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

August 3, 2026

Dog days of summer are here and Labor Day is on the horizon. Slammed busy this summer with fully booked weeks and anglers catching great numbers of tailing redfish, speckled trout, and some snook in Mosquito Lagoon on the grass flats. Big snook, big redfish, and some tarpon are biting around Ponce Inlet and all the structure areas in New Smyrna Beach. August is gonna fish just like July with solid catching every day. Things won’t change up much until we get into mid September (as long as we don’t have any hurricanes or storms).

Have you checked out my fishing report videos on Youtube? Head over to my Youtube Channel and give them a view. I break down what’s biting for us at the moment and include some photos of clients from the past month. If you want to stay in the loop subscribe to the channel and give those videos a thumbs up.

The past month has been excellent for redfish here on the coast of Central Florida no matter where and what style you fish them! On the flats in Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River Lagoon, redfish have been found tailing in schools early and breaking into singles as morning goes on. Some sizable redfish are being found on the flats again with most days catching a few 30-35 inch reds, in addition to some others in the 25-30 inch range. In the deeper waters closer to Ponce Inlet and New Smyrna Beach, big trophy redfish over 40 inches are being caught as they get ready for their upcoming spawning cycles. We’ve caught some huge fish in the past month with a few approaching 40 pounds, while most others are in the 20-25 pound range. Whether we are fishing for redfish on the flats or targeting the trophy redfish in deeper water, it’s only going to get better over the next few months. Late September and October are historically incredible months for catching a bunch of redfish in Mosquito Lagoon and the North Indian River. And then some years thousands of redfish show up out of the ocean to spawn at Ponce Inlet during September through November. If catching redfish is high on your list, you don’t want to miss fishing during the next few months. 

Been some good fishing in both the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon for spotted sea trout this summer. An abundance of sea grass the last few years has given the juveniles places to grow up again and we are starting to see an increase in the trout population. While we are still struggling to replace all the giant gator trout we used to have, this year on my boat we’ve caught strong numbers of 20-25 inch trout indicative of the Indian River Lagoon grass recovery compared to fish’s age. Most days we finish with at least a dozen trout with a few in the 4-5+ pound range. Fishing for speckled trout in Mosquito Lagoon and the New Smyrna Beach backwaters will continue to be good for the next couple months, but become less of a targeted species as we get closer and into the fall months. 

Fishing for snook in this part of Central Florida during the late summer can be done in variety of ways. The biggest and best snook are stacked up at Ponce Inlet spawning. The bridges and ICW will also give up some snook approaching 40 inches at various times of day or tide. In the backwaters we are catching some smaller snook on shorelines and bars fishing live bait. Then down into Mosquito Lagoon we will catch some random snook on the flats and shorelines while we are fishing for redfish and trout. That’s the way things will stay until we start getting some colder weather in November. 

Lots of options for great summer inshore fishing! Only have 4 days left open for August. Only 9 days left open for September. Don’t wait till last minute  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.