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Mosquito Lagoon,Indian River and Banana River

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. 

Although the shallow grass flats in the Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River, and Banana River used to be the best place to catch speckled sea trout and redfish almost any time of the year; these areas have been pretty much destroyed by lawn fertilizer, sewage spills, and other chemical runoffs.

Gator size sea trout in the 7 pound plus category used to abound in the vast grass flats in the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon, but now there are very specific places to look for sea trout of this size; mainly the south end of the region around spoil islands that have mullet or pilchards congregating around them and in the extreme shallows on the east side of the Mosquito Lagoon where you can sight fish them.  

The entire length of our lagoon system from Georges Bar in the Mosquito Lagoon, all the way down to Vero Beach can provide good fishing for big sea trout, but some of the better areas are the bars.  

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

The best live baits to catch them with right now are live croakers or finger mullet either free lined or fished under a Cajun Thunder type float, but if you like fishing artificial baits; a large top water plug or a large 5 to 6 inch Saltwater Assassin swim bait will do just as well, especially during the early morning hours.   With the large bait schools starting to show up, the trout bite has already started to turn on using top water baits.

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.

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

Topwater lures like Storm's Chug Bug, Rapala's Skitterwalk, Bass Pro Shop's XPS Slim Dog, Super Spook, Bad-A-Donk, or Mirr-O-Lures smeared up with some Pro-Cure Inshore Formula  will all produce smashing strikes from big sea trout.   The Pro-Cure gel scent will often get a wary fish to take a wack at a lure it would normally leave alone.
 

Smaller school size sea trout in the 12 to 15 inch category can be found scattered throughout the flats around grass beds and areas with culupera, an algae that looks like seagrass.   However, most trout in this size range are being caught around the docks and depressions with soft bottoms.   Saltwater Assassin 4 inch sea shads have been the most consistent producer of sea trout in this size range.

For the guys targeting redfish; the reds in the Mosquito Lagoon have been in the shallows following glass minnows and finger mullet.   In the Indian River, a lot of larger bull reds are being caught along the deep water flats across from Scottsmoor Landing.

The largest "Bull" redfish in the East Coast region are normally caught around the inlets and near shore waters off of our area beaches.

All of our east coast inlets normally hold good numbers of bull redfish during the month of June.  Live or cut pilchards, Croakers, or Pogies rigged on a sliding sinker rig with just enough weight to hold them on the bottom works well, especially if you are drifting in those inlets.

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 early morning hours has been the best bite for fish running in the 40 inch and above category.

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

Black drum in East Central Florida are always on the menu for anglers fishing the shallows in any of our lagoon systems.  A lot of slot and oversize drum are being caught from the two fishing piers under the A. Max Brewer bridge in Titusville on live shrimp, dead shrimp, cut blue crabs, fiddler crabs, and sand fleas.   

Night time fishing produces some very nice catches like the one below.
 

A live shrimp rigged on a saltwater assassin jig head is a great way to fish for black drum in our area.    Because of the lack of sea grass in many areas; you can slowly drag and hop the shrimp along the sandy bottom where the drum or trout can easily see it and pick it up without getting snagged.

Some of the largest drum are being caught in deeper water around the bridge pilings and the dropoffs in the ICW. 

The average size for black drum in the flats our area is anywhere from 3 to 5 pounds.   Fish caught in deeper water can run up to 40 pounds and often well over.

Snook season closes June 1st and reopens Sept 1st, so it's a catch and release fishery right now.  However, the snook bite at the inlets at Ponce, Canaveral, and Sebastian are definitely the place to be this month if you want to catch a big snook.   

As of this posting, snook up to 40 inches and even larger are being caught on live croakers, pilchards, and pinfish at all three inlets.  Pinfish seem to be working best but Mojarra also work well if you can find them.

In the night time, throw an R&R Flair Hawk jig or a 5 to 6 inch Bass Assassin Saltwater Die Dapper on an outgoing tide around the rocks, sea walls, and pilings.  Large lipped diving plugs are also working well in the Inlets.  Any lure that resembles a croaker, pinfish, or mullet will catch a snook right now.   
  
June is generally considered the beginning of the summer rainy season in our area.  When the creeks, canals, mosquito control ditches, and backwaters collect the nutrient rich runoff, they become havens for juvenile tarpon, snook, and even freshwater bass. 

The cooler, forage rich runoff that collects in the upper reaches of the creeks attracts tarpon, snook, ladyfish, and other species  where anglers in canoes, kayaks, technical flats boats, and wade fishermen have access to them.

The northernmost section of the Indian River at 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 tarpon and snook this month.

The tarpon have already arrived in good numbers in the New Smyrna area with fish ranging from 30 pounds to 100 pounders in the river.   Some larger mangrove snapper have moved into the river system as well, and are eating shrimp and small bait fish.

In the southernmost portions of the Mosquito Lagoon off of Bio Lab Road in the area south of Pelican Island, you can find juvenile tarpon and ladyfish around the mangroves and at the ditches and Vistas along Playalinda Beach road. 

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

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 when the glass minnow pods invade the area.    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 and in the depths of Haulover Canal. Small spoons, soft plastic Shad Assassins, and small topwater baits are normally used to fish for smaller tarpon, and large pogies, mullet, pinfish, or ladyfish under a float for the larger, up to 100 pound fish.   

Fly fishermen targeting tarpon generally use an 8 wt or 9 wt fly rod to toss sparsely tied Deceivers, Clouser Minnows, or Bunnytail flies to actively rolling fish.  Black, purple, and tan seem to trigger the best bite.
 

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Playalinda and Surrounding Beaches 


From New Smyrna Beach all the way down to Sebastian, surf fishermen should expect to catch good numbers of whiting, pompano, and sharks along with a resurgence of bluefish and Spanish mackerel along our beaches this month.

Because schools of whiting and pompano are always on the move, some area beaches will be hot one day and have few to no bites the next.  When this happens, it pays to pick up your gear and move to another section of the beach or to another beach until you find where the migrating fish are holding.

Pompano fishing this June depends on their migration pattern which coincides with water temperatures.   

Although most of the larger schools migrating from South Florida waters up into Volusia County have already left the area or are scattered into small groups, plenty of local fish remain in our area for surf casters to target.  

Tidal swings also dictate the numbers of fish caught.  Normally the outgoing or last of the incoming tide will produce the best bite.    

Another trend that remains a factor during June is the afternoon to evening bite and whether the sun is overhead or setting.  The best bite is usually in the early morning hours during the last of an incoming tide.

 Whiting and pompano travel up and down the beach in small schools feeding on small crustaceans that they find in the troughs.   Often they are in the closest trough to the beach and can be caught with short casts and light tackle.

 The deeper troughs between the sandbars farther out are where the larger whiting and pompano schools are usually holding and where most surf fishermen target their casts.    Breaks or cuts in a sandbar are hot spots that fish use to swim between the troughs. 

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

In our area, sand fleas are the top bait of choice either naked or tipped with white clam Fishbites.   Fresh clam or small pieces of shrimp will also catch pompano and whiting especially when a strip of fishbites is added.

Many surf fishermen get skunked because they set their sand spikes where there aren't any actively feeding fish.   Learn to read the beach before setting up your rods.

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 where the fish may be feeding, stake out several rods at varying distances from the beach.   Keep your 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.

The shark bite at most of our area beaches is still in full swing.  The blacktip migration pattern is peaking but you can still occasionally see airborne spinner sharks clearing the surface just outside the breakers.   The fish come into the first and second troughs to snatch up whiting and blue runners.
Although blacktips are the species most frequently caught in the surf; Bonnet Heads, 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 offshore dolphin bite out of Port Canaveral is really good when you can get out there. 

Most anglers have been dragging skirted ballyhoo, mullet, and flying fish around the rips and temperature breaks over the 140 to 300 feet depths for the bigger fish.   

The smaller fish are being caught around the weed patches and other floating debris in the 90 to 140 feet depths.   Skirted or naked ballyhoo, flying fish, or mullet trolled at 4 to 6 knots is being used by most anglers to get the dolphin eating.     Small blue and white, green and yellow, and pink and white skirts were reported to be the most productive colors but most anglers go with the yellows, pinks, or bright blues on bright sunny days, and black, red, and purple colors on dark, overcast days.

If you can find a single frigate bird, follow the bird and get in front of it, if you may be able to hook into a really large dolphin.   A lot of 50 pound class dolphin have been caught recently using this technique.   Birds working around any kind of rip or weeds is usually an indication that there is a little more bait in the area, which should be where the action is.

Most dolphin caught out of the port right now have been in the 6 to 15 pound category.

The tarpon bite closer to shore will be ramping up during the month as they continue moving north from the Sebastian area.   

Along our area beaches tarpon, shark, Crevalle jacks, and king mackerel are striking slow trolled live baits.

Live pogies, pilchards, and greenies are really good baits to slow troll for tarpon.    Live croakers are also great baits but don't slow troll well, however, croakers are really great for pitching to schools of rolling tarpon.  

Rig them on a VMC 7/0 or 8/0 circle hook with about a 60 to 80 pound fluorocarbon leader for tarpon and jacks.

For the kings and sharks you will need to add a short piece of wire to this rig.

Most of our "beach" tarpon right now are running about 50 to 100 pounds, but some of those 150 pound fish are beginning to show up out of Canaveral.
 
During the summer months it is not unusual to find large smoker kingfish within sight of the beach, just past the last set of breakers, following the migrating pods of baitfish along the shoreline.   

Right now within a mile or so of the beach anglers have been catching king mackerel, jacks, tarpon and sharks on the troll. 

The best times to fish for kingfish around the bait pods is early in the mornings and later in the afternoons.   The most productive bait has been a live bunker but they seem to have disappeared, so don't leave home without some frozen sardines or minnows.   Tip the frozen baits with small duster skirts.   As the water warms up, bunker should become more readily available. 

Slow trolling live baits on a stinger rig is the preferred method for taking kings in our area but a lot of anglers like to flat line a live bait on a stinger rig with #4 wire or with 60# mono for the larger fish.   

The average size 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.    

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.  On the wrecks and reefs in the 160 to 260 foot depths, the bite for grouper and AJs has been consistently good for anglers dropping live baits, fresh cut croakers, grunts, or bluefish.   Out on the northern 27 grounds, you can drop down a live bluefish, pogie, croaker, or any other large live bait and get hooked up with a  big Gag Grouper, but the bite has not been as consistent.

Many 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 red grouper and scamp are caught deep jigging. 

Throughout this month bottom droppers are likely to catch a variety of grouper species such as Gag, Scamp, Red, Black, Warsaw, and Snowy grouper.   Grouper out of Port Canaveral can range anywhere from 15-40 pounds with some species like the Goliath grouper exceeding 200 lbs.

Many anglers out of Port Canaveral have discovered deep dropping baits in the 500 to 600 foot plus depths for a variety of deep water species that include tile fish, yellow edge and snowy groupers, barrelfish, and huge queen snapper like the one below.   
 
Electric reels with heavy weights are needed to hold bottom for this fishery with squid being the main bait of choice.

 

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Until next time,

Tight Lines and bent rods!