care to put a net around can be found in Northern Indian River and Banana River Lagoons floating on the surface or washed up along the banks.

Many anglers have blamed the excessive use of fertilizers by homeowners along the residential canals in Merritt Island, Satellite Beach, and Cocoa Beach as the reason for the fish kill, but preliminary data from sensors managed by the St. Johns River Water Management District indicates that the fish kill is linked to low dissolved oxygen levels that are the likely result of the brown algae die off that has discolored waters in our area for the past several months.

Regardless of the cause, it's time we start paying more attention to our resources.  Justin Vaden of Titusville  compiled this video of the Banana River Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge fish kill and said it's the worst he has seen in 25 years.
 

Spotted sea trout will often hit a well worked Chug Bug or SkitterWalk type lure out of the water and come back for a second, third, or fourth hit.

Unless they actually get stung by the hooks, hungry sea trout will often continue to strike at the lure all the way back to the boat.  I've hooked many a fish that smashed the bait right at the shore as I was pulling my lure from the water.

Many ambush predators will strike at your bait, miss, and quit following it.  When this situation occurs, making an immediate cast back into the same spot will often get a reflex strike from the same fish.  

When working top water baits, begin fishing with a very slow retrieve and gradually speed it up until you start getting strikes or misses.   Stopping the bait completely and waiting for the ripples to subside before resuming your retrieve, is also a good tactic to try when the fish get fussy.   Making long casts and using a short length of fluorocarbon leader will generally get you more strikes and larger trout, especially in clear water conditions.

D.O.A. CAL baits rigged weedless, larger paddle tail baits, suspending hard baits, and larger gold Johnson Sprite type spoons fished around the bait pods will also catch big sea trout during April.

In the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, the water levels in the marsh around Peacocks Pocket road are expected to rise even higher than they already are.   Look for tailing fish and tell tale signs of moving sea grasses in very shallow (less than a foot deep) water. 

The newly flooded areas are magnets for redfish, juvenile black drum and sea trout foraging for fiddler crab, shrimp, mud minnows, and a variety of other crustaceans that hide in the grass.
 

During March and April, huge female Black Drum begin their annual spawning ritual throughout the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River Lagoon systems.

This is the time of year when fishermen hug the deepwater pilings around the bridges to fish for really big Black Drum.  The fish below is in the 50 pound range.
 

If you target these fish, use heavy tackle with at least 50 pound mono or braid and a long length of 80 pound or heavier fluorocarbon leader on a sliding sinker rig with a 6/0 or larger offset circle hook.  The best bait is a fresh blue crab split in half, with the claws and top shell removed.  

Take along at least a half dozen live blue crab for a days worth of fishing and expect cutoffs.   You can expect to hook black drum in the 20 to 40 pound and over category, along with some bull redfish.  Unfortuntely, the fish often head for the cover of the pilings when hooked and break offs are common.  

Although juvenile black drum in the 4 to 12 pound category are excellent eating, the larger breeders are usually infected with worms and are not considered fit for human consumption.

Most schooling black drum will weigh in at around 10 pounds and can be caught on live or fresh dead shrimp, pieces of clam, or a piece of fresh blue crab.  I have caught them on white hair jigs dipped in some Pro-Cure Crab Oil and on white ZMann jerk baits on the flats.
 

 

With the cold fronts coming to an end, the bottom fishing out of Port Canaveral is just starting to heat up and April should be a stellar month. 

The cooler bottom water temperatures are keeping our grouper and snapper species very active this year providing for lots of bent rods and happy fishermen.

Throughout March, the grouper catch has increased dramatically.  The big spawning females are ravenous after releasing their eggs, and catching three or more fish per day should not be an uncommon feat this month.   When grouper season opens May 1st. we should be into some great fishing.
 

The Red snapper bite continues to be a mainstay, with 40 to 50 fish daily catches becoming almost a ritual.  These fish show no signs of being endangered.

Amberjack have also begun to settle in on the deeper wrecks and are nailing any live baits that drift through their area.   Croaker, spots, pinfish, blue runners, and big mullet are all good choices for hooking into one of these brutes.

There are also large schools of sandbar sharks prowling the same wrecks and reefs that harbor the amberjack, grouper, and snapper.  Unfortunately, the sharks often get to the gamefish before they reach the surface, leaving only the heads of the fish on the line for the fishermen to admire.

Bottom fishermen out of Port Canaveral can also expect to hook up with some of the migrating King Mackerel that move from spot to spot in large schools throughout the area.  These fish will usually take any live or cut bait presented to them.

                                       
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