Tom Van Horn, June 2018

Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Forecast, June 2018

As many of you already know, I’ve been writing fishing report and fishing forecast for many years with the intent to assist anglers in becoming both successful and responsible on the water. Well after retiring from the fire service last December, it is time to expand on my adventures.  On June 8th I will be exchanging my summertime lagoon adventures to those of guiding anglers for salmon and trophy rainbow trout at the Katmai Lodge on the Alagnak River in Alaska. This is an undertaking I have dreamed of for years, and now I will be living in my dreams.  From what I have learned from the lodge they have good Wi-Fi, so my adventures will continue online with reports from the Alagnak River and forecast about Central Florida fishing based on my past experiences. So, stay tuned and enjoy fishing in Alaska with me this summer as I exchange alligators for bears and sea trout for rainbows.

June’s Fishing Forecast

There’s no doubt summer has arrived on the Indian River Lagoon coast as summer squalls have arrived early.  With temperatures and humidity levels rising as well, it’s wise to concentrate your angling efforts during cool hours of early morning, late afternoon, and night. I know the best time to fish is whenever you have a chance but stay cool if you can.  Fishing in June, July, and August requires some adjustments in your fishing routine, but it doesn’t mean the fish are not biting.  June provides some of the best opportunities for shallow water anglers to tackle major fish along the Lagoon coast.

On the flats, focus your efforts in the morning and in the late afternoon after the thunderstorms dissipate.  Night fishing will also produce descent catches of redfish and trout. When fishing the flats at night, I prefer fishing real slow with glow in the dark shrimp imitation baits like the DOA Shrimp.  If you can only fish during the heat of the day, target docks with deep water access.  In the early morning look for trout and redfish up in the skinny water around concentration of bait and toss them your favorite top water plug.  Also look for schools of bay anchovies (glass minnows) in deeper waters near the end of June.  These schools can be located by watching for small terns and other sea birds working, and they usually are shadowed by concentrations of small trout and ladyfish.

Near-shore opportunities are typically the best you will see all year for skinny water boats along the beach.  June is the time of year when the kingfish move in close shadowing schools of Atlantic menhaden (pogies) along the beach and in the Port Canaveral buoy line.  When the summer doldrums set in, the waters clear up, and the seas flatten out, the window of opportunity opens for flat bottom boats.  Also, along the beach, look for the tarpon and shark number to increase, and let’s not forget the large schools of jack carvalle and the tripletail fishery will be cranking up.  Remember, snook season closes this week, so let’s give them a chance to relax and get jiggie. I try not to target them, and if I do manage to catch one, I handle it gently and release it with care.

Offshore, look for the dolphin bite to slow as the schools begin to spread out.  The kingfish concentration will remain good along the inshore reefs and wrecks of 8A Reef and Pelican Flats slow trolling with live pogies producing the most action. Bottom fishing will remain good for snapper and grouper until the first summer squall (tropical system) blows in and muddies up the water.

On the St Johns River, increasing water levels will finally put the large channel catfish on the move. So, if you are interested in so heavy freshwater action try soaking some fresh dead shrimp in some of the deeper river bends and hang on.

Also remember as the days heat up, long battles will kill the larger fish, if you plan on targeting them, you may want to step up your tackle to shorten the battle.  Also leave them in the water as much as possible and revive them completely before releasing them.

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

Good luck and good fishing,

Captain Tom Van Horn

www.irl-fishing.com

407-416-1187