The flats are heating up! There’s no doubt about it, the flats are definitely getting hot! With this being said, Mosquito Lagoon has been the place to be. Redfish, black drum, and even some sea trout having been showing up in good numbers. Look for these predatory fish around the large black mullet in shallow water. The best way to target these fish are by throwing small top water plugs and small scented soft plastics.

As the sun gets higher with the almost no wind, check out areas that have a good drop off where the water goes from about 6 inches to 2 feet or so, most fish will be laid up or slow cruising making them very easy to sight fish. For this situation a handpicked live shrimp simply can’t be beaten. Cast ahead of these fish and reel it back about a foot in front of them, be as quiet and stealthy as possible. With the blue bird sky and almost no wind try to use a side arm cast, this will eliminate most of your shadow and it should work well on all three species! Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and lots of sunscreen on these brutal days, again catch and release as much as possible!

The inshore trout bite has slowed a little with the new moon. However, you can still find groups of trout holding under schools of mullet and other bait fish. The reds have been cruising shorelines and eating properly placed shrimp. Tarpon have been rolling at the inlet and in the river. You can typically find them eating on outgoing tides. Offshore we are continuing to catch red snapper and mangrove snapper and are starting to get some amberjacks as well.

King mackerel and mangrove snapper are available for anglers fishing the 50 to 90 foot reefs and wrecks. Frozen bait will work on both species if live baits are not available. Of course, you will have to weed through the red snapper while targeting the mangroves on most days. Light leaders and small hooks will get you more bites on the mangroves than standard bottom tackle. Captain Justin Ross and I usually drop our leader down from 60 to 80 lb. test down to 25 to 30 lb. test on these keen-eyed fish.

It was a good week offshore as we got into plenty of Kingfish, Red Snapper, Grouper, Dolphin Sea Bass and Triggerfish. Later in the week the water got cold and the bite slowed a bunch. We also spent some time in the inlet and got into some nice Snook as well as Redfish and Jack Crevalle. Live greenies and pigfish were the bait of choice.

Nearshore, the Jack Crevalle are thick and there are still some kingfish along the beaches from Vero Beach to Melbourne Beach. Fish the bait schools and you should have plenty of success on the kingfish. Tarpon are scattered and the jack crevasse are also working the bait schools.

Live bait is almost obsolete. There have been none around. We have to buy minnows every single day. Both 8A and Pelican Reefs are the two main hotspots. Dead minnows slow trolled with a King Buster on a stinger rig will get the job done. The bottom is cold so the grouper and AJ bite has been slow. Scattered cobia have been decent all week. Pretty much all of the wrecks are holding them right now.

Alan of Captain Hooks caught this 44″ Red sight-casting a blue crab while fishing with Capt. Travis Tanner.

The black drum bite is still the talk of the town. The best places to target are any structure and the bridges. Use shrimp or cut crabs for the best results. The trout bite has remained strong. Pigfish seem to be the go to bait for quality fish. We are seeing lots of whiting being caught at Playalinda Beach. There are also a bunch on sharks on the beach right now too.

Quan getting it done by tossing top-water plugs into schools of fingerling mullet. He boated many Indian River Lagoon trout on a recent trip with Capt. Mark Wright!

ICAST interrupted my water time this past week, but I did get out for a couple of morning trips.

Both the North Indian River and South Mosquito Lagoons are experiencing “light algae blooms” in some areas. So far nothing to be alarmed about and the blooms are not systemic. I’m sure the hot water is not helping; given water temps above ninety degrees is a reality in our summer months.

If you’re planning on fishing shallow, your starting time needs to be very early. I’m leaving the dock before sun-up. If the super early schedule is out of the question, consider a late afternoon excursion. The last two or three hours of daylight can be a magical time!

In either case, top-water plugs are ruling the roost both early and late. I find walking these plugs around heavy concentrations of mullet usually up the odds of getting bit as compared to fishing areas devoid of mullet schools.

Another food source that’s having an impact in our area is fry-fish; tiny minnows of different species. They’re only an inch or two long and skinny which makes them tough to imitate with anything but a fly! As one might expect, the critters chasing these diminutive bait fish are, for the most part also small.

In an isolated backwater pocket, throwing the smallest top-water plug we had between us, Tony received bite after bite from little trout and redfish. We could see the wee reds moving below the plug maneuvering this way and that, presumably trying to achieve the perfect angle of attack! All Tony caught was a ladyfish and a bitty swordspine snook, though he also jumped a couple of juvenile tarpon. All these fish were eager, though too little to get a hook squarely in their mouths and they were all actively chasing the tiny fry-fish.

With shrimp being hard to come by this time of year, we have to look for different ways to fish. Sherry went with frozen shrimp and caught black drum, sheepshead, snapper, and redfish all in the Indian River Lagoon. Keep our rivers clean!