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Port Canaveral Report Updated September 30 , 2008
Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Forecast, October 2008
Mosquito Creek Outdoors, Apopka Florida
Gazing out across the field behind the home, it is easy to tell fall is in the air. The whitetail bucks that frequent my back yard in the afternoon have rubbed their antlers clean of velvet, and the goldenrods have completed their late summer flush of golden-haired flowers. Another sure sign of fall is the waves of baitfish working their way south through the lagoon and along the beach as the fall bait run commences. Both black and silver mullet, along with Atlantic menhaden (pogies), thread fin herring (greenies), and bay anchovies (glass minnows) have begun their southerly migration in search of warmer waters. This migration creates a smorgasbord of yummy baitfish, which in turn are shadowed by a large array of hungry predators looking to fatten up for the winter.
Weather permitting, near-shore opportunities are the best you will see all year. Target areas along the beaches where you find concentrated bait schools for a mixed bag of snook, tarpon, kingfish, cobia, jack crevalle, oversized redfish, and sharks. Additionally, snook fishing in the surf will improve as the baitfish move south along the beach. And let's not overlook the schools of glass minnows showing up bringing larger Spanish mackerel, bluefish, and tarpon with them.
In and around the inlets of Ponce, Port Canaveral, and Sebastian look for flounder, snook, jack crevalle, and oversized redfish feeding on migrating baitfish along the jetties and just outside the inlets. When fishing in the inlets, heavy easterly swells, falling tides, and aggressive anglers can make for dangerous angling conditions, so please pay attention, be patient and work together, and enjoy the rewards.
In the north Indian River and Mosquito Lagoons, higher water levels will allow anglers to venture into areas normally inaccessible during the spring and summer months. Look for slot redfish in close to the grassy edges along the shoreline shadowing pods of finger mullet, and for the larger redfish staged in deeper water ambush sites where migrating mullet are forced to venture out from the safety of the shallow flats. In deeper water areas, look for ladyfish, spotted sea trout, jacks, and tarpon feeding on schools of glass minnows. These schools of fish are located by watching for bird and fish activity. Once located, these schools will produce explosive action on small top water plugs, or popping bug flies. Also, if you locate a school of the larger black mullet, try fishing spoons or soft plastic D.O.A. Shrimp slowly under the school. Even though, mullet are vegetarians, redfish and sea trout will often mingle in feeding on shrimp and crabs kicked up from the bottom by feeding mullet.
9/30/08
Mosquit Lagoon Fishing Report, by Chris Myers
Mornings on the Mosquito Lagoon have become a bit cooler and yesterday I saw the
first white pelican, a sign that summer is over. The Lagoon is full of baitfish of all sizes.
Mullet are the primary forage and there have been plenty of them. Since the storm in
late August, the water levels have remained extremely high. This gives the fish plenty
of places to roam. September's weather, on average, was less than pleasant with a lot
of clouds, wind, and rain. When I was able to get out, I found myself having to look for
the fish in places that are usually much too shallow to travel. Some days were quite
good and others not so productive. My best day was mid month when I landed 6
tarpon, 7 reds, a trout, and 2 jacks, most of them on fly.
The redfish have been frequenting sandy holes and troughs around islands and
shorelines. When you can find them, they have been willing to eat a variety of baits
including DOA CALS and Baitbusters, flies, and topwater plugs.
With the water being so deep, they have been a bit less spooky than average. You
may find them finning in the surface or crashing mullet early in the morning. The rest
of the day, they have been in deeper depressions.
Big trout have been active around the baitfish schools throughout the day. While they
will eagerly take a topwater plug, there is usually too much grass floating on the
surface to work one effectively. The DOA Chughead on a CAL tail is a weedless
topwater option.
Tarpon have been thick on some days and nowhere to be found on others. When you
find them, they will willingly eat a small fly or 3" CAL bait.
Schools of jacks and ladyfish can be found busting on the surface on areas holding
mullet and glass minnows. They will usually hit most any bait you throw. Some days,
however, they are really targeting the small baits and will ignore bigger offerings.
Watch for diving terns and pelicans to alert you to their location.
Yesterday's charter was with Bruce from Washington state. We began the day with a
school of finning redfish. On his second cast with an EP Mullet fly, Bruce hooked his
first redfish.
Our second stop was holding another school that quickly vanished into some deeper
dirty water. Spot three was holding both small schools and singles. Bruce caught two
on a DOA CAL in Silver Rush and had several more bites that were missed.
The clouds soon blocked out the sun and the sight fishing was over. After Bruce
landed a couple trout, we noticed some jacks and ladyfish busting some glass
minnows. We rigged up the 5wt flyrod and spent the last hour with some nonstop
action.
October should be a good month with the fish feeding heavily in anticipation of winter.
Baits that imitate mullet will be effective throughout the month. Everything will be
eating them from fish to birds and even the dolphin.
Captain Tom Van Horn
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters Near Shore & Inshore Flats Fishing Capt. Tom Van Horn 407-366-8085 Cell 407-416-1187 Toll Free 866-790-8081

  
  
  
Robert with
a Respectable Barramundi
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FISHING: LOOSING A FISHING PARTNER BY:
CAPTAIN JACK JACKSON
She was born in Louisville, Kentucky some short 55 years ago. Raised
the daughter of an avid outdoorsman, she grew up on dove, rabbit, and a
lot of bluegills, bass, and crappie. Charlene learned to fish with a
canepole at the side of her father, spending two weeks every summer,
fishing for perch and northern pike just outside the town of Cedarville,
Michgan.
While she loved to fish, her main thrust in life was always as a
care-giver, whether it be to her family or others in need. She graduated
from St. Louis University as a Physical Therapist, but then joined a
red-headed fishermen on their new "Ship of Fate". It was here that her
real colors of devotion to her husband and family became obvious.
She loved being on and in the water. Two weeks into her married life,
we spent a week in the Land-Between-the-Lakes in SW Kentucky with my
family. She wanted to take her trusted canepoles to fish with, but her
new "know-it-all" husband had better equipment: real stuff like Mitchell
300’s and Ambassador reels. The cane poles stayed home. After three days
of being flooded by torrential rains and no fish, we left, driving by
the launch ramp one more time. One small boat with two old fishermen was
just pulling in with a stringer of bass that turned us green with envy.
Asked how they caught them, they reported that they just used canepoles
and worms in the treetops. Charlene never said a word, but she had that
"I told you so!" smile on her lips.
She did whatever it took to make her family happy. As a newlywed, she
followed me down an old creek in Southwestern Ohio in the middle of the
night looking for frogs. The snakes and spiders that she despised didn’t
bother her that night.
Unquestioning, she followed me to Western New York for my first job,
while putting her career on hold. When she was six months pregnant, she
went along on a camping trip some 500 miles north of Toronto to Lake
Abitibi and the Ghost River. Hanging over the bow of our small boat she
would scan the waters in front and yell "log!" so we could pull up the
motor and not shear another pin on the propeller. After reaching the
calm deep waters adjacent to the big lake, she would apply her fishing
skills and catch all she wanted. She put up with a lot on that trip. I
can still see her retreating into the woods after my father announced
that we were having fried trout for breakfast.
Eventually, after having three little fishes of our own, we found
ourselves back in the Midwest, but still looking for water. Once again,
placing all her faith in me, we packed up once more and moved to Vero,
her own "piece of heaven".
With the kids now in school, Charlene could turn back to her care
skills. While she watched me fish, she took care of her patients. Every
so often, the two of us would get time to fish. Now, it was never
enough.
A marriage is similar to a fishing trip. It begins with great
anticipation and planning. Once underway, changes are made to produce
the best results. Sometimes you are lucky enough to just relax and just
drift with currents enjoying your partner and the surroundings.
Sometimes you both have to paddle like mad just to stay afloat.
Afternoon thunderstorms can arise, but as in marriage, you take cover,
ride them out, and wait for the sun to reappear. With any luck, the two
of you will get to enjoy a beautiful sunset at the end of the day,
reminiscing of things caught and lost. Sometimes the day ends much to
quickly, yet always leaves you with memories of a lifetime, loving
memories of Charlene, my wife and partner.
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
As the days grow longer and the ocean begins its gradual warming phase,
the spring fishing bonanza on the Indian Lagoon Coast commences. As
always, weather will serve as the determining factor in establishing the
magnitude and progression of the bite.
Water temperature increases will facilitate the progression of bait pods
(menhaden and mullet) from the deeper water into the near-shore waters
bringing the predator fish with them. Sea conditions will determine the
number of fishable days we'll experience in March. This is especially
true for those of us who target deep-water species in shallow water
boats.
Good catches of cobia have been reported offshore of Stuart, and these
fish should be moving into our area soon. Both the bait pods and cobia
have begun to show up outside Port Canaveral and Sebastian in deeper
water. Once the water warms, look for the large manta rays and bait pods
to move inshore bringing cobia with them. When site fishing for cobia,
keep the sun to your back and consider fishing in the latter part of the
day when the sun is high. Also always keep a chartreuse colored buck
tail in the ready position to cast towards any white-banded big mouth
brown logs you see.
Other near-shore options consist of tripletail hanging on floating
structure weeds and buoys, and giant redfish, jumbo jack carvalle and
sharks shadowing bait pods near the beaches and inlets. The window of
opportunity for cobia can be short, so plan your trip, and pray for calm
seas and hungry fish.
Inshore on the lagoon flats, look for redfish schools to continue to
form up in the skinny water flats. For the slot size redfish, focus on
areas of flipping and jumping baitfish (mullet) in water depths of 12 to
18 inches, and look for the larger redfish along deeper edges of the
flats and sandbars in 2 to 3 feet of water. Also, larger sea trout will
continue to hold in the skinny water potholes, and the top-water sea
trout bite will improve as the warmer water draws returning finger
mullet back into the central IRL. Additionally, schools of black drum
will continue to inhabit the shallow water flats of the Mosquito Lagoon,
North IRL, and particularly the sandbars in the Banana River
No-Motor-Zone.
Last but not least, the American shad run is in full swing in the upper
St John's River between the areas of Lake Harney and the SR 50 Bridge.
Also, March is the month to start targeting schooling large mouth bass
in the deeper bends of the river at first light feeding on schools of
baitfish (menhaden). The signal I us to locate these schooling bass, is
to look for large numbers of white pelicans, herons, and egrets working
the banks. Once you've located the schooling fish, try throwing a
rattle-trap or other small subsurface swim bait.
Spring is one of the best times of year to fish the Indian River Lagoon
coast of Florida. So if you are planning to visit the area for a fishing
adventure, make sure you book your hotel and fishing guide early. Also,
when the bite is on, the ramps fill up quickly, so arrive early, and be
courteous and considerate with other anglers, because we are all on the
water for the same reasons.
As always, if you need information or have any questions, please contact
me
Good luck and good fishing,
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