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Captain Tod Hagan Date: 2/13/2005
Florida's Indian River Lagoon - America's most diverse
estuary
Cold fronts have dictated fishing opportunities and catches
on the Indian River Lagoon in recent weeks. The water
temperature is currently in the 60’s with some areas even
colder. With the cooler temps comes very clear water and
great opportunities for sight fishing the flats. Stalking reds
and trout in areas that are too dirty at other times of the
year. The better areas are south facing shorelines that are
exposed to more sunlight and areas with dark soft bottom,
which hold heat better.
The trout will be laid up in small groups and will lay nearly
motionless until startled by noise from the boat. This past
week very large fish, in the 30”+ category were common.
Catching these fish in clear shallow water is extremely
challenging. This is really where time on the water pays
off. The best method to catch this fish is stake out in areas
that are known to hold these fish and work the area with
live shrimp or small artificials. The Power Pole (shallow
water anchor) is a tremendous tool for this type of fishing.
A red ¼ lead head with clear pink split tail grub is a great
choice. Lead head jigs with the eye forward are a must to
avoid picking up grass. The best time to target these fish is
in the afternoon between 1pm and 4pm when the water is at
it’s warmest.
March will bring warmer temperatures to the area and more
wind. Warmer water is definitely a good and the stronger
winds can also be a good thing. There is very little tidal
influence in most parts of the lagoon. Most of the lagoons
water movement is from wind driven current. A small pass
between islands with wind driven current is a good place to
investigate.
If March is anything like last year, we’ll also see good
numbers of tarpon in the ocean. Unlike summer time
tarpon, which are very close to the beach, these fish are
typically in 40-60’ foot of water. These deeper fish will
also come into the inlets during nighttime outgoing tides.
The tarpon in deeper water will eat very well as compared
to the fish closer to the beach. A great lure choice for these
deep fish is a 2-oz. flair jig rigged with a circle hook. To
make this rig, cut the hook off the jig off and tie the bend of
a circle hook to the eye of the jig with 30-40 mono. If we
have a warm month, look for cobia to show off the beaches
also; a nice added bonus when looking for deep tarpon.
Thanks,
Capt. Tod Hagan
http://www.fishingcaptain.com
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