Best Kayak Fishing Spots in East Central Florida

Happy Monday Spacefish!

We are into the month of September now, fall is just around the corner, and with it brings some cooler weather and one of planet Earth’s most fascinating migrations – the Mullet run. Anglers of all types get excited for fall fishing along the East Central Florida region. I thought this would be a good time to write a compilation piece of my personal favorite kayak fishing spots in our area of the state. I am going to break the list down by species, and list 3 places for the 5 major sport fish targetted by kayak anglers. Let’s dive in!

Top Snook Spots

Starting off with Snook, which is my personal favorite game fish. The line sider can be found in inshore waters along Florida’s east coast from the keys all the way up to the first coast, but the further north you go, the less dense their numbers become. Here in Brevard county that is even the case, or at least it has been for me anyway. So for this species my top 3 spots are all going to be south of Melbourne, stretching down to the Treasure Coast. Snook are a tropical species, so they do not like cold water. Spring, Summer and Fall are the better times of the year to target them, but they will get really active during warms spells in the winter.

Snook Spot #1 – The Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge: I picked this spot because it has always been a great place to catch them in high volume. I have caught a few in the slot range here, but I go here for the chance to catch them in bunches. There are 3 places you can access this refuge via kayak; Riverview Park, Kayak, and Wabasso Causeway Park.

Snook Spot #2 – Sebastian Inlet State Park: So I know that any one who knows anything about fishing in the state of Florida, knows that Sebastian Inlet is one of the most iconic Snook fisheries in the history of sportfishing. While a kayak is not the best way to fish in the actual inlet, kayak fishing the mangrove islands and shorelines north of the inlet is a great way to get on a good Snook bite. I have caught them in good size, and numbers in this area. The launch spot is Sebastian Inlet State Rec Area on the south side of the inlet.

Snook Spot #3 – Mangrove Islands (Indian River County): This past summer I made two trips to fish the mangrove jungles in between Sebastian and Vero Beach. What I love about this area of the state is that it is relatively under developed compared to the stretch between Sebastian and Titusville. The water here is clean, there is sea grass growth, bait is in abundance as well as a high number of predatory sportfish, such as Snook. I fished here twice this summer and had two great days catching Snook. The two places I launched from were 69th Street Kayak Launch and 45th Street Kayak Launch, which for some reason I cannot hyperlink. So I will drop a pin, and here is the link – https://maps.app.goo.gl/F3mqBJJvNdnC4d5u7.

Top Tarpon Spots

Snook are my favorite, but if there was a fish that could make me reconsider it, it would be the Megalops Atlanticus. The Tarpon bite here is seasonal, if it were year round it would definitely be my number 1 targetted species. They can be found in backwater areas, and in the Space Coast true rivers (the IRL is not a real river). The key for me when catching Tarpon has been to downsize to smaller baits, and fish really slow. Target casting to rolling fish significantly increases the chances of getting bit!

Tarpon Spot #1 – St. Sebastian River: This is a huge river, with two forks. This is better if you have a pedal drive, and/or trolling motor. The key to success here is to cover ground (or water), and make sure you are giving yourself the best chance by finding the Tarpon and casting to them. Dale Wimbrow Park Boat Ramp is on the south fork, and offers a convenient launch spot; the access the mouth of the river it is best to park at 14510 US-1 and launch from the shoreline of the Indian River Lagoon, just south of the river mouth. Word of caution if you do plan on using this launch spot, you will have to transport your vessel up and down a pretty decent sized hill, it is not the easiest way to get on the water.

Tarpon Spot #2 – Turkey Creek: A close second to the St. Sebastian, would be Turkey Creek in Palm Bay. This tributary is loaded with Tarpon of various sizes. You can spend all day tagetting them within a mile on each side of US Highway 1, or you can go upcreek all the way back to the sanctuary and find smaller Juvies in one of the most beautiful areas in Central Florida to fish or paddle. My preferred launch spot for Turkey Creek is Castaway Point Park.

Tarpon Spot #3 – Eau Gallie River: I caught my first ever Tarpon on the Eau Gallie River in the summer of 2020, not long after my family and I moved here. This is the place I cut my teeth and learned how to catch them. But nostalgia aside, this is a great Tarpon fishery. Launching out of Ballard Park you can head west all the way back to the spill way, or you can head south and fish Elbow Creek. Like Turkey Creek, this is a place where you can target a good number without having to cover a lot of water, but these Tarpon here are probably the most pressured, as there is ton of boater traffic and angling pressure put on these fish each summer.

Top Largemouth Bass Spots

Sometimes it’s easy to forget about America’s most popular gamefish when living on Florida’s Space Coast. Our proximity to the Atlantic, and the Indian River Lagoon may draw a lot of the attention of anglers, and those that cover fishing, but let us not forget that Florida is considered by many to be the number 1 state for Bass fishing too!

Bass Spot #1 – Headwaters Lake: This lake has earned a lot of notoriety and praise for being Florida’s newest “Bass factory” and for kayak anglers this place jumped out a few years ago when it opened as a kayak only lake. Since the boat ramp opened, some of the shine of this place has worn off, but it is still a great place to go kayak bassin’. With a variety of fish habitat and an abundance of Largemouth in the lake, this place continues to be a top Bass spot for me. With an abundance of aquatic vegetation, it’s not the best place for a pedal drive, or trolling motor, but the good news is, you don’t have to go far from the launch spot to catch fish. You don’t need to make a full time investment in Bass tackle to have success here; a weedless & weightless fluke, a Florida rigged Speedworm, and a topwater Frog can put lot’s of fish in the boat. The kayak launch is in the NW corner of the lake, you can park at Fish Fellsmere Grade Recreation Area.

Bass Spot #2 – Fox Lake: This body of water, located just west of Titusville is an overlooked treasure. I have never gone here to fish and drove away disappointed. In my experience, it is more of a numbers lake, but I did catch a solid 5ish pound Bass back in the spring here. Compared to a lot of other Florida lakes, this fishery does not have hydrilla. It is a dark, tannic body of water, and my best fishing has been done by throwing dark colored worms in the lily pads. The kayak launch is right there beside the boat ramp at Fox Lake Park.

Bass Spot #3 – Lake Toho: This place fishes much more like Headwaters than Fox Lake. It is an absolutely gigantic lake, with several places to launch from. My personal favorite is Whaleys Landing Public Boat Ramp. There is a ton of vegetation in this lake, and the best type of cover to fish is the Kissimmee Grass. Watermelon Seed, Watermelon Red, and some combo of a Watermelon Red with Gold flake works really well in soft plastics. Flukes, Speedworms, and Swimbaits have been my big 3 fish catchers here.

Top Sea Trout Spots

Trout Spot #1 – Thousand Islands Conservation Area: Before I started writing weekly Spacefish reports, I used to fish this area quite a bit. This, along with the Eau Gallie River hold special places in my heart. I have caught more Redfish, and Trout here than any other place in Brevard County. With that said, I have not done super well in terms of large fish, but having days where I catch large numbers of them go a long way in the enjoyment category. This is a great place to fish, paddle, or ideally – both! To access this area in the Banana River Lagoon, you can launch from Ramp Road Park.

Trout Spot #2 – Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge: I have had success catching good numbers of Trout and Redfish by launching from Haulover Canal Kayak Launch or Bairs Cove Boat Ramp and heading eastward towards the Mosquito Lagoon. These areas have seen a remergence of sea grass, and the fishery is in a good place. I have been here twice in the last 6 months and both times I have caught good numbers of Trout and Redfish.

Trout Spot #3 – Mullet Creek Islands: If I would have added a #4 spot to the Snook list this would have been number 4. In addition to being a place with an abundance of Snook, this area holds a ton of Trout. These islands can be accessed by launching from Honest John’s Fish Camp beachside, or from Fisherman’s Landing Park on the mainland side. I like using Mullet Creek as a starting point and fishing all of the points and intersections, as Trout like to stack up around the corners especially on windy days where wind is pushing water and bait around these corners.

Top Redfish Spots

Redfish Spot #1 – Thousand Islands Conservation Area: Before I started writing weekly Spacefish reports, I used to fish this area quite a bit. This, along with the Eau Gallie River hold special places in my heart. I have caught more Redfish, and Trout here than any other place in Brevard County. With that said, I have not done super well in terms of large fish, but having days where I catch large numbers of them go a long way in the enjoyment category. This is a great place to fish, paddle, or ideally – both! To access this area in the Banana River Lagoon, you can launch from Ramp Road Park.

Redfish Spot #2 – Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge: I have had success catching good numbers of Trout and Redfish by launching from Haulover Canal Kayak Launch or Bairs Cove Boat Ramp and heading eastward towards the Mosquito Lagoon. These areas have seen a remergence of sea grass, and the fishery is in a good place. I have been here twice in the last 6 months and both times I have caught good numbers of Trout and Redfish.

Redfish Spot #3 – Banana River/Merritt Island: I toyed with making this number one on the list; however I haven’t fished it enough. But the one time I did, it was a great day catching Redfish, Trout, and Black Drum. I ended up with a decent number of fish caught with some good sized Reds and Black Drum in the mix. On this trip, I launched from Kelly Park East and went south. I explored a little backwater creek into the mangroves, and also had success in residential canals.

Utility Category

So there is one place I’d be remiss to not mention, and that is Sam’s Creek. I had a hard time fitting it in, because I have been there 3 times, and each time it was a little different, but all 3 times, the fishing was really good for me. The first time, was in the spring of 2022, and I caught a ton of Trout. The second time was in October 2022, and I caught more Tarpon in one trip, than I’ve ever caught before. I went back there this past spring, and had an awesome day catching tons of Trout, and a few Snook with an upper slot sized Snook being in the mix. This area is a really cool place to fish, and is usually quiet, wind protected, and unpressured. You can access this area by launching from several different potential launchspots in the Pine Island Conservation Area located in between 528 and the Kennedy Space Center.

Kayak Anglers I Admire & Learn From

As I mentioned above, I have not lived in this area for long, so a huge part of becoming a competent angler in this area has been learning from others. These are people I watch on You Tube and follow on instagram and they are all phenomenal anglers! I am going to list a number of people that I admire and learn from, as well as list a link to their YouTube Channels. Please consider going to their pages and subscribing!

Inshore Fishing; South Brevard/Snook: John Page – https://www.youtube.com/@JohnPageFishing

Inshore Fishing; North Space Coast/Redfish: Matt Robinson – https://www.youtube.com/@mattrobfishing

Bass Fishing: Chris Mitchell – https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisMitchellFishing

Positive Perspective on Life and Fishing: Russel aka “Thumpr Fishing” – https://www.youtube.com/@ThumprFishing

Conclusion

As we enter an exciting time of the year for fishing along Florida’s Space Coast, I wanted to take this opportunity to write out a full in depth list of my personal favorite spots in hopes that someone new to the sport will have some places to start; or a seasoned vet that is looking to switch things up may have a new place to check out.

Is there any places I missed? Please comment below with your favorite places if I left off a good spot!

Thanks for taking the time to read this report, and thanks to Kayaks By Bo, who partner with us for our weekly kayak fishing content. While I am on the subject, did you know Kayaks By Bo sells Fish Skinz Apparel? If you don’t have a Fish Skinz shirt you are missing out! They have some truly awesome apparel, they have a full lineup of men’s, women’s and youth shirts in a variety of designs. Along with Kayaks By Bo’s hot end of summer kayak sale, this is another reason to drop in to Brevard County’s #1 Kayak shop in Cocoa!

Until next time!