Your January 2023 🐠 Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River Fishing Forecast
Published: Sun, 01/01/23
Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River Fishing |
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Newsletter Issue # 162 Fishing Forecast January 1, 2023  We Hope You All Have A Happy New Year! The recreational season for spotted seatrout and grouper both open up today and the way it looks right now, we should have some great weather to harvest both of these species going into 2023. Prior to this last cold front, the fishing was pretty good for sea trout, jacks, a few snook, and even some pompano along the spoil islands and mangrove shorelines; but the bite slowed down quite a bit after the cold front set in. The sea trout, snook and jacks were keying in mainly on DOA Cal paddle tail baits, and the pompano were hitting doc’s goofy jigs and chartreuse/yellow nylon jigs. Although the trout bite slowed down quite a bit after the cold front moved through our area last week, the fishing has still been pretty good in our lagoon system. The arctic cold front we experienced this past weekend helped to clean up the algae blooms that plague our waters and concentrate the sea trout, snook, redfish, etc. into the deeper holes along the flats, channels, and drops off adjacent to the flats. The water in the lagoon system is generally crystal clear, making for some incredible sight fishing. In the early mornings, look for schools of redfish, black drum, sea trout, and snook cruising the deeper eastward facing ledges. As the sun rises and the water starts to warm up, the schools of black drum and redfish will start moving onto the shallow sandy flats. During the Thursday of the cold front, the water temperature in the river dropped from the low 70s to the low 50s before things started warming up last week. If the temperatures would have dropped much lower than 50 degrees for an extended period, we would have seen some snook and tarpon die offs in the lagoon. The weather has been warming up into the mid 70s and possibly 80 this week, which will bring water temperatures back up again and jump start the bite about the time this report is posted. During cold water temperature periods, the best bite will be in and around the canal systems in the Merritt Island, Coco Beach, and Satellite Beach area where anglers had been catching small trout, black drum, a few redfish, and some baby tarpon that were cruising around the area. The best bite for sea trout in deeper water and in the canal system has been with freelined live shrimp, or a live shrimp fished under a popping cork. The fish are sluggish so very slow presentations should be the norm. Some nice black drum are being caught on the flats in the northern section of the Indian River and in the Patillo Creek area by anglers using live shrimp on a jig head. Cut mullet, chunked lady fish, and even dead shrimp will also work well this time of the year on redfish and black drum in deeper areas.  The lower water levels in the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River are beginning to concentrate the redfish into larger schools. Most anglers targeting reds are finding singles, pairs, and small pods in the shallows with the best bite being prior to a cold front. Until the reds begin to gather up into larger schools this month; live shrimp, crabs, cut baits, and live mullet will be the best baits of choice. Fly fishermen looking for a trophy redfish on the fly will find that January is a peak month for sight fishermen on the flats in our lagoon system. Any pattern that resembles a crab or shrimp will get hit when fished slow or at a standstill. The arctic blast has made the fish sluggish but for sheepshead, the conditions couldn't be more desirable. Right now, the fish are hanging around almost any rough looking structure. Residential dock pilings, bridge pilings, jetties, and offshore structures are all targets for sheepshead as well as other species. Small fiddler crabs, sand fleas, shrimp, and any other small crustacean you can get all work well for these fish. Use a long shank #2 hook with a small split shot on about three feet of fluorocarbon leader for these bait stealers. The dock pilings behind the condos in Titusville, both the fishing piers at the A. Max Brewer Bridge, the pilings at the railroad bridge, and the fenders at Haulover Canal are all good areas to target sheepshead right now.  When sea trout season opens up today, anglers fishing the backwaters from New Smyrna Beach down into the Mosquito Lagoon for gator sea trout should be spotting good numbers of fish laying up in the shallows adjacent to deep water. True gator size sea trout are not as plentiful as they have been in past years, but a lot of big females in the 7 to 9 pound and over category are still out there waiting to be caught. A lively pinfish, croaker, mullet, or jumbo shrimp under a popping cork is a hard bait to beat for catching large sea trout. During colder periods, you can usually find a lot of under slot sea trout stacking up in the deeper holes, channels, and sloughs. Slowly fished suspending plugs, plastic Saltwater Assassin baits, small jigs, and Johnson Sprite type spoons will produce on these fish over the next couple of months.
Black drum in our area spawn in the spring and will normally school up well into April and May. During the winter and early spring, 4 to 12 pound black drum start forming up into large schools in the Mosquito Lagoon, Banana, and Indian River. Although Bio Lab Road and Playalinda Beach roads have been closed to vehicle traffic since the last hurricane, it is expected to reopen January 3rd. Several areas along Bio Lab road are where bank fishermen congregate to fish for slot and oversize drum. Schools of drum roam the shallow flats in this area and come close to the road within easy casting distance of bank fishermen. Baits of choice in this area is usually live or fresh dead shrimp and cut mullet. A few guys use sections of fresh dead blue crab on sliding sinker rigs. The shallow mud flats along Gator Creek and East Gator Creek usually hold small pods of black drum. You can sometimes see them tailing along East Gator Creek Road but due to the construction work that is being done to Peacocks Pocket Road, that area is still closed to vehicle traffic. Barring any weather setbacks, refuge management expects work on Peacocks Pocket Road to be completed some time during March of 2023. Larger black drum in the 15 to 20 pound category can be found in deeper areas around bridge pilings, docks, ICW channels adjacent to shallow flats, and the deeper waters of Haulover Canal. The best bite usually occurs later in the afternoons when the sun warms the water over the dark mud bottom. Live or dead shrimp and cut baits work best for these fish during the winter months. Later on in the spring when the water warms up, artificial baits will out fish live baits. Many anglers park at the wire rope barrier on Shiloh Road to fish the banks farther up for trout, black drum, redfish, and juvenile tarpon in the summer months. Although there are currently no plans for reopening Shiloh Road to vehicle traffic, anglers can still walk or bike the road to fish the area. Playalinda and Area Beaches
January is considered an outstanding month for Playalinda and other Central Florida Beach surf fishermen targeting Pompano; especially when the cold fronts start moving through our area. After the historic arctic cold front moved through our area last week, the warming weather has already begun to stabilize local water temperatures in the surf and nearshore waters. When water temperatures get into the high 60 to low 70 degree range, we will see more keeper pompano moving in closer to the beach. Steady water temperatures in the mid 60s will keep the pompano active and push the bluefish, mackerel, and flounder into the inlets. Along Central Florida beaches right now, we are seeing more schools of keeper fish moving into the cooler waters. Pompano, whiting, puppy drum, bluefish, and Spanish mackerel are being caught on pompano rigs with colored floats and beads tipped with fresh shrimp and Fishbites. Small silver spoons, Gotcha lures, and Rapala X-Rap lipped diving plugs in these same areas were also making good catches of bluefish, Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, and jacks. A simple Frisky Fins pompano rig or Pompano Rich rig with some fresh shrimp or clam tipped with fish gum or Fishbites has been the go to bait for many surf fishermen in the Coco and Melbourne beach areas. The best bites came to anglers who custom tied their pompano rigs and used electric chicken Fishbites and fresh shrimp as bait.  Although sand fleas are definitely the bait of choice for the majority of Pompano fishermen, during the winter months they are hard to find; which is probably why fresh shrimp has lately been the preferred bait of choice. A lot of surf fishermen substitute Fishbites, salted clam strips, blanched sand fleas, or small bits of shrimp tipped with Fishbites on their 2 and 3 dropper pompano rigs when live sand fleas are not available. Playalinda Beach has been closed due to hurricane damage to the dunes and the beach entrance ramps; however, Apollo Beach farther north and the beaches farther south of Playalinda are open to surf fishermen who have been making some good catches. Management expects Playalinda to partially reopen on January 3rd with lots 1,2,3,4,6, and 7open to the public. The northern lots will remain closed due to extensive damage of the boardwalks and dunes. For some reason, the surf fishermen in the Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral area have been catching more black "puppy" drum in the surf than in other areas of Brevard County. Also, the pompano, whiting, and bluefish caught in these areas seemed to be much larger than in most other areas.  Knowing how to read the beach and the water makes the difference between a successful fishing trip and a skunk. Too often anglers in a hurry to setup, including myself, waste time fishing an area where there is a swell and current happening nearby. Successful surf fishermen are able to distinguish depth changes, runouts, troughs, and ebbing waters off the rip currents that pose the best opportunities for holding fish even in the most challenging conditions. The west winds we have been getting has given us some decent surf and near shore shark fishing. Surf fishermen specifically targeting sharks have been making good catches of blacktips on whole and fresh chunked baits. Some larger sharks are being caught from the shore using an entire fish carcasses for bait. The sharks seem to have specific preferences on a daily basis, so vary your baits and methods. We have also been a few reports of smaller sharks that are cutting off hooked fish being retrieved too slowly by surf anglers on pompano rigs. Not much can be done about it except to reel faster or set another rod out rigged for sharks. A wire, steel, or heavy mono leader with a large hook on a sliding sinker rig will get the job done! Port Canaveral Nearshore and Offshore
The nearshore bite out of Port Canaveral has been good for bluefish, Spanish mackerel, jack Crevalle, ladyfish and pompano when the seas are calm enough for boaters to get out. With the recent cold temperatures that we’ve experienced this past week; anglers should start seeing tripletail, weakfish, and possibly a few cobia showing up along our near coastal waters. Anglers slow trolling Rapala X-Rap lipped diving plugs and small spoons are currently catching most of the above species close to the beach and throughout the Port. Boat anglers casting these lures using a fast retrieve can also getting lots of action from these fish once located. This week, the cold temperatures produced a hot bite in the deep water basins and shipping channel at Port Canaveral and as water temperatures outside of Port Canaveral continue to fall down into the middle 60 degree range, the action should only get better. Sheepshead, pompano, lane snapper, gag grouper, whiting, permit, blue runners, snook, redfish, and the previously mentioned species are also hitting live shrimp on a light (1/8 to 1/4 ounce) jig head around the drop offs and rocky areas at the port. The sheepshead bite in particular has been off the charts around rough structure.  Although they are out of season, Snook are still biting around all of our inlets and should continue as long as water temperatures don't get too cold. Anglers using live croakers, pinfish, mullet, mojarra, and live shrimp have been scoring well on these fish. If the January weather predictions out of the port are accurate, we can expect surface water temps offshore to be in the 66 degree range with average seas. This allows offshore anglers to target blackfin tuna, wahoo, mahi, and sailfish. When the winds are cooperating offshore, bottom fishermen on charter and "deep sea fishing" boats normally make good catches of mutton snapper, mangrove snapper, lane snapper, blue runners, trigger fish, black sea bass, grouper, and sometimes a few cobia that show up over the reefs. The snapper bite peaks in January and anglers targeting them will be able to find most snapper species moving into water as shallow as 50 feet. As long as the seas remain calm in January, the bite along the 60 to 90 foot reefs for King Mackerel should be consistent for anglers slow trolling live baits or frozen sardines on stinger rigs. We can also expect to see some scattered cobia over these same 60 to 90 foot reefs. Closer nearshore when the Manta rays start to show up, the cobia will not be far behind. On calm days with good visibility, many anglers sight cast them using live baits, hair jigs, jig and eel combinations, etc.  Tripletail is another species that will be coming nearshore this month in better numbers. A few were caught along the buoys, weed lines, and near shore wrecks and reefs during December, but January is when the larger fish start appearing along surface structures. St. Johns River American Shad Every year in East Central Florida anglers get a Christmas gift that migrates up the St Johns River to spawn, called the American shad. American shad are an anadromous species and like Salmon spend four or five years in the ocean before returning to their freshwater birthplaces to spawn. Every major river along the Eastern coast of North America from the St. Johns River in Florida, all the way north to the St Lawrence River on the Canadian boarder, will experience the annual winter spawn of these two to five pound fish.  American shad and their smaller cousin the Hickory shad generally start to show up in the Middle Basin of the St. Johns River in early December and continue to migrate upstream in small schools throughout the season. The peak of the run is from mid January through mid February, but each year is different. Depending on the year, water levels, and temperatures, shad can be caught in the Middle and Upper Basins of the St. Johns and tributaries like the Econlockhatchee River until sometime in March, but fish can be in the river as early as May, and as late as October. When water levels are low, many anglers hike in from the Brumley Road trailhead to fish the Econ with light spinning and fly tackle. Prime shad fishing areas are the middle and upper basins of the river. On the lower part of the Middle Basin where the water is deeper and wider, most shad fishing is done south of Lake Monroe and north of Lake Harney. The Mullet Lake Park, Cameron Wright Park, and Lemon Bluff areas is where boaters launch to slow troll small lures until they locate a school of fish. When a concentration of fish is located, they normally drop anchor to thoroughly fish the area. American shad travel in loose schools so where one fish is found, you can expect to find others. Anglers will generally catch several fish using this technique before the fish move on; then the tactic is repeated until more fish are found. Most anglers in this area use small shad darts, jigs, or small spoons. Fly fishermen use sinking lines and weighted flies to get their lures down closer to the fish. On the upper part of the Middle Basin, the best shad fishing occurs south of Lake Harney and north of S.R. 50 (C.S. Lee Park, Hatbill Park, and the Highway 50 Boat Ramp). The most popular area is the section of river between S.R. 46 and Puzzle Lake, which includes the mouth of the Econ. When the water is in its banks, the river from Puzzle Lake through Hatbill to S.R. 50, twists and turns in a maze of swift current winding channels. Although this entire stretch of river is perfect for shallow draft boats, kayaks, and canoes, it also has a lot of airboat traffic and the largest concentration of 10 foot plus alligators in the country. It is also a good area for fly fishermen and anglers using conventional light spinning tackle. Both American and Hickory shad are found in areas of the river with a good current and a nice firm, clean bottom. Shad are broadcast spawners, and do not normally congregate in slow moving water with mucky or silty bottoms. Good areas to target are areas of the river that split and come together, the heads and tails of pools in the river bends, areas outside the current along deep pools, eddies and seams, areas where the speed of the current increases or decreases, and areas where the water depth noticeably changes. American Shad in the St Johns River appear to do little to no feeding during their spawning migration, however, they will still strike bright, flashy lures. The trick to catching shad is to look for spawning or feeding fish. Spawning fish will generally ignore a fly or lure. Feeding fish on the other hand will aggressively nail flies and small lures on the top or just under the surface. Shad darts, small fixed hook Nungesser and Johnson spoons, plastic or hair panfish jigs, and small Road Runners are all classic classic lures for shad fishermen using light or ultralight spinning tackle. A 4 wt to 6 wt fly rod with a sinking line and small #4 to #8 weighted patterns that hug the bottom is perfect for catching shad. The fish don't seem to care about patterns or color as much as the profile of the fly.  Clouser Minnows
, Crazy Charlies
, Horrors, Muddler Minnows, and other small weighted patterns found in most fly boxes will all produce fish, but bright colors like white, yellow, chartreuse, florescent orange, and hot pink are preferred when it comes to shad
fishing. Keeping a variety of weighted and color patterns with you if the fish start getting picky is a good idea. When searching for shad, always look for diving birds that feed on small minnows or concentrations of grass shrimp. It's a good bet that areas where birds are feeding are probably where the shad are feeding. The best way to find where the fish are on any given day is to talk to local fishermen, bait shop owners, local shad fishing guides, or search the internet for shad fishing reports. When you find a general area, congregations of fishermen along the bank or anchored just off the bank will generally indicate where the fish are holding. Don't be shy about asking questions, most anglers are happy to provide information about the bite and what baits are hot. Shad fillets are sweet and delicate but they have a lot of tiny bones that should be removed before cooking. The roe is a delicacy that is hard to beat when lightly sautéed in garlic butter. The state record for American Shad on the St. Johns River is 5.19 pounds; but the average size for shad in the St Johns is around 2 to 3 pounds. There is a 10 fish aggregate bag limit for American and Hickory Shad if you plan on harvesting them. A freshwater and saltwater fishing license is required to fish for them. Haulover Canal Cold fronts in our area make the deep waters of Haulover Canal a holding area for black drum, redfish, sea trout, snook, tarpon, Mangrove Snapper, and a variety of other species.
The unseasonal cold snap last week brought in the above species along with anglers that lined both sides of the canal fishing for Mangrove snapper, reds and big black drum. Last week bank fishermen at Haulover were catching some keeper mangrove snapper on shrimp and small cut baits along the coquina outcroppings and bridge fenders.  Live and fresh dead shrimp or small chunks of freshly caught fish on a 2/0 or 3/0 circle hook, with a small split shot or two to get the bait close to the bottom, is the best way to fish for Mangrove snapper in this area without getting hung up on every cast.
During the winter months, some of the largest bull redfish in our area are taken from the deep waters of the canal by anglers using live blue crabs, jumbo shrimp, live pinfish or mullet, and large cut baits. Large, oversize baits account for more big redfish in the 40 to 45 inch category being caught than any other bait. They also minimize the bycatch of hardhead cats and stingrays. For terminal tackle, serious bank fishermen use stout rods, 30 to 60 pound Power Pro or other brand braid, 30 pound or heavier fluorocarbon leaders, a 6/0 circle hook, and enough weight to hold bottom in order to stop a heavyweight red from breaking off on the outcroppings. The deep holes at the mouth of the canal to the Mosquito Lagoon and on the Indian River side consistently produces bull reds and large black drum. When the bite is on, you can often see several boats anchored in these areas dunking live crab or shrimp after reds and big black drum. . Boaters can launch their boats the Bairs Cove boat ramp or at the Beacon 52 boat ramp and anchor at the mouth of the canal out of the ICW. The best bite for black drum and bull redfish is normally just before and a few days after the cold fronts roll through the area. Shrimp and blue crab sections are by far the baits of choice for most black drum anglers. Not much shrimping activity has been reported along the banks of Haulover lately, however it is definitely a good area for netting large shrimp. Most sport shrimpers have been working the areas around the railroad bridge and the ICW up north around Edgewater and Oak Hill. Until next time, Tight Lines, bent rods, and a safe Prosperous New Year to you all!
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