Your February 2021🐟 Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River Fishing Forecast
Published: Mon, 02/01/21
Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River Fishing |
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Newsletter Issue # 137 Fishing Forecast February 1, 2021  The Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River The water levels in the lagoons have dropped and should continue to drop to produce clearer and shallower conditions on the inshore flats. This should make sight fishing in the Mosquito Lagoon the best we will see all year. The Silver Mullet and other baitfish have migrated out of the area for the winter months, so anglers should switch to smaller shrimp or crab type baits and slower presentations. Cooler weather and clearer waters in the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River has resulted in the redfish and black drum to form up into smaller and medium sized schools.  Redfish mixed in with the schools of black drum in the cleaner areas have been providing fly fishermen with decent catches for the past month and should continue to do so as the water continues to clear up in the lagoon system. Right now, schools of bull reds are forming up in the upper Indian River and the deep water flats in the Scotsmoor area across from the boat landing. Fishing is better just before the cold fronts roll in and when the winter winds have fair weather anglers taking a respite from fishing, it can be the best time to target trout, redfish, and snook seeking protection from the cold in the deep water creeks and residential canals of the lagoon system. The abnormally warm weather we had last week moved the trout and redfish up a little bit into the shallows along the Western shorelines of the northern Mosquito Lagoon from George's Bar, northward. Live shrimp and soft Creme Spoiler Shad type artificial were the most productive baits. The Banana and Halifix rivers often become holding zones for mullet and in turn become good areas for catching larger sea trout and redfish. The pre dawn to sun up and late evening until dark periods are peak times for big sea trout that tend to hold around docks, moored boats, and deep vegetated banks. The backwaters of the Tomoka River north of us around Daytona, and the Sebastian River at the Brevard/Indian River County line south of us are great areas to target sea trout, redfish, and the occasional wintertime snook or tarpon. The deep holes in these areas become sanctuaries for snook during extreme cold snaps when the water temperatures drop into the 50s or lower. The fish are lethargic but slow presentations will get them to bite. The abnormal warm weather we had last week moved the trout and redfish up a little bit into the shallows along the Western shorelines of the northern Mosquito Lagoon from about George's Bar, north.  In the southern part of the Mosquito Lagoon, singles and small pods of slot size black drum have been schooling on the shallow flats and around the shoreline of Bio Lab road during the morning hours and late afternoon. Most anglers have been fishing live or dead shrimp, but cut blue
crab, sand fleas, and fiddler crabs also work well.Larger schools of black drum with redfish mixed in have been holding around the spoil islands, along the drop offs, and the edges of the channels. Sections of blue crab, live shrimp, and soft plastic baits tipped with Fishbites are all productive baits. In the Northern Indian River, the Carbide Ditch from Scottsmoor to Titusville usually holds good numbers of spotted sea trout during the winter months. In the ditch, toss a 4 inch Saltwater Assassin or a live shrimp. As the water warms up and the trout move onto the flats, use fresh cut baits or live shrimp. The water in the Indian River is low and the fish have been laying up in the flats around the potholes in only a foot of water, so slow presentations with little or no weight is necessary. For the past several years, the black drum populations have expanded on our lagoon system. Target black drum on sunny sandbars during colder weather and in the deeper water channels around structure. The bite on the Indian River has been pretty good for the past couple of weeks. Most bank fishermen and kayak anglers have been using live shrimp or fresh dead shrimp for bait; but cut crab, clam, and even Saltwater Assassin 4″ paddle tails with a small piece of fishbites will workl. If you enjoy hiking, try fishing Peacocks Pocket Road during the winter months. Warmer days over the dark bottoms make the fish less lethargic and some nice sea trout and reds can be had along the entrances to the shallow ponds, flowing culverts, and deeper areas along the road. Take along extra lures and a couple of rods. The brush along the bank make fishing a challenge, but some big fish are in this area with little to no fishing pressure. Creme Spoiler Shad type plastic baits, small gold Johnson Sprite type spoons, a Chug Bug or two and a bottle of Pro-Cure should be enough to have a fun day. February 1st kicks off the opening of snook season for anglers on the Space Coast. The slot is 28" to 32" total length with a 1 fish per day limit. Playalinda and Area Beaches All this month Playalinda Beach surf fishermen will be pulling their fishing gear laden carts along our beaches in search of Pompano, whiting, bluefish, and Spanish mackerel. The surf has been producing plenty of action along Space Coast beaches this past week. At the beginning of the week we had pristine conditions with clear water and calm seas, but the bite was slow for anglers targeting pompano, whiting, and black drum. The guys targeting bluefish, mackerel, small jack crevalle, and small bonnet head sharks however were kept busy between bites from the more desired species. Fresh cut mullet, croaker, or whiting were baits of choice. As the week progressed, the bite picked up for the anglers targeting pompano and whiting.
Pompano prefer feeding in the deep outer troughs just inshore of a sandbar. Playalinda Beach east of Titusville, Apollo Beach south of New Smyrna Beach, and several other beach accesses between Melbourne Beach and Wabasso Beach have these conditions and are prime areas to fish for pompano. The beaches north around New Smyrna, and the beaches at Daytona and Cocoa also hold pompano in isolated areas around deeper holes, but you have to search to find them. Generally, an early morning incoming or full high tide is considered to be the best time to fish the surf zone, but any moving tide can be productive, especially just before and after a cold front rolls through. Live Sand fleas are considered by the majority of surf fishermen to be the best all around bait for pompano, but small pieces of shrimp, clam, and Fishbites will also catch fish. Fishbites are tough, stay on the hook for extended periods, and will catch almost as many fish as live baits. A rough, heavy surf is always difficult to fish, especially during cold winter days. The fish are still out there if you can get past the breakers and hold bottom, but many anglers choose to stay at home. Often, these conditions are when some nice size pompano and whiting are caught past the breakers.  Long heavy rods with Sputnik type 4 oz. to 5 oz. sinkers to hold bottom during a rough surf will get you past the breakers to the farthermost troughs especially if you are spooled with a thin
diameter braided line. Change out
kahle style hooks with small circle
hooks for better hookups.Live sand fleas are often tough to locate on the beach during February, but some of the local bait shops in the Titusville area usually keep them in stock. A few guys blanch their sand fleas to keep them available when live fleas are hard to find. Fortunately, the Pompano, whiting, and black drum find clams, small pieces of shrimp, and brightly colored Fishbites just as tasty. A few of our local surf fishermen use salted clam strips and shrimp when sand fleas are tough to get. Salted baits are tough and stay on the hook longer than live baits. Surf fishermen at Playalinda this past week just before the cold front hit, were catching some nice whiting, pompano and bluefish using live sand fleas on two and three dropper surf rigs. I didn't get any reports after the cool weather moved into our area. During February when the air temperatures drop and the weather is marginal, you may often find yourself alone on a long stretch of beach all to yourself!
Port Canaveral Offshore and Nearshore On fishable days when the winds are not coming straight out of the east, offshore fishing out of Port Canaveral this month is expected to be is as good as it gets in our area. For the better part of the last couple of weeks out of Port Canaveral, there was very little to no wind, calm clean ocean conditions, and bait fish were in the area; perfect fishing conditions. Daily limits of Kingfish and some Cobia were made on Pelican, 8A, and other 70 to 150 foot reefs by anglers slow trolling live and frozen baits on standard stinger rigs. The fish appeared to be moving south, so the 750 line was a good starting area. High speed trollers running 5 to 10 knots with several lines out were reportedly landing good numbers of Wahoo in the same general areas. Although there are specific tactics for targeting each species, fishing small Islander lures with a ballyhoo generally works on most species. The guys that target Wahoo, just ramp up the trolling speed. The most productive colors to drag for Wahoo were black and blue, purple and black, and red and black. Once the anglers limited out on the troll, a lot of guys moved on to the bottom bite. All you could do with live bunker and frozen sardines is catch a lot of red snapper and plenty of amberjacks. Good numbers of mangrove snapper, lane snapper, and an occasional cobia were also being caught offshore. The guys deep jigging the wrecks were also landing a lot of Amberjack and Reds. Tipping the jigs with a whole squid improved the hookup ratio. Deep dropping with electric reels for Golden Tilefish and Yellowedge grouper, which are open to harvest, has become popular with many anglers out of Port Canaveral. Both of these fish are great table fare and well worth a trip. Because of the extreme depths and current, electric reels are used for this operation.  The unusually warm weather we had a couple of weeks ago provided some great opportunities for anglers to go deep and make the run offshore to the "Otherside" of the Gulf Stream. The multiple large boats made the trip to target yellowfin tuna and Mahi did quite well as you can see by the pic below.  Closer inshore in the 20 to 35 foot depths, the shark bite was absolutely insane. Plenty of small shark are being caught, but there are always a few larger ones in the mix. Port Canaveral has been producing some great nearshore action for large redfish and black drum, along with some sheepshead and pompano. The tripletail and a few cobia have been seen hanging around the marker buoys, weed lines, and other floating structure. As the month progresses, we should see more fish closer in. Use small bucktail jigs tipped with a piece of live shrimp or squid for tripletail and a large bucktail with a whole squid or a live bait for cobia. When the water temperatures hit the 68 degree mark, start looking for Cobia that will be tracking Manta rays in the 50 to 90 foot depths offshore. Crappie and St. Johns River Shad From late last month through the middle of March, thousands of American Shad will be migrating from the Atlantic Ocean to the headwaters of the St. Johns River near Melbourne, Fl.for their annual spawning run. In our area, American Shad tend to congregate in the section of the St. Johns from Lake Monroe in Sanford, Fl. south to Highway 50. This makes the St. Johns from SR 520 west of Cocoa to the Monroe Canal on the southeast corner of Lake Monroe in Sanford, Fl. prime areas to target. The deep holes around Old Marina Isle and Mullet Lake, the bends around Lemon Bluff, and the numerous river bends south of SR 46 toward Puzzle Lake and southwest toward Hatbill Park are also productive areas to fish.  The shad need a hard bottom and a strong flowing current to spawn which makes the river bends prime areas to fish. You can locate the fish by watching for surface activity or just asking around. The shad are believed to feed on small gambusia and grass shrimp close to the surface and can often be spotted by their "flicking" activity on the surface. Fly fishermen using small patterns that mimic a mosquito fish can often "clean up" on surface feeding shad until they move on up the river. Fishing weighted minnow patterns in size 6 to 10 on a 5 wt fly outfit provides great sport. Use a floating line and vary the length of the leader until you get the fly to the bottom. Spin fishermen using crappie jigs, brightly colored shad darts, small spoons and other light to ultralight lures also catch good numbers of fish when they are in the river in numbers. American Shad in our area are 1 1/2 to 3 pounds and although they have sweet, delicate flesh, it is bony and seldom eaten. Shad roe lightly fried in bacon fat is a delicacy. The bag limit for American Shad is 10 per person and a saltwater and freshwater license is required to harvest them. Late January and February is the peak of Crappie season on just about all of our freshwater lakes in East Central Florida.  During full and new moon periods, the crappie congregate along the edge of the shorelines before they move into the deeper grassy areas to spawn. They can be caught with a variety of "crappie jigs", small spoons, plastic curlytail jigs, and a variety of flies that imitate a small minnow. The better crappie lakes on the St. Johns River include Lake Geoprge, Lake Monroe, Crescent Lake, and Lake Harney. Blue Cypress Lake north of SR 60 between Vero Beach and Yeehaw Junction, Lake Marian west of Kenansville, and the Stick Marsh Farm 13 Impoundment near Fellsmere are also hotspots for crappie throughout the coming months. Haulover Canal On most warm days at Haulover Canal, you will find a number of bank fisherman dunking shrimp, sections of fresh blue crab, chunk baits, clams, or fiddler crabs for black drum, redfish, mangrove snapper, and sheepshead.
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Early last week, every day I managed to visit the area, all the best spots were already taken by anglers fishing to two or more rods. Shrimp, pieces of blue crab, and cut baits were the most popular baits. Although some slot size black drum were caught, everyone I spoke with said that the bite was slow. The current in the canal has been pretty light lately which is why several anglers were fishing around the coquina ledges on the Bair's Cove side of the canal for bait stealing sheepshead and mangrove snapper. The bite for mangrove snapper around the bridge and coquina outcroppings has been consistent, but a lot of fish caught were under the size limit. The anglers targeting sheepshead around the coquina outcroppings at the bridge were using fiddler crabs and small pieces of shrimp for bait. The guys I spoke were catching some nice fish but they were getting a lot of breakoffs.  The pilings around both the fishing piers at the A. Max Brewer Causeway Bridge and at Parrish Park are also holding good numbers of sheepshead. The bite for small spotted sea trout, black drum, redfish, and sheepshead on the fishing piers has also been good, especially at night under the lights. The shrimp lights that the dip netters use to spot the shrimp attract small bait fish and sea trout. The trout over the course of the night bring in larger predatory fish. On most nights, the area around and over the lights looks like a fish hatchery. The cast netters at the small bridge that goes into the parking area to the fishing piers usually do much better than the guys dip netting shrimp from the fishing piers. This past Friday evening, the cast netters were working the sea walls and first part of the lower fishing pier. It was early when I left the fishing pier but they were still netting some nice size shrimp. Most of the guys I spoke with reported cast netting anywhere from 2 to 5 pounds of shrimp or more each night. Most of the locals who dip net shrimp off the piers will almost always tell me that "the shrimping should get better" or that "the run hasn't started yet". The shrimp in the Indian River are now running, so as long as the sea trout don't eat the shrimp before the cast netters and sport shrimpers can dip them, we should start to see some "full pulls" (a full 5 gallon bucket limit) this month. Until next time,
Tight Lines and bent rods!
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