FishStock 2013 - New Smyrna Beach Redfish/Trout Tournament

Capt. Nathaniel Lemmon and his son again teamed up to fish the Fishstock redfish and trout tournament held in New Smyrna Beach over Memorial Day weekend.  The father-son team captured a 3rd place finish among the 77 boat field with a combined weight of 31.06lbs in this annual two day tournament.  They placed 4th in the trout division and 12th in the redfish division.  Over the two days they caught 45-50 redfish and many trout.  

In 5 years fishing this tournament, Capt Nate's team has placed in the top 12 each year.  This marks his 3rd time in the top 5.  

May '13 - Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River, Ponce Inlet Area

Don’t blink, before you know it, half of 2013 will have passed us by. We are full blown into the peak of the spring fishing season. The inshore waters are stacked full of finger mullet and small pinfish. Redfish and Speckled Trout continue to dominate our fishing action, including some great trophy size fish for each species. But we’ve also been catching flounder, snook and small tarpon too. Historically, May and early June is my favorite fishing time of the year. 

I fished 2 pro tournaments in April. Travelled to St. Augustine to fish the Florida Pro Redfish Series, taking 8th place in some of the worst weather conditions I’ve ever fished. We are now sitting in 2nd place for Team of Year after three of four events for the Florida Pro Series. A week later I travelled to Jacksonville to fish the IFA Redfish Tour. We grabbed a 5th place finish out of 75 boats capping a great round of tourney fishing in NE Florida this year. Much thanks to CharterList.com for their sponsorship support for my 2013 tourney season.

Fishing for big trophy Speckled Trout has been epic lately. April-June historically gives up the biggest trout of the year and this year is no different. Water levels are up, temperatures are pushing 80 degrees, and millions of finger mullet have invaded the inshore waters...all a recipe for superb trout fishing. We’ve caught numerous trout in the 4-9lb range over the past few weeks. In one day a couple weeks ago we landed 12 trout over 4lbs, with a few over 6lbs. Live mullet have been the best chance for catching numerous big trout during the day. But we’ve also been catching good trout on Sebile and Mirrolure plugs, soft plastic jerkbait and Aqua Dream spoons. 

As we get into May, consistent weather patterns allow us to fish giant bull Redfish on a daily basis. There are several schools of bull redfish cruising the edges in the North IRL and Mosquito Lagoon. We’ve caught quite a few redfish in the 15-25lb range with a few toads approaching 40lbs. Smaller redfish in the 4-10lb range are schooled up on the shallow grass flats in the Lagoons, however in the tidal creeks around Ponce Inlet, New Smyrna and Edgewater there are singles/small pods cruising mangrove shorelines and oyster bars. Sight casting continues to be excellent from Ponce Inlet through the south end of Mosquito Lagoon, however dirty water has taken over in the North IRL making sight fishing almost impossible. Catching has varied widely lately...anywhere from 5-15 reds has been our average. Aqua Dream spoons, Mirrolure and Sebile plugs, and Gulp jerkbaits have all been working quite well. Live mullet, pinfish, and shrimp have been working when we use live bait. Fly anglers have connected with seaducers, bendbacks, bunnies, and my crab pattern. 

We’re finding more and more Snook spreading out through our backwaters during the past month. Sizes are improving as well with a few more in the 23-26” range in addition to numerous smaller 15-18” snook. Still not enough to make an entire day of fishing for them, but enough to warrant stopping if you want to catch one. Tarpon in the 20-30lb range have been showing up in the ICW around the Inlet and a couple backwater spots near the Mosquito Lagoon. Water temperatures aren’t ideal and bite windows are short because of tides but things will only improve from now through the early part of fall. We’ve been catching fair numbers of Flounder around oyster beds and docks in the Edgewater and New Smyrna area. They range from 2-5lbs. Mud minnows or soft plastics rigged on Slayer jigs are producing flatties for us. 

May is near fully booked, I have 6 days left open. June dates are starting to fill quickly as well so don’t wait till the last minute to call. Short notice trips are available if I have the date open. Call or email to secure a reservation. Read my fishing charter page to view the top reasons why you should book your trip with me today. Read my fishing report archive to review write-ups from the past several years. I look forward to fishing with you soon…386-212-4931.

Pictures from the past month can be found on my website...

http://www.floridasightfishing.com/report.htm

April '13 - Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River, Ponce Inlet Area

April means spring has usually arrived, but by how cold March was, you’d never think it. We had an unseasonably cold March, and fishing resumed a more winter time pattern than spring. Having said that, the last several days have been in the 80’s and it’s forecasted to stay near that for the next two weeks. With the warm weather moving in, water temperatures have climbed into the 70’s and baitfish are flooding the backwaters. Fishing has been pretty good over the past month. We’ve been catching numerous redfish and speckled trout of all sizes and some black drum too. Small snook are still on deep shorelines and docks and I’m expecting to see some 20-30lb tarpon rolling in the backwaters any day now. Not expecting much to change over the next two months, except those species that dislike cooler water will get much more active as water temperatures approach the 80 degree mark.


Redfish action continues to be superb. Big schools of 5-10lb fish are all over the shallow grass flats in Mosquito Lagoon and smaller schools are working oyster bars and creek shorelines in the New Smyrna Beach/Ponce Inlet area. GIANT bull redfish are schooling up in small pods of 20-50 fish on the bars and deep edges in the North IRL and South Mosquito Lagoon. Sight casting has been excellent when weather conditions permit. We’ve been doing well on lures like spoons, plugs, and soft plastic jerkbaits. A variety of live baits have been good, including shrimp, pinfish, mud minnows, crabs and mullet. Fly anglers have been doing well on crab patterns and spoon flies. Catching numbers have been hard to predict, as it’s been changing as rapidly as the weather. One day we get 15-20, the next is only a few. As the weather gets more consistent we should see our catching success level off in the 5-10+ redfish per day levels.


Big trophy Speckled Trout have been working the baitfish schools on the shallow grass flats in the Lagoons and laid up around oyster bars in the tidal areas. Numerous smaller trout are on the deeper edges and creeks. The up and down weather has been turning the trout bite on and off again. Colder water temps make them lethargic...water temps around 70 degrees trigger them to eat aggressively. This is definitely the time of year to catch the biggest trout. Historically May and June are always when we’re getting trout approaching 10lbs or more. Live or cut mullet have been top choice lately for us catching big trout. We’ve also been getting some on plugs and soft plastic jerkbaits too. Fly fisherman have been struggling with the super clear water and extreme spookiness of big trout in shallow water. Average catches have been 3-6lbs, with a couple bigger ones in the 7-8lb range.


Black Drum are schooling up to spawn in the south end of Mosquito Lagoon and the North Indian River Lagoon around Titusville. I came across a school of 400 free swimming on the surface in deeper water just a few days ago. Average size is 5-10lbs but we’ve found a couple schools of 15-30lb’rs. Since the are in open water, good weather conditions are a must for finding them. Toss them a live shrimp or cut crab for a guarantee hook up. Many times you can catch a bunch of them, but they aren’t a glamour species so we often don’t spent much time fishing them.. Fly anglers will connect on a crab pattern or a dark color clouser minnow...they pull great on fly tackle.


We’re still catching small (10-20inch) Snook in a couple places. It’s been more of a random effort than strictly targeting them because of their size...as in if nothing else is biting or we happen to be passing by. There have been more and bigger fish in the Tomoka River and Spruce Creek area if you want to make an entire day of trying. Expecting to see some 20-30lb Tarpon rolling in the backwaters any day now. Water temperatures and tides only allow for a small limited bite window before they shut it down. Having said that we can fish for small baby tarpon up to 10lbs any day. There are loads of them in some lagoon backwaters and they will generally eat flies, lures or bait.


Unfortunately, my April calendar is totally booked up. I had a cancellation for April 28th, so that is open as of now. Over half of May is already booked, I have about 13 days still left open. June is starting to fill up too. Snooze, you lose, so call or email quick to get one of my last open spots. Short notice trips are available if I have the date open. Call or email to secure a reservation. I look forward to fishing with you soon…386-212-4931.

Pictures from the past month can be found on my website...
http://www.floridasightfishing.com/report.htm