As spring progresses here in Central Florida, and the Space Coast our fishing has shown steady improvement on the Lagoons, out of Port Canaveral and on the St Johns River Freshwater.
On the Mosquito and the Indian River Lagoons, water levels are in a moderate range and the water clarity is still dirty in most locations. Add these factors to the winds of March, and you have challenging fishing conditions. Although the conditions have been challenging, we have still managed to catch some very respectable redfish and black drum, you just have to work harder to locate and catch them. In addition, the silver mullet have returned to the flats in good numbers, so the top water plug action for sea trout is picking up in the skinny water.
The fishing has been very good for tripletail out of Port Canaveral and the cobia have arrived in good numbers. The only issue here is the weather and sea conditions have made fishing out of the Port very challenging for small craft anglers. Hopefully the cobia will still be around after these fronts move out and the seas settle down, so keep a good eye on the weather and get them while you can.
Water levels on the St johns River are also in the moderate range and the shell cracker brim have been on the beds during the full and new moon phases and they are bedding up on the shell bottom. The largemouth bass bite has been slow for me in the areas I fish, but the saving grace has been the sunshine bass. As our spring showers progress and St Johns water levels rise, look for the channel catfish bite to improve as the current and flow of the river increase.
As always, if you need have any questions or need more information, please contact me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
