By Captain Tom Van Horn
Upcomming Seminars and Events
Saturday, October 23rd, 9:30 - 10:30 AM, "Free Seminar" Fishing with the Pros instructed by Captains Tom Van Horn and Chris Myers, Basic fishing open forum, followed by "Fall Fishing Tactics Redfish, Trout and Flounder" 10:30 - 11:30 AM in the Outback at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, 170 South Washington Ave., Apopka Florida.
Tuesday, November 9th, 7:00 - 9:00 PM, Orlando Kayak Fishing Club Meeting (open to all) in the Outback at Mosquito Creek Outdoor in Apopka Florida.
Saturday, November 20th, 9:30 - 10:30 AM, "Free Seminar" Fishing with the Pros instructed by Captains Tom Van Horn and Chris Myers, Basic fishing open forum, followed by "Preparing for the Shad Run & Crappie Season & Shad Derby Meeting" 10:30 - 11:30 AM in the Outback at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, 170 South Washington Ave., Apopka Florida.
This Weeks Fishing Report
Fall has arrived on Florida's Indian River Lagoon Coast, and showing up right on cue with the cooler weather is the fall bait run. Finger mullet were as thick as love bugs on your bumper this week out of Port Canaveral, and the blustery breezes and heavy seas we experienced last week have settled down making fishing conditions the best I've seen since the beginning of hurricane season. In addition to the gorgeous weather, extreme new moon tides have elevated water levels in the lagoon, and increased tidal flow in and out of the inlets.
The breeder redfish are also in a heavy spawning mood with breeder schools showing up in all of the traditional locations of the inshore lagoons and the inlet passes. These schools are moving around a lot, but they are easy to locate during calm conditions, and they will aggressively strike most mullet imitation lures like the DOA Bait Buster or Rapala Skitter Walk when they are not pressured heavily. It is also important to let these fish do their thing, so if you find a school of large breeders, be respectful by stepping up your tackle size to reduce stress and catch one or two fish, revive them properly, and than move on and target another species. I know this is easier said then done, but if they are spending all of they energy running from a trolling motor instead of getting jiggie, we will have a smaller class of fish in the years to come.
Friday, I had the pleasure of fishing a magnificent day out of Port Canaveral with my good friends Keith and Chris, and we opted to target the mullet run along the beach, and man did we hit it just right. One of my favorite stiles of fishing the run is pitching live finger mullet from the boat up into the first trough along the beach, and with the winds out of the northwest, I could easily and safely maneuver Three Quarter Time within casting distance to the shore. As the mullet schools passed along the beach, they were consistently getting busted by a varied list of predators, and the action at first light was fast a furious. Although we caught a large number of species including flounder and a five pound redfish head the bite did slow down around 10 am, and we failed to connect with any snook. The rigs we were using were a simple one ounce slip sinker rig with a split shot crimped to the line about 12 inched from the # 3 circle hook, keeping the heaver weight off of the hook and giving us the extra weight to facilitate a longer cast as the majority of our fish were caught on the very edge of the shoreline.
In closing, now is the time to fish the mullet run, the fish are here and the weather is nice and our window of opportunity will not last long.
Good Luck and Good Fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
407-416-1187
http://www.irl-fishing.com
For all you outdoor shopping needs, visit Mosquito Creek outdoors at www.mosquitocreek.com.
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