We got offshore out of Port Canaveral Friday and had a great trip. We knew the day before that the water was really cold and dirty out to the at least 180 ft, so we […]

I got to see an incredible sight last Wednesday. There were hundreds of bottlenose dolphin offshore they were jumping and playing right by the boat!
Fishing was tougher and slower than normal. The water temperature was in the low 60s all the way to well past 100 ft. There were not even threadfins on the buoys. Somewhere around 125 ft we hit blue, 70-73 degree water. There was a lot of life but there were not any pelagic fish excluding baby bonito and a few barracuda.

This week had okay weather and I managed to find a few fish. I caught a few small reds and trout in the Indian River Lagoon. Most fish were in or near deeper holes. Use […]

Strong winds, cold, and rain kept me off the flats this week. There were some small reds and trout in deeper water out of the wind. Very light tackle and small live shrimp was productive.

There have been a lot of fish in the Indian River Lagoon. I’ve been in the North Merritt Island area because it’s what I’m familiar with. I’m sure that much of what I write can be applied further north and in the ML.

Reds up to 27 and black drum up to 36 inches are on the flats on the eastern shoreline Indian River Lagoon near North Merritt Island. I was using live and frozen shrimp. Target the reds around mid-day on flats near the mangroves. Look for tails in 2-3 ft of water after 4:30 PM until last light. Water cleared up nicely after the front with 3-5 ft of vertical visibility.

The water remains brown from Port St John and North Merritt Island southward, but it seems to be cool and breezy enough to keep dissolved oxygen levels sufficient so far. Therefore, redfish have still been caught along the eastern shoreline and in canals using live shrimp and soft plastics. 20-40lb black drum are starting to show in the North Merritt Island area, but were not eating as of Sunday 1/6. The lagoon looks much healthier in the area east of Titusville (still nothing like a decade ago).

King mackerel have been caught on offshore reefs in 60-90 ft of water with various techniques. Sometimes live bait is a must, and other times everything works. The fish have been down further than usual at times. Bottom fishing has been producing mostly red snapper, but there have been legal snappers and triggerfish in the mix. Grouper season is closed until the beginning of May.

We limited out on kings using frozen cigar minnows just above the bottom on 8A within 2 hours of arrival. We lost a fish and had a few more bites. Our fish were in the 10 pound range for the first hour, but within 30 minutes we started getting some smokers.

There were big schools of 3-4 inch pogies all over the bight and port. At the north jetty, there were a lot of undersized snook eating the pogies. Because of the small baits, I was using a medium-heavy shimano rod, 40 lb leader and a 2/0 circle hook. I’d use a bigger hook with bigger baits and consider heavier leader. There have been a few sheepshead already, and I expect them to become abundant soon. Use a small hook and live fiddler crab or shrimp inside the port.