trophy-gator-trout-fishing-florida

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

May 1, 2014

May has arrived and that means we’re deep into spring. The annual spring bait run is moving up the coast. The Indian River Lagoon is full of mullet moving north and into the Mosquito Lagoon. Thousands of tiny pinfish and pigfish are covering the shallow grass flats. The shrimp runs have been strong around the full moons. All of that simply means our fish are fat, happy, and eating. It’s been a phenomenal bite for big trophy speckled trout in the Indian River Lagoon and Mosquito Lagoon. On calm days we’ve been catching a bunch of big giant bull redfish in the North Indian River Lagoon. Other days we’re targeting smaller redfish in pods and small schools in creeks and shallow flats in the Mosquito Lagoon area up into New Smyrna Beach. We’re also still catching fair numbers of snook and we’re seeing fair numbers of tarpon starting to show up around New Smyrna Beach and Ponce Inlet. It’s been great catching for charters with many days producing a grand slam of 3-4 different species. I’ve got 8 days left open in May and 11 days left open in June, so don’t wait till last minute to book something!

Thrilled with my recent result at IFA Redfish Tour event held a few days ago in Titusville, Florida. Fishing with my partner Patrick Rood, we finished in 1st place, beating out 84 teams, with a great bag of 14.75lbs. We also had biggest redfish of the tournament with an 8.39lb slob! For our efforts, we won a fully loaded 2014 Ranger 1862 with a 2014 Yamaha F70 outboard. Check out IFA Redfish Tour Titusville Results

Speckled Trout fishing over the past couple weeks has been nothing short of phenomenal! In fact in the past week alone we’ve caught nearly 50 trout over 5lbs from the Indian River Lagoon and Mosquito Lagoon! Charters have been averaging double digit catches of trophy trout each day ranging from 24-32” and the bite has lasted well into the afternoon. May is perhaps the best month of the year for a chance at a 10lb giant. Two days ago I landed a 32” giant trout that was shy of 11lbs. As more baitfish move into the Lagoons, the bite for big speckled trout will get even better. Live mullet are producing the best catch numbers until better numbers of pigfish, croakers, and pinfish become available. Mirrolure suspending plugs and soft plastic shad style baits like DOA Cal’s or GULP are working when casting lures.

As for Redfish, when the weather cooperates (light winds and lots of sun) we’ve been catching big trophy Redfish from 20-40lbs on deeper flats and edges in the Indian River Lagoon. When it’s been breezy or overcast we’ve done well targeting smaller 5-10lb redfish on shallow flats or creeks in the southern Mosquito Lagoon area. Catching has been good regardless of what we decided to do. Catching has been consistent with daily averages in the 5-10+ range on live bait and lures like Aqua Dream spoons and soft plastic GULP baits.

Still catching good numbers Snook from time to time in the Indian River Lagoon. Generally we’ve only fished for them if the wind/weather has forced us off the open flats or if someone wants to go for a slam. When we did fish for them recently, the size has been good with most fish in the 20-26” range. Live shrimp, DOA shrimp and small paddle tail soft plastics all are working.

Getting a lot of calls about spring and summer Tarpon fishing. I’m seeing small 5lb tarpon showing up in creeks and on flats to adjacent to those creeks in the Indian River Lagoon. Around New Smyrna Beach and near Ponce inlet I’m starting to see 20-30lb’rs rolling on select tide windows. Bite windows are fairly brief so it’s not been really worth spending any time trying. As we get late in May and throughout June we typically find better numbers and longer bite windows which adds them to our target list.

I’ve got 8 days left open in May and 11 days left open in June, so don’t wait till last minute to book something! Short notice trips are available if I have the date open. Call 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…386-212-4931.

Some client catches from the past month...

indian river lagoon redfish Indian River Lagoon redfish Trophy Redfish Indian River Lagoon Indian River redfish

Redfish Indian River Lagoon Mosquito Lagoon Bull Redfish Redfish Indian River Indian River Redfish

Speckled Trout Indian River Lagoon Mosquito Lagoon speckled trout Speckled Trout mosquito lagoon Indian River Spotted Sea Trout

SnookIndian River Snook Indian River Mosquito Laogon Redfish double Jacksonville Redfish charter
sponsor logos

Follow Nathaniel Lemmon

facebook nathaniel lemmon twitter nathaniel lemmon google+ nathaniel lemmon

youtube nathaniel lemmon instagram nathaniel lemmon

- © 2005-2015 - PO Box 735, Edgewater, FL 32132