Mosquito Lagoon Kayak Fishing

Happy Monday Spacefish!

What a wonderfully warm week we just had on the Space Coast, the wind machine was cranked up a little more than I would have preferred but with consistently warm temperatures over the past week or so; the fish seemed (at least from my perspective) to be happy, moving around and feeding.

This week I scratched an item off my Florida bucket list; and to be honest it’s one that should have been done much sooner, but better late than never. I caught my first ever Mosquito Lagoon Redfish. I then proceeded to catch 6 more, with a handful of Sea Trout mixed in, and for battling strong winds, I considered the day to be a success. Nothing of banner size was caught, but it was a fun day of fishing, and felt good to finally get up there and experience the magic of sunrise over this historically significant, and highly renowned body of water, and catch a few fish.

Launch Spot

So my original plan was to actually launch out of the Beacon 42 Boat Ramp, which is just north of Haulover Canal, but as I was entering the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge I saw they had a roadside sign that said the Haulover Bridge was closed from 4/22-6/17; so that immediately threw that plan out of the window; from my research into the area, and prior experience I knew that there were two boat ramps south of Haulover which would get me on Mosquito Lagoon, Biolab and Bairs Cove, since Bairs Cove is in the Haulover Canal, and closer to the spots I planned to fish in my original gameplan, I chose that one. My biggest concern for the Biolab ramp was on Saturday morning and through the day I was anticipating pretty strong East winds, and I would have been pinned down in the south west corner of Mosquito Lagoon. So I ended up launching from Bairs Cove – located at at the end of Bairs Cove Road; the Google Address is Bairs Cove Rd, Mims, FL 32754 – but if you click on it on Google Maps you will have GPS directions to the spot.

I used the kayak launch located just behind the boat ramp, once on the water I pedaled west along the canal and hit the Mosquito Lagoon right as the sun was starting to rise.

What Worked – What Did Not

So I woke up at 4:00 am to get on the water and be in my first spot, byt first light. I am not a morning person by natural disposition. The only thing that can get me sprung out of the bed at 4:00 is the thought of topwater blowups; and that time my wife woke up at 3:30 and said she was going into labor our second son. So that being said, I was salivating at the idea of catching a few Trout on topwater as the sun was rising, and then transitioning to finding Redfish as the morning went on. To my great disappointment I did not catch a fish on topwater. All I can say is, it be that way sometimes. I fished this for an hour and after not getting any blowups, I switched over to sub-surface presentations.

What did work was 3.5 inch paddletails on a light jighead. The color I went with due to clean/clear water clarity was the Swampfox (Silver with Gold Flake) Minutemen from Fish, or Die. I rigged it on a ⅛ oz Chartruese Jighead. I tried to keep it on the bottom, short little bounces were effective for Redfish, that were keyed in on smaller shellfish on the bottom; and a few Trout were caught in deeper water of roughly 3-4 feet; in the Trout zone I would slowly retrieve it, and let it fall to the bottom; most Trout were caught on the fall.

The only downside of the jighead was that I was snagging some grass, but I the Redfish seemed to be much more responsive to the jigging of the bait, and letting it sit on it’s nose, with it’s tail up – a shrimp lure probably would have been money; but I didn’t have any. A ned rigged Gulp! Shrimp would probably kill it there. I also caught 2 smaller Reds, and a small Trout on the Clarity Lures Fluke in the “Glassy” color – I rigged this on a 3/0; ⅛ oz Mission Fishin’ Screwlock hook.

Good Spots

So perhaps more important that what baits worked well, I think is the information on where I caught fish. Knowing the wind was going to be strong, my gameplan was to fish the west side of several islanIds, but with openings between them I knew a lot of water and bait would be pushed through. So I planned to fish the northwest; and southwest points of these islands so I would gain protection from the wind, but oxygenated water, and sources of food would be getting pushed in around these points.

The wind ended up being more of an ESE wind, so my gameplanned had to be tweaked while out on the water. So instead of hanging out and fishing on the west side of these islands, I found wind protection on the north side of these islands, it ended up cutting down the total amount of water I could effectively fish, but being able to fish a smaller area well, rather than being pounded by the wind seemed to result in better success for Redfish, the calmer water allowed for a little bit of sight fishing when the sun was shining, and at the very least I was able to see fishing creating wakes in the skinny water when it was cloudy. The X’s on the picture below show the areas I sat in to methodically sit and target Reds; the longer squiggly line showed where the water was deeper and Trout were hanging out.

In the areas between islands there was some grass growth; the water depth was very shallow, and as we near the end of the dry season the right combination of shallower water (easier for sun penetration) and cleaner water (lack of runoff) is usually a good time for seagrass, fingers crossed the grass survives after the summer rains! I have included two pictures below; one is of some grass, and another shows an area with grass patches, mixed in with sand bottom. It kind of reminded me of the Tennessee Vols iconic checkerboard endzone; these shallow flats, with some grass were productive areas to fish for me this past Saturday.

History of Haulover Canal

On my way out from the launch spot, as I pedaled through Haulover Canal, I took a picture of the Historical Marker, which explained the history of Haulover Canal – which is pretty fascinating in, and of itself.
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=108012

“Native Americans, explorers and settlers hauled or carried canoes and small boats over this narrow strip of land between Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River. Eventually it became known as the ‘haulover.’ Connecting both bodies of water had long plagued early settlers of this area. Spaniards visited as early as 1605 and slid boats over the ground covered with mulberry tree bark. Early settlers used rollers and skids to drag schooners across. Fort Ann was established nearby in 1837, during the 2nd Seminole War (1835-1842), to protect the haulover from Indians and carry military supplies from the lagoon to the river. In 1852, contractor G.E. Hawes dug the first canal using slave labor. It was 3 ft. deep, 14 ft. wide, and completed in time for the 3rd Seminole War (1856-1858). Steamboat and cargo ships used the passage until the railroad arrived in 1885. By 1887, the Florida Coast Line Canal and Transportation Co. dug a new and deeper canal which you see now, a short distance from the original. The Intracoastal Waterway incorporated the Haulover Canal as a federal project in 1927 to be maintained by the U.S.”

On my way back in I saw many boats anchored up in the canal; soaking bait on the bottom. This deep water canal is a great place to target bigger drum – both of the Red, and Black variety; as well as sharks, and I’ve heard there are also large Tarpon that like to hang out in the deeper water of this canal. One of my students recently went with his dad and they anchored there boat and fished cut bait (blue crabs) on the bottom, and caught some massive Black Drum.

So depending on when you go there; if kayaking through the canal please be mindful of the boats anchored with lines in, also this is a popular spot for shore based anglers so please be respectful and don’t paddle over anyone’s lines — I actually saw a kayak tour group come through and run over people’s lines. It was a tense moment, and to the tour guide’s defense, he was talking and monitoring his group, so I don’t think he ever saw it.

Conclusion

I always pictured my inaugural trip to Mosquito Lagoon resulting in holding up a big Bull Red, a true marsh mule – that didn’t happen for me this past weekend, and that’s okay – I was able to get my feet wet, (literally & metaphorically) and catch more Reds in a singular trip than I’ve caught on any other inshore trip to this point since living in Brevard County, with a few Trout mixed in as well.I found some areas out of the harsh winds, my lines got tight, I got to see a breathtaking sunrise over one of Florida’s most iconic bodies of water, enjoy a beautiful day of fishing. All in all, it was a good day, and well worth the drive up there.

Thank you all, for taking the time to read this report. Thank you to our Paddle Partner, Kayaks By Bo, for helping to make thise weekly reports happen. I hope everyone has a fantastic week! Be healthy, be happy, and may your lines be ever tight. Until next time!