As the weather heats up on Florida's Space Coast and the love bugs start their annual ritual, so does the fishing on all fronts.  

The near-shore, inshore lagoons and St John's River are all hot right now and will continue to get even better as the water warms.

If you don't care to fish artificial lures;  live shrimp, live mullet, cut mullet and cut ladyfish are the best baits for redfish in both the Mosquito and Indian River lagoons.   

Schools of redfish can be found all over the Mosquito Lagoon and in the northern Indian River Lagoon above Titusville, some real monsters are being caught on both live and topwater baits.

Early morning anglers fishing the flats who are throwing top-water Storm Chug Bugs and Rapala Skitterwalks are doing quite well catching the larger redfish and "gator" sea trout.

 

Target the moving schools of finger mullet.

Although the sea trout have been hitting topwater baits in both of the lagoons in the early morning hours, the topwater bite is pretty much over by 7:30 am.  

The late afternoon topwater bite has been sporadic lately, but as summer approaches it will continue to get better.

To avoid the heat when the weather really heats up, you might consider fishing at night.

If you can tolerate the mosquitoes, fishing in the total or partial darkness of night usually results in more quality fish and a really enjoyable fishing experience.

If you do decide to go night fishing, you can expect cool, quiet conditions with no boats on the flats to compete with.

The fish are less wary, and almost always hungry after being chased all day by impatient fishermen; plus you can enjoy the night sky full of constellations, shooting stars or maybe even a full moon.

For me, nothing beats the thrill of a big fish hitting a topwater lure and at night it's even more exciting.
 
The water levels in both of the lagoons and the St. Johns river are low right now, so be careful navigating if you decide to go on a night fishing trip.

Playalinda Beach and South

 

Surf casters who fish the nine mile stretch of beach between Indialantic and Patrick Air Force Base known by locals as "the rocks" will find exceptional fishing this month for sheepshead, small black drum, whiting, lookdowns, snook, black margate and even an occasional late season pompano or flounder.

The Black Margate that is sometimes mistakenly called "sea bream" is excellent on the table and is often the most prevalent catch.   They run between 2 and 4 pounds, but occasionally 8 to 10 pounders are caught around "the rocks".  The current world record black margate was caught in Fort Pierce Inlet and weighed in at 15 1/2 pounds.

During low tides in this area, the exposed coral heads and coquina worm rock that attract a variety of predatory gamefish also harbor a wealth of marine life such as shrimp, crabs, sand fleas and small baitfish.

Surfcasters who can lob a rig 70 yards or so past the outcrops will do best during the low tides.  However when you hook a fish, you need to reel like hell with your rod held high, in order to bring your catch over the rocks without breaking off your fish.

Savvy local surf fishermen using 10 to 12 foot surf rods with 1/4 oz to 1/2 oz barrel sinkers, a swivel, and a small hook tipped with sand fleas or peeled shrimp have learned to wade waist high and drop their baits into likely looking pockets in the coquina to catch a mess of fish.

This method works best when the tides are less then three feet but you've got to be sure footed.  It's also a good idea to pack your baits in water tight containers or you could be targeted by a hungry shark. 

I've seen this happen personally last year at Playalinda Beach, where two guys were wading in waist deep water with their bait in "fanny packs" around their waist.  Two black tips came awfully close to them before I finally got their attention and advised them about the sharks.