For generations, much of the Indian River Lagoon has attracted fishermen from all over the country. 

Many have come for the red drum, also known as channel bass, redfish, or just plain red. Fun to catch — particularly the bigguns known as bull reds — and great on a plate. 

Unfortunately, the reds’ balancing act with ecological realities has finally teetered too far — at least according to Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Commission, which has set down new limits that begin next Thursday, Sept. 1.

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Reds will be strictly catch-and-release in a newly drawn Indian River Lagoon region, one of nine new statewide regions for reds. 

The Lagoon’s official boundaries still stretch from Jupiter Inlet in Palm Beach County to Ponce Inlet, but for redfish purposes, the catch-and-release northern boundary will be the south causeway in New Smyrna Beach (the tall bridge).

The FWC’s northeast region begins at that bridge and runs up the rest of the Florida coast and, beginning in Flagler County, includes an area that now has a daily bag limit of one red, down from two. The 18-to-27 inch slot limit remains for keepers.

“The redfish regulations are great in my opinion,” says local charter boat Capt. Jeff Patterson. “Everyone is going to have their opinion but I think many anglers are going to agree. 

“Don’t get me wrong, redfish can be delicious, but I feel we’ve seen a decline in redfish in the intracoastal over the last several years.”

The reasons are another discussion for another day. The death of so many old grass beds in the river is an obvious culprit, but how much of the blame to assign here and there, and harder yet, what to do about it and how to pay for the fix, is where it gets overwhelming.

Nitrogen and phosphorous runoffs, particularly but not limited to septic systems, pollute the water. Brown tides from previous years have done great harm. Manatees, who need massive amounts of grass per day to maintain a proper diet, are likely culling what little remains of the lagoon’s seagrass beds. 

“Any predatory fish wants structure. The only natural structure in the lagoon was grass,” says Capt. Billy Pettigrew, another local guide who also fishes professional redfish tournaments.

His opinion also holds for what he sees as a decline in trout.

“The lagoon used to be . . . you were 200 yards or 300 yards off the bank, and you were in a grass flat," he says. "If you’ve been to the Gulf Coast, that’s what the lagoon used to look like. Grass everywhere. Now it’s just a dirt hole.” 

To the north in Palm Coast, Capt. Mike Vickers agrees with his area’s new bag limit as well as the total cutoff south of him.

“In my opinion, it’s about time. The change to one fish in our area is long overdue,” he says. “The stock is declining and highly susceptible, due to habitat changes, which are due to a fast-growing Palm Coast and fishing pressure. 

“The catch-and-release in the southern end of the zone and Indian River area is needed. With all the trouble with the environmental changes, it will only help.”

Back to Pettigrew, who has done some thinking outside the (tackle) box. Hear him out.

“I’ll piss off a lot of people by telling you this, but everybody needs to stop pulling the gigantic redfish out of the water,” he says.

He’d like to see the “tarpon rule” applied to big reds. Tarpon are catch-and-release everywhere and that’s fine because no one wants to eat lackluster meat around all those bones. But tarpon of 40 inches are further protected — state law prohibits you from pulling them from the water, even it you’re going to snap a quick picture and toss it back.

“Over the years, I’ve gotten tired of seeing dead redfish floating by,” Pettigrew says. “It happened because people either took too long to reel them in, and the fish wore themselves out, got stressed out and died, or they mishandled them, kept them out of the water, didn’t revive them properly.

“A lot of them are female, and that’s millions of eggs that won’t hatch. Stop pulling them out of the water. When you hook a 30-inch redfish and get it next to the boat, you pretty much know it’s oversized. When you catch a breeder out at the jetties, a fish that’s out there spawning, they need to stay in the water all the time.”

That’ll be a tough sell, but may be worth the effort.

Word on the street (and the river) is, baitfish are thick, with signs of an early fall mullet run, and you know what that means.

“Tarpon have been right there on them, along with some big jacks,” says Capt. Jeff Patterson (Pole Dancer charter). “The inlet has been awesome for reds, snook and tarpon. And the river has been good for a little bit of everything.”

Did he say snook? Remember, just as the reds go off-limits in the Indian River Lagoon, snook come back on line all over, but with a limit of one per day and a needle-threading slot of 28-32 inches — beginning next Thursday, Sept. 1.

Ike Leary, up at his shop at the Granada Pier, hears that the recent good run of shrimp in the ICW channel has finally slowed. But they’re getting some “nice drum” off the Granada pier, along with mangroves and, yes, an occasional tarpon, Ike says.

Up along the Tomoka Basin and into the beautiful Tomoka River, Capt. Barry Englehardt (FishWithCaptainBarry.com) is doing well on snook by hanging pinfish under popping corks. Still catch-and-release only, and still likely out of slot, but still a challenging fight.

Mangrove snapper and black drum are also chasing shrimp, particularly in Strickland Creek. Strickland is a nice visit even without the rod-and-reel, by the way.

Down in the Port Orange area, Craig Patterson (Donald’s Bait & Tackle) is hearing quite a bit about sheepshead.

“Many anglers only target them in the cooler months when they school up around docks, pilings and other structures,” he says. “But summertime can produce larger fish.  Fiddler crabs are by far the number one bait but shrimp, sandfleas, barnacles and pieces of blue crab are also used.”

That's right, he said sandfleas. Visits to a couple of local shops indicate the prized bait is reintroducing itself around here after being AWOL for months.

BJ Taylor (Southern Bred charter) is back with us after some down time. Like other surf anglers, he’s still dealing with the recent influx of seaweed. But there’s been some recent relief,

“Large bait pods have started running up the beach and along with the bait pods have come the tarpon — large schools of 100-pound-class fish,” he says, along with “large jacks, and the sharks."

“The large predator fish aren’t the only things running right now,” BJ adds, suggesting there’s been a recent visit from pompano on the northern Volusia beaches, along with plenty of whiting still.

By the way, down on the front lines, BJ is also noting an uptick in sandfleas.

People are still renting boats and heading over to the springs, but other than that, it isn't exactly the fishiest time of year at Highland Park in DeLand. 

“We did have two guys who caught 10 specks apiece on Lake Woodruff,” says Capt. Ronnie Paige. “They were trolling little jigs. It’s early for specks; it’s usually November. Since it's early, there’s nothing big. You can still catch a bluegill, though, especially in Lake Woodruff and Dexter around the shell beds.”

One more reminder of the “Ladies Teaching Ladies” seminar this coming Monday (Aug. 29) at the Halifax Sport Fishing Club (3431 S. Ridgewood, Port Orange).

All-things-fishing is on the agenda, and if you don’t bring your own rod-and-reel, the club will provide one. 

We want to see your most recent catch. Email your fish photos to ken.willis@news-jrnl.com.

Please include first and last name of angler(s), as well as type of fish (we're occasionally stumped). All are included with our online fishing report, and some occasionally make the print edition.