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

March 16, 2015

Spring has arrived for 2015 in Florida. While we will still likely see a couple more cold fronts, truth is we’ll be seeing a lot more 80 degree weather than not. Fishing has been great in the Mosquito Lagoon and the North Indian River Lagoon. We’ve been targeting redfish, snook, black drum and trout on a daily basis. Sight fishing has been really good with good water clarity in all areas and good numbers of fish. Catching has been solid with good numbers and a variety of species. Ten plus fish to the boat has been the norm, although sometimes fish have a mind of their own.

In the Mosquito Lagoon we’ve been targeting smaller Redfish schooled and scattered on the grass flats. In the North Indian River we’ve been targeting small schools of big bull reds over 20lbs on deeper flats and edges. When we’ve had cold weather catching has been phenomenal with 20+ redfish a day. When it’s warmer the fish scatter and we have to put in a lot more effort to get good numbers caught. We’ve been doing well on plugs, spoons, and soft plastics in addition to live shrimp and mullet.

With the return of warmer weather the bite for big Snook bite is picking up again. We’ve been seeing bunches of them over the past 6 weeks but they got extremely lethargic and spooky. We were still catching smaller ones in the 12-20” range, but in the past few days we caught a few in the 27-32” range. Water just had to hit that 70 degree mark to get them going. Live shrimp, DOA shrimp, or swimsuits have been the ticket to get any bites.

Big Black Drum have been spawning around the full moons in the Indian River and the Mosquito Lagoon. That activity will wrap up next month and they will start to become more widely scattered. Catching has been fast and furious on crabs and live shrimp. Some of the schools contain fish in the 20-30lb range, while most of the others are in the 7-10lb range.

Seeing a lot more Big trophy Speckled Trout in the 5-10+ lb range roaming the shallows around mullet schools during the morning. We then find them laid up in sand spots as the sun gets up. They will be spawning over the next few months. Just as I say ever year…the next two months give you your best chance to land a giant in the 10-15lb range since they are eating a ton and full of eggs. I primarily fish them with live bait anymore, but for the die hards we’ll occasionally use plugs and soft plastics.

I am fully booked for the remainder of March with no openings. I’ve got 12 days left open in April and around 15 for May. So don’t wait till last minute as short notice is tough to accommodate. Call 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…386-212-4931.