El Nino has brought us a wetter than normal winter so far creating elevated water conditions on the Mosquito and Indian River Lagoons, which seems to be the norm here lately. I haven’t had a chance to visit the St Johns River since Tuesday, but according to the Lake Harney water station, the river is up just under a foot in the last four days due to the three inches of rain received this week.

Offshore, kingfish are still present along the inshore reefs and wrecks, and they will remain there as long as the water temperature stays above 68 degrees. When targeting kingfish this month focus your efforts on the areas of 8A Reef, Pelican Flats, and Bethel Shoals to the south for best results. Look for cobia and amberjack to be present on the inshore wrecks like the Carol Lee, Dutch, and Sub Wreck out of Port Canaveral. Additionally, live bait is tough to find this time of year, so always carry a box of frozen Spanish sardines with you as backup.

Near-shore, look for tripletail concentrations to improve greatly along the Port Canaveral buoy line and under floating weeds and structures, and for cobia to move in shadowing manta rays if the surface water temperatures reach the upper sixties. Now is also the time for shore fisherman to target pompano, bluefish, weakfish, small black drum, sheepshead, Spanish mackerel and whiting in the surf and larger redfish and flounder around the inlets and jetties.

Inshore on the flats, water levels are still up, but the colder weather has created some cleaner water conditions in the north Mosquito Lagoon. On colder days, falling water temperatures force fish to seek deeper locations in search the warmest water they can find and they become very sluggish. As the sun warms the water, all it takes is a degree or two of change, the fish will begin to move and feed in the shallows. On the sunny mornings, it is not uncommon to find redfish and trout holding in the sand pockets or potholes within the shallow flats where water temperatures raise faster. Additionally, warming water temperatures combined with sunny spring days and crystal clear water make February one of the best months to site fish for redfish, large sea trout, and black drum on the lagoon flats.

February is also the time to target tailing black drum and redfish in the Banana River Lagoon "No Motor Zone". The above photo is of Captain Chris Myers with a No-Motor Zone redfish caught back in February 2009 on a DOA Crab. It's a long paddle in, but the sight of large tailing black drum waving in the breeze makes it well worth the effort. Unfortunately, I am limited to one angler on my NMZ charters, as I fish out of a custom designed Indian River canoe.

Last but not least, on windy days in February is a great time to check out those freshwater fishing holes on the St Johns River. Currently good catches speckled perch are being reported, but the America shad bite is still slow but getting better. Water levels are still high because of recent rains, but should be just below the banks, the bite should improve.

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

Check out this online version on the Guy Harvey On Line Fisherman: http://www.theonlinefisherman.com/fi...entral-florida