July 2014 - Ponce Inlet, Indian River, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Is it me or is it hard to believe that it’s already July? Before you know it, we’ll be starting at the beginning of fall. But before that we’ll continue this summer of great catching! The fishing has been red hot in the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River. We’re also now seeing better action in the creeks around New Smyrna Beach and Ponce Inlet. The redfish and speckled trout action has been nothing short of fantastic during the past couple weeks. We’ve been averaging 10-15 redfish a day and at least 15-25+ trout. Tarpon have been hit or miss, around one day, gone the next…much of that has a lot to do with prevailing winds. Finding snook again on some shorelines in New Smyrna Beach and scattered around a few parts of the Mosquito Lagoon and North Indian River Lagoon. I’ve got 9 days left open in July and August is starting to book up quick, so don’t wait too late to get a day for yourself.

Redfish action in Mosquito Lagoon has been really good. We’ve been averaging 10-15 redfish a day lately and most of that is happening during the first few hours of the day on the shallow grass flats. These redfish range anywhere from 4-10lbs. There are schools of GIANT bull reds in the 20-40lb range getting ready to spawn in the Indian River Lagoon in addition to some in the ICW around the Ponce Inlet area. We’re also spending more time fishing the creeks around Ponce Inlet, New Smyrna and Edgewater finding redfish against mangrove edges and oyster mounds. Fly fisherman have been having good luck throwing half-half clousers.

Speckled Trout fishing over the past month continues to be good, although we aren’t catching as many giant trout as we were last month. We still managed half a dozen trout over 28” so there’s no reason to complain. We’re catching tons of keeper size 15-20” trout on a daily basis, with a couple big trout each day in the 4-7lb range. It won’t slow down either with the onset of summer conditions, the trout bite will last all day long on deeper edges and sloughs. Live bait like pigfish, croakers, and live mullet are a ticket for guaranteed success. The live bait bite is so good, we’re not even bothering with lures.

One day we see Tarpon in the Lagoons the next we don’t. So it’s been tough to predict. Almost all of that has everything to do with prevailing winds. But they’re here, just got to hit it right. These fish range from 10-50lbs. We’re also seeing big adult tarpon approaching 100lbs in the ICW around New Smyrna Beach and Ponce Inlet. There's better numbers in the ocean if we could get some calm seas and winds to allow me to get flats boat out there. Found a few places holding Snook as of late, decent ones in the 20-26” range. I’ve found 1 thing they’ll bite, everything else they watch it swim by.

Only have 9 days left open in July. August is starting to fill quickly. Don’t wait till last minute, although I take short notice trips 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.

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

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

IFA Redfish Tour 2014 - Jacksonville, FL (5th place)

Capt. Nathaniel Lemmon and his teammate Capt. Patrick Rood again displayed another impressive performance in the 2014 IFA Redfish Tour.  The two captured a 5th place finish in Jacksonville, FL with a combined weight of 12.25lbs among the field of 77 boats.

With their 1st place in Titusville, FL and a 5th place in Jacksonville, the team continues to stay in 1st place for IFA Florida East Division Team of Year standings.

June 2014 - Ponce Inlet, Indian River, and Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Summer has arrived in the Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River Lagoon, and around the New Smyrna Beach and Ponce Inlet area. Typically there’s no shortage of things to fish for...lately we’ve been catching loads of redfish and speckled trout in the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River Lagoon. We’ve also seen a couple schools of black drum, fair numbers of juvenile tarpon from 10-50lbs, and several triple tail. Snook have scattered with the onset of summer, but there are some shorelines and docks in New Smyrna Beach that are still holding fair numbers. My charters are experiencing consistent catching using live bait...we’ve been averaging 5-10 redfish per day and 15-25 speckled trout. Folks wishing to throw lures and flies have had more of a challenge, but are also catching a few too. Only 5 days left open in June. July is a little more open with around 15 openings as of today, but with school now out, July will fill fast.

Trophy Speckled Trout fishing over the past month was nothing short of phenomenal. The Indian River was the place to be for a while, now the Mosquito Lagoon has kicked into high gear. It had to be the best trout fishing I’ve seen in the past 5 years. I say it every year, May is the month to go for a trophy trout and in the past 5 weeks we landed 16 trout over 28”, with the biggest being a 32” that was a little shy of 11lbs! That doesn’t count the dozens we landed in the 4-6lb range. It simply can’t get much better than that. Catching remains solid and consistent with most charters seeing 15-25 trout caught per day. Many are 15-20” keepers, with a few big ones mixed in. It won’t slow down either with the onset of summer conditions, the trout bite will last all day long on deeper edges and sloughs. Live bait like pigfish, croakers, and live mullet are a ticket for guaranteed success. We’ll also get bites on topwater plugs, crankbaits, and soft plastics. 

Fishing for Redfish has been great early on shallow flats in the Mosquito Lagoon. When the sun gets up high and things warm up, the action has moved to deeper edges along creeks, sloughs, and sand areas. If the winds are light we’ve been finding good schools of trophy bull redfish in the 20-40lb range on deeper flats in the Indian River Lagoon. As the summer wears on we’ll start fishing the creeks and oyster areas near Ponce Inlet for redfish. Catching has been consistent. We’re averaging 5-10 redfish per day. We could catch more if we stayed on them all day instead of trying for other stuff. 

We’re seeing loads of juvenile Tarpon in the Indian River Lagoon and a few places in the Mosquito Lagoon. These fish range from 10-50lbs. We’re also seeing big adult tarpon approaching 100lbs in the ICW around New Smyrna Beach and Ponce Inlet. As usual, Snook typically fan out far and wide once summer comes around. But on deeper shorelines we’re still finding some from 15-25”. Live shrimp, DOA shrimp and small paddle tail soft plastics all are working. There were decent numbers of Triple Tail that passed through the Lagoons during the past few weeks. We caught several up to 6lbs. Black drumshowed up again lately and I’ve found a couple schools that have 50-100 fish in the 5-10lb range. 

Only have 5 openings left late in June. Have around 15 days left open in July. Don’t wait till last minute, although I take short notice trips 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.

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

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