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

November 5, 2017

The first cold fronts of the year arrived in Central Florida just before Halloween and the fish went banana’s with red hot bite actvitity! Fishing in Mosquito Lagoon and the North Indian River Lagoon has been phenomenal lately to say the least. My fishing charters in the lagoons have been species grand slam (or even super slam) trips each day targeting snook, redfish, tarpon, speckled trout and black drum. Water levels have dropped considerably and sight casting to all of the above species has been possible. I’ve been super busy with lots of charters. We are quickly approaching the year-end holidays, the calendar will be full. Don’t wait till the last minute, secure openings now.

The early hard cold sent all the snook running for their winter hang outs. If you know where those few places are, they can be caught be the dozens. That’s exactly what happened lately as I had a couple days with over 40 snook landed, and multiple other days with 15-25 snook to the boat. Sizes can vary because they are mixed together, numerous small ones all the way up towards a rare fish close to 20 pounds. More and more will continue to pile into the holes. The catching bonanza doesn’t last forever, but we should continue to post solid numbers daily from now till into January. Plugs, soft plastics, and live bait will be our ticket to success.

Fishing for redfish in Mosquito Lagoon has been excellent. The cold weather sent them quickly to the sand sloughs, sand holes and troughs on the shorelines yielding some fantastic sight casting. Now that it’s warming up a big again, Mosquito Lagoon redfish have been tailing well on grass flats and cruising shorelines. These fish all range from 5-10 pounds and catching can be really good for the foreseeable future. Water levels will continue to drop and schools will continue to get bigger and bigger throughout the winter. The recent full moon grouped up a couple schools of big bull reds over 20 pounds, likely the last time they’ll be schooled up for a few months. We connected on a few giants over 30 pounds recently.

There’s been a lot of baby tarpon from 5-15 pounds piled up in parts of the Indian River Lagoon and behind Ponce Inlet. They will stay there throughout the winter now. They were pretty active and biting well, but the recent cold weather quickly shut them down. They will bite better on some warmer trends, but tarpon fishing the remainder of the year can be unpredictable. Bigger adult fish over 50 pounds have left the region and won’t be back till late next spring or early summer.

Fishing for spotted sea trout in Mosquito Lagoon and the North Indian River Lagoon has transitioned from a numbers game to targeting lesser numbers of giant trophy trout. For the next few months we will see some of the biggest speckled trout in the world laid up in shallow sandy areas. We will have great chances to sight cast gator trout in the 6-8 pound range and spot some giants over 10 pounds. Last winter I saw a three I estimated in the 14+ pound range. Right now, they are biting really well, trying to gorge themselves on thinning bait supplies. As the water gets colder and cleaner they are going to get super spooky and lethargic making things ultra tough.

The current conditions are ripe to continue for an unbelievable month of catching in November and December. I’ve got 7 days left open for November. I’ve got 13 days left open for December. While I take last second scheduling if I have open days, DON’T wait till last minute to schedule a trip for you or your family. 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…