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The Mosquito Lagoon, Indian, and Banana River

Spring is definitely here and anglers are targeting speckled trout, ladyfish, redfish, and black drum on a variety of lures and live baits in the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River flats. 

A good number of Captains are providing their clients with a mix of sight casting on the flats, blind casting in the creeks in the northern section of the lagoon around New Smyrna Beach, and soaking live and cut baits around the docks throughout the intracoastal waterway system. 

In Haulover Canal and the surrounding area, anglers are catching some nice black drum and redfish using fresh cut crab sections.   Some sharks are also being caught in the same area as well as farther north inside the river around Ponce Inlet where anglers dunking cut baits have been picking up quite a few sharks.

Most anglers last month were targeting the redfish schools in the Mosquito Lagoon. 

Around mid March, the larger schools of redfish started breaking apart into small pods and singles.   These fish were averaging 20 to 30 inches in size and were being caught by anglers using mainly cut baits and sections of blue crab.   For the past couple of weeks, slot size redfish have been hanging close to shallow mangrove shorelines around the glass minnow pods.  These fish are being caught by anglers tossing small plastic Creme or D.O.A. paddletail baits and Gulp baits.   The silver mullet and black/silver colors have been producing the best bite.   Live bait anglers tossing small live shrimp on a 1/0 hook free lined tight to the mangroves are also getting solid bites.

The larger bull redfish over 20 pounds are beginning to congregate into larger pods and mid size schools in the holes of the intracoastal waterway near Ponce Inlet and the flats in the Indian River Lagoon near Scotsmoor.  

Anglers interested in catching a trophy bull red have a better than average shot of catching one this month.  The deep channels adjacent to shallow sandbars have been holding good numbers of fish in the 35 to 45 inch category.    Most successful anglers are using cut baits but even though the reds are becoming more active, it can be a long wait in between bites.    Baits of choice for these fish are large chunks of mullet or a quarter or half of a blue crab on a 6/0 hook with a 30 lb flourocarbon leader.  Some fish are also being caught by anglers using 4 to 5 inch paddletail baits smeared up with some Pro-Cure or other scent.  Darker colors have been working best on these fish.

As we get closer to summer, the action for bull reds will improve dramatically.

Since the weather has started to warm up, most of the big schools of black drum in the Mosquito Lagoon have moved off the flats and have scattered into smaller pods.  For the past couple of months, big schools of black drum in the 17 to 22 inch range have been literally all over the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River.  Anglers have been catching these 2 year old fish on live and fresh dead shrimp as well as a variety of artificial plastic D.O.A. type baits.

The snook bite in the northernmost portion of the Mosquito Lagoon and around the tidal areas of New Smyrna Beach and Ponce Inlet has been ramping up over the past couple of weeks.   Guides and anglers targeting snook have been reporting catches of 8 to 10 fish per trip in the 18 to 25 inch category in these areas.   We are fortunate to have a year round snook fishery in East Central Florida and the bite should remain steady throughout the fall.

Late April, May, and June are historically the best times for a chance at catching a giant gator sea trout in the Mosquito Lagoon and upper end of the Indian River Lagoon.   Quality fish inthe 18 to 25 inch range will be more common closer to the middle of the month.  Right now most of the bigger trout are in very shallow water chasing after glass minniows and early visitors of the spring mullet run.   

As our inshore waters continue to warm up; large, egg laden female sea trout transition into the pre-spawn feeding mode from shrimp and crustaceans, to finned fish in their traditional spawning areas on the inshore flats.   

When the conditions are just right, usually after dusk, smaller male sea trout move onto the shallow flats and begin "drumming" loudly to call in the ripe females to spawn. This spawning activity usually occurs during the first new moon or full moon in April, and continues throughout the summer months during the new and full moon periods. 

As the northbound silver mullet migration along our beaches begin to show up on our inshore flats, most of our predator species stop eating shrimp and other crustaceans and begin eating the more plentiful mullet.  

As the migrating schools of mullet begin to appear on the flats in good numbers later on in the month, we will start seeing big sea trout, redfish, Jack Crevalle, tarpon, snook, and ladyfish targeting the bait pods.

This is the time when anglers targeting gator sea trout can get some extreme topwater action on the flats.  

The best bite is from first light until about 9:00 am.  The evening hours until a couple hours after dusk and at night are also good times to target big sea trout. 

Top water plugs like Chug Bugs, Zara Spooks, Badonk-A-Donks, SkitterWalks, Mirrolures, or any bait that mimics a baitfish will get a heart stopping strike.

Female sea trout are super aggressive during the spawn and will often smack a topwater bait completely out of the water if they don't get hooked on the first hit.  It's not uncommon for them to strike at a lure all the way back to the boat for a second, third, or even a fourth shot at the bait.
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As the morning topwater bite slows down, switch over to soft plastic swim baits and jigs to fish in the deeper 2 to 3 foot depths adjacent to the flats for trout and redfish.

The trout bite in the Mosquito Lagoon has been good right now with fish up to 28 inches being caught on live finger mullet, Croakers, and cut baits. 
 

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Playalinda and Area Beaches

Pompano, bull whiting, bluefish, juvenile black drum, and a lot of sharks being caught in the surf at Playalinda and other area beaches this month.

On fishable days, surf fishermen along the space coast have been picking up good catches of big whiting and pompano using live sand fleas, sand fleas tipped with fishbites, or small pieces of shrimp for bait on standard 2 or 3 hook surf rigs and enough weight to hold bottom.  

Fishbites in the clam flavor with a live or dead sand flea has been bait of choice for many anglers in our area.

Around Patrick AFB and the beaches in the Treasure Coast area, surf anglers have been reporting good catches of bull whiting, keeper pompano, Palmetto, and a few snook in the surf. 

Anglers using live and chunked pieces of mullet have bee catching bluefish, a few Spanish mackerel, and a variety of sharks off the beach.  The second trough on an incoming tide is said to be where the fish have been holding.

Small silver spoons, Mirrolures or Gotcha plugs pitched into the troughs can be deadly when the bait pods are thick in the surf.    As the baitfish run peaks along our beaches, live baits, Lhure Jensen spoons, and small lipped hard baits become baits of choice for Spanish mackerel and bluefish.

If you are specifically targeting sharks when fishing from the beach, be sure to have a free shore based shark fishing permit with you.

As of July 1, 2019, it is required for anglers 16 and older in addition to a saltwater fishing license for anyone targeting or harvesting sharks from the beach, shore, including any structure attached to the shore such as jetties, bridges and piers. 

Currently the shark bite along all of our East Central Florida beaches is on fire and should continue throughout the upcoming months.  

Live mullet or large chunk baits fished on wire or heavy fluorocarbon leaders with large hooks and heavy Power Pro or other braid as main line, and heavy action rods will help you land heavier fish that are now off the beach.
 

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Port  Canaveral Offshore and Nearshore

Last month, the March winds limited the amount of days offshore anglers out of Port Canaveral could take advantage of fishing opportunities, however, when the charter boat Captains could get out, the bite was really good.

The staple fish of Port Canaveral charter fishermen, the king mackerel, started to return to our area in good numbers a few weeks ago, along with some Mahi Mahi and even some blackfins.  Some very nice kings, a few in the 30 pound plus range, are being caught over the reefs and ridges in the 75 foot depths out of the Port.
Our local reefs and shipwrecks are producing nice fish, but the live bait is scattered.   Fortunately frozen minnows slow trolled with a nice skirt works just as well for kings and the occasional Mahi.

The deep water bottom fishing bite has been good for a a number of tasty species such as lane and mangrove snapper, triggerfish, porgies, grunts, and black sea bass.   Some nice by catches of groupers and Amberjack which you can't keep until May 1st. have also been keeping party boat anglers happy.  

Two and three hook chicken rigs with small hooks and cut baits are standard bottom fishing rigs on Port Canaveral "head" charters.    On occasion a fat cobia will follow a shark up and pick up a bait on a chicken rig to make a bottom fisherman's day.    Right now there are also a lot of kings over the reefs that party boat anglers have a chance to pick up.

When the winds haven't allowed anglers offshore, the shark bite inshore has been very consistent.  Several species of all sizes are being caught close to the beach.

Because of the windy conditions, the cobia run we experience every spring outside of Port Canaveral hasn't materialized as expected.  The fish have been moving up the coast towards their traditional spawning areas off the Central East coast of Florida, but they seem to be arriving late in our area.   The pods of Atlantic menhaden are also arriving later than usual and are scattered all over the place.
 
As the cobia show up in better numbers following the Manta Rays, bucktail jigs or live baits tossed at them will usually do the trick if they are eating.    Toss the bucktail first and if there's no interest, follow up with a live bait.   Cobia aren't usually very picky, so almost any live bait will do.

When the bait pods start moving in closer to shore, anglers start targeting redfish, kingfish, bluefish, Spanish mackerel, giant jack crevalle, and sharks that follow the pods.    You can always tell where the fish are actively feeding by finding bait pods that are balled up closer to the surface.   The predatory fish are feeding just below. On most days during April, Spanish mackerel and bluefish can be caught almost everywhere around the mouth of Port Canaveral.    Most anglers were catch them by casting small silver spoons or plugs like the Lhure Jensen and Gotcha type plugs.   

Outside of the Port,  the tripletail bite is starting to ramp up along the weed lines, floating debris, crab traps, and the buoy line outside of the ship channel.   Casting small hair jigs, artificial DOA shrimp, or live shrimp on light fluorocarbon leaders will all produce fish.

During April, anglers will be finding better numbers of flounder, sheepshead, black drum, and snook around the jetties, sea walls, and docks at all of our inlets.   

Snook fishing usually fires up in Port Canaveral during the month of April.  Target them around the jetties, docks, and mangrove islands.  The bite preceding the full moon us usually when snook really start hitting.  

Most anglers catch them on pilchards, greenies, and croakers rigged on a circle hook with just enough weight to get the bait to the bottom.   Night fishing around the lights at the Port with lipped diving plugs is also productive, especially for larger snook.
 

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Haulover Canal
  The northeast access road to Haulover Canal was closed to vehicle traffic for road repairs the last time I visited the area however, it may be opened as of this date. Regardless, bank fishermen still have access from the southern banks of the canal.

The bite for slot size and larger reds and black drum in the canal has been good for anglers fishing sections of blue crab and large chunks of fresh cut mullet.

We received several reports of anglers hooking and landing sharks in the canal and in the river all the way up to Ponce Inlet.

Anglers using shrimp for bait have been catching some slot size black drum and a few mangrove snapper, mainly close to the bridge. 

Live shrimp, cut baits, and sections of blue crab are baits of choice for the majority of anglers fishing Haulover. 

The deep holes located at both mouths of the canal hold some large black drum and bull redfish.   Most anglers after bull redfish anchor out from the holes and drop a whole blue crab or live pinfish down to the bottom. 

A stout rod with Power Pro or other braid tied to a length of 40 pound fluorocarbon leader and a  6/0 circle hook will usually bring them to the boat.
 

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Until next time, Tight Lines, and bent rods!