Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report

[Captain Tom Van Horn]

Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report, February 15, 2005

 

Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters

 

Although much of my angling adventures over last several weeks were limited to manning the Coastal Angler Magazine Traveling Lagoon Booth at the Bass Pro Shop Spring Classic, I still managed to sneak away and stretch a line on a several occasions. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy spending time on the water more than anything, well almost anything, but my time spent conducting seminars and meeting new and old friends was both rewarding and enlightening. As a lifelong lagoon angler, I feel it’s important to communicate ethics and values when the opportunity arises, so everyone enjoys their experiences on the water.

 

Inshore, the north Indian River Lagoon and Mosquito Lagoon have been the hot ticket, with schools of slot and rat redfish abundant on just about ever flat explored. Most of the schools have been in the range of 30 to 50 fish, but I have heard reports of some larger schools reaching the two to three hundred fish mark. For the past several years, I have seen a significant increase in the number of small spring redfish (rats) in the 10 to 17 inch sizes. Redfish are fast growers, increasing in size at a rate of 1 inch a month, and if you do the math, next spring these fish will be in the upper slot. This increase also supports the fact that our lagoon system serves as one of the only inshore spawning areas for redfish.

 

In addition, a large number of sea trout have been holding up in the skinny water sand pockets (pot holes) up close to the shoreline. Although these trout are sizeable and plentiful, they have had lockjaw on the all on the opportunities I had last week. The water is extremely clear, and the trout start pushing off as soon as the bait hits the water. Clearly, the best way to target these fish is on foot, and not in the skiff.

 

Another area I fish last week was power plants and canales around Port St John. It seems the ladyfish and trout have moved out into the flats. There are still loads of small ladyfish and whiteing in the outflows, but the larger fish were few and far between. We did manage a large number of small trout working the deeper flats both north and south of the power plants.

 

Near-shore these past several weeks, the seas have been a little much for my flat bottom skiff “Three Quarter Time”. With the weather and the seas beginning to settle some, all we need now is a little warm spell, and the tripletail and cobia will be back in the near-shore waters out of Port Canaveral.

 

As always, if you have any questions or need more information, please contact me.

 

Good luck and good fishing,

 

Captain Tom Van Horn

www.irl-fishing.com

407-366-8085 office

407-416-1187 on the water

866-790-8081 toll free

 

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