Capt. Jim Ross
Speckled trout and redfish are becoming more common catches throughout the Banana River Lagoons in recent months. The lack of rainfall has left much of the central portion of the lagoon waters in decent shape. There have been no huge algae blooms to speak of for the first few months of the year, but at the time of our report deadline rain has fallen every day for the past two weeks. It remains to be seen how the waters of our lagoons will react to this weather pattern.
Because much of the waters are still clear anglers have been able to sight cast to fish as they lay in potholes or cruise slowly in the shallow flats. Fortunately, many of our Brevard county residents have adopted a “No Fertilizer” policy for their lawns in an effort to help save our precious lagoon system. Just one pound of your average lawn fertilizer can contaminate up to 50,000 gallons of water, so you can imagine the amount of damage a typical 50-pound sack of this stuff can cause. Because more people than ever are joining forces and not polluting the lagoons, we are seeing a slow but steady return of the fish into these waters.
Most of the trout and redfish are holding near mullet schools in the flats, especially during early morning periods. Anglers can use the smaller 08 size Rapala Skitterwalk near these pods or one of the new Salty Snack lures by Assassin bait co. These imitate a mullet and are a little more subtle than the larger lures typically used for these two species. We still don’t have a lot of grass regrowth in the Banana lagoon, but there are some forms of algae that have started to give ground cover for the shrimp, crabs, and small baitfish that the predatory fish feed upon. These are target areas where anglers may consistently find reds and trout if baitfish are present.
Captain Jim Ross
W-321-636-3728
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