You have reached an archived fishing report from Indian
River and Mosquito Lagoon Redfish Guide Capt. Chris
Myers. I provide light tackle and fly fishing charters in the
Mosquito and Indian River Lagoons for redfish, seatrout,
drum, and tarpon. The fishing in the Indian River and the
surrounding saltwater flats of east central Florida offer great
inshore fishing opportunities all year long. My flats fishing
charters include all baits, tackle and licenses. I am a full time
fishing guide specializing in sight fishing for redfish. Visit my
Central Florida Fishing Report for the latest news and
conditions. Call me at 321-229-2848 to book your redfish
charter.



Monday I invited fellow fishing guide Capt. Tom Van Horn to go
scouting in the Mosquito Lagoon. He came up with a better idea and
suggested we go to the  Banana River no motor zone in his canoe.
The day started off slow and we only saw a few slot sized redfish that
would not eat. Eventually, we came upon a huge school of black drum
along the edge of a flat. As luck would have it, as soon as we found
them the wind kicked up and made sight fishing conditions difficult. I
hooked up first using an plastic crab but the hook quickly pulled loose.
An examination of the hook revealed a small piece of bone or
cartilage jammed just below the hook point which obviously kept it
from fully penetrating. Capt. Tom quickly hooked up on a huge black
drum with a Gulp crab. After fighting it for about five minutes, a quick
and powerful surge by the fish parted the leader. As the high winds
blew us quickly along the flat, we saw many large redfish but getting
shots at them was tough. I finally managed to get the  crab in front of
one and hooked up one which was over 30 lbs. Capt. Tom had to
paddle alone against the wind and the large fish to get us back into
water which was shallow enough to safely land this fish.




















Soon after catching this fish the water began to whitecap and made
sight fishing impossible so we made our way back to shore.

Wednesday, I checked out both the Indian River and the Mosquito
Lagoon. I saw only a handful of reds and found the water to be very
dirty. I got a call from Capt. Van Horn who said he was going to look
for shad in the St. Johns River. I pulled out the boat and drove over
there to meet him. Fishing south of the SR 46 bridge, we found some
fish. Capt. Van Horn got about 7 shad along with a ton of small bass
and some specs. I managed only 2 shad, 2 specs and a bunch of
small bass. Most of my fish came on a silver tiny terroreyz. Shad are a
saltwater fish that travel up the St. Johns each winter to spawn. A
member of the herring family, they look and act similar to small tarpon
providing jumps and a good fight on light tackle. Shad can be caught
using small jigs in deeper areas of the river for the next couple months.




















Saturday, I took a trip to the Sebastian River. I had not been there
since early November. We fished the North Fork first and found tons of
bait but only a couple ladyfish were coaxed into biting. While
searching the south fork, my fishing partner for the day, Joe Blasko,
picked up a few bass before we came upon a bunch of small tarpon.
Although the fish were there in good numbers, they were not feeding
well. I landed two fish. We threw a variety of artificials but only
managed strikes on a DOA rootbeer terroreyz and a white shad tail.





















The Sebastian River holds tarpon year round. Fishing for them in the
winter, however, can be slow and frustrating. Late March through
October are the prime months providing we don’t have late season
cold fronts or excessive rains during the summer.  

Back on the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon, look for redfish and
drum to be tailing on the flats during periods between cold fronts. Both
the redfish and drum are focusing on crabs and shrimp. A DOA
shrimp is a great choice when targeting these fish.
January 29, 2006
Central Florida Sight Fishing Charters
Indian River Redfish Guide
Fly and Light Tackle Fishing
redfish on the flats
shad fishing in central florida
central florida tarpon
florida fishing guide assoc
FFF Fly Fishing Guide
Indian River Flats Fishing Charters
with
Captain Chris Myers
Full Time Fly and Light Tackle Fishing Guide
321-229-2848