fishing report space coast

The constant changes in wind and temperature have kept me from dialing in the bite in the Indian River Lagoon. One day, I’ll catch a lot of fish in one spot. The next day, that spot will be dead. The water level is low right now, so that makes the flats really hard to fish unless you find one with deeper water up to the shore. Without seagrass, the fish need to be able to get into mangroves or docks. The water is also not so clear in certain portions of the Mosquito Lagoon and north IRL. Further south, it is still a clear green. The crowds during quarantine inshore got way out of hand. Weekdays were like weekends, and weekends had more boats than ever. I saw up to 50 on a single bridge at one point. I cannot blame anyone else for fishing with nothing else to do, but that got out of hand. Hopefully, things will start to spread out and settle down.

Certain docks in most of the Indian River in central Brevard are holding small schools of black drum around 20 inches. Sight fish them with a 1/8 oz jig head and piece of shrimp. These fish are there one day and gone the next. The bridges have really slowed now. I caught that 38’ black drum two weeks ago. Every day, the school and fish seem to be getting smaller. This is to be expected in the summer. Right now, my expectation would be mini schools of 20-40 fish ranging from 6-12lbs.

Snook are becoming more aggressive in mangrove shorelines deeper than 18 inches. They have been around but uncooperative all since February pretty much. Recently, they have been thick one day and gone the next. Live baits are by far the best for big and picky fish. My preference in order from most to least is, big greenies, croakers, 8 inch mullet, or mojarra. The smaller fish are more likely to hit artificial or finger mullet.

Baby tarpon are still here, but it has definitely shifted from an all day bite to a low light bite. That said, cooler days behind fronts can be good in the middle of the day. The bigger tarpon should show up in the near future.

The trout fishing has been okay in a few drop offs to the flats that have mullet schools. Topwater plugs at dawn and dusk are my preferred times and techniques to get them. They are spawning, so handle them with care and practice catch and release.

Redfish sadly seem to be disappearing for the most part, but then I have these random days where I find dozens or even hundreds; not in a school, just groups of 1-10 cruising the shoreline. They are really spooky and smart in shallow clear water, but a good cast to a hungry fish with the right lure or bait usually works.

I have not been offshore in a few weeks, and the forecast doesn’t look too good for the next week or so. Be aware that the forecast seems quite deceptive for Saturday. It will probably be pretty ugly out there once the front hits, but I could be mistaken. In the mean time, check out this video of offshore from the last time I was out. Be sure to subscribe if you have not already.