Fishing in the Shadow of Rockets

Happy Monday Spacefish!

There are places in Florida where you can catch a redfish; there are places where you can watch a rocket launch. But…There aren’t many places where you can be sitting in a kayak, casting to a tailing redfish in a foot of water while one of the most technologically advanced machines ever built by human beings is sitting on a launch pad somewhere beyond the mangroves. That’s fishing the northern reaches of Florida’s Space Coast.

The waters surrounding Kennedy Space Center and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge are some of my favorite places to explore in a kayak. You’ve got the northern Indian River Lagoon on one side, Mosquito Lagoon on the other, Haulover Canal connecting the two, and an incredible maze of shallow flats, shorelines, creeks, impoundments and backwaters in between.

For somebody fishing from a kayak, it’s almost ridiculous how much water there is to explore. It’s kind of overwhelming if I am being completely honest with you! So instead of talking about one particular fishing trip this week, I wanted to put together something a little different…A kayak angler’s guide to fishing around Kennedy Space Center. And yes, occasionally we may have to teach a sea trout about rocket launches.

Two Lagoons, One Incredible Fishery

One thing I love about this area is how dramatically the fishing can change depending on which direction you launch.
On the east side you’ve got Mosquito Lagoon, famous for shallow-water redfish and spotted seatrout. It’s a classic sight-fishing fishery; grass, potholes, points, spoil islands and huge expanses of skinny water.

To the west you’re fishing the upper Indian River Lagoon, which has its own personality. There are coves, marshes, canals and protected shorelines that can give kayak anglers opportunities even when conditions aren’t ideal elsewhere.

Connecting them is the Haulover Canal, giving anglers access to both systems. That’s one of the reasons I don’t really think of this as one fishing spot. It’s a giant fishing classroom. Wind direction, water clarity, bait movement, grass, depth and season can make one area completely different from another. Instead of asking, “Where are the fish?” I like asking: “Which piece of this system gives the fish what they need today?”

Mosquito Lagoon: Biolab, Beacon 42 and Pole & Troll

Moving into Mosquito Lagoon, several launches open up excellent kayak water. Biolab Road provides access along the western side of the mosquito lagoon and puts anglers close to miles of shallow flats, shorelines and islands.

Then there’s Beacon 42, a launch I’ve used for some memorable trips. This is the kind of place where a kayak really starts showing its advantages. You can work shallow grass, explore protected areas and quietly approach water that can be difficult to fish effectively from a larger boat.

Another option is the WSEG Launch and the Pole & Troll area across from it on the east side of the mosquito lagoon; here the entire concept of the management zone fits beautifully with kayak fishing. This is where I’d slow down, don’t feel like you need to cover the entire lagoon, pick apart the details. Look for submerged grass adjacent to potholes. Watch for the mullet getting nervous. Pay attention to points where wind pushes water and bait. Look for subtle depressions, drains and transitions.

Some of the best information you’ll get all morning may just come from a nervous school of mullet, wading birds, or a copper tail suddenly appearing above the surface.

Upper Indian River Lagoon: The Other Side of the Refuge

Mosquito Lagoon gets a tremendous amount of attention, but kayak anglers shouldn’t ignore the upper Indian River Lagoon. Areas around Shiloh Marsh Road, the surrounding canals and Dummitt Cove provide another completely different style of fishing.

This is especially useful when weather makes exposed portions of Mosquito Lagoon uncomfortable. One of the biggest advantages of kayak fishing is the ability to use shorelines, islands and vegetation to hide from the wind. A forecast that looks marginal doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t fish. It may simply mean you need to choose your launch more strategically.

That’s something I think kayak anglers sometimes overlook. We obsess over lure selection when the most important tackle decision of the morning might actually be where we unload the kayak.

Gator Creek, Catfish Creek and Peacocks Pocket

There are also opportunities to access portions of the Indian River from refuge dikes around areas such as Gator Creek, Catfish Creek and Peacocks Pocket. These smaller access points are exactly the sort of places I love exploring. These launches are all about getting into water slowly, observing what’s happening and figuring out a pattern.

A creek mouth, a little depth change, a wind protected shoreline, a sandy pothole in a lush patch of seagrass; those little details become big details when you’re fishing from a kayak.

Kayak Launch Cheat Sheet

Important: Access inside Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge can change. Roads, ramps and areas may be temporarily closed because of NASA operations, launches, weather, habitat management or other refuge activities. Always check current refuge conditions before making the drive and obey all posted closures and restricted areas.

What’s in My Kayak?

If I’m exploring this area, I’m keeping things pretty simple. A weedless paddle tail, or a paddletail rigged on a light jighead is probably my starting point because I can cover water and fish it through or just over grass. Something like a DOA CAL Shad, a Saltwater Assassin Sea Shad, or a Fishbites Butt Kicker gives me a bait I can swim, twitch or slow down depending on what I’m seeing.

A weedless gold spoon earns a spot because it casts a country mile (which we all know are much longer than a metro mile), slides through vegetation and puts out plenty of flash and vibration. When you’re searching large stretches of shallow water, this is exactly the type of bait I want.

I’ll usually have some type of twitch bait or jerk bait ready when I’m around trout or cleaner/ clearer water… And if conditions are right? It’s hard to beat topwater! Because there aren’t many things better than walking a topwater across a calm Space Coast flat at sunrise. But the important thing isn’t bringing 47 (a very adequate random, and overly large number) different lures. It’s having a few confidence baits that let you cover different parts of the water column while you figure out what the fish are telling you.

Location first… Presentation (hook/rig type) second… Lure (what goes on the hook or rig) third.

The Kennedy Space Center Factor

Then there’s the part of this fishery that never really gets old…The rockets. You can spend the morning surrounded by mangroves, dolphins, manatees, ospreys, alligators and redfish; an ecosystem that feels ancient, and primeval even (what a word, right?) while looking across the horizon at Kennedy Space Center. It truly is an incredible contrast.

One minute you’re trying to make a quiet presentation to a fish behaving according to instincts developed over thousands of years of evolution. The next minute something built by humans is leaving Earth. I’ve always thought that’s what makes fishing the Space Coast special.

Our identity isn’t just beaches. It isn’t just the Indian River Lagoon system, and it isn’t just Kennedy Space Center; It’s all of it together.

Remember Where You’re Fishing

There’s one important caveat with all of these locations. Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is exactly that – a wildlife refuge… Please, treat it accordingly.

Give wildlife room, clean up your trash, don’t tear through shallow grass, and respect seasonal or temporary closures. If an area is marked off-limits, don’t be the guy who decides the rules don’t apply because there might be a redfish over there. And please remember that you’re fishing next door to an active spaceport…Access can change, so check before you go.

Conclusion: Fishing The Space Coast

I’ve fished a lot of different places around Florida, but there’s something uniquely cool about launching a kayak around Kennedy Space Center. Maybe you catch a trout, or maybe you find a school of reds; or mayhaps you spend the morning staring at schools of baitfish, wondering why absolutely nothing underneath them wants your lure. That’s fishing, but somewhere beyond that flat sits the infrastructure that helped put human beings on the Moon. That’s something you don’t get to experience everywhere.

So load the kayak, check the wind, check the refuge access, grab a handful of confidence baits and go explore. You don’t need fancy electronics covering the kayak, you don’t need twenty rigged rods, and you definitely don’t need to fish the entire lagoon.

Pick a piece of water, slow down, read it….And if a rocket happens to launch while you’re holding a redfish? Well… Welcome to the Space Coast.

As always, if you’re looking to get into kayak fishing or need help getting your current kayak properly rigged, stop in and see the crew at Kayaks By Bo. Whether you’re shopping for a kayak, looking for accessories or just need some help figuring out the best setup for the way you fish, having a good local kayak shop in your corner makes a huge difference.

Before heading toward the refuge, stop by Strike Zone Fishing in Melbourne to stock up on the tackle you’ll need. You don’t need to bring the entire tackle aisle with you; a few good paddle tails, jigheads, weedless hooks, spoons and topwaters will cover an awful lot of Space Coast water.

Support the local businesses that support our fishing community. Then go put that gear to work. Thanks for taking the time to read my report, it truly means a lot! Stay safe, be happy, and may your lines be ever tight! Until next time!