Fall Fishing Transition Begins

Mosquito Creek Outdoors Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report, September 15, 2009

By Captain Tom Van Horn

As we begin our transition into fall, the weather will become more of a factor as it has done over the last few days. Stalling cold fronts settling in over Florida can make fishing conditions difficult, but no worries. The weather is clearing up and the moon is reaching its new phase, so make your plans now to fish this weekend. The combination of the new moon, the mullet run and the spawning activity of redfish and snook should set the beached and inlets on fire.



Our strongest tides are experienced during the new moon, and high tide will be reaching it peak right at sunrise and then again at sunset. What this equates to is you want to be on the water ready to fish as the tide reaches its peak and begins to fall.



In the inlets, breeder redfish will be forming up for their spawn, so look for large fish busting bait and be prepared for some heavy combat. Remember, these fish are bruisers, so make sure you use tackle with plenty of backbone. I use a 7' medium heavy Evolution rod spooled with 20 to 30 pound test Sufix Braid combined with 30 to 40 pound fluorocarbon leader. Because these fish are spawning, you want to land them and release them quickly. Along with the big redfish, there will be plenty of big jacks, snook, and sharks in the mix. Also, let not forget our toothy friends the bluefish and Spanish mackerel. Remember when fishing the inlets, safety is paramount. Heavy currents, heavy boat traffic, swells combined with hooked-up fish all make for some sporty fishing, so stay on top of your game by keeping your motor running with someone on watch manning the helm ready at all times.



Also, try to concentrate your efforts in areas of mullet schools working along the beach and out through the inlets. Although live bait works well, it is often time consuming to catch and harder to keep alive, so hard and soft lures are my preferred bait choice when casting from the beach or boat. For lures, it's prudent to choose lures that imitate the primary forage (mullet). So, for soft lures I like the DOA Bait Buster and BFL, and my hard bait selection is the Rapala Skitterwalk or the Subwaker in natural colors. Additionally, key predators like snook and redfish will be working the edge of the surf within 30 feet on the shoreline, so fish parallel to the beach to keep your lures in the feeding zone longer.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday all look good, so let's have some fun fishing the mullet run.
As always, if you have any questions or need information, please contact me.


Good luck and good fishing,

Captain Tom Van Horn
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
http://www.irl-fishing.com
408-416-1187 Cell

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