SPACEFISH REPORT

10.9.2018 – 10.15.2018

A CENTRAL FLORIDA FISHING REPORT EVERY TUESDAY

Space Coast Fishing Report: 10.9.2018 - 10.15.2018

High seas kept most anglers inshore this week, but you won’t hear Capt. Glyn Austin’s customers complaining about it.

THIS IS 40

This marks the 40th weekly fishing report published by Spacefish! Now averaging 2500 readers a week, the website has come a LONG way since its humble beginning in January — and we’re only just getting started! Thanks to all our readers, contributors, and sponsors for helping us grow and continuing to make this a better resource for the Space Coast fishing community.

Above all, a huge shoutout to Sunstate Pest Management and their fearless leader, Steve Goff. Steve brought Sunstate Pest Management on board as Spacefish’s first advertiser when the website was little more than a gleam in its creators’ eyes — and we couldn’t be more appreciative for that. If you’ve got a pest problem, call Sunstate at 1-800-781-PEST (7378) and tell them Spacefish sent you. They really are the best in the business, servicing all of Brevard County, Orlando, and the surrounding area.

It may be an arbitrary milestone, but a milestone, nonetheless!

Weekly Forecast & Weather

High wind and seas kept most anglers inshore this past week. While reports indicate that mullet are starting to show up in higher numbers, we’re still waiting on the word that action on the annual bait migration has hit its peak. Stay tuned.

Unfortunately, the weather is going to get worse before it gets better. What has now been named Hurricane Michael is pushing its way towards the Gulf Coast and is projected to make landfall sometime Wednesday evening. Florida has declared a State of Emergency for our neighbors throughout the Gulf Coast, so let’s hope for their well-being and safety.

What does this mean for the Space Coast? Expect it to be windy and wet through Thursday. On Friday, the winds will start to subside and should offer up fishable conditions throughout the weekend before they pick up again Monday evening. It’s a great time to re-spool your reels and get down to your favorite local bait & tackle shop to restock your arsenal. This weekend should present a great opportunity to get out and fish!

Upcoming Events

Finally, don’t forget we’ve got two really cool events coming up in the next few weeks, both benefiting great causes for local conservation. The “Aloha” Protect Our Waters Fundraiser is 2:00pm Sunday at Melbourne’s Front Street Park and the FSFA Annual Auction is the following Saturday, Oct. 20th, at Kiwanis Park in Merritt Island.

Spacefish contributor, Capt. Mark Wright, will be the guest speaker at the FSFA North Chapter meeting on Tuesday, October 23rd at 6:30pm. He will be talking about fishing in the Mosquito Lagoon for big redfish, gator trout, and big black drum. Come out and learn a few things — the meeting is at:
S. Sykes Creek Pkwy
Merritt Island, FL 32952.

SPACE B.O.I. FORECAST

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GIVEAWAY CONTESTS

Every week, we randomly draw a name from our email subscriber list to award a $20 Strike-Zone Fishing Gift Card. The winner’s name is published in every weekly report. The only catch is, if you are announced as a winner, you must email us to claim your prize. Congrats to this week’s winner, Jon Ham of Cocoa. If you’re not already a Spacefish subscriber, click here to sign up.

FISH SKINZ SHIRT GRAB GIVEAWAY

We’re helping Fish Skinz celebrate their 10th year anniversary of creating kick ass fishing apparel by giving away two free Fish Skinz shirts every week!

This week’s winners are:

  • Jamie Richards, West Melbourne
  • Robert Merrell, Palm Bay

Congrats, your shirts will be on their way! For everybody else, you can enter the contest here! Note: you only need to sign up once to be in the drawing pool for the duration of the giveaway; registering multiple times will NOT increase your chances to win.

Full Mounty Redfish Giveaway Contest
SPACEFISH Weekly Giveaway Contest

Sunrise Marina - Port Canaveral, FL

Contributor Reports

In every week’s Spacefish fishing report, we turn to both fishing pros and average joe’s for input on what’s happening in and around Brevard County’s many fisheries. Check out what people are saying about the bite in the Space Coast this week:

First Red Oct. 14, 2018
October 14, 2018

First Red Oct. 14, 2018

Fished the IRL after dropping the boat in at Grant. Caught 1/2 dozen trout for the first 1 1/2 hours after sunrise. Stumbled upon my first red in the IRL. It was only 16″ long but was nice to catch one of my targeted fish. Still trying to find larger red’s and more numbers, but it is always nice to get the 1st one.

Mathers Bridge Weekend Report
October 14, 2018

Mathers Bridge Weekend Report

On Friday night, the Salty Sarg and Matt had a pretty good outing at Mathers Bridge, with the highlight being this 42″ redfish.

I was hoping that conditions on the beach would finally open up for some nice surf fishing this weekend… Unfortunately, it remained pretty rough out there and weeds were also still being churned up in the shore break. Since the conditions were less than optimal, I settled for a trip to Mathers Bridge with my brother.

I heard from Mathers Bridge frequenter, the Salty Sergeant, on Saturday morning. He was all fired up because he and his buddy caught a nice 42″ redfish at Mathers on the night before (pictured above). I was hoping to follow his up with a red of my own, but it didn’t pan out.

We got out to the bridge just before sunset and there was a lot of activity in the water. We usually favor the north side of the bridge’s far end, but the crowd was pretty thick, so we settled for the south side along the mangroves. At first, our lines were seeing a lot of action, and we caught a handful of mangrove snappers and croakers. Shortly after it got dark, the bite cooled down. We stayed for a couple of hours but not long enough to see it pick back up again. On a positive note, it wasn’t catfish crazy, and we only caught one on the night.

A big school of mullet was hanging out the whole time around the bridge. They were all pretty large in size. We netted a few and tried some cut baits for a big red, but there were no takers.

by JC

Ft. Pierce October 7, 2018
October 13, 2018

Ft. Pierce October 7, 2018

Drove to Ft. Pierce from Melbourne on a report from West Marine. Fished from Jennings Cove to Bear Point Cove. Was in acres of bait fish of both pin fish and mullet but the bite was off. Talked to several other fishermen using live baits and no one had a catch. I ended catching (1) 24″ snook. Water was really clear considering the amount of winds the last several day’s.

Bringing Home the Bacon
October 13, 2018

Bringing Home the Bacon

Ryan Wood goes hog wild on a hunting trip in Central Florida. Feral hogs, if left unchecked, can wreak havoc on the natural ecosystem. Responsible hunting is a means to keep hog populations to a minimum. Plus they taste great and offer exciting hunts for the outdoor enthusiast.

Spacefish Weekly Radio Show (10.12.2018)
October 12, 2018

Spacefish Weekly Radio Show (10.12.2018)

Spacefish checks in for our weekly show with Mark Moses Show on Sports Radio 1960AM THE FAN to discuss Space Coast fishing heading into a promising weekend.

by JC

Big Reds Active Inshore, but Bad Weather through Thursday
October 9, 2018

Big Reds Active Inshore, but Bad Weather through Thursday

There have been a lot of big reds on the eastern shoreline North Indian River Lagoon between North Merritt Island and east of Titusville. The fish have been scattered in the North Merritt Island area and blind fishing chunks in 2-4 ft deep has been the best bet. I have seen some tailers that wouldn’t eat a thing or spook. The water has been murky NASA Causeway southward.

In the area east of Titusville, the water has been fairly clean considering the water quality issues the lagoon has faced this year.

There have been large schools of bull reds up there. I got one right at sunrise Saturday. They stopped eating afterwards. Probably, because there were too many fishermen.

Unfortunately, Hurricane Micheal will bring a lot of rain and SSE winds through Thursday. At least we don’t have any damage concerns. Improving weather is likely Friday and this weekend. Maybe the mullet run will be on along the beaches. Let’s hope.

Videos:

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
High Seas Keep Focus Inshore
October 8, 2018

High Seas Keep Focus Inshore

big dock snook

Angus had a pretty good day with some nice trout, big dock snook and a bunch of jacks!

Since we aren’t able to fish the beach much this week, we spent our time fishing the lagoon from Palm Bay down to Sebastian and Vero Beach. The mullet are starting to show up in good numbers in the Indian River Lagoon from Palm Bay to Sebastian but the winds and seas are too heavy to get out off the beach and look for the tarpon migrating with the mullet.

The jack crevalle were tearing up the mullet schools in the lagoon and having a blast with it. We had a good jack bite as well as a great trout bite most of the week fishing with Storm 360GT Coastal baits on VMC jigheads. Along with the trout, we’ve been getting some slot sized redfish and snook on the same baits.

big jack in Sebastian Inlet

When fishable, the inlet has been producing plenty of jacks.

Fishing the docks with live baits has been hit or miss with Snook and Redfish. The docks and the flats that are loaded with bait are the places to be. Topwater is going to be really good this week, so look for the bait schools and put in the time to find the best bite.

The inlet was fishable early in the week and we were able to get some redfish on live pigfish. Once the winds and seas picked up, the only bite we could get on in the inlet was jacks. As mentioned above, the beach has been too rough to fish with 5-7 ft seas most of the week. Let’s hope the winds lay down later this week and we can get in the inlet and off the beach and chase the tarpon and sharks.

by Capt. Glyn Austin
Going Coastal Charters | (321) 863-8085

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Big Reds Along Trop Trail
October 8, 2018

Big Reds Along Trop Trail

The fishing in the Banana and Indian River Lagoons around Dragon Point remains similar to last week. Lots of catches are being reported of smaller reds, mangrove snapper, and trout in the canals and around the mangroves. A well placed live shrimp should get these fish to eat. However, the we are seeing some big redfish caught in the Banana River lagoon along S. Tropical Trail. Big baits seem to work best for these fish like live blue crabs or a chunk of cut mullet.

by MOB
Man Overboard Bait & Tackle | (321) 777-8860

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Red Fishing on Fire in Mosquito Lagoon
October 8, 2018

Red Fishing on Fire in Mosquito Lagoon

The red fishing has been on fire in the Mosquito lagoon this week with the redfish engaging top water plugs, jerk baits and chunk bait on the windier days. The next big story — the Bull Reds are thick in the inlet. Use live blue crabs or a large chunk of mullet and its game on!

by Capt. Mike Mann
Fat Fish Guide Service | (386) 295-5991

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Too Weedy for Surf Fishing
October 8, 2018

Too Weedy for Surf Fishing

big pompano caught in the lagoon

Chris Gowen and son with a huge pompano caught in the lagoon.

The surf has been horrible with seaweed, however, the mullet are here! So what do you do when the surf is almost unfishable….? You go fish the river and catch the biggest pompano of your life! We live in such an amazing place, we need to keep our waters clean. The best thing about fishing around here is you really never know what you are gonna pull up. We have so many different species living in our river so let’s keep them alive! The inlet bite has been good, but the seaweed makes it hard. You have to wait for the outgoing tide to dump the weeds back out into the ocean before it’s fishable. Get outside and play!

by Black Dog Bait & Tackle
Black Dog Bait & Tackle | (321) 725-1200

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Aggressive Trout in the AM
October 8, 2018

Aggressive Trout in the AM

The constant east wind has made it hard to get offshore this week but that’s okay because the inshore bite has been fairly good. The trout have really been aggressive in the morning on top water baits as well as paddle tails around the docks and mangroves. Recently the redfish are spreading out in the mullet pods in groups of 2 or 3. We recommend throwing hard plastic baits such as the Rapala X-Rap in and around the mullet school to get a hookup. Some snook are even starting to show up around the mangroves in the south end of the Indian River lagoon and they have been most willing to bite 4-inch paddle tails with brighter colored bellies and darker backs. Make sure to check out our website at finelinefishingcharters.com or give us a call if you want to go out fishing with us!

by Capt. Jim Ross
Fine Line Fishing Charters | (321) 636-3728

Big Croakers in the River
October 8, 2018

Big Croakers in the River

On Sunday afternoon, I got setup with my fishing pole at my favorite dock on the lagoon. I started off with a shrimp on a 1/8″ jig head. This produced some BIG croakers of +10″! Of course, there were a couple of catfish mixed in, along with some pigs and pins. I saw (and have been seeing) plenty of glass minnows, but no mullet schools yet. Still, the bait was there, which tells me I was at least fishing in the right spot.

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THANKS FOR READING!

Thanks for reading another weekly fishing report from Spacefish. Don’t forget to listen to Spacefish ON THE RADIO every Friday at 4pm as we talk fishing with Mark Moses on SPORTS RADIO 1560 THE FAN.

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