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Fishing Reports
Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Forecast
September 01, 2006
Posted by Captain Tom Van Horn
Chuluota, FL 32766 USA
Email: captain@irl-fishing.com
Current Report
Indian River Lagoon Coast
Fishing Forecast, September
2006
Mosquito Coast Fishing
Charters
As hurricane season
progresses and the summer
squalls move north in the
Atlantic, the prevailing
summer breezes will begin to
switch from the southeast to
the northeast. This
transition signals the
beginning of the fall
migration of all critters
preferring warmer climates.
These gradual shifts also
marks the beginning of the
fall fishing season as
hordes of baitfish,
primarily silver mullet, and
predatory species begin
their southerly migration
along the beach and through
the Indian River Lagoon.
In my experience, baitfish
move south in pulses or
waves, rather than a
continuous flow, so finding
the bait is the key to
catching fish. One day a
particular location will be
loaded with bait, and the
next day they will be gone.
Its hard to predict the
magnitude and duration of
the run, but it recent
indications prove true, this
years run will start early,
and like last year,
progressing into October and
November. Currently bait
pods are forming up in all
areas of the lagoon, and
small concentration of
baitfish have already made
their presence known around
the Port Canaveral jetty and
along the beach in the
Sebastian area.
Look for snook, tarpon,
redfish, bluefish, jack
crevalle, Spanish mackerel,
sharks, and large kingfish
crushing and shadowing bait
pods all along the beach.
The bait pods are easily
located by watching for
birds diving and fish
working the bait on the
surface. Once youve
located the bait
concentration, simply
determine its direction of
movement, usually south, and
set up in front of it and
let them come to you. This
is also my preferred time of
year to target tarpon and
snook along the beach.
The beach snook run has
already started with a few
fish being reported, and it
will begin to pick up
substantially, just in time
for the opening of snook
season on September 1st.
When fishing from the beach,
I prefer using live finger
mullet as bait, match the
hatch. Fish the very edge of
the beach, just beyond the
whitewater, and walk along
the beach letting your bait
drift along in the direction
of tidal flow. This
technique will allow bait to
cover more ground and help
keep your bait in the strike
zone.
Near-shore, good numbers of
kingfish will continue to
work the beaches, Port
Canaveral buoy line, and the
inshore reefs and wrecks in
70 to 120 feet of water.
When targeting kingfish,
slow trolling live pogies
(Atlantic menhaden) on
stainless steel stinger rigs
is the preferred method.
Also as the water
temperatures cool, look for
the large rays to move into
shallower water bringing
cobia with them. In Port
Canaveral and Sebastian
Inlet look for flounder,
mangrove snapper, redfish
and snook around the jetties
and other structures, and
tripletail, barracuda, and
cobia under the Canaveral
buoy cans.
Inshore, sea trout are still
plentiful on the deeper
edges of the grass flats,
with the best bite happening
at first light and sunset.
Also look for ladyfish,
tarpon, and jacks to be
mixed in. When targeting
these fish, work top water
plugs for explosive action,
or try working ¼ ounce jigs
with a white or rootbeer
colored RipTide Realistic
Shrimp combined with a
Woodies Rattle capsule
inserted. Near the end of
the month, start looking for
the pompano and flounder to
begin moving out of the
lagoon through the inlets
into the near shore waters
along the beach. Also watch
for the larger redfish to
begin forming up just
outside Sebastian Inlet
feeding on small baitfish
and small blue crabs washing
out with the tide.
As always, if you have
questions or need
information, please contact
me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
www.irl-fishing.com
captain@irl-fishing.com
407-366-8085 office
407-416-1187 on the water
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