Indian River Lagoon

Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report, 02/03/2006 Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters With the sound of thunder rolling outside my window, it is clear my decision to cancel today planned adventure into the No-Motor Zone was a wise one. So, instead of fishing today, I will seize the opportunity to tell you a bit about my last few fishing quest. On Sunday the 29th, I spent the day searching for American shad on the St. Johns River accompanied by my good friend Mike Murray. We launch at Hwy 46 south of Lake Harney, and preceded to the mouth of the Econ Creek, where I had successfully boated 7 shad the week before. The boat traffic was heavy, with very little signs of shad rolling, so we decided to change our tactics and target speckled perch and other pan fish. The technique we used was to troll assorted speck jigs, and once we located fish, cover the area casting both jigs and flies. Using my electric trolling motor, we slowly bumped our way up the creek, catching an assortment of specks, brim, warmouth perch, and small bass. After about three hours of continuous action, we worked our way back to the Jolly Gator’s Fish Camp for lunch and a few barley pops. If you haven’t had a chance to visit the Jolly Gator’s yet, you need to stop in and check it out. After a good lunch, we loaded the boat and headed north across Lake Harney to see if we could find some shad down stream of the lake, and we ended up again experiencing good action bumping for specks up on Deep Creek. I also caught the majority of my fish on a hot pink Crazy Charlie fly. When the day was done, we had lost count of the total number of fish caught, but I ended up cleaning 18 respectable speckled perch and 10 warmouth perch for future consumption. My next trip took me back to the No-Motor Zone on the first of February accompanied by my good friends Captains Chris Myers and John Kumiski. It was a gorgeous day for a change, with variable light winds and lots of sun. The action was hot most of the day, with Chris and I landing the first two respectable black drum on black clousers flies, and we ended the day catching 3 black drum from 25 to 30 pounds, and 8 redfish between 8 and 30 pounds. Captain Chris ended up with top hook, catching a 30-pound redfish and a 30-pound black drum on a green Exude Crab. All in all, the fishing was great, and let’s just hope this current cold front pushes through quickly, so we can get back to catching. As always, if you need information or have any questions, please contact me. Good luck and good fishing, Captain Tom Van Horn www.irl-fishing.com 407-366-8085 office 407-416-1187 on the water 866-790-8081 toll free