 Well folks, this week’s fishing adventures picked up right where they left off with hungry fish chewing in all areas of the Lagoon Coast. The mullet run is in full swing, and predator species were happy and hungry.
My adventures started on Monday where Mark Blythe joined me for what we hoped would be a day of kayak fishing in the No-Motor Zone. When we arrived at our planned launch site stiff easterly breezes swayed our strategy, and with the yaks still strapped to the roof of the truck we headed to the beach. Operating on good information, I knew the bait was thick in the surf, and our chance for some serious action was good.
When we arrived at the beach, the mullet schools were heavy and tight to the shoreline and hungry bluefish and jacks were busting them as far as the eye could see. Both Mark and I selected various top water plugs, and we were rewarded with continuous action for the next six hours. When it was all said and done, our best estimate was at least 50 fish, and at least 50.00 worth of Storm Chug Bugs, Rapala Skitter Walks, Top Dogs, DOA Bait Busters, and anything else in the tackle box that floated and had hooks.
During the mullet run, bait schools move south along the beach in waves or pulses, so it is important to focus on areas with active bait schools. If you arrive at your planned location and the bait schools are slim, keep moving. Also, heavy surf tackle is not a must, because most of the action is in close and you never know what species you will encounter, so beef up your line size and leader.
On Thursday, I had the pleasure of fishing Port Canaveral in the morning with Captain Chris Myers, and our strategy was to scout the area for my planned afternoon charter. We located heavy bait schools on the sandbar east of the drawbridge, and Chris filled the bait well in two casts. Although we found heavy bait concentrations in the back of the port, we found little or no finger mullet around the jetties or along the beach. In the past, mid October has produced flounder and redfish in along the deeper channel ledges, and we managed seven keeper flounder up to three pounds dragging live finger mullet along the bottom.
At 3pm, John and Justin from Orlando joined me and with plenty of choice mullet still in the live well, we headed back out to the ship channel for another swing at the flounder. On our arrival both the wind and tide had gained momentum, but both John and Justin were seasoned anglers who’s efforts were rewarded with four nice flounder and a chunky redfish. We returned to the back of the Port for some after hour’s snook action, but although the mullet schools were thick and being worked over by predators, we only managed one hefty ladyfish.
On Friday I had an inshore charter on the north Indian River Lagoon where I was joined by Dusty McClung, and his friends Shadd and Rick. As we motored away from the launch at 7am, we immediately located a school of hungry ladyfish, and the top water plug action was fast and furious for the first hour. Next, we motored to a nearby shoreline and we commenced to catching slot size redfish using chunked ladyfish for bait.
The majority of the redfish I’ve encountered this past few weeks have been mixed in with mullet schools very close to the shoreline. Most of our fish were taken in the area of the smaller mullet, and they were not concentrated in schools. Also, the fish seem to be following bait schools parallel with the shoreline, and we experienced our best results by shutting down the engine about 500 feet from the shore, and the poling into our spot very quietly.
As always, if you have any questions or need more information, please contact me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn |
