Nearshore, Offshore and Indian River Lagoon

[SWS Regional Reports]

Fish will take advantage of the cooler nights, early morning and late evening hours to feed and stock their prey. Seasoned anglers adjust their routines in Juneby fishing at night, during the predawn hours, and in the late afternoon.




Along the beaches, look for the tarpon and shark numbers to increase—don’t forget about schools of large jack carvalle and the tripletail. Some tarpon are showing up, so as soon as the seas settle down from Tropical Storm Beryl, conditions should be right. Remember, snook season closes this week, so give them a chance to relax.



Nearshore opportunities are typically the best you'll see all year along the beach. June is the time of year when the kingfish move in shadowing schools of Atlantic menhaden (pogies) along the beach and in the Port Canaveral buoy line, and slow trolling live pogies can result in some outstanding catches.



Offshore, look for the dolphin bite to slow as the schools begin to spread out. The kingfish concentration remains good along the inshore reefs and wrecks of 8A Reef and Pelican Flats, so again slow trolling with live pogies will produce the best action. Additionally, bottom fishing will remain good for snapper and grouper until the first summer squall (hurricane) blows in and muddies up the water. For those adventurous anglers willing to venture to the Gulf Stream and beyond, flat seas will facilitate a smoother ride to the tuna grounds on the other side.



On the flats, focus your efforts between 2 and 9am, and in the late afternoon after the thunderstorms dissipate. Night fishing will also produce descent catches of redfish, snook, and trout. When fishing the flats at night, I prefer fishing real slow with glow in the dark shrimp imitation baits like the DOA Shrimp with a Woodie's Rattle Capsule inserted. If you can only fish during the heat of the day, target the deeper edges of the flats and docks with deepwater access with a 3 inch DOA CAL Paddle tail on a ¼ ounce jig.

In the early morning look for trout and redfish up in the very skinny water around concentration of bait schools (mullet), and blind cast your favorite top water plug. Also look for schools of bay anchovies (glass minnows) in deeper waters. These schools can be located by watching for small terns and other sea birds working, and they usually are shadowed by concentrations of small trout and ladyfish. These fast moving schools produce fast and furious action for fly anglers casting small top-water popping bugs. This past few weeks, we've located some of these schools in the central Indian River Lagoon and Banana River Lagoon, so I can attest that they are here and chewing.

Remember as the days heat up, long battles will kill the fish, so if you plan on targeting large fish, you may want to step up your tackle to shorten the battle. Also, dissolved oxygen levels are lower, so leave them in the water as much as possible, and revive them completely before releasing them.

Sat, June 9, 10am - 12pm Fundamentals of Flats Fishing - Soft Plastic Baits at Mosquito Creek Outdoors

Join Capt Tom Van Horn for session 5 of our Free Fundamentals of Flats Fishing Workshops. This Saturday they will be discussing Soft Plastic Baits, how to rig them and fish them for the best success. Mosquito Creek is at 170 South Washington Ave. in Apopka, Florida.

Visit www.mosquitocreekoutdoors.com

Captain Tom Van Horn
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
www.irl-fishing.com
407-416-1187 on the water