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Mosquito Lagoon,Indian River and Banana River

Although the shallow grass flats in the Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River, and Banana River are the best places to catch redfish almost any time of the year; the biggest "Bull" redfish in the East Coast region are being caught around the inlets, near shore waters, and along our area beaches.

All three of our east coast inlets are holding good numbers of bull redfish right now.  Live or cut pilchards, Croakers, or Pogies rigged with just enough weight to hold them on the bottom is working really right now, especially if you are drifting in those inlets.

If you're out on the beach, a baitfish rigged on a sliding sinker rig is the best way to go.  The ocean side fish will be hanging right around the channel markers and the drop offs at the Canaveral shipping channel or at Ponce Inlet.

The best time to fish for bull redfish right now has been in the early morning hours with the average size fish running 30 to 40 inches in length.

Some of the biggest bull redfish in East Central Florida are caught in Canaveral Bite.   Live and cut croaker, mullet, ladyfish, pinfish, or blue crab on sliding sinker rigs with fluorocarbon leaders and 6/0 VMC circle hooks will all produce big redfish in this area.

Most anglers that target redfish in the northern portion of the Mosquito Lagoon,  Indian River, and Banana River use live or cut baits, however a 4 in sea shad on a 1/4 oz or 1/8 oz jig head, a 1/8 oz to 1/4 oz gold spoon, or even a bucktail jig rigged with a piece of fishbites will also work just about any day of the week.

Early June is one of the best months to fish for gator sea trout in East Central Florida.  This is when the big females can be found targeting the schools of mullet in the early morning hours throughout the entire lagoon system.   

During the early morning hours just before and after daybreak, a lot of anglers like fishing "walk the dog" type topwater plugs around the bait pods for big sea trout and redfish.   Right now throughout our area, if you find the bait pods, you will find sea trout.

Topwater lures like Storm's Chug Bug, Rapala's Skitterwalk, Bass Pro Shop's XPS Slim Dog, or MirrOLures smeared up with some Pro-Cure Inshore Formula  will all produce smashing strikes from big sea trout.

Once the fish stop chasing topwater baits, switch over to a 5" Saltwater Assassin Sea Shad which resembles the mullet you are trying to get the trout to bite on.   Many anglers feel that a 5 inch bait is too big for sea trout but keep in mind that a 20" sea trout will often try to eat a baitfish it's same size.

Right now the Cajun Croaker, Opening Night, and the Native Shiner colors are all great options to use throughout the day.

If you are a live bait fisherman; fingerling mullet, pigfish, and small to medium size Croakers are great baits to use around the mullet pods.   A live Croaker or large finger mullet under a Cajun Thunder  type float is hard to beat regardless of the season.

Although the entire length of our lagoon system from Georges Bar in the Mosquito Lagoon down to Vero Beach provides good fishing for big sea trout, some of the better areas are the bars. 

Cucumber bar on the Mosquito Lagoon side, the outer bars, the false channel bars, or any of the spoil islands in the Indian or Banana Rivers are great places to catch big gator sea trout.  The key is to target the mullet pods hanging around these areas.

Although the average sea trout in our area is running anywhere from 18 to 22 inches in length, anglers have been catching fish up to 10 pounds in weight.

The black drum in our area seem to come and go.  

Right now if you are a black drum fisherman, we have small pods of drum running around in the shallows in all three of our lagoons.  

A lot of anglers have been catching slot size black drum from the two fishing piers under the A. Max Brewer bridge in Titusville on live shrimp, dead shrimp, cut blue crabs, and even sand fleas.    Some of the larger fish are being caught in deeper water along the bridge pilings and the dropoffs in the ICW.

The Bananna River lagoon around the thousand island area has been especially good fishing lately.   The west flat near the Pineada Causeway has had good size schools of fish on it and up in the no motor zone north of Kars Park, some good size schools have been pushing really shallow water early in the mornings where they can be sight fished while tailing.

Later on in the day, you can find the drum cruising around in the shallow flats.

Live shrimp rigged on a saltwater assassin jig head is a good way to fish for black drum in this area.    Because there isn't a lot of grass in this area, you  can slowly drag the shrimp along the sandy bottom without getting snagged where the drum or trout can easily see it and pick it up.

For you fly fishermen who like to tackle black drum in the shallows; a Borskie's Slider, Kraft Fur Shrimp, a dark colored Crazy Charlie and a variety of saltwater flies will all pick up black drum when presented properly.

Our average size flats drum in this area has been running anywhere from 3 to 5 pounds.

June is the start of the summer rainy season and when the creeks, canals, mosquito control ditches and backwaters collect runoff and become havens for juvenile tarpon, snook, and even freshwater bass.  The cooler, forage rich runoff that collects in the upper reaches of the creeks brings in the fish that can be targeted by anglers in canoes, kayaks, and wade fishermen.

The northernmost section of the Indian River along Shiloh Road and the section of the Tomoka River north of Daytona Beach between the US 1 and I-95 bridges are both good areas to target juvenile tarpon and snook.

In the Indian River, you can find tarpon this June around the power plant in Port St.John, along the power lines in Palm Bay, along the flats down in Vero, and in the Sebastian River.

When the glass minnow pods invade the residential canals in the Melbourne and Cocoa area, you can find tarpon in the 2 to 50 pound class around any of the outflows and residential canals.    As the month progresses, tarpon in the 30 to 80 pound plus category can be found feeding on the bait pods in the main ICW channel.  

In the Titusville area, tarpon can be found prowling the deep water flats across from the Scottsmoor boat ramp down past the railroad bridge in the ICW. Fly fishermen targeting tarpon this month often use 8 wt or 9 wt fly rods to toss sparsely tied Deceivers, Clousers, and Bunnytail flies in black, purple, or tan to active fish in these areas.
 
Conventional spin fishermen usually toss small spoons or soft plastic Shad Assassins for smaller tarpon, and a large porgy, mullet, or ladyfish under a float for the larger 40 to 100 pound fish.
 

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Playalinda and Surrounding Beaches

Large numbers of whiting, pompano, and sharks along with a resurgence of bluefish and mackerel will continue to headline the catches along our beaches this month.

From Playalinda Beach, to Cocoa Beach, to Sebastian Inlet; surf fishermen should continue to expect good catches of bull whiting, pompano, bluefish, and sharks. 

Because the schools of whiting and pompano are always on the move, some beaches will be hot one day and have a slim bite the next.  It pays to pick up your gear and move to another section of the beach or entirely new beach until you find the migrating fish.

 Pompano fishing should continue its upswing during June as the fish continue their migration back north coinciding with water   temperatures.   

 The schools have been scattered with separate groups of fish spread out from South Florida waters up into Volusia County.   Tidal   swings  will dictate the numbers of fish caught with varying days producing results on either the outgoing or last of the incoming tide.    

 Another trend that will remain consistent during June is the afternoon to evening bite, and whether the sun is overhead or setting.  

 Whiting and pompano 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 hot spots that fish use to swim between the   troughs. 

 When you find the fish and the bite is on, you can catch a mess of pompano or whiting along any of our beaches with a surf rod, a 2 or 3 hook pompano dropper rig, some fresh shrimp and sand fleas, and enough lead to hold bottom.   

Although sand fleas in our area remain the top bait of choice tipped with white clam Fishbites in the electric chicken crab scent, fresh clam or small pieces of shrimp will also catch fish.

Before you set your sand spikes up 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 where the fish are holding.

Bull whiting, black drum, and pompano often stage just outside of the rips to snatch up crustaceans as they are being pulled into the troughs.

Don't automatically fish the same spot that you caught fish the previous day and expect the same results.  The waves are constantly changing the structure of the beach and the fish are seldom in the same exact spot they were at 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 at varying distances from the beach.   Keep the baits in the feeding zone and when you start catching fish set all your baits in that general area.

The pompano in our area right now have been running 2 to 4 pounds.

Shark fishing from the beach is still on fire and the blacktip migration pattern is in full swing.   You can still see multiple airborne sharks clearing the surface just outside the breakers and coming into the first and second troughs to snatch up whiting and blue runners.
Although blacktips are the species we catch regularly, almost any species can be caught in the surf.   Bonnet Heads, Blacktips, Nurse Shark, Atlantic sharp nose, Spinners, Sandbars, Lemon, and Bull shark are also caught along our coast.  

Baits of choice for shark fishermen are 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 beaches in our area are under 100 pounds, but much larger fish are not uncommon.
 

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Port  Canaveral Offshore and Nearshore

Right now the conditions offshore out of Port Canaveral are beginning get really good for dolphin.  

Most dolphin will be hanging around weeds, rips, and color changes in the 130 to 250 foot depths along the western edge of the Gulf Stream.   This past Memorial Day weekend, the 130 to 160 foot area was really productive for the guys targeting dolphin.  Skirted or naked ballyhoo, flying fish, or mullet trolled at 4 to 6 knots was used by many anglers to get the dolphin to eat.   

Although blue and white or green and yellow skirts were reported to be the best colors; most anglers on bright sunny days go with the yellows, pinks, or bright blues, and on darker days, go with black red and purple colors.
 
Look for birds working around any kind of rip or weeds which usually indicates where there is a little more bait, and where the action should be better.  

Our average dolphin is running from 6 to 10 pounds, but this past weekend we had fish coming into Port Canaveral weighing in excess of 20 pounds.

During the summer months you can often find large smoker kingfish within sight of the beach, just past the last set of breakers.

Larger King Mackerel are coming closer to the beach right now following the baitfish along the shorelines.  The best time to fish for kingfish is early in the mornings and later in the afternoons around bait pods.   The best bait has been bunker and now that the water has warmed up, live bait is much more readily available.  If you can't get live bait, use frozen minnows. 

When there are baitfish around, chances are there will be larger fish feeding on them.   Although slow trolling a live bait on a stinger rig is the preferred method for taking kings in our area, a lot of anglers flat line a live bait on a stinger rig with #4 wire or with 60# mono with good success for larger fish.  We've already seen some nice buoy line kings and tarpon caught outside of the Port.

The average size for kingfish in our area is in the 10 to 25 pound range, but larger fish outside of the Port up to 30 pounds are not uncommon.    

Farther offshore the black fin tuna bite along the 21 to 27 fathom ridge has been picking up in about 135 to 220 feet of water.  

Typically Blackfin Tuna like to strike small jet head type trolling feathers pulled close to the surface at a speed of 6 to 8 knots.  

Right now, most of our blackfin are running in the 15 to 20 pound range.

Port Canaveral is one of the top grouper fishing charter destinations on the Eastern seaboard with the best action occurring from late Fall through Spring.   

Out on the wrecks and reefs in the 160 to 260 foot depths, the grouper bite has been good for anglers dropping fresh cut croakers, grunts, or bluefish.   Out on the 27 fathom ridge, the cones, or the steeples, you can drop down a live bluefish, pogie, croaker, or any other large live bait and get hooked up with one of the big Gag Groupers that have been biting so well since the season opened up.  

A lot of anglers use 16 to 24 oz deep jigs or vertical jigs to get down to the fish with a good deal of success.  A lot of scamp and red grouper are caught by deep jigging. 

This month you are likely to catch a variety of grouper species such as Gag, Scamp, Red, Black, Warsaw, and Snowy grouper.   Groupers typically range anywhere from 15-40 lbs with some species exceeding 60 lbs.

More anglers out of Port Canaveral have been running farther offshore to deep drop the 500 and 600 foot plus depths for a variety of deep water species that include tile fish, yellow edge, and snowy groupers.   
 
Electric reels with heavy weights are needed to hold bottom for these fish with squid being the predominant bait.

Nearer to shore, good numbers of flounder are showing up inside Port Canaveral right now.    Anglers are using live mud minnows, pilchards, fingerling mullet, or live shrimp on a knocker rig or a sliding sinker rig with a short fluorocarbon leader to keep the bait on the bottom to get hookups.    A live bait on a jig head slowly dragged along the bottom is also a good way to pick up fish.

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 will start showing up.
 

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Until next time,

Tight Lines and bent rods!