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

March 29, 2024

Spring has arrived in Central Florida. It’s been a cool wet winter, so we’re happy to be back in our normal weather pattern as we get into April. The last several weeks in Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River Lagoon have been a steady dose of redfish and snook every day, with some black drum and speckled trout thrown into the mix. Not much will change in terms of what we fish for until we get into May. Sight fishing still remains strong with great water clarity in the Lagoons, but we aren’t reliant on that to catch fish. There’s plenty of deeper shorelines and structure areas where we can pick off a lot of fish blind casting. We are back in the busiest months of the year…calendar is full of people on spring break vacations. I only have 5 remaining dates open for April, 7 for May, and about 15 for June. Lots of calls for short notice trips and unfortunately it’s very hard to accommodate as I’m only a one man show. Plan accordingly and book as far in advance as you can!

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.

Has been some really strong redfish activity on the flats in Mosquito Lagoon this winter and early spring. Water levels have dictated how many we catch. When the water has been low there has been some big schools and catching is easy but when water is up they are broken up into singles and small groups and it’s a little tougher. Mosquito Lagoon still has really good clarity in most areas so the sight fishing has been strong with cruising and tailing redfish. Giant bull redfish are starting to get more active closer to New Smyrna Beach and Ponce Inlet. The bite for those big 40” plus redfish only gets better as we get into the summer and fall. So if catching a giant redfish in on your list look at May through October as we catch several every day during those times.

Fishing for snook in Mosquito Lagoon and the backwaters around New Smyrna Beach has been the other hot ticket as of late. Warmer spring time temps have broken up the giant schools of snook that were in the holes during our cold water months. Warmer temps have also made the big snook more willing to bite as evidenced by this past week when we caught multiple snook around 30” or better. While we aren’t catching 20+ per day out of the winter schools, most days we are still getting double digits landed. Snook are a mainstay for our daily fishing all spring, summer, and early fall.

Starting to get more action fishing for speckled trout in Mosquito Lagoon and the backwaters near Ponce Inlet and it’s only going to get better as get into the next few months. May, June and July are historically are best months to catch giant speckled trout in our area. I really wont start targeting those giant trout till the beginning of May until we start seeing more and better baitfish move into the area. For now we are catching speckled trout in the 10-20” range, mainly on shrimp and soft plastic lures.

Was a lot of black drum around all winter in Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River Lagoon. Catching was extremely strong when we fished for them. More than a few charters caught well into double digits on their trip with double and triple hook ups using live shrimp! We still are coming across a few schools that have hundreds of drum balled up. They’ve been shuffled down on the priority list lately though with other glamour species firing.

Not many openings available over the next couple months. Only 5 days left open for April and only 7 days available for May. June and July are starting to book with people planning summer vacations. Don’t wait till the last minute as the summer is our peak busiest time of year! Text me or call me at 386-212-4931 or even send me an 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.