Fishing Florida's Space Coast: An Angler's Guide--Ponce de Leon Inlet to Sebastian Inlet
Chapter 1- Space Coast Fishing TackleA Word or Two About GeographySome unique geography helps explain the world class fishing opportunities available in Space Coast waters. For our purposes the Space Coast will be considered to be between Ponce de Leon Inlet and Sebastian Inlet. From Ponce Inlet all the way to Sebastian Inlet, a barrier island separates the Indian River Lagoon system from the Atlantic Ocean. Other than those two inlets, the only break in this barrier is located at Port Canaveral, where a set of locks prevents tidal influx into the Banana River Lagoon. So this section of the lagoon system, about 90 miles long, has tidal flushing only at either end. Other than at those two inlets, the lagoon system is completely landlocked.For the most part, this section of the lagoon system is completely tide free. Fishing in this portion of the lagoon system resembles fishing in a large freshwater pond, at least as far as water movement and water levels are concerned.And just what is this "lagoon system"?The Indian River Lagoon system, 156 miles long, consists of the Indian River Lagoon, the Mosquito Lagoon, and the Banana River Lagoon. The Mosquito Lagoon lies the farthest north, in Volusia and northern Brevard counties. The northern end of the Indian River Lagoon also lies in Volusia county, but extends south all the way to St. Lucie County, where it ends at the St. Lucie Inlet. This book only covers the section in Volusia and Brevard counties. Lastly, the Banana River Lagoon lies entirely within Brevard county.The lagoon system is the most ecologically diverse estuary in North America, and harbors over 100 species of fish. For our purposes relatively few of those are important. Red drum, black drum, spotted seatrout, snook, tarpon, jack crevalle, ladyfish, mangrove snapper, and sheepshead are the primary species anglers target in this area. The landlocked feature means that some fish, particularly redfish and seatrout, stay in some portions of the lagoon system for their entire lives. The Space Coast offers the finest shallow water sight fishing opportunities for big redfish anywhere in the universe.The beach along this strip of the Florida coast is fairly feature free, with five exceptions. Exceptions one and two- the inlets themselves, Ponce to the north and Sebastian to the south. Both have a pair of rock jetties, some very heavy tidal flows, and are incredible fish magnets for much of the year.The next exception- Cape Canaveral, bristling with NASA launch pads that send a steady stream of rockets towards the heavens, juts out into the Atlantic. Shoals off the beach here give ocean going fish plenty of opportunities to herd and trap bait pods.Another exception- Port Canaveral supports a wide variety of commercial shipping. Rock jetties lie on either side of the Port’s entrance and a 40-plus foot deep, buoyed, dredged channel extends from inside the Port out into the Atlantic for four miles. This makes the area around Port another fish magnet for much of the year.The final exception- from Patrick Air Force Base south to Sebastian Inlet a live worm rock reef runs along the beach, clearly visible and often exposed at low tide. These rocks host a variety of fish, including pompano, sheepshead, whiting, croakers, snook, and many others, and support an outstanding surf fishery.