Mosquito Lagoon October Forecst 2011

Mosquito Creek Outdoors Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Forecast
October 2011
By Captain Tom Van Horn

Upcoming Seminars and Events

Saturday October 8th, Free Intro to Fly Fishing Class
10 a.m. - 12 noon, free introduction to Fly Fishing Class instructed by FFF Certified instructor Captain Chris Myers. Class will be held at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, 170 S. Washington Ave., Apopka, Florida. www.mosquitocreel.com.

Saturday October 22nd, Free Fishing Seminar "Lagoon Fall Fishing Tactics"
10: 00 - 12:00 "Free Seminars" instructed by Captains Tom Van Horn, Chris Myers, "Lagoon Fall Fishing Tactics", located in the Outback at Mosquito Creek Outdoors, 170 South Washington Ave., Apopka Florida, www.mosquitocreek.com.

Saturday November 12th, Gumbo Cook Off for Give Kids the World and Anglers for Conservation
12 Noon at Fish on Fire Restaurant in Orlando. For more details, visit www.fishingfloridaradio.com


October's Fishing Outlook
The fall bait migration is in full swing on Florida's Space Coast with good concentrations of migrating baitfish can be found excite both gamefish and angler alike. Triggered by shorter days, cooling water temperatures, and approaching cold fronts, pockets of mullet stream down the beach harassed by hungry predators. As the bait works its way south in the troughs of the surf, bluefish, ladyfish, jacks, Spanish mackerel, redfish and snook keep them hemmed up close along the surfs edge, with tarpon, blacktip and spinner sharks lurking in the waves eager to fulfill their position at the top of the food chain. As the baitfish feed out the inlets on the falling tide, breeder redfish, tarpon, snook, take advantage of the easy meal, as the fleeing mullet are forced away from the shelter of the shoreline. Additionally, October and November are the best months to target snook at Sebastian Inlet as long as water temperatures stay above 70 degrees.
Once the water temperatures near the 68 degree mark southern and gulf flounder moving through the inlets usually follow the first major cold front. It's difficult to predict the precise moment of the run, but serious flounder pounders know when the moment is right, and they're often rewarded with doormats from 8 to 14 pounds.
In the deeper water, both tripletail and cobia move into the depths of 40 to 60 feet of water shadowing pods of threadfin herring (greenies) and Spanish sardines (cigar minnows) pushing south along the Canaveral shoals, often hanging just below the abundant flotsam carried inshore by the easterly breezes. Once you locate weeds and other debris, look for tripletail to be hanging just below the floating structure. Live shrimp and small jigs tipped with shrimp work well when targeting these brim on steroids. It helps to fish later in the day keeping the afternoon sun to your back to improve your range of sight, and always keep a medium heavy rod rigged with a one ounce chartreuse or white buck tail jig ready to throw to any cruising cobia. Also, look for the fall kingfish run to commence as well as an occasional sailfish or black fin tuna on the near-shore reefs and wrecks like 8A and Pelican Flats.
In the lagoons, breeder schools of redfish are abundant in deeper water through the north IRL. These schools of oversized redfish are m
schools of pompano will begin forming up and moving thought the inlets invading the beach in search of mole crabs (sand fleas) their favorite winter food. Remember, spotted sea trout are out of season in November and December on Florida's east central coast, so if you manage to catch one please handle and release it with extreme care.
For up to date fishing forecast by all Coastal Angler Magazine Orlando captains visit:
http://coastalanglermag.com/orlando/.

As always, if you have any questions or need help, please contact me.

Good luck and good fishing,

Captain Tom Van Horn
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
(407) 416-1187 on the water