Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Forecast, October 2007
Complements of Mosquito Creek Outdoors, Apopka FloridaAs the fall bait run continues, hordes of black and silver mullet, Atlantic menhaden (pogies), thread fin herring (greenies), and bay anchovies (glass minnows) flee for their live as they move south in search of a warmer climate. This migration signals the end of summer, and the beginning of some of the best fishing experienced on the Indian River Lagoon coast of Florida.
Weather permitting, near-shore opportunities are the best you will see all year. Along the beaches, target areas of concentrated bait schools for a mixed bag of snook, tarpon, kingfish, cobia, jack crevalle, oversized redfish, and sharks. Additionally, snook fishing in the surf will continue to improve as the baitfish move south along the beach. Also look for schools of glass minnows to increase bringing larger Spanish mackerel, bluefish, and tarpon with them.
Don Schirer's Fall Ponce Inlet Redfish
In and around the inlets of Ponce, Port Canaveral, and Sebastian look for flounder, snook, jack crevalle, and oversized redfish feeding on migrating baitfish along the jetties and just outside the inlets. My preferred method of targeting the inlet redfish is to drift the inlet bouncing live mullet or pinfish on the bottom on a falling tide. Easterly swells, falling tides, and aggressive anglers can make conditions dangerous, so please pay attention, be patient, and catch-um-up.
Inshore, look for slot redfish in close to the grassy edges along the shoreline shadowing pods of finger mullet, and for the larger redfish staged in deeper water ambush sites where migrating mullet are forced to venture out from the safety of the shallow flats. Also watch for snook to be tucked in close to the shoreline, ambushing pods of finger mullet as they pass by.
Art's 20-pound No-Motor Zone redfish caught on a RipTide Realistic Shrimp.
In deeper water areas, look for ladyfish, spotted sea trout, jacks, and tarpon feeding on schools of glass minnows. These schools of fish are easily located by watching for bird and fish activity. Once located, these schools will produce explosive action on small top water plugs, or popping bug flies. Also, if you locate a school of the larger black mullet, try fishing spoons or soft plastic baits deep under the school. Even though, mullet are vegetarians, redfish and sea trout will often mingle in feeding on shrimp and crabs kicked up from the bottom by larger mullet.
Seminars and EventsOctober 13th, Braided Line Applications, Andy Thornal Company Fly Fishing Expo located under the Water Tower in Winter Haven, Florida. Call 863-299-9999 for more details.
October 23rd, Orlando Kayak Club meets at 7pm Gander Mountain in Lake Mary, and Captain Rodney Smith is the guest speaker.
November 16th, 17th, and 18th, Coastal Angler Magazines Boating and Fishing Expo at the Volusia County Fairgrounds with a full program of speakers and seminars.
As always, if you have any questions or need more information, please contact me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
Mosquito Coast Fishing Chartershttp://www.irl-fishing.com/407-366-8085 landline
407-416-1187 on the water
866-790-8081 toll free
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. This was the second species John caught to achieve the "Inshore Slam" title - he already landed a sixteen inch trout. 
We had about a half hour left so we took a chance and headed to some structure close to New Pass. As John's luck was still with him on his first cast he boated a nineteen inch redfish completing the Slam - congratulations John.
Starting at dusk with angler Frank Winkle we targeted grass flats, mangrove shorelines, and docks with not much success. Small juvenile grouper, mangrove snapper and a few trout were the only species we caught. Then we found a large dock area that was pretty much falling apart and threw a couple large shrimp into the structure. Franks rod bent in two with a twenty-four inch black drum on the other end. We landed this fish and with in a half hour had boated three more - all in the slot. An evening trip with Dave, and Sue Mathias started out looking a little rough in the beginning with rain in the area, however it cleared and we were able to hit the bay running. We were heading out to see if we could find a hungry snook or two to tighten our lines. Dave and Sue did manage to find two snook both being under the size limit. They did however give us a nice battle on the light tackle, both fish were around twenty-five inches. Snook didn't end up on the table, however they did pick up two nice redfish. First Dave caught the tournament anglers dream a twenty-seven inch redfish, then Sue caught a nice twenty-four inch red. A nice ending to top off Sue's birthday fishing trip. Black Drum - great on the line & great on the table:Black Drum regulations:Size - not less than fourteen inches, or more than twenty four inchesBag - five per dayYou may have one over twenty-four inches, and there is no closed season.Recipe for Lemon-Crusted Black Drum:Four tablespoons mayo - half tablespoon grated fresh lemon rind - quarter tablespoon salt - quarter tablespoon coarse ground black pepper - two tablespoons butter - two-thirds cup Italian breadcrumbs - cooking spray - four black drum fillets. Combine first four ingredients in a small bowl. Arrange fish on a foil-lined broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Spread mayo mixture evenly over fish. Microwave butter until melted; toss with breadcrumbs. Sprinkle crumbs evenly over fish. Bake at four hundred fifty degrees for ten minutes or until fish flakes easily. Certain species of fish may have an "off flavor" this can easily be eliminated with just a little preparation. Put the fillets in a bowl and cover with water - add about a half cup white vinegar and let sit for an hour - drain and rinse fillets. Do not let sit much longer than an hour or the fish will cook. I do this with species like black drum, redfish, and sheepshead - it really makes a difference with little effort. Tight Lines & Good Times, Capt. Terry Frankford
One More Cast! - Sep 25, 2007