11-22-2002, 05:11 PM
From The Boat of Capt. Thomas Van Horn - Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
Indian Lagoon Coast Fishing Report, November 22, 2002
![[Image: thm-2.jpg]](http://www.bigfishtackle.com/images/gforum/thm-2.jpg)
I’m back at my desk, and yes I survived another fishing vacation in Sebastian. It rejuvenates one’s soul to take a whole week off, and do nothing but eat, sleep, and fish. It also dose a number on one’s equipment, back, and hands. Again this year I was joined by my best friend and fishing buddy, Madman Mike, the man fish fear. We fished through torrential rain, high winds, raging seas, the Sebastian Inlet gauntlet, which included the attack of the rock dwellers, and still managed to catch a ton of fish. Below is a brief outline of some of the species taken last week:
Flounder Every year when the water cools, the flounder migrate from the shallow water of the lagoon to the deeper water of the Atlantic. This migration is currently in full swing, and it will last only a few weeks. Mike and I caught numerous flounder over the week with the majority being small. The technique we used was to drift inside the cut bouncing a ¼ ounce pompano jig tipped with fresh shrimp on the bottom. There were reports of larger fish taken using finger mullet, again bounced on the bottom. The most productive time to fish is during periods of slack tide, working the bait slowly across the bottom.
Spanish Mackerel Large schools of Spanish are working glass minnows (bay anchovy) outside the inlet. These fish can be located by watching for birds working bait on the surface, and they were concentrated in tight fast moving schools. We used DOA Cal jigs in the seaweed color with good results. It is important to retrieve your lure quickly to keep the fish from cutting the leader.
Tarpon and Kingfish Large tarpon and kingfish are shadowing schools of Spanish mackerel in deeper water outside the inlet. The highlight of our trip was when Mike boated an eighty pound plus tarpon on 20 pound Power Pro line (see photo). This fish was taken using a live pigfish weighted with a ¾ ounce barrel sinker dropped down into the school of smaller fish. It was a tremendous battle due to rough seas, but Mike’s patients prevailed.
Redfish and Trout Both redfish and trout are still up in the shallow flats south of the inlet. Work the edges of the mangrove shoreline in areas where mullet are still concentrated. There’s also a good number of larger redfish located outside the inlet’s north jetty.
Snook Snook fishing was good in the inlet during the night. If you want to experience extreme fishing, this is it. The most productive technique utilized by anglers in boats is to drift live pigfish through the channel weighted with a ¾ ounce barrel sinker. This action was complicated by the large number of boats using it and the rock dwellers tossing sinkers and buck tail jigs at you from the shoreline. It becomes even more exciting when an angler hooks up. Again, slack tide is the preferred window of opportunity.
Pompano Pompano are showing up on the inside of the inlet near the monument, which is the large concrete channel marker located west of the inlet. We again used the ¼ ounce pompano jigs tipped with shrimp. Many other species of fish were also taken in this area using the same technique. If you know someone who’s not particular about the type of fish they catch, this is the place to go.
All in all, it was a great week of fishing and catching. A true adventure loaded with danger and excitement, man, time flies when your having fun!
As always, if you have any questions or need information, please contact me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
[url "http://www.irl-fishing.com"]www.irl-fishing.com[/url]
[url "mailto:captain@irl-fishing.com"]captain@irl-fishing.com[/url]
407-366-8085
886-790-8081 toll free
[signature]
Indian Lagoon Coast Fishing Report, November 22, 2002
I’m back at my desk, and yes I survived another fishing vacation in Sebastian. It rejuvenates one’s soul to take a whole week off, and do nothing but eat, sleep, and fish. It also dose a number on one’s equipment, back, and hands. Again this year I was joined by my best friend and fishing buddy, Madman Mike, the man fish fear. We fished through torrential rain, high winds, raging seas, the Sebastian Inlet gauntlet, which included the attack of the rock dwellers, and still managed to catch a ton of fish. Below is a brief outline of some of the species taken last week:
Flounder Every year when the water cools, the flounder migrate from the shallow water of the lagoon to the deeper water of the Atlantic. This migration is currently in full swing, and it will last only a few weeks. Mike and I caught numerous flounder over the week with the majority being small. The technique we used was to drift inside the cut bouncing a ¼ ounce pompano jig tipped with fresh shrimp on the bottom. There were reports of larger fish taken using finger mullet, again bounced on the bottom. The most productive time to fish is during periods of slack tide, working the bait slowly across the bottom.
Spanish Mackerel Large schools of Spanish are working glass minnows (bay anchovy) outside the inlet. These fish can be located by watching for birds working bait on the surface, and they were concentrated in tight fast moving schools. We used DOA Cal jigs in the seaweed color with good results. It is important to retrieve your lure quickly to keep the fish from cutting the leader.
Tarpon and Kingfish Large tarpon and kingfish are shadowing schools of Spanish mackerel in deeper water outside the inlet. The highlight of our trip was when Mike boated an eighty pound plus tarpon on 20 pound Power Pro line (see photo). This fish was taken using a live pigfish weighted with a ¾ ounce barrel sinker dropped down into the school of smaller fish. It was a tremendous battle due to rough seas, but Mike’s patients prevailed.
Redfish and Trout Both redfish and trout are still up in the shallow flats south of the inlet. Work the edges of the mangrove shoreline in areas where mullet are still concentrated. There’s also a good number of larger redfish located outside the inlet’s north jetty.
Snook Snook fishing was good in the inlet during the night. If you want to experience extreme fishing, this is it. The most productive technique utilized by anglers in boats is to drift live pigfish through the channel weighted with a ¾ ounce barrel sinker. This action was complicated by the large number of boats using it and the rock dwellers tossing sinkers and buck tail jigs at you from the shoreline. It becomes even more exciting when an angler hooks up. Again, slack tide is the preferred window of opportunity.
Pompano Pompano are showing up on the inside of the inlet near the monument, which is the large concrete channel marker located west of the inlet. We again used the ¼ ounce pompano jigs tipped with shrimp. Many other species of fish were also taken in this area using the same technique. If you know someone who’s not particular about the type of fish they catch, this is the place to go.
All in all, it was a great week of fishing and catching. A true adventure loaded with danger and excitement, man, time flies when your having fun!
As always, if you have any questions or need information, please contact me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
[url "http://www.irl-fishing.com"]www.irl-fishing.com[/url]
[url "mailto:captain@irl-fishing.com"]captain@irl-fishing.com[/url]
407-366-8085
886-790-8081 toll free
[signature]