Well the first cold blast of winter has come and gone here at Indian River Inlet and the weather has again began to be more moderate again.
I haven’t seen much in the way of Rockfish being caught, but the weather conditions last week had a lot to do with it. As of this morning the water is begining to clear and I would expect that the fishing for Mr. Linsider will again pick up.
As of the morning of the 26th, there have been some Rockfish being caught off the rocks on the north side of the inlet. One angler reported one keeper and some throwbacks and I witnessed one Rockette being caught while speaking with the anglers. The water was still a bit cloudy, but it’s good to see they are being caught.
One good thing for the people using the inlet for fishing, it has gotten a bit easier to get in the area with the first section of the new bridge to open going southbound. Shortly they should have the traffic going one lane northbound on the southbound side and access will get even better. The entire bridge should be open by the time the busy season begins in the spring.
As for Tautog (Tog) fishing, the reports are better. Yesterday Captain John Nedelka of the Charter boat “Karen Sue” returned with a nice catch of 38 Quality Tog, with some real nice ones in the box. Some of the party from yesterdays trip were returning today for another trip out to the tog structure and I’ll report on there results as I get them. Here is one photo of a happy angler with one of yesterday’s catch.
Extra, extra, just got a call from Captain John on the “Karen Sue’ as I’m typing this. He called to report that he is on great fishing just off the beach at Reef Site 10. He reports that they are on the Tog with fish tipping the scales at up to 10 lbs., with the average weight of the fish being 4 t0 5 lbs. It just doesn’t get more up to date than that.
Update 1/26: Captain John returned from the days trip with 47 total Tog with not only the 10 lb fish but another tipping the scales at 9 lbs. The rest of the catch were good quality fish.
Just a reminder that new fishing regulations are coming into effect around the 10th or 11th of February for the creel limit and length of Tautog (Tog). It seems that Option 3 has been selected for the new regs which would mean 5 fish at 16″ or better. Be sure and check with the states Fish & Wildlife web site for exact information on when the change takes place.
Now would be a great time to come down and try to get some of these tasty fish before the new limits go into effect. Captain John on the “Karen Sue” is running Charter trips out of the Indian River Marina all winter so it would be a good idea if you plan to go out for these great fish to give him a call soon. His contact information can be found on the Marinas web site. Good Luck and Tight Lines.




