flagler fishing

Since the fishing seems to be a little on the slow side as of late, let me tell you about a fishing trip Capt. Chris Herrera and I took a couple of weeks back. Chris, who fishes quite often in the Indian River Lagoon, said he was going to take me to the lagoon for my birthday. The following morning he picked me up at 5 am and we headed south for the fifty minute drive to the boat launch at Haul Over Canal. We launched the boat and headed west into the lagoon. After a short run we headed south across some grass flats and came to a stop to look around for some fish. We didn’t see anywhere we were at but did see some boats to the east of us. We set course in their direction. When we got to within about 500 yards we shut the engine down and switched to the trolling motor. There were about seven boats that were sitting on a school of about 75 reds. Believe me when I tell you that there wasn’t a one under 20 lbs. They were so big that they were tailing in two feet of water. Chris eased us into the pack using the trolling motor. You don’t want to make any unnecessary noise because these fish spook easily. Chris had his rod ready to go with a live shrimp. Once he figured which way the school was moving he cast the shrimp about 10 yards in front of it and just let it sit. As they neared the shrimp Chris began to move it ever so slowly. One red picked up the shrimp and started to take off with it. Chris then started to reel in the circle hooked shrimp, the hook set and the battle was on. Fifteen minutes later we boated the big red which we estimated to be about 35lbs. It was the biggest red I have ever seen.
Then it was my turn. But as luck would have it the school seemed to stop feeding. I cast numerous times to the school but they just stopped feeding, maybe because of the pressure they were getting from the other boats. We than headed to another spot and couldn’t locate any fish there. We decided to give the original spot another shot. The fish were still there but they wouldn’t touch anything you threw at them so we called it quits and headed to Mosquito Lagoon. There I landed a 20” trout and an 18” red, both on plugs, a far cry from the big reds of earlier that day. We both vowed to make the run to the IRL another day.
This being a holiday weekend I would like to remind everyone to to take extra precaution and boat safely. Avoid the alcohol until you get in the safety of your own home. BOATING and ALCOHOL DOESN”T MIX . Have a safe and happy 4th.

Photo: Capt. Chris Herrera shows off a 35 lb Indian River Lagoon redfish.

Every week I receive a report from the FWC (Florida Wildlife Commission) about arrests and citations handed out throughout the state. These citations usually pertain to hunting and fishing infractions, poaching, illegal fish etc. One disturbing one that I read recently was of an arrest made here in Flagler County. The person has been citied for killing eight great blue herons by use of a pellet rifle. How anyone could kill such a beautiful, defenseless creature is beyond my comprehension. Isn’t part of the reason we live here because of the wildlife? It’s bad enough that so much wildlife is being depleted due to development that we don’t need individuals to speed up the process. If you know of a wildlife infraction and want to report it you can contact the FWC online at, myfwc.com then click on wildlife alert at the bottom of the page or call 1-888-404-3922 for an incident in progress.
Another disturbing article I read in the paper the other day was of a two year old that was killed when he fell of the stern of his fathers boat and was killed by the propeller. This incident most likely could have been avoided. I can’t express SAFE BOATING enough. We must be aware of our surroundings and the people onboard our boats at all times. It only takes a second for an accident to happen that may well have been prevented by the use of a little precaution and some common sense. Some of the things I see people doing while boating are accidents waiting to happen. Please, think and Practice Safe Boating !
Surf fishing has slowed a bit. What I have been hearing is mostly of blues and whiting. Still waiting for the tarpon to make an appearance along the beaches.
The ICW is producing reds, snook, flounder and some trout. Most of the flounder are around the fourteen inch range. Live shrimp is still a rarity. Mud minnows, mullet and pinfish are the live baits of choice. I probably had my worst day of fishing in the past 2 years when all I could produce was a 14” mangrove snapper and a couple of catfish for the party on my boat. They did however lose a nice snook. It’s tough when you have young children on the boat and you have to change your whole style of fishing. Capt. Ralph Olivett did well though. His party had 4 reds and a flounder. The reds were 27, 26 ½, 18 and 19 inches. All were caught on live bait.

Photo: left to right - Capt Ralph Olivett holds a redfish for Alyssa Wilson, Lindsey Jones – mangrove snapper, Lauren Jones – flounder, Dayton Wilson – redfish.
Rear, Shane Wilson –redfish, Gary Jones - redfish