New Smyrna Beach Area - Indian River Lagoon - St. Johns River - Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

July 4, 2016

Happy Fourth of July! We’ve reached the mid-point of the year and our inshore fishing has been going off for the past month. Speckled trout are firing on all cylinders in Mosquito Lagoon and New Smyrna with numerous fish in the 26-30” range caught recently. Redfish are tailing hard on shallow grass flats in Mosquito Lagoon and bull reds are migrating up and down the ICW to Ponce Inlet. Snook are stacked up on numerous docks and deep shorelines around New Smyrna. There also loads of tarpon hanging out around Ponce Inlet. Hard not to get excited about all the targets we have to choose from and how many fish we have been catching lately!!!

Only have 5 days left open in July which means calendar is nearly full. August is booking fast now too, but still have 15 days open, so don’t wait until the last minute if you can help it.

The Speckled Trout bite has been going off for the past month in Mosquito Lagoon! Each day we’ve averaged 20-30 trout per day and we could have caught even more if we didn’t leave them to target other things. Warmer water conditions finally pushed the big ones out in deeper water. So, during the past two weeks we’ve caught a bunch of big trout in the 24-30” range, specifically 11 fish over 26” (6-8 pounds). Pigfish and croakers are top choices for live bait while jigs with soft plastic jerk baits have been the best choice when throwing lures.

Redfish have been tailing really well on grass flats in the Mosquito Lagoon. Bigger groups can be found first thing in the morning before they scatter once the sun gets up. Creeks around New Smyrna Beach, Ponce Inlet and Port Orange have redfish on top of oyster mounds or cruising shorelines. Catching will vary based on how much time we spend on trying for them, but most days have seen 3-5 redfish in the 5-10 pound range each morning. Soft plastics, spoons, pigfish, croakers, and cut bait have all worked lately. Bigger bull reds in the 20-40 pound range are migrating up and down the ICW to Ponce Inlet lately. Playing the tides right have enabled us to catch some whoppers lately at several locations. Late summer early fall is spawn season so catching trophy redfish will only get better though early October.

2016 has definitely been the best Snook fishing since the freeze killed 90% of our population back in 2009. Docks and deep shorelines around New Smyrna Beach, Ponce Inlet and Port Orange can have snook of any size lately. We have caught several fish in the 20-26 inch range and broken off numerous others that were in the 10-15 pound range. It’s been a long 6 years but we are back to being able to target them all day long if we want. Live bait and soft plastic shrimp are top choices for catching them. Snook season closed for the summer on June 1, so it’s all catch and release for a bit.

There’s a pile of Tarpon hanging out in the ICW around Ponce Inlet, Port Orange and New Smyrna Beach. Many are in the 20-40 pound range, but there has been quite a few in the 50-80 pound range showing up lately. There’s a lot of cleaner tide water in that area lately which makes it much easier to get a bite on live bait and lures. If the dirty water comes back it’ll shut the bite down for them inshore. We’re targeting them with jigs, swim baits, plugs and live bait.

Still catching well on the St. Johns River and adjacent lakes for Largemouth Bass. Shad are still migrating up the river and schooling bass are all over them on edges of grass lily pad fields. We’ve only been throwing lures…using spinnerbaits, swim baits, and soft plastics. We caught 10-15 on a couple trips recently with a few in the 4-6 pound range.

July is pretty much full, but I’ve got 5 days left open. August is also booking fast but I’ve got about 15 days still available. Summer is always super busy so don’t wait till last minute! I take last second scheduling if I have open days. Call me at 386-212-4931 or 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…