For me, Alberto brought some much needed time off as I postponed several charters until further into the month, and hopefully some better fishing conditions.  Instead of fishing, I spent most of the week catching up on my writing assignments, boat and tackle maintenance, and honey-dos.

I did manage to get out Friday for an inshore venture into the No-Motor-Zone, and although the bite was slow, it was consistent.  I was joined once again by my good friend Larry Carter and his grandson Taylor, and the Banana River Lagoon was as pretty as it gets.  At first light, the surface of the lagoon was a slick as a baby’s backside, and it remained that way for at least four hours, before a stiff east wind kicked up.  Our tactics consisted of working small surface plugs, and the Chug Bug, (black/silver) took top hook.  Between the three of us, we caught seven sea trout over 20 inches, two lower slot redfish, and two snook, all on top water. We also miss a good number of quality fish, which always seems to be the case.

On Father’s Day, I was blesses to fish in a 10,000 gallon glass pond at the Bass Pro Shop in Orlando, although the fish were thick, the bite was still off.  The highlight of the day was when I got to hand feed the fish in the tank, and it was nice making new friends and visiting with everyone again.

Today, I was honored to fish with Rick and Adam Hayes on the Banana River Lagoon.  Again, we started out catching a good number of nice sea trout on Storm Chug Bugs, (blue/chrome this time), during the low light hours.  When the trout bite slowed, we managed to locate a sizable school of redfish, and Adam accomplished his goal of catching a trophy redfish.

While on the water this week, several observations were made.  First, the water levels have dropped at least 4 inches since last week, making access into some backwater areas challenging.  Also, the widgeon grass is extremely thick and growing to the surface in two to three feet of water.  Additionally, unlike last year, very few blue crabs have been seen up on the shallow water flats.  Low water levels affect all of these conditions and the higher salinity brought on by the lack of rain.  Even with the two and one half inches of rain Alberto brought to Central Florida, little relief from our drought condition has been noticed. 

Lastly, NASA has a Delta II and a Space Shuttle Launch scheduled in the next few weeks, so be prepared for some area closing.  The Delta II is scheduled for tomorrow, June 20^th, and Discovery’s launch is Saturday, July 1^st. Both of these launches will result in limited closures aroung the Space Center, just a heads up.

As always, if you need information or have any questions, please contact me.

Good luck and good fishing,

Captain Tom Van Horn

www.irl-fishing.com

407-366-8085 office

407-416-1187 cell