Most anglers can catch a fish but few know how to find them. Here are a few tips for finding fish in the Indian River Lagoon.
Remember, the fish are moving with the tide and weather conditions. Know the Tide. The tide determines where you fish when you fish and the direction you fish. You don’t want to fish shallow on a low tide, the fish have moved out to the breakline. In many areas of the lagoon, there’s a shallow shelf along the shore. Fish the breakline where it’s deeper on low tide. Find water that’s 2 to 3 feet deep, because the fish are not usually on the shore at low tide. Fish near deeper water.
Conversely, if it’s high tide, the fish will be in the mangroves or pushing bait on the shore. The tide is pulling the bait in a certain direction, and the fish face into the tide. Pulling your lure in the same direction means the fish will see it better.
Know the wind and weather. You want the wind, it moves the bait and gets fish feeding. Fish are not as spooky when there’s wind. The fish can ambush bait better if there’s wind. You don’t want too much wind, though. Too much wind creates turbidity, and fish have trouble finding bait and your lure when the water is cloudy. Try to fish areas where there’s wind, but not too much.
The weather, whether it’s sunny, cloudy or rainy, is always a factor. So is the water temperature. Know the water temperature. Snook don’t like cold water, and they’ll be in shallows warming in the sun on cold days. Trout might not hit a topwater when it’s cold.
Know where the bait is. There are fish where there’s no bait, and there’s bait where there are no fish, but the fish will be looking for bait. Fish in areas with bait. Look for bait. If you can’t see any bait, look for birds. If you see three pelicans in the water near each other, they wouldn’t be there unless there’s some bait.
Look for fish feeding. Look for dolphins feeding. These are all signs of fish in an area. This may be the most important axiom for finding fish: know where the bait is.