Your June 2020** Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River Fishing Report
Published: Mon, 06/01/20
| Newsletter Issue # 131 | June 1, 2020 |
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Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River Fishing |
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The Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River
We have had an influx of tarpon in the river in our area as well as in the Mosquito Lagoon. In the Indian River, you can find them along the power lines in Palm Bay, along the flats in Vero, the Sebastian River, and even up around the power plant in Port St.John. Smaller tarpon in the 2 to 50 pound class have been feeding on the glass minnow pods around any of the outflows and residential canals in the Melbourne and Cocoa area. A lot of bigger tarpon in the 30 to 80 pound category can be found feeding on the bait pods that are in the main ICW channel. Around Titusville, they have been prowling the deep water flats across from the Scottsmoor boat ramp down past the railroad bridge in the ICW.  If you're a fly fishermen you can definitely have a lot of fun with these fish right now with an 8 wt or 9 wt fly rod. The fly fishermen that are reporting tarpon catches have been tossing sparsely tied Deceivers, Clousers, or Bunnytail flies in black, tan, and purple. All these patterns have been working well on these fish. Use small spoons, and soft plastic Shad Assassins for the smaller tarpon, and a large porgy, large mullet, or ladyfish under a float for the larger, 50 to 100 pound fish. Black Drum The black drum bite in the Mosquito Lagoon and northern Indian River is still good in most areas. The schools are on the flats early in the morning and move off into the deeper adjacent waters as the waters warm up. A lot of anglers have been catching some nice black drum from the two fishing piers under the A. Max Brewer bridge in Titusville. Social distancing is being recommended and most anglers seem to be adhering to the recommendations. Most of the fish are in the slot and are being caught on live shrimp, dead shrimp, cut blue crabs, and sand fleas. A few larger drum are being caught in deeper water along the bridge pilings and the dropoffs in the ICW. Playalinda Beach Although Playalinda Beach is still closed because of the Covid virus and Space X launch yesterday; "bull" whiting, black drum, Margate, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, and a variety of shark will be some of the species targeted by surf fishermen this month along our other beaches.  Whiting and pompano are staples to surf fishermen in our area. They are plentiful, easy to catch, and great table fare.You can catch a mess of whiting along any of our beaches with a surf rod, a 2 or 3 hook "pompano" dropper rig, some fresh shrimp, and enough lead to hold bottom. When the seas are calm, a lot of local surf fishermen use 7 or 7 1/2 foot river rods with sliding sinker rigs and bait, or a small yellow or white jig tipped with a small piece of shrimp or Fishbites to fish the closer troughs. Sand fleas, Fishbites, small strips of clam, and small pieces of shrimp are all good baits for whiting or pompano in the surf. Whiting travel up and down the beach in small schools feeding on small crustaceans that they find in the troughs. They are often in the closest troughs from the beach where only a short cast is required to catch them. The deep water troughs between the sandbars farther out are where the biggest whiting and pompano schools are usually holding and where most surf fishermen try to target their casting. Breaks or cuts in a sandbar are usually hot spots that fish use to swim between the troughs. If you want to be successful at surf fishing, don't fish blind. Before you set your sand spikes on the beach, take some time and read the beach. Watch how the waves are breaking and look for rip currents, wash outs, sloughs that form just past the shore breaks, and at the sand in the surf for areas where small shells are piling up. All these are areas where sand fleas, small clams, and crabs are being pulled out into the deeper troughs. It is also where the fish are probably holding. Big whiting, black drum, and pompano will often stage just outside of the rips to snatch crustaceans as they are pulled into the troughs. Don't automatically fish the same spot that you caught fish the previous day. The waves are constantly changing the structure of the beach. The fish are seldom in the same exact spot that you caught them the previous day. When you locate a likely looking area, the best way to find where the fish are feeding is to stake out several rods and cast varying distances from the beach. Keep the baits in the feeding zone and when you start catching fish, note the distance and set all your baits in that general area. The best times to fish for whiting is during a moving tide. Usually an incoming tide is more productive, especially in the early morning. If you enjoy shark fishing, June is a good month to fish for them. Almost any species can be caught in the surf in our area but Bonnet Heads, Blacktips, Nurse Shark, and Bull shark are the most common. Baits of choice for shark fishermen are large chunks of Bonita, stingray, mackerel, ladyfish, or mullet; but any bloody or oily fleshed fish can be used. When fishing for shark from shore in Florida waters, you must complete the Shark-Smart Fishing educational course at MyFWC.com/SharkCourse and obtain a free Shore-based Shark Fishing permit. Both are now required when fishing from shore. Learn more HERE. Most of the shark caught from the beachEes in our area are less than 100 pounds, but every year much larger fish are landed along our coast. Port Canaveral Offshore and Nearshore Offshore the black fin tuna along the 21 to 27 fathom ridge are holding in about 135 to 220 feet of water. Blackfin Tuna like to strike small jet head type trolling feathers pulled close to the surface. Trolling a jet head at 6 to 8 knots is typically just right for blackfin tuna. Its a bit faster than what you would for ballyhoo but just right for tuna. Right now, most of our blackfin are running anywhere from 15 to 22 pounds.  The King Mackerel are beginning to come closer to the beach right now following the baitfish along the shorelines, especially the stretch from Vero Beach up to Melbourne Beach. The best time to fish for kingfish right now is early in the mornings and later in the afternoons when you can see them rocketing up through the baitfish pods. If the tropical storms we had this past week muddied up the waters too much close to shore, look for them over the nearest reefs in 50 to 65 feet of water in the southern zone, and the 70 to 80 foot reefs in our area. When the waters clear up they will be coming back closer to the beach. The average kingfish being caught right now is in the 8 to 15 pound range, but quite a few larger fish 30 pounds and larger are also being caught out of the Port. The larger fish are mainly going to be singles, not schooled up. Although the Dolphin in our area have been hit or miss, when you can find a school the bite has been really good. The schools can be found all the way down to 120 feet down South in the Vero and Sebastian area, and down to 280 feet out of Canaveral and Ponce Inlet on the West side of the Gulf Stream throughout our area. Blue and white, pink and white, and purple and black lures have all been working well for these fish. The captains getting out to the East side of the Gulf Stream trolling ballyhoo and large lures have been finding Dolphin at the 60 to 80 mile mark around floating debris, or along a current, an edge or an eddy. The boats trolling skirted ballyhoo near the rips and color changes on the Western edge of the Gulf Stream have been catching wahoo and blackfin tuna along with the dolphin. Our Dolphin are running around 8 to 12 pounds, and along the East side, a little larger with some bulls in the mix. Farther offshore on the reefs and structure in 160 to 260 feet of water, the grouper bite has been really good for anglers using fresh cut croakers, grunts, or bluefish. We've had a lot of current offshore for the past few weeks but if you go out deeper to the 27 fathom ridge, the cones, or the steeples and the current is below about 2.5 knots, you can drop down a live bluefish, pogy, croaker, or any large live bait and hookup with one of the big Gag Groupers that have been biting so well since the season opened up. A lot of anglers have also been using 16 to 24 oz deep jigs and vertical jigs to get down to the fish with a good deal of success. A lot of scamp and red grouper are also being caught by deep jigging. The average Gag grouper has been running around 15 to 20 pounds, with some big 30 pounders in the mix. Anglers running farther offshore to deep drop the 600 foot plus depths are catching good numbers of tile fish, yellow edge, and snowy groupers. Nearer to shore, the flounder bite near the entrance to Port Canaveral has started to pick up. Mud minnows, fingerling mullet, and small pilchards seemed to be the baits of choice for most anglers using sliding sinker rigs and short fluorocarbon leaders to keep the baits on the bottom. Fishing a live shrimp or a mud minnow on a jig head is also a good method for catching good numbers of f Most of the flounder caught around and inside Port Canaveral are in the 2 to 3 pound category, but as the season progresses, fish in the 4 to 6 pound category become more common. Tight Lines and bent rods! |
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