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

October 31, 2024

Well it’s certainly been an interesting last 4-6 weeks. Hurricane Helene brushed by Volusia County at the end of September. We really didn’t have much local impact other than a little rain and gusty wind. Hurricane Milton came through though early October, however, and walloped us pretty good. Winds blowing to 100 and about 12” of rain. Neither hurricane hurt the fishing though. In fact, it’s likely the opposite as it’s been really good in Mosquito Lagoon the last few days. The deeper water in and around Ponce Inlet is the place to be for big bull redfish, tarpon and snook. Bite has been really tide dependent as there’s a ton of stormwater draining out after Hurricane Milton. Got a little taste of cold recently, it’s turns the fishing on big time!

Recently I have been creating videos about the past month of fishing…talking about the bite and sharing some recent photos of client catches. You can find these videos on my Youtube Channel. Be sure to check them out and if you like the video’s give them a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel.

Redfish have continued to dominate the scene over the past month. We’ve been catching big ones over 20 pounds at Ponce Inlet and the deeper channels that run to it. Things are really winding down in that area though as they finish up spawning and scatter into the backwaters for the winter months and the schools diminish. In November I tend to move back to the flats in Mosquito Lagoon and fish for smaller redfish as its usually some red hot fishing action. The last few days we fished the shallow grass flats in Mosquito Lagoon and found days of double digit redfish and trout using live bait and lures. So November and December are looking like it’s gonna be pretty epic.

Speckled trout bite in Mosquito Lagoon is also really good the last few days. There’s a ton of baitfish in the Indian River Lagoon system and every resident fish knows it’s time to eat before it’s gone. The most recent cold front had us catching a few big trout over 5 pounds the are up shallow mixed in with redfish. We’ve also done well casting lures and over grass flats catching smaller 15-22” trout. Should be a strong trout bite in November and December in the shallow water.

Big snook and tarpon are around Ponce Inlet but things are winding down post the hurricanes blowing through and water cooling off. There’s a ridiculous amount of tarpon around the Inlet right now. They’ve been pretty finicky and tough to get a bite but in the last few trips we jumped one every day. You can find some biting here and there through November and into December depending on how the weather plays out. Snook are moving to the backwater to spend the winter. Big ones still up in New Smyrna Beach and Ponce Inlet. Smaller ones schooling up to the north and south in the creeks and lagoons. December and January are historically when I catch a ton of them. Not uncommon for 25+ snook a day in the Lagoons.

Only have a handful of dates remaining open for November.  December dates available...but don't wait till last minute for holiday charters or the calendar is gonna be full. Text or call me at 386-212-4931 or send me an email to reserve a date for yourself. Read my fishing charter page to view the top reasons why you should book a trip with me today! I look forward to fishing with you soon!