redfish caught by nathaniel lemmon

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

June 1, 2008

Summer is quickly approaching and the fishing has been red hot over the past month and it's only going to get better. May was another busy month with 16 charters and 24 days on the water. During that span we caught loads of redfish, speckled trout, and tarpon. It had been a relatively windy month but with the sea breezes starting to settle in everyday, we're starting to have glass calm waters every morning and it's revealing tons of sight fishing opportunities. June is going to be another great month.

Tarpon are becoming more consistent every day. The numbers of fish showing themselves is growing with each passing week, and the first wave of migrating adult fish (60-150lb) just moved in through the inlet and into the areas backwaters. But until that picks up there is a steady supply of 20-50lb juvenile fish and we jumped nearly 20 in the past three weeks and landed several fish up to 50lbs. We're getting opportunities on fly, but most fish are still staying tight to the bottom of the deeper channels and creeks. The best action has come on jigs and live bait. I got some great video footage of leaping tarpon that will be shared in movie form at the end of the season. These fish are just warming up and we'll start to catch a bunch more once the water gets up over 80 degrees.Fishing for Spotted Sea Trout has been nothing short of incredible. Trout were schooled up ready to spawn during the last half of the month and there were some giant females in the mix. I had two clients catch and land two world-class trout over 10lbs, with both fish measuring at 32 inches;. Each fish was caught on a soft-plastic jerkbait. We also caught dozens of 4-6lb fish on jerkbaits, suspending twitchbaits, and topwater plugs. Where there are bait pods there are trout, and the action has been steady every day if you move around to find them.

Redfish are in schools, but they are also starting to break up and cruise the flats, shorelines, and oyster bars in small pods and single fish. This is easily one of the best times of the year for sightfishing opportunities for fly fishing and light tackle. Schooling fish in the 5-10lb range are on the edges of creeks, sand sloughs and flats. As the day progresses, we've been moving up really shallow to find tailing and cruising fish. Here anglers can get 50-100 chances at redfish tailing hard in the grass. Small spoons, soft plastics and suspending twitchbaits have been our weapons of choice for light tackle. Crab imitations have been the best fly for tailing fish, while whitebait or pinfish patterns have been the best fly for schooling fish in deeper water. There are also good numbers of GIANT redfish schooled up on the edges of the flats. Most schools have anywhere from 25-75 fish, but there are a couple that are holding well over 200 fish. These world-class redfish are ranging from 15-40lbs and live/cut bait will almost guarantee hooking up with one of these bronze brutes.Closer to Ponce Inlet, New Smyrna Beach, and Edgewater we are targeting Sharks and Snook . Black tips, spinners, sandbar, and bonnethead sharks are what we're finding. Clear waters in the mangrove backcountry are allowing us to sight fish these apex predators, but at times we'll catch some bait and chum the sharks to us. As the seas lay down over the summer, we'll also take the opportunity to run out onto the nearshore waters and catch sharks (even some Kingfish) out along the beaches. Most of the bigger snook are now out at the inlet and on the beach spawning throughout the rest of the summer. But the tidal backcountry has decent numbers of 2-5lb snook hanging tight to the shorelines and docks. It's generally been an early morning or late evening affair for the best snook fishing, but I've also got some nice areas where we can sight fish them under the docks during the daytime.

June is going to be a busy month. In addition to my everyday charters, I'll also be fishing the IFA Redfish Tour when they come to Titusville in late June. My calendar is quickly filling, but as usual I'm taking short notice trips if I have open days. I'd love the opportunity to be your guide for the day, or even a couple days this month, so give me a call if I can help. Look forward to fishing with you soon, 386-212-4931. Here is a sample of recent pictures just added to the Galleries. You can also read reports from the past year by visiting my Report Archive.

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