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

October 22, 2026

Well here we are in October and the fall fishing transition is taking place in the backwaters of New Smyrna Beach and the flats in Mosquito Lagoon area. The coastal waters are filled with finger mullet and just about every fish around is eating them before it gets colder and they move on. The next couple months will be a fantastic bite for redfish in both the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River Lagoon! Many days will have some speckled trout involved. Snook are moving back into the backwaters and we are getting some here and there, but there are some big ones still being caught at night at the bridges. Some big tarpon still hanging around following the mullet, will still be able to try for them until it gets colder and they leave. I have some scattered dates open in November, contact me for availability.

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.

Fishing for redfish on the flats in Mosquito Lagoon has been good and getting extremely good! Water levels are quite high so the time for sight casting tailing fish is over, but the water is still really clear giving us lots of looks at everything. Redfish have been ravenous for mullet lately, with several trips lately producing 10-15 redfish a day. It’s likely it gets even better over the next few weeks with many days catching 20+ redfish and some trout/snook mixed in. Big trophy size redfish over 40” can still be targeted in the deep water and closer to Ponce Inlet. As it gets colder these big ones become less reliable and the bite slows considerably. Which means all the more reason to be targeting the flats in the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River Lagoon! 

Speckled trout prime time fishing on the grass flats in Indian River Lagoon and Mosquito Lagoon has winded down for the year. Don’t get me wrong, we’ll still catch some (and some every now and then will be really big) but the “catching solid numbers every day" portion of the year is over. We’ll catch trout now while we are fishing for other things. We catch them on soft plastics, lures, and live mullet but size and numbers varies day to day. Next best time frame will be the winter when water gets clear and cold and we can try for some giant gator trout. 

The best snook fishing is still going on at the bridges at night and Ponce Inlet. That’s where you have chances at the biggest ones over 35 inches. But as we transition into a fall cooler pattern, there’s a lot of snook that move into the backwaters for the winter. Catching in the backwaters is hit or miss right now, but will get much better in November and December. As we get into December they will really start to school up in groups of 100+ and we can catch great numbers each day. Lures, shrimp, and mullet will catch plenty. 

No open dates left on the calendar for next 3 weeks. Next open date is Nov 10 and I havbe a few scattered dates open in mid November. 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.