Tom Van Horn, Indian River Lagoon

 

Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report, June 7, 2017

By Captain Tom Van Horn

For those of you who haven’t seen the news or do not live in Florida, our record drought conditions are flushing away as much needed rain has begun to fall.  Over the past several days a tropical low pressure system is shifting out of the Gulf of Mexico sending bands of heavy rain and thunderstorms across Florida.  These squally conditions have kept most anglers off of the water this week.  As our week progresses the weather should start clearing out and we should be moving into our typical summertime patterns of daily afternoon sea breeze thunderstorms.  The extreme drought has created some of the lowest water levels ever recorded on the St Johns River and inland lakes, but as the water levels begin to rise and the summer doldrums arrive our fishing conditions will improve.

Rising water levels on the St Johns River will put the larger catfish on the move.  Catfish love flowing water, and when the water levels rise in the summer, they move into the creeks to spawn.  Last night we received over 3 inches of rain at my homestead in Chuluota, which typically equates to a three foot rise in water levels on the Econ Creek, so I’m looking forward to targeting big catfish on the creek again.

On the Mosquito Lagoon the water quality in much improved over this time last year.  The water clarity has been good and the sea grass is starting to return in the shallower areas of the flats.  There is also and noticeable increase in baitfish, primarily finger mullet.  Currently, the top-water plug action is good with some nice size sea trout eagerly taking plugs at first light. In addition, redfish schools are beginning to form up in the shallow areas of the flats.  So far the alga blooms of past years haven’t developed, and we can only hope the most recent rainfall dose not turn the alga blooms on.

Nearshore, it has been rough with the recent squalls, but the doldrums of summer are just around the corner.  The baitfish (pogies) have been thick and the kingfish and jumbo jack bite is kicking in, so break out your pogie nets, upgrade your tackle and hang on.

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

Good luck and good fishing,

Captain Tom Van Horn
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
www.irl-fishing.com
407-416-1187 on the water