New Smyrna Beach Area - Indian River Lagoon - Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

December 30, 2020

Saying goodbye to 2020! For the many people that fished with me this year can likely attest, it was an amazing year of catching big fish. We had some amazing months fishing around Ponce Inlet and New Smyrna Beach for big redfish, tarpon and snook. Easily the best in many years for trophy redfish, we caught close to 1000 giant redfish over 20 pounds. The local snook population is also at currently at its historic peak. We caught dozens of snook in the 28-38” range. We had a really strong year for tarpon with lots of big fish between 50-150 pounds hanging around our area this year. Mosquito Lagoon and the North Indian River Lagoon produced good numbers of speckled trout and black drum. Sadly the lagoon itself continued it’s decade long decline in redfish numbers. As one door closes another opens and snook have rapidly replaced the redfish in the lagoons and I’ve never seen so many baby sharks fill the lagoons this past year. In addition to those, this year we also caught triple tail, goliath grouper, cubera snapper, flounder, bluefish and jack crevalle. In a year where many people were losing work or businesses, I am forever grateful to be living my best life, posting nearly a record number of charters.

Of special Note…the next few months are some of the busiest months of the year. Don’t wait till last minute to schedule. My calendar will again be packed full with folks here for holiday travel, winter vacations, or spring breaks. January, February and March are already quickly filling so don’t wait!

Snook fishing around Ponce Inlet, New Smyrna Beach, and the upper half of Mosquito Lagoon has been epic for snook during the past month! We’ve been finding hundreds of snook schooled up on shorelines and catching 20-30 per day was the norm. A recent hard cold snap changed that up a bit as they went into hiding. But as it warms this week we’ll get back into a good bite and should average 5-10 per day. Live shrimp and small soft plastics work best and we are typically sight casting to the fish we see. Snook fishing around New Smyrna Beach and the Mosquito Lagoon will stay steady strong for me out into late April.

During the past couple weeks fishing for redfish in Mosquito Lagoon has really started to pick up. A hard cold snap and lower water levels has the redfish schooling up into small groups of 10-40 fish. In other areas they are still scattered in singles and small pods. Water clarity has increased considerably and we are sight fishing in Mosquito Lagoon and creeks around New Smyrna Beach on a daily basis. Our success catching redfish is varying wildly depending on the weather conditions. Some days are yielding 5-10 redfish on lures. A couple days later and we struggle to get a couple using live bait. This will stay the case until the the cold fronts stabilize and get on a routine over the next couple weeks. The last few years late January, February and March have been really good for sight casting and catching schools of redfish and this year looks like it’ll be the same. Live bait like shrimp and mullet are best producers while lures are putting fish in the boat when fish are scattered when it’s warmer.

Fishing for speckled trout right now is either targeting smaller fish in big numbers on deeper edges and sloughs in Mosquito Lagoon or fishing extremely shallow flats in the lagoon and creeks targeting small groups of big gator trout. Easy to catch the small ones, but patient waiting game for a chance at a giant. Live bait like mullet and shrimp as well as jigs/plugs will score on trout of all sizes over the next few months.

Big schools of Black drum starting to form in the North Indian River Lagoon and Mosquito Lagoon. Some of these schools are holding 100+ fish in the 5-15 pound range. Might also find some smaller groups of big Black Drum over 20 lbs as well. Live shrimp or blue crab will be top choices for us to catch them by the dozens.

I have about 17 days remaining open in January and about 15 days for February. March and April are super busy and each are already over half-way full. Don’t wait till last minute to make spring break plans or you’ll mis out. I take last second scheduling if time permits. Text me or call me at 386-212-4931 or even send me an email to secure a date.