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

December 13, 2022

About to put a bow on another great year of guiding anglers from around the country. Big Snook and big Redfish were the hot ticket around New Smyrna Beach, Ponce Inlet and the Mosquito Lagoon in 2022 There was a great rebound in seagrass in Mosquito Lagoon this year. We also saw increasing numbers of redfish and speckled trout acting like the days of old in the Lagoon. Sight fishing for redfish, black drum, snook and tarpon was much improved over the last several years. In addition to those, we caught triple tail, flounder, jack crevalle, bluefish, snapper, and sharks! While everyone in the fishing industry dealt with inflation effects on costs, I am super blessed to have another stellar year!

Getting back to 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 filling so don’t wait!

The last several weeks I’ve been spending all my time in the shallows in Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River Lagoon. Water is still pretty high after the two hurricanes this fall and the water clarity is spotty but there’s been consistently good sight casting. Redfish, black drum, speckled trout, snook, juvenile tarpon…all have been more active around different ends of the cold fronts. Which that’s the way it’ll play out until April as we adapt where we fish and what we target around the passing cold fronts.

We’ve been fishing for redfish lately on the flats in Mosquito Lagoon. There was a good rebound in seagrass this summer and we’re seeing good numbers of redfish on shorelines lately. Conditions have been good to sight cast with lures, bait or fly. Water levels will likely remain high until we get more consistent cold fronts that bring north winds that push the water out. January through March tends to be the best shallow water redfish action of the year.

Snook are starting to move to the deeper sections of the Mosquito Lagoon and New Smyrna Beach for the winter. Getting into the time of year when they form into big schools of hundreds of fish. The trips I did this week had good days of catching snook with 15-20 boated each day. It’ll even get better as it gets colder, some trips in the winter are 40-50 snook days.

Catching smaller speckled trout in the sloughs in Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River Lagoon. Catching ok numbers on live shrimp and lures. The cold fronts we had in November bunched up some big trout in the shallows that would eat live bait, but it’s been pretty warm the last few weeks and they’ve scattered again.

Big black drum are bunching up in deeper sections of Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River Lagoon. Cold temps really push them onto the flats by the hundreds December through March. We’ve been catching them when we come across them lately using live bait.

I have 9 days left open for December. January and February are also filling up quickly. Have about 15 days left open in each. March and April will be super busy with spring break travelers. Text me or call me at 386-212-4931 or even send me an email to secure a date. Read my fishing charter page to view the top reasons why you should book your trip with me today. I look forward to fishing with you soon…