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

September 24, 2024

First day of Fall has come! Was a fantastic summer fishing in New Smyrna Beach, Mosquito Lagoon, and the Indian River Lagoon. Redfish stole the show this summer and they continue to do so as we enter the fall months. Catching lots of big redfish in the 30-40” range fishing the deeper waters around Ponce Inlet and New Smyrna Beach. Snook and tarpon have been scattered around those areas as well. High water in Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River Lagoon means it’s time to cover lots of water for redfish, some trout and snook checking shorelines and high bars. Mullet run began last month on the beach and in the backwaters of the Lagoons which means all the fish know it’s time to eat before it’s all gone. Fishing won’t change much from now until we get to early November until we get some hard cold fronts. Only have a few dates left open for October and November so get em while they last!

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 continue to be the best bite around, as it’s been all summer. Majority of the time we are fishing deeper waters from Mosquito Lagoon to Ponce Inlet targeting big herds of jumbo redfish moving towards the Inlet to spawn. My clients caught hundreds of redfish over 20 pounds this summer! It’s still a great time of year to catch one over 40 inches but time is running out, by November it’ll be mainly over. We also spent a fair amount of time in Mosquito Lagoon the last couple months fishing big schools of redfish on the flats. We fished multiple groups that had over 100 redfish tailing and pushing the shallows which resulted in several trips of double digit redfish days. The high water of the fall arrived the last couple weeks and these schools have now scattered and relocated. Water won’t recede much now till the end of the year. Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River Lagoon fish a little slower this time of year compared to other areas but can still produce fish covering lots of water.

While fishing closer to Ponce Inlet we’ve also encountered a lot of big tarpon blowing through the mullet schools moving in out of the ocean. We jumped a bunch last moth before the mullet run went into overdrive as September started. They’ll be around till November when the cold fronts show up but the bite can be pretty inconsistent. Some days it’s good, other days it’s a complete waste of time. I like to give them 30 minutes or so, see how they respond and then move on to something else if it’s not gonna work.

Snook have been our other main option the last couple months. Bunches of smaller snook in the backwaters that have been eager to eat lures or live shrimp. Had a couple recent trips we caught 15+ snook just blind casting shorelines. Not much for size as most are in the 15-25” range. The bigger snook in the 30-40” range have been piled up at Ponce Inlet and the bridges for their annual late summer spawn. We caught several but the bite has winded down a bit as they move back into the backwaters and see lots of heavy fishing pressure.

Moral of the story this time of year is being prepared for a variety of things and adapting the day to whichever is biting best. It’s a daily dose of redfish with some days kicking in some snook and tarpon when they cooperate!

Very limited availability until December. 4 days left open for October. 6 days left open for November. Don’t wait till last minute 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!