Indian Lagoon Coast Fishing Report

[Captain Tom Van Horn]

Indian Lagoon Coast Fishing Report, April 18, 2003

 

Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters

 

My focus this past week was drawn to the near-shore waters outside Port Canaveral. It’s the time of year when the pogy (Atlantic menhaden) pods start showing up along the beach. I always get excited when these bait pods move in, because you never know what predators lurk in their shadows.

 

On Monday, I took my daughter Chelle and my granddaughter Rae Lynn out for a day of R&R, it was Chelle’s birthday, and we located a school of pogies just outside the south jetty. We gathered a net full of bait, and started hammering giant redfish. We ended up catching five reds in excess of twenty-five pounds within the first hour, with one double, and one forty pound plus fish. When the wind picked up and the seas became a little too sporty for my crew, we opted for smoother waters inside the Port and left the school for future endeavors. On my next trip, two days later, there wasn’t a pogy to be found anywhere near our previous location. As we ventured south along the beach, we finally located the pods about four miles south of the Cocoa Pier. Out of the three boats working these fish, I witnessed numerous black tip sharks, one thirty pound plus jack Crevalle, and a fifty-pound plus tarpon taken.

 

If you decide to target these bait pods, the sequence goes like this; locate, position your boat, stay with the school, and stand by for big fish.

 

To locate the bait, there are several things to look for; first look for diving birds working the bait. Have your ever heard the saying, “ a little birdie told me”? Well that’s the case here. Look for gannets and brown pelicans diving on the bait. Second, look for muds, patches of muddy water produced by fish activity. Third, look for pogies flipping on the surface, and larger predators actively feeding. Forth, use your bottom machine to mark the subsurface bait pods and larger fish.

 

Next, determine the direction the bait pod is moving by watching the bird activity, and stage your boat in front of it. These bait pods are constantly on the move with birds diving from above and jaws working them from below. The trick is to get ahead of the mud and to stay with the fish.

 

There are several techniques I use to catch these fish. Sometimes I toss jigs with plastic swim tails into the bait pods, let jig sink all the way to the bottom and than slowly work them back to the boat. Other times, I prefer to simply net some pogies and toss them back into the pod. Either way, make sure you use at least 50-pound leader and a #6 circle hook for live bait.

 

If you prefer to fish offshore this week, the bite has been slow with the better fish being taken on the south end of pelican flats. The kingfish bite has improved, with most being taken by slow trolling live pogies. I still haven’t herd any good reports on dolphin, but the water has warmed and cleaned up some so the bite should improve soon.

 

On the flats, the trout bite slowed some with the influx of cold weather last week, but it should improve as the water begins to warm up. The redfish have begun to show signs of schooling up, with most being taken in water of two feet and less. Look for the reds to be tailing early around first light, and then lying up during the day.

 

In closing, I would like to thank those of you who donated resources to welcome our serviceman home. Thanks to the Night Swan Bed & Breakfast in New Smyrna for the donation of a nights stay, and to Don Ray Studios for the donation of a fishing hat. John Mewhorter of Daytona Beach will receive these gifts as well as a full days fishing charter with Mosquito Coast Charters when he returns home from Kuwait in June.

 

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

 

Good luck and good fishing,

 

Captain Tom Van Horn

captain@irl-fishing.com

www.irl-fishing.com

407-366-8085

1-866-790-8081