John Kumiski, Indian River

North Indian River Lagoon System Fishing Report

Lagoon sunrise.

Thank you for reading this North Indian River Lagoon System Fishing Report.

Got out three days last week, even worked on one of them. Fished in both the Indian River Lagoon and Mosquito Lagoon.

Saturday there was a book signing at Kayaks by Bo. I’d like to thank those people who came out for making time in their day.

For those who were unable to make it to the book signing, Fishing Florida by Paddle is available here- http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

I have a copy of the 1971 Professional Guide’s Manual written by George Leonard Herter for the North Star Guide Association. An excerpt is printed below-

Having done this numerous times, I suggest you use a forceps instead of fingers to hold the fly. That steam is hot!

Fishing!
Monday
Make hay while the sun shines, as the saying goes. The weather was nice so with a kayak on the roof I drove to the Indian River Lagoon, place I hadn’t fished in a long time. It wasn’t great. The water is high and not very clean. There were not a lot of fish around. I did manage to get a redfish (soft plastic shad, 3”) that I was able to sightfish (shoreline fish) and 15 or so trout to about 4 pounds on the same lure cast blindly. Got caught in the afternoon rain. Warm and gentle, the rain was surprisingly pleasant.

Wednesday
Was getting ready to go scout Mosquito Lagoon, and asked Susan if she wanted to go. She wasn’t out of bed yet so it was a surprise when she said yes.

We launched the Mitzi at Beacon 42 about 930. The color of the water caused a great deal of dismay. The trolling motor kept hitting the bottom- I could not see it.

I saw and got nothing at spot one. On the way to spot 2 she wanted to see the pelicans, so we got as close as legally allowed. While she watched the birds I threw a DOA Deadly Combo a few times and got a 20” trout. Into the livewell it went!

At spot 3 I got two more trout, both released, on the plastic shad. Then I cleaned the first trout and we went to Goodrich’s. https://www.goodrichseafoodandoysterhouse.com They cooked the fish for us and served it with slaw, hush puppies, and sweet potato fries. Yum-meeeeee! The boat sat noticeably lower in the water on the return trip to the boat ramp!

The water is high and horribly dirty. The Indian River doesn’t look great but it’s way better then Mosquito Lagoon.

Thursday
Charlie and Crystal joined me for some IRL fishing. We started at Parrish Park at 7 AM. The first bite, a trout, took about 45 minutes. We got ten or so fish over the next hour or so, all on plastic shad, healthy trout with a rat red and a junior snook thrown in. Then it went d-e-d.

A couple location changes failed to improve our luck.

I didn’t want to run to a new spot late in the day but did anyway. There were trout there and we got a dozen or so before we were done. The boat was back on the trailer about 330.

And that is this week’s north Indian River Lagoon System Fishing Report. Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide

Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2019. All rights are reserved.