Indian River Power Plant Fishing Guide

Catching ladyfish and tarpon while fishing on the Orlando Utilities Power Plant on the Indian River lagoon.

When the water temperatures get into the 50's the fishing at Port St. John's Orlando Utility plant on the Indian River Lagoon gets loaded with ladyfish, tarpon, jacks and manatees. We counted several hundred manatee in the outsource one cold morning in January in 2003 and caught literally 60 or more ladyfish on light spinning tackle and fly.

Typical days of fishing on the lagoon are started in the early morning mist around the power plant outflow for ladyfish and then takes a turn to the shallow water flats bordering the Merritt Island Wildlife refuge and Kennedy Space Center for redfish and spotted seatrout.

Power plants all over Florida can hold fish on the coldest mornings of the year when utility companies are mandated to keep water temperatures above 70 for manatee refuge.

"It's a great place to see Florida wildlife in an artificially produced environment and in large numbers. Before there were power plants we never had the population of manatees in Brevard County because we have no natural springs or other warm water out flows." explains Captain Richard Bradley

Manatees have adapted well to our area with an abundant amount of seagrass and warm water from the power plants they have chosen not to migrate thru our area but take up year around residence in Brevard County. You are not allowed to disturb the manatee by feeding or touching them because this would cause them to get dependent on us for providing food or interaction. Many residence leave fresh water hoses out over their seawalls to provide needed fresh water to the manatees to enjoy. This practice is considered illegal and is punishable by fine and/or imprisonment.

Looking for information about fishing the Power Plant area in Central Florida? Call (321) 868-4953 and Ask for Captain Richard or his fishing mate Captain Gina. They'll be more than glad to talk to you in length about setting up a fishing trip while you're visiting the area.

Your IP Address is: 72.34.229.76

Recent Fishing Photographs

Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report

September 2010 Indian River Fishing Update

September is and exceptional time to go fishing in the Indian River Lagoon in east Central Florida. Snook are in the inlets and finished with their spawn and they're legal to keep as of September 1st. Look for night time snook fishing action in the inlet and when the fall mullet run starts to happen in the later part of the month, snook will be in the flats along the mangrove shorelines and around structure. The northern Indian River has been having large herds of black drum from time-to-time and on days the schools of redfish seem to be plentiful early in the morning before the crowds get on them. September often is VERY hot and bring plenty of sunscreen and some good polarized glasses, you'll need them on the Indian River Lagoon this late summer and early fall.