Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River: 

Water levels in the Mosquito Lagoon are pretty low and the water is crystal clear in most areas which makes for some grerat sight casting.

The blast of arctic air that moved into Central Florida this past week had a definite affect on the bite in the shallow waters of the Mosquito Lagoon and northern section of the Indian River.  The fish are chewing but they are hard to catch.

The snook bite in particular from north of New Smyrna Beach, all the way down past Melbourne, Fl. was put in a state of suspended animation by the freezing temperatures, however, at the date of this post, the bite is already picking up.

Snook, sea trout, and some redfish have moved into deeper waters where they will remain until the water temperatures began to warm up again. The fish holding in these deeper waters are somewhat concentrated and can be caught on lighter tackle with live baits and small scented soft plastic baits.  The trick to success in these areas is to fish artificial baits very slowly.

Although the water temps in the northern Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River were in the 57 to 59 degree range, todays water temperature is in the 64 to 65 degree range where it will hopefully remain until this report is posted.   This warming trend should improve the bite for all of our Central Florida inshore species..

Redfish, sea trout, black drum and snook usually feed heavily after a cold front passes through the area and are often found cruising the deeper, mangrove covered shorelines.  Skip casting a live shrimp, a dark colored Tsunami 3.5″ paddle tail bait, D.O.A. jerkbait,  3 1/2" paddle tail bait on a 1/8th oz. jig head, or topwater baits like the Badonk-A-Donk is a great way to get hookups when the fish are tight on the bank under the mangroves.   Dark green or brown colors with a red or gold flake have been the best producing plastic baits.  

Many local anglers target gator size sea trout during the winter months and February is arguably one of the best months fo fish for them.

In the Mosquito Lagoon during the late afternoon hours, gator size sea trout can often be found  mingled in with the schools of black drum and redfish that are often meandering around the eastward facing ledges adjacent to the shallower flats.   

Live shrimp, fingerling mullet, and cut baits work best in these scenarios.  In fact a frisky live shrimp tipped on a jig head will always produce good results on snook, slot redfish, and larger sea trout if they are in the area.

During windy days, look for gator size sea trout on the lee side of the clinkers, in the sloughs, and sheltered troughs where they stage to ambush an easy meal.  A pinfish, croaker, mullet, or jumbo shrimp fished under a noisy popping cork is hard to beat for catching large sea trout in these areas. 

During the warmer days in betweeen the cold fronts, large see trout will often stage close to their winter potholes where they seldom move more than a short distance to grab a meal.   Stealthy accurate presentations with lighter tackle are necessary for these fish.

This week we are looking at 25 degree night temperatures which will cause a lot of under slot sea trout to stack up in the deeper holes, residential canals, channels, and sloughs.  Slowly presented live baits, small jigs, and plastic swimbaits all work well on these fish.

February is when sheepshead mania peaks along the Space Coast.  

Large schools of sheepshead congregate on nearshore structure to spawn during the winter months which makes them easier to find.

If you can locate some rocky, craggy, reef like structure around clean deep water this month, you will probably find some sheepshead. Bridge pilings, sea walls, rocky jetties, coquina outcroppings, and shallow water near shore wrecks and reefs are all likely areas that can hold sheepshead this month.

Surf anglers targeting sheepshead should head to beaches with extensive reefs like those around Satellite Beach at Patrick Space Force Station.    Bank fishermen can find them at Ponce Inlet, Jetty Park at Port Canaveral, Sebastian Inlet State Park, and around any bridge piling.  The fishing piers at the A. Max Brewer Bridge, the docks behind the condos in Titusville, the pilings at the railroad bridge, and the bridge fenders at Haulover Canal are also productive areas to target sheepshead.

A single hook dropper loop bottom rig 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.is a good rig to use from a boat, pier, or sea wall.    The "chicken like"  rig keeps tension on the line which allows the angler to feel the slightest bite, and the rounded edges on the bank sinker minimizes snagging.  

Many sheepshead anglers just use a long shank #2 hook with a small split shot about a foot above the hook on three feet of fluorocarbon leader to catch these bait stealers.

The preferred bait for sheepshead is a small or medium size sand flea or small fiddler crab.  Larger baits are more easily picked off the hook by these notorious bait stealers whereas a small sand flea or fiddler is often taken in one bite; hook and all.

Inshore, the black drum are still around in the Mosquito Lagoon in very good numbers.  Last week one of the charter captains in our area reported a large school of 800 to 1,000 black drum on one flat.  The fish were eager to bite on live and fresh dead shrimp but the next day, they developed lockjaw and refused almost everything that was being tossed to them.     
 

Black Drum in the 20 to 60 pound class can be found in the 3 to 6 foot deep flats in the north Indian River and the Mosquito Lagoon this month in preparation for the spawn.   Most spawning fish in the Indian River flats are in the 30 to 50 pound class.

In the Mosquito Lagoon, you can usually find black drum schools cruising around Cucumber Island and the flats along Bio Lab Road in the southern end..  Up north, the schools can be found  around the deeper dropoffs and deep water areas between Tiger Shoal and George's Bar.   The drum in this are in the 25 to 50 pound class, with most fish between 25 and 30 pounds.   

Large live shrimp, cut crab, sand fleas, or any live crustacean will catch these fish.   

The shallow flats in the northern part of the Indian River around Patillo Creek, the mud flats along Gator Creek Road, and the southern section of the Mosquito Lagoon usually hold small to medium size schools of black drum the year round.  A lot of bank fishermen target these areas for black drum and redfish with live or fresh dead shrimp on sliding sinker rigs.