Your December 2023 🐟 Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River Fishing Report
Published: Fri, 12/01/23
| Newsletter Issue # 173 | December 1, 2023 |
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Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River Fishing |
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 The Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River:
Prior to the last few weeks, the bite for redish, sea trout, snook, and black drum was good throughout the our region. Anglers using topwater baits as well as plastic jerk baits who got out early during Thanksgiving week saw a good bit of action along the mangroves from Wabasso in Veiro, all the way up to the Hog's Point area. The mullet Creek and Washburn Cove areas were producing a lot of topwater action from trout and reds. Farther north around the Pineada Causeway, the topwater bite first thing in the morning was reported to be very good along the banks. Because we have had a lot of East and Northeast winds in these areas, you would expect the West side of the river to be the dirtiest, but for some reason it was just the opposite. The East side of the river has been really dirty and the West side has been fairly clean in comparison; despite the fact that the winds have been blowing for the past couple of weeks. Farther North closer to the Port St. John area, north of SR528 the water clarity situation flip flops and the east side of the river is a lot cleaner. In these cleaner water areas, anglers have been able to sight fish for redfish, sea trout, and an occasional snook with top water baits as well as plastics. Because of the high water levels in the river, the drop offs have not been very productive. The best bite has definitely been tight along the banks for all species. In the Mosquito Lagoon the bite for black drum in the south end is beginning to ramp up, but the water has been relatively dirty along both banks for the past couple of weeks. Most anglers targeting drum have been fishing live shrimp with finger mullet on secondary rods. A lot of guys in the Mosquito Lagoon have been tossing gold spoons and paddletail baits with high visibility tail colors to cover more water and attract bites from sea trout and redfish . The higher water levels are beginning to recede and should improve the clarity of the water as the month progresses. Until the higher water levels get back to normal, look for fish foraging in areas not usually accessible to them. Although live baits work well in high water conditions, you can cover a lot more water fishing with spoons, visible paddletail baits, and shallow plugs. Targeting whats left of the bait pods in shallow areas along the shorelines in the backwaters of the lagoon system is still a good tactic to use this month. The fish will be either mixed in among the baitfish or holding close to them around the pods. Live finger mullet, live shrimp and a variety of surface and sub surface plugs and soft plastics will produce good numbers of fish in these areas. The Rapala Subwalk and the 3 to 5-inch Rapala lures are preferred baits that will produce bites on most days.  Black drum are beginning to school up in the Indian River and the site fishing for redfish, sea trout, and Snook should be been getting better in the backwaters as well as the weather cools. Black drum are similar to their red drum cousins but their feeding habits are much less predatory. Black drum are cumbersome and are usually just too lazy to chase baitfish around. They like easy meals and usually prefer feeding on dead crustaceans and mollusks. They will bite on live blue crabs, fiddler crabs, and shrimp. They will occasionally so after a live finfish if they are feeling frisky; but more often than not, black drum will not expend the energy it takes to chase down a meal. The bite for bull redfish in our lagoon systems has been consistent and should remain that way throughout the balance of the year. Laregr bull redfish will usually stack up in deep holes, around the bridges, in the deep water channels, and around deep water structure . Baits of choice for bull redfish are large blue crabs, live pinfish, and large fist size chunks of mullet or ladyfish. Standard sliding sinker rigs with enough weight to hold bottom are normally used to catch them. Anglers at Haulover Canal have been using 1 to 4 oz. sinkers with 5/0 to 6/0 circle hooks on stout fluorocarbon leaders when targeting bull reds. When the cold weather in Central Florida arrives, it generally means a hot midday bite for most species. The fish in our area have already adjusted to the temperature drop and have changed their feeding patterns accordingly. For the past couple of weeks, the morning bite on most days has been slow, but from mid morning till around late afternoon, the action usually picks up. The backwater and inshore bite is usually best later on in the day; around 2:00 pm. Spotted sea trout are called Gator trout in our area when they exceed 6 pounds in weight. During the Winter months, fishing for gator sea trout in deeper waters with well defined thermoclines can often produce good numbers of big fish. In between the cold fronts, sea trout will generally hold close to their winter holes on the flats and move only short distances to feed. Because the fish are usually less aggressive and want to test or "mouth" artificial lures before they commit to a strike, live baits work best for winter trout.
Small sea shad tails on a jig head smeared up with some Pro-Cure or a fresh live shrimp are good baits to use on winter trout. When you run up on a school, you can often catch a ton of fish in a very short period. During the colder winter months, downsize your baits and slow down your presentations. Small plastic Creme Spoiler Shad or Saltwater Assassin baits in the 2 to 4 inch size produce well on trout when fished very slowly along the bottom. Juvenile and larger size Snook are often found holding tight to the mangrove along the shoreline and the banks of shallow mud bottom creeks in the lagoon system during the winter months. Although they will occasionally swim out to strike a live shrimp, finger mullet, or a well placed lure; skipping a bait under overhanging vegetation works best. The deeper residential canals in the Coco area contain dredge holes with deep layers of mud or silt that provide an additional 2 to 3 degrees of warmth that attract both shrimp and baitfish. These areas will normally hold schools of silver trout, speckled sea trout, smaller Snook, and an occasional redfish. A proven technique for catching these fish is to free line a live shrimp on light line with only a small split shot sinker and a small cork to keep the bait in the water column just above the bottom. Live finger mullet, pigfish, and mojarras also produce using this technique. The trick is to fish the baits super slow. The largest Snook, sea trout, and redfish hold around mangrove roots, older docks, and areas where there is little to no human activity. Abandoned docks, bulkheads, rarely used canals, and even moored, abandoned, or partially sunken boats will often hold baitfish that the larger fish target. Port Canaveral Offshore, Nearshore, and Inlet Fishing: December is when Port Canaveral offshore anglers start rigging ballyhoo to target the migrating Wahoo, Mahi, blackfin tuna, kingfish, and sailfish along the weed lines and temperature breaks. Kingfish and Mahi are normally found around the weed lines, temperature breaks, and color changes in depths up to 500 feet. Blackfin tuna and wahoo are normally caught by anglers trolling skirted ballyhoo in the 180 to 240 foot depths. As the weather continues to cool down this month, the fishing for Wahoo and Sailfish, that prefer cooler water temperatures, will improve dramatically. The December kingfish run out of the Port can make for some great fun on the water when the weather permits. A lot of inshore kingfish will be caught in shallower water this month by anglers pulling slow trolled live baits on stinger rigs. Many anglers start fishing in 100 feet or so and put out a couple of black and purple skirted or naked ballyhoo for sails as they go deeper. Nearshore anglers have been catching a lot of jacks, bluefish, tripletail, Spanish Mackerel, mangrove snapper, bull redfish, and bull whiting around the inlets .  Bottom fishing during the winter months can be extremely productive, but weather conditions are volatile and change rapidly. When the ocean allows deep sea fishing out of Port Canaveral, bottom fishermen can expect to catch good numbers of mangrove, vermilion snapper, trigger fish, porgies, and gray or scamp grouper over the 160 foot and deeper wrecks and reefs. King mackerel, cobia, and the usual variety of sharks will also be holding over the 70 to 120 foot reefs and wrecks throughout our area. Canaveral Bight is a hot spot for bull redfish, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, pompano, whiting, and an occasional tarpon when the northwestern cold fronts start to swing into our area. Right now, a few tarpon are still cruising nearshore in the bite tearing up the baitfish schools. When the cold fronts swing into our area, the winter run flounder will start showing up near shore just outside of the breakers, inside of Port Canaveral, and around the jetties at the west end of Jetty Park. When the flounder run ramps into high gear, the sea walls at Ports End Park, the pier at the park, and most other accessible areas will be crowed with anglers after these tasty fish. Most anglers target flounder with finger mullet, mud minnows, or live shrimp on short sliding sinker rigs. Small hair jigs tipped with a small piece of shrimp for bait, or a bare jig head tipped with a live mud minnow or finger mullet bounced off the bottom, is a great way to cover ground and find concentrations of flounder. Most winter flounder caught in our area are under 5 pounds, but doormats of up to 8 pounds are occasionally landed. Flounder season in our area opens December 1st with new size and bag limits. Surf Fishing:
December is when wintertime surf fishing along the Space Coast ramps into high gear. The cooling water temperatures bring pompano,whiting, bluefish,black drum, ladyfish, and many other species in close to the sand. It is also the peak month to pursue pompano along the beaches from Playalinda all the way down to to Sebastan. In Brevard County, the keys to catching pompano in the surf are water temperature, water clarity, and beach contours. The north to south migration is entirely driven by water temperatures which is why you have deviations from year to year. When the ocean water temperature drops below 75 degrees F. and there is food is present, the migrating pompano will hold in the area. Because they are sight feeders, water clarity influences which beaches and how far from shore the migrating pompano will roam. Clean emerald green water areas with tropical blue colors provide the highest probability of finding fish. The wind patterns determine the dirtiness or cleanness of the water along the beach. Northern winds generally clean the water up while offshore winds dirty the water. Avoid areas where beach re-nourishment projects are being carried out. The dumping of dirt along the beaches screws up the water and buries crustaceans like sand fleas that the pompano feed on. . Although tactics for pompano vary, most experienced surf anglers use two and three hook pompano rigs with bare hooks or chartreuse, green, red, or white floats and multicolored beads to keep the baits just off the bottom. Top baits include sand fleas, Fishbites, fresh clams, and peeled bits of shrimp. The clam scented strips of Fishbites, work almost as well as fresh clams and won't come off the hook. Cast the rigs out in varied patterns. Toss some out past the sandbars and others closer into the inner troughs. Covering all your bases will identify where the fish are feeding at any given time. The recent cold front has dropped the water temperature in the surf and we are beginning to experience almost ideal water conditions for pompano. When the temperature is in the preferred range, between 65 and 75 degrees F., the fish will be moving into our area in greater numbers. The by catch of pompano fishing often results in great catches of whiting, black drum, Spanish mackerel, and even permit. In general, winter pompano prefer deep water and will move around until they locate a food source at the right water temperature where they congregate in tight schools. A lot of anglers like to fish the first trough and slightly beyond with chunked baits, small plugs, or rapidly retrieved spoons like the Lure Jenson for bluefish, jacks, ladyfish, and Spanish mackerel. Pompano Rich’s pompano rigs, Frisky Fins (rattle rigs), and Salty pompano rigs have been deadly around Melbourne beaches and are the three go to set ups for many beach fishermen. Last week anglers in the Cocoa Beach and south Patrick areas were catching some smaller pompano and a few keeper-sized fish. Reports for pompano have been sporadic all along the east coast, with a few early schools moving our way. It’s only a matter of time before the big schools start showing up.  The drop in water temperature that brings in the baitfish and other desired dinner table species, also attracts sharks. When targeting sharks from the sand; remember to complete the free FWC land based shark course and carry the permit with you. To get the permit, you need to take an educational course at MyFWC.com/SharkCourse which consists of a quiz and some educational videos. After you create an account and pass the test, (which you can re-take if you fail) your certificate will have an ID code unique to you. Refresher courses are also available. Get out on the beach early in the morning for the best action regardless of species; the bite usually slows down and comes to a halt later in the day. Haulover Canal: Haulover Canal fishing this month is almost always good for bull redfish and oversize black drum. During Thanksgiving week, bank fishermen along the banks at Haulover were catching mostly oversize Black Drum along and a few redfish up to 40 inches. Boaters normally anchor over the deep holes at both entrances to the canal, and along the bridge abutments (click pic below) to fish blue crabs, jumbo shrimp, and cut baits along the bottom.  Most large redfish are caught by anglers using a whole blue crab for bait on sliding sinker rigs and enough lead to hold bottom. The majority of black drum caught in Haulover are in the 10 to 14 pound category but anglers frequently land some huge drum from the deep waters.
Redfish in Haulover can run from slot size all the way up to 46 inches in length. Shrimping along the banks of Haulover Canal used to be popular with local residents, but fewer people seem to be interested in shrimping these days. The shrimp in the canal still run in good numbers and are considerably larger than those netted in the Oak Hill area and farther north, but the shrimpers have disappeared. The northwest side of the railroad bridge and both fishing piers at the A. Max Brewer bridge seem to be the most popular spots for sport shrimpers using dip nets. Until next time, Tight Lines and bent rods!
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