slot redfish in the IRL

Because of the full moon last night, I’d try to avoid mornings until the weekend. 5-8 PM and around Midnight would be the best times.

Slot size and small redfish have been very consistent this week in the Indian River Lagoon near North Merritt Island. These fish have been very hungry and willing to eat just about anything including artificial.

Big redfish are supposedly schooled up north of the NASA Causeway through Peacock’s Pocket and again in the Scottsmoor/Turnbull area. I haven’t been up there though.

Slot size black drum have been abundant in the North Merritt Island area and willing to eat shrimp and soft plastics. There have been some larger fish tailing near the Nasa Causeway, but in the same spot there were small tarpon.

The small tarpon have been thick in all typical IRL areas. Use live finger mullet, flies, soft plastics, and even topwater plugs. Handle these fish with extra caution because they are harder to handle than most inshore species.

The mullet run doesn’t seem to be in full gear yet, but there have been a lot of sharks along the beach north of Port Canaveral. Use heavy spinning tackle, 100+ lb wire, and a strong large circle hook. They will eat chunks of any fish, but unfortunately they also eat live bait. This makes tarpon fishing hard.

We didn’t get any, but the snook have been hit/miss on the beach side of the south jetty, and near the tip of the north. Try live croakers, pogies, or mullet on 40-60 lb leader with a 4/0-8/0 circle hook.