SUPPORT COPY: Your March 2025🐬 Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River Fishing Report
Published: Sat, 03/01/25
Updated: Sat, 03/01/25
Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River Fishing
Newsletter Issue # 188
March 1, 2025
Mosquito Lagoon and Indian
River:
The bite in the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River has been pretty good this past week with most species beginning to move out of their winter staging areas.
The cooler weather we experienced last month lowered water temperatures in the lagoon system and cleared up the water for some great sight fishing.
The warming trend we have been experiencing for the past week raised the water temperatures into the 65 to 66 degree range which has greatly improved the
bite for all our inshore species. With consistent weather conditions forecast for the next couple of weeks, the bite should continue to significantly improve.
Right now in the Mosquito Lagoon and northern Indian River, large schools of redfish and black drum are foraging the flats and are eating artificial baits and live
shrimp.
Black drum in the 30 to 60 pound class have been spawning in the 3 to 6 foot deep flats of the north Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon. Most of the drum in the Indian River are in the 30 to 50 pound class.
Select jumbo shrimp, cut blue crab, sand fleas, fiddlers, or any live crustacean
will catch these fish. A large live shrimp on a jig head pulled slowly along the bottom works really well.
During the late afternoon hours around the mud flats along East Gator Creek (Click on pic below), small pods of black drum mixed with small reds have been pushing wakes tight along the bank within easy casting range.
Most of the drum caught are in the 16 to 24 inch category with a few well over that size.
Live freelined shrimp with a small split shot have been working well on these fish.
The snook bite has also been quite productive in our area. The fish have been congregating around ambush points near schools of baitfish in shallow waters and close to the mangrove roots. Freelined jumbo shrimp have been working best on these fish. A frisky live shrimp tipped on a jig head will also produce good results on black drum as well as snook, slot redfish, and larger sea trout if they are in the
area.
The deeper waters along the mangrove drop offs are holding snook, smaller to slot size sea trout, and sheepshead that are feeding on the barnacles growing on the mangrove roots. Anglers have been using 3 to 5 inch paddletail baits and Mirr-O-lure Little John baits rigged on 3/16 th and 1/8 th oz jig heads on
the trout, and peeled shrimp and sand fleas on the sheepshead with a great deal of success.
Skip casting dark colored Tsunami 3.5″ paddle tail baits, D.O.A. jerkbaits, 3 1/2" paddle tail baits on 1/8th oz. jig heads, 5" jerk shads on 1/8th oz. weedless hooks remains to be the best way to get hookups when the fish are under the mangroves, tight on the bank.
With the recent influx of baitfish in the lagoon system, the top water fishing is beginning to pick up. The topwater bite has been consistent over the past couple of weeks and should improve throughout the month of March. A wide range of bait sizes are being targeted; from shrimp and glass minnows to the larger mullet.
Large (gator) sea trout will be the prime target of springtime anglers tossing topwater baits like the Chug Bug, Badonk-A-Donk, Skitter Walk, Zara Spook, etc. during the morning hours, and plastic swim baits like Creme's Spoiler Shad, D.O.A. Cal Shad Tails, and saltwater Shad Assassin baits during the late morning hours into the afternoon. As far as lure size is concerned; 3″ and 5″ paddle tail baits have been working equally well.
Although lone gator sea trout will usually be found following the bait pods, they are often mingled among the schools of redfish and black drum that are now cruising the ledges adjacent to the shallower flats.
Live croakers, pinfish, fingerling mullet, and jumbo shrimp are also great baits
for large gator trout, especially when fished under a noisy Cajun Thunder type float.
Sheepshead are still
plentiful around the bridge pilings, sea walls, coquina outcroppings, and rocky jetties in our area and you don't need fancy tackle to catch them. They are plentiful, easy to find, fight hard, and taste great.
Single hook dropper loop bottom rigs made of 20 pound fluorocarbon and a 1 or 2 oz bank sinker, with a loop knot above the weight and a sharp No. 1 or No. 2 hook are a good way to catch these bait stealers. The rig keeps tension on the line which allows you to
feel the slightest bite. The rounded edges on bank sinkers minimizes snagging on structure.
Playalinda and Area Beaches:
Surf fishing along East Central Florida beaches has been steady with plenty of "puppy" black drum, whiting, a few pompano and palometa showing up this past week. The catch is accompanied with baby sharks and bluefish which adds some variety to the bag.
With the warmer temperatures we are having, the pompano are moving northwards again in search of cooler
water.
The southeast winds have dirtied the water along the beach and brought in a lot of weeds, but the fish don't seem to mind. Surf anglers have been making nice catches of whiting and pompano during the last two hours of incoming tides and the first of the outgoing tides in areas of clean greenish blue water.
However, a lot of guys swear that the best bite is on the falling tides.
Baits of choice are live sand fleas tipped with FishGum or Fishbites, and small thumbnail pieces of peeled shrimp rigged on a pompano rig with a chartreuse or orange float. Float colors seem to vary according to anglers. One day it is orange, the next day pink or white, the next day chartreuse. Who really knows?
Farther out from the beach, anglers are catching some mackerel, spinner sharks, black tips, and a few tarpon.
Anglers targeting sharks this month will find a lot of blacktips in the surf.
Fresh chunk baits, live baits, and fresh shrimp are all good baits for smaller blacktips. For larger sharks most anglers have been using large chunks of bonito or other fish carcass and stingray wings for bait. Wire leaders, large circle hooks, and stout tackle are the norm for sharks.
When
fishing for sharks from the beach; remember to complete the free FWC land based shark course and carry the permit on your person.
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.
Port Canaveral Nearshore and Offshore:
March
Madness is here again at Port Canaveral, so bring on the cobia!
Although cobia are caught all year long in our area, March is historically when the cobia migration peaks along our beaches.
When water temperatures hit the 70 degree mark, the manta rays will appear in greater numbers nearshore, shadowed by the cobia.
This is the time of year when many anglers sight fish for free swimming cobia near shore. You need relatively clean water, sunny skies, and a high
platform to spot them.
Cobia can be found over structure, free swimming in open water, following manta rays, turtles, sharks, and around almost any floating structure. Right now, cobia and tripletail have been seen hanging around the marker buoys, weed lines, and other floating structure out of Port Canaveral and should still be around this month, but in better numbers.
Cobia are not very picky or smart, however they can be finicky. They will eat bucktail jigs, plastic baits, live bunker, pinfish, mullet, or other fish, live eels, live jumbo shrimp, whole squid, and combinations of these. Some days they will eat anything and some days they will snub their noses at everything you offer them.
A light tipped 7 foot medium action rod with enough backbone to stick the hook, a 40 pound Power Pro or other brand braid, and a 50 pound leader with an 8/0 circle hook, is all you need to toss a live bait to a cobia.
Offshore, bottom fishing boats like the Ocean Obsession out of Sunrise Marina at Port Canaveral are already pulling some nice cobia over the rail along with triggerfish, mangrove snapper, lane snapper, vermillion, and mutton snapper. The bottom species that have been most consistent are triggerfish and lane snapper.
The snapper bite on most structure out of Port Canaveral is reported to be good to excellent by
anglers fishing with chicken rigs with squid, sardines, pilchards, chunked reef fish, and live baits.
The kingfish bite out of Port Canaveral during February has been sporadic in between the breaks in the wind. Some days they are on the reefs in good numbers, and other days they are ghosts.
On good days, Pelican, 8A, and other area reefs have been producing decent kingfish and a few cobia on slow trolled live baits. For the last few days the kingfish bite on Pelican and 8A has been just fine using frozen minnows or live baits on stinger rigs. As the month progresses, the bite for mahi and kingfish out of the port
on the 70 to 90 foot reefs will continue to improve. Although Pelican and 8A often have some big king mackerel, most fish this time of the year are running around 10 pounds.
Trolling along our beaches has been good for bluefish and Spanish mackerel. According to several captains, Spanish mackerel counts have
hit 40 fish on some trips and are expected to increase during the month of March as waters continue to warm up.
Offshore anglers that can weather the trip to the gulfstream can expect to hook into mahi, wahoo, blackfin tunas, sailfish, king mackerel, and yellowfins. Last month high speed trollers were
picking up some nice wahoo on large dark colored lures. Smaller baits were accounting for good numbers of dolphin and blackfin tuna.
Haulover Canal:
The deep waters of Haulover Canal are haven for black drum, redfish,
sea trout, snook, tarpon, Mangrove Snapper, gag grouper, and a variety of other species.
Shoreline fishermen last month were peppering the bridge fenders and coquina outcroppings with live shrimp, fiddler crabs, and sand fleas for sheepshead and mangrove snapper which will continue throughout this month..
Although redfish are now strictly catch and release in East Central Florida, a lot of anglers enjoy the pull of a giant bull redfish, and some of the largest bull redfish of the season are caught from the canal during the spring.
.
Large oversize baits minimize the by catch of hard head catfish and stingrays and account for more big redfish in the 40 inch and over category.
Right now, black drum up to 60 pounds are also being caught in Haulover. The fish have been sheltering in the deep waters of the canal and have been moving onto the deeper flats to spawn.
Sections of blue crab, jumbo shrimp, and clams are baits of choice for drum in our area
Serious fishermen who target the bull reds and huge black drum in the canal gear up with stout rods, 30 to 60 pound Power Pro or other brand braid, 30 pound or heavier fluorocarbon leaders, 8/0 circle hooks, and enough weight to hold bottom.
The deep holes at both mouths of the canal to the Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River consistently produces big fish..
Boaters uaually launch their vessels from the Bairs Cove boat ramp or the Beacon 52 boat ramp, and anchor off the ICW at either mouth of the canal.
