When the seasonal "running of the bull redfish" starts in late September to early October, fish up to 50 inches in length and up to 40 pounds are not an uncommon catch.

Before hurricane Isaac pushed it's way through the keys, we had lots of Tarpon actively feeding during the early morning hours in the Indian River and various areas of the Mosquito Lagoon .

Tarpon in the 50 pound plus category are still patrolling the deep channels of the ICW actively feeding at daybreak and as long as the water stays fairly calm, throughout the morning hours.

Fishermen are catching them by casting DOA Terror Eyez or Baitbusters to them as they roll on the surface, or by free lining live finger mullet to them.

Hurricane Isaac dumped a lot of water on both lagoons, which is helping to flush out the "brown tide" (algae bloom) that has been plaguing both the Mosquito Lagoon and the upper Indian River for the past month.  

The rain we received from Isaac has also raised the water levels in both lagoons which has opened up new feeding grounds to fish that were previously not reachable.

Redfish will be tailing in the newly created shallow water flats of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge marsh areas and can be caught using soft plastics baits with soft "stealth" presentations.

Fishing around baitfish activity in the shallows is the key to success for redfish and big sea trout.  

 

For me, absolutely nothing beats fishing a Chug Bug or Skitterwalk top water bait around a pod of finger mullet and watching the bait get blasted out of the water by a big sea trout or red.

Along with the reds and sea trout, you will also find yourself catching ladyfish, jacks and an occasional catfish throughout the upcoming month.

The water around Titusville right now is fairly clear.

The waters in Cocoa and Port St. John are very clear, and the waters up around Edgewater and New Smyrna Beach are beginning to clear up as well.

As the water becomes clear, cruising reds become easier to find but they also get spooky.  The secret to catching them is to be quiet and move very slow.

Sight casting for reds and sea trout in the Mosquito Lagoon has been pretty good in extremely shallow water this past month.  

 

As the water becomes clearer during the fall months, reds tailing in the grass and sea trout around the sand pockets will be much easier to spot.

Employ stealth fishing tactics and you can catch them on a fly rod using crab imitations or on light spinning tackle using live or Gulp shrimp.

Rising water temperatures during the middle of the day cause fish to shut down in the shallows and move into cooler water.

Look for slot size redfish tailing the shallows very early in the morning and then moving into the deeper pot holes as the water warms up later on towards noon.

These fish can be caught on a variety of baits such as Storm's Rattlin' Chug Bug - 3.25" - Gizzard Shad, auqadream or 3/4 oz. Gold Johnson spoons and soft plastic jerk baits like Offshore Anglers XPS Jerk Shad Softbaits - 6'' - 10 pack in Electric Chicken. 

As long as the hurricanes and summer squalls stay away, runs to the other side of the Gulf Stream are not out of the question if you're after tuna however, hurricane Isaac is a reminder to be vigilant.

 

Offshore Port Canaveral the mangrove and red snapper have been eating well.

 

Red Snapper are a common catch and fish from 22" to 33" long are the norm when the bite is on.

 

 

The word is that we are going to get two consecutive weekends where the Red snapper are legal to harvest and this should be announced soon.

 

Cobia and kingfish are still being found on the wrecks and reefs.