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Fishing Reports

Orlando, Cocoa Beach, and Daytona Beach fishing 4-cast by Captain Jim Ross of Fineline Fishing Charters

By February 18, 2015No Comments

The flats and near-shore waters east of Orlando are the place to be this week.  The Ocean offshore of Cocoa Beach is rough after the effects of the latest cold front passage. Prior to this anglers fishing outside of PORT CANAVERAL near Cocoa  Beach were landing decent numbers of dolphin by trolling in the 140 to 250-foot depths. Some of the larger dolphin are running well into the upper 30 pound class. Blue/White, Pink/White and Red/Black skirted ballyhoo have been working best on the bigger fish. Smaller dolphin under the 20 pound mark have been preferring naked chin-weighted ballyhoo. Blackfin tuna and wahoo should also be possible while trolling for the dolphin. Cobia and king mackerel are following bait schools along the 70 to 90-foot structures. Most anglers are slow trolling with live or dead sardines on a wire stinger rig to get these fish to strike.

As mentioned before the Banana River near Cocoa Beach, and the Indian River east of Orlando have been great places to fish if the wind gets to blowing. Redfish, speckled trout and black drum remain the main targets for anglers fishing in these bodies of water.  Small pods of 10 fish or less are scattered across many of  the flats this week On occasion anglers can find larger schools containing up to 50 black drum near the 100 Island area of the Banana River in Cocoa Beach. mnay of these fish are running in the 1 to 5 pound class.  Black drum ranging from 15 to 30 pounds are schooling in the Indian River east of the Orlando area.  These fish will strike live shrimp or shrimp tipped jigs most of the time. Redfish are working flats in the Mosquito Lagoon south of Daytona and East of Orlando.  Shallow area where fish like to forage are productive if they haven’t been “buzzed” by boaters. Black drum schools are also showing up on some of the flats here as well.  The waters of the Mosquito Lagoon are holding over-slot sized speckled trout as well.  Anglers working the extreme shallows of less than one foot can find these fish by poling their skiffs quietly along the shallows.  Slot-sized speckled trout have been holding on the edges of the drop offs where ample amounts of sea grass are still growing south of Daytona or in the deeper canals in the Cocoa Beach area.

Until Next time….Catch a Memory!!!!!

Captain Jim Ross

Fineline Fishing Charters