Your September 2016 Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River Fishing Report
Published: Thu, 09/01/16
| Newsletter Issue # 85 Fishing Forecast | September 1, 2016 | ||
Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River Fishing |
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 The Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River
The much anticipated opening of the Snook season occurs today, and anglers throughout East Central Florida will finally be able to keep some of their catch for the table. Although Snook are more abundant farther south of us especially around Sebastian Inlet, increasingly good numbers are being caught during the hot summer months throughout our area. The Snook have been on fire in the northern Mosquito Lagoon north from Allenhurst north to the New Smyrna area. With the right tide and baits, the Snook bite has reportedly been the best it's been in many years. Local guides have been targeting the Snook and sea trout early in the mornings around the bait schools on the shallow grass with plugs and twitch baits. Later on in the day, they have been targeting the deeper water areas with soft plastic or live baits. The next low pressure system we encounter should trigger the baitfish migration and send the mullet that are now in the North Carolina region back down through our area again creating some high waves and providing some great snook fishing in Ponce, Canaveral, and Sebastian Inlets. Saltwater Bass Assassin 5" Die Dappers on a 1/2 to 3/4 oz. jig head, Rapala X-Raps, and the new Rapala X-Rap Twitchin' Mullet are all good baits to use in the inlets and in the Indian River for Snook, but the best all round "go to" bait in our area is a live mullet on a 1/2 oz jig head. Night fishing around lighted docks and bridges this time of the year is especially productive for snook.  We also have some really good numbers of redfish tailing in the north end of the Mosquito Lagoon right now on the edges of bars, edges of islands, and around any deeper water areas. They are starting to school up and have been eating soft plastics and Aqua Dream spoons. Live bait fishermen are catching them on pigfish, pinfish, and cut mullet or ladyfish baits. The guys that are using 8 or 9 weight fly rods throwing crab or shrimp pattern flies have been doing really great for the last couple of weeks on tailing reds. Sight casters using the Mud Bug or Drunk Monkey colored 4" assassin shrimp rigged on a 4/0 weedless hook have also been tearing up the reds. On cruising fish, toss the shrimp a couple of feet ahead and a couple of feet beyond the fish so you can intercept it. On tailing redfish, cast the shrimp past the fish and quickly reel it back up and let it drop right down next to them in front of their head. Live bait fishermen using live pigfish or shrimp have also been picking up some nice fish but if you want to get one of the really big 30", 40", or even 50" bull reds, use a fresh cut live blue crab or ladyfish on a 5/0 to 7/0 VMC hook. In the Mosquito Lagoon the really large "Bull" reds in the 40" to 50" class will be holding in the cooler waters along the deeper edges off the flats and around the bridges along the ICW channels. Although few baits can beat a freshly segmented blue crab for bull reds; a large live mullet, pinfish, large chunk of ladyfish or mullet, or a large shrimp will also produce. Gator size speckled sea trout are also being caught in the Mosquito Lagoon near the mullet schools on Skitterwalks early in the morning at dawn and at dusk. Go drink a brew during the rest of the day or chase after redfish and ladyfish. A lot of smaller sea trout are still being caught along the transition edges of the flats where the water drops down to 3 feet or more on live or artificial DOA shrimp on Cajun Thunder popping corks and small jigs. Fishing the marsh areas in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge along Peacocks Pocket Road is a challenge this time of the year. The water levels are down and the fish that are now concentrated in the deeper water areas are very spooky. In addition, sightseers, bird watchers, and tourists driving along the unimproved road have a tendency to put
the fish down, especially during the weekends when the vehicle traffic is heaviest.
Despite this, the bank fishermen using live mullet, mud minnows, and chunked mullet or ladyfish are still making consistent catches of slot size and over redfish. The reds in the Indian River have been hugging the shorelines and can be caught throughout the day, but the best bite is in the early morning hours when the refuge opens and before it closes, at dusk. In the salt marsh, the fish are most active in the morning hours and around 6:00pm to 7:00pm when they travel through the canal from pond to shallow pond. In the late afternoon when the winds die down and the water is like glass, you can often stir up some vicious topwater sea trout strikes with a Chug Bug or a Skitterwalk smeared up with some Pro-Cure Inshore formula and worked with a steady, moderate retrieve.
_______________________________________ Offshore Fishing Good numbers of King Mackerel are in the 40 to 60 foot depths right now, and when the pogies, greenies, and mullet start running, greater numbers of kingfish will be moving in towards the beaches. For those of you who like to pull baits, get out your wire stinger rigs and head offshore with live bunker to work the wrecks and reefs. In addition to kingfish, all sorts of species are around. Sails, blackfins, mahi, and cobia are all being caught slow trolling. For the best results, slow troll the baits at 1 to 1.5 knots so the baits swim and look as natural as possible. A good way to hook up with a "smoker" kingfish is to put a ribbonfish on a weighted line or on a downrigger at the 40 foot mark and fish deep. Some nice Amberjack have also been caught using this method.  For those of you who don't what to pull live baits, the Rapala Magnum series XRap plug or the CD14 plug in the black and silver pattern has been a solid catcher for king mackerel. The Williamson Speed Pro in the Blue Sardine color has also been a good producer lately when the water is clean. A couple of weeks ago, when the water temperature outside of Port Canaveral was 82 degrees and the cold water upwelling seemed to be holding off; the fishing conditions were good, however this past week, the tropical weather systems have caused an upwelling that brought some relatively cold water into our area, which resulted in a pretty solid Cobia bite in the 40 to 45 foot depths, all the way out to about the 70 to 90 foot break. When the water temperatures get to 68 degrees or over, the Cobia bite starts to really turn on. Cobia anywhere from Hessel Shoal off of Canaveral, north to the Turtle Mound area off of New Smyrna Beach are being caught on large Storm jigs or the 7" Assassin freshwater jerk bait on a jig head. A lot of guys have been using squid imitation lures with a great deal of success as well as live baits on VMC circle hooks. If your looking for Tarpon, fish in the 100 to 150 pound range are consistently being caught south of Port Canaveral around the Patrick AFB beaches by anglers slow trolling live pogies around the pods, if you can find then. Use fluorocarbon leaders and an 8/0 hook. The shark fishing offshore and along our beaches is also on fire right now. Use large chunks of fresh Bonito, Barracuda, or other bloody or oily fish on a standard bottom rig with a 250 or 270 pound cable leader and a large VMC heavy duty circle hook. Surf Fishing When the fall mullet migration begins, surf fishermen can expect to catch almost any predator that swims in Atlantic waters along our beaches.
Jacks, redfish, bluefish, and a variety of Shark can be caught almost anywhere off the beaches and along our inshore waters on a variety of live, artificial, or chunked baits. The majority of shark caught will be around 5 feet or less in length, but some Bull Shark, Nurse Shark, and the occasional Hammerhead in the 8 to 10 foot category are always a possibility.
 Bull sharks can always be found along the surf zones in our area but they swim into the Indian River to bear their young during the summer months, usually following the migrations of baitfish. When you're targeting sharks in the surf, don't stay in the water after putting out your baits. Aggressive species like the Bull shark can cause problems if you're not paying attention. A couple of years ago my friend Louie and I were fishing along the beach at Lot#7 in Playalinda. The water was murky close to shore and a fisherman with his two children were in chest deep water fishing with frozen shrimp for whiting. He had the bag of shrimp tied to his belt, which was acting like a chum bag. We spotted a 7 foot shark swimming directly towards the fisherman and his kids, and only after a lot of yelling did the guy finally spot the shark and toss his bait. The shark went down and we lost sight of it, but it could have been a bad scene. Use common sense when targeting shark, stay away from swimmers if possible and keep out of the water, especially if it is murky. Most shark bites are accidental hits when the fish are chasing baitfish, but bull sharks apparently like people..... September is also a good month for whiting along our beaches. Use small pieces of shrimp on light surf rods or long 7' river rods and make short casts into the first trough. If you don't get any action after a reasonable amount of time, start casting farther out until you find the zone. Use just enough lead to stay on the bottom. When the water starts to cool down in the late fall and winter, the Pompano bite will perk up and sand fleas, cut pieces of clam, or small pieces of shrimp will be the baits of choice. ______________________________________
Haulover Canal
Haulover Canal fishing is good all year round and September will be no exception. The fishing for Bull Redfish, Black Drum, large sea trout, and Snook has been stellar this past month  For bull redfish, half of a fresh blue crab is hard to beat. Use a heavy 30# or heavier fluorocarbon leader on a sliding sinker rig, with a large 5/0 TO 7/0 circle hook to get them in without getting cut off on the coquina outcroppings. The snook bite, particularly after dark has also been good last month and should continue throughout this month. Rapala X-Raps, the new Rapala X-Rap Twitchin' Mullet or a live mullet on a jig head all work well. Use heavy 30 or 40# fluorocarbon leaders to minimize break offs. Last week I also spotted a couple of tarpon in the 100 pound category cruising down the canal. You can never be sure what you're going to catch when you fish Haulover! _____________________________________ Till Next Month, Good Fishing & Tight Lines To You All!
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