Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Forecast, October 2006
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
Shorter days and cooler nights are a sure sign fall is in the air along Florida's east central coast. 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. Hordes of black and silver mullet, 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 little baitfish, 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. Along the beaches, target areas of 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. Also look for schools of glass minnows to begin 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. Easterly swells, falling tides, and aggressive anglers can make for sporty angling conditions, so please pay attention, be patient, 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 easily 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 of soft plastic baits deep 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.
In closing, October is one of the best months to fish on the IRL coast, and I would like to mention several worthy and fun fishing events scheduled in October. The first is the Hunt for Reds Tournament held in Titusville on October 7th & 8th, with proceeds going to the Central Florida Arthritis Foundation and subscriptions to Florida Sportsmen Magazine going to serviceman overseas. On Saturday starting at 12pm, local lagoon experts will conduct free fishing seminars on how to target and catch those slot size redfish, and yours truly will be kicking off the classes covering natural bait techniques. The hunt is a slot redfish spot tournament, and for information on how to sign up, visit http://www.huntforreds.com.
The second event is the Indian River Lagoon Fall Classic CPR Tournament sponsored by Coastal Angler Magazine and Chowders Restaurant, which is scheduled on October 20th and 21st. The IRL Fall Classic is a fun family catch-photograph-release tournament where anglers target six different species of fish, and all proceeds go to Central Florida kids fishing programs and Brevard Alzheimer's Foundation. For information on this event pick up an October issue of Coastal Angler Magazine or visit the following link at: http://www.coastalanglermagazine.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=162.
Good luck and good Fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
www.irl-fishing.com
407-416-1187 on the water
407-366-8085 land line
866-790-8081 toll free