Member since: January 22, 2018
Capt. Jim is a professional saltwater fishing guide based out of Rockledge, Florida.
Cooler temperatures and clearing water conditions are creating a good bite in the northern Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon for redfish and speckled trout over the last few days. Live shrimp seems to be the top natural bait to use for these two species at this time. We are rigging our shrimp a 1/0 or 2/0 sized VMC circle hook and prospecting sandy potholes in grassy areas or sight casting to fish we see cruising along the shorelines.
This week the nearshore bite has been strong. Bluefish, Spanish mackerel and jack crevalle have been very active on top water plugs such as the Rapala Skitter Pop. Find the bait and fish the bait pods cruising up and down the beach and cast around them. There have also been big sharks and redfish around the bait pods as well.
Our bite in the Indian River and Banana River has turned on this week. The approaching new moon phase seems to be bringing these fish into the shallows despite the dirty water conditions that we have in some areas. Our best catches are coming around areas were mullet are congregating on the flats. Soft plastic jerk baits like the Salt Water Assassin 4 inch Sea Shad in the avocado green with red flake Houdini and Mama’s 14 K color patterns have been getting great results when rigged on a 1/8 oz. jig head or weed less weighted worm hook.
Despite the red tide in the area we are still managing to work around in the cleaner water areas and find quite a few fish. Bluefish, Jack, ladyfish, flounder, snook, and redfish are the main species for us on our charters this week. Live fingerling mullet and Rapala X-Rap size 10 or 12 lures are working best for most of these species. Silver Krocodile or Gator spoons ranging from 1/4 to 3/4 ounce will also get many of these fish to strike.
Inshore we have noticed an increase in the trout activity around the docks on both sides of the Indian River. Using top water baits in the morning and swapping over to twitch baits as well as subsurface lures as the sun starts to come up, seems to be the best way to get a positive response from these fish.
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.
Redfish have been running the beeches and inlets. Port Canaveral and Sebastian Inlet are both producing decent numbers this week. The mullet run has been a little spotty but when you find good pods of these baitfish, the reds are not far behind. Snook, crevalle jack and tarpon are other species you will probably encounter while fishing near the pods of mullet.
The recent hurricane we had off our coast has made the water very dirty which is causing our sharks, tarpon and king mackerel to spread out and not be in any one focal point. We recommend getting live baits where you can and trolling them around the bait in the dirty water. A recommended technique is putting some weight on your line to get your bait lower in the water column.
The ladyfish and trout have been active around the drop offs and docks in the rivers around east Central Florida in the morning before it gets hot. Using a topwater plug in low light conditions and switching over to some sort of soft plastic is our preferred way of fishing those species.
It’s September and you know what that means, the fall mullet run is kicking into high gear! Fingerling mullet showed up for the first time this past week and the predators that eat them are right on their tails.
“If you want to!”
Red Snapper soon is just around the corner with dates soon to be announced…
Capt. Jim Ross says he catches mangrove snapper like this one with light leaders and small hooks, which will get you more bites on the mangroves than standard bottom tackle.
Beating the storm, hitting that black drum bite!
The black drum bite is still booming in the Lagoon!
Big barracuda caught with Capt. Jim Ross
Capt. Jim Ross caught this beatiful spotted seatrout on topwater in the early morning.
Capt. Jim Ross helps a client land another VERY rare red snapper offshore out of Port Canaveral.
