Indian River - New Smyrna Beach - Ponce Inlet fishing report November 2020

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Stay safe for the holidays. Starting to get some cold fronts dropping into Central Florida more regularly. Now in our typical fall transition period. Still getting big redfish every day lately, and the last two weeks we were still catching big tarpon hanging around. Snook are starting to move towards the winter hangouts. Mullet are really moving through again, the last big push of baitfish before winter. 

Still very good fishing for big redfish around Ponce Inlet and New Smyrna Beach and heading south into Mosquito Lagoon. Should be good for another couple weeks before they move out for the next couple months. Our attention will soon then shift to fishing for redfish in the north end of Mosquito Lagoon in the creeks, oysters, and shallow mud flats. Water will continue to clear up as we get into the start of the New Year. There will be great sight fishing in January and February for schools of redfish in the shallows. 

A recent hurricane that passed through whipped up some big seas out of Ponce Inlet and schooled up the tarpon hanging around in New Smyrna. We had a few trips during the middle of November where we hooked 4-6 tarpon per day in the 40-80 pound range. That was short lived as we got a batch of cold weather the last few days that should push the rest of them south for the winter. The smaller resident fish get pretty lethargic the rest of the year so thats likely it for a few months on tarpon. 

Snook are starting to move around in New Smyrna Beach heading to their winter time hangouts. Caught some great ones over the last couple months. December and January typically bring out some of my best snook catching of the year in Mosquito Lagoon and Ponce Inlet backwaters. We routinely get 10-20+ per day. Live bait and lures, and we usually can do some sight casting for them as conditions allow. 

Not a lot to write about for speckled trout. Widely scattered and eating live mullet or soft plastics when you find a couple. Big gator trout will start to move up shallow in Mosquito Lagoon when the water levels drop and clear up. So won’t be targeting them much till that happens. 

Had a packed calendar the last couple months and looks to be busy in December. Holidays are super busy as we finish out the calendar year. Don’t wait till last minute as the last couple weeks of December and first couple weeks of January will be booked solid. I take short notice trips if I have time available. 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…

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

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

Mosquito Lagoon - New Smyrna Beach - Ponce Inlet Fishing Report August 2020

What an amazing summer we are about to wrap up. Despite some uneasy feelings in the spring about how business would look like the rest of the year, I was blessed to have record months of bookings this summer and the fall looks to be incredibly busy as well. This summer has also produced the best bite for giant bull redfish in 10 years. A tremendous amount of tarpon have been inshore this year; again easily the most numbers in several years. In addition to lots of big redfish, we’ve continued to do well catching big snook. The good news is (if you’re reading this and didn’t take advantage) everything we’ve been targeting and catching will stay red hot and won’t slow down until the November time frame. 

This summer has been all about the giant bull redfish we are famous for. It’s easily been the best bite for trophy redfish over 20lbs in 10 years around New Smyrna Beach and Ponce Inlet. Once upon a time big redfish used to be a staple of the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River, but it has undergone a major decline over the past decade with those fish relocating. It’s taken a lot of work to relocate where all these fish now live and what they are doing. But this year, nearly every trip over the past couple months has caught at least a few, with a majority catching 5-10 big bull redfish every day. We’ve even had multiple days with 10-15 landed. They’ve all ranged in size from 20-40 pounds, with a couple once in a lifetime fish approaching 50 pounds. One of my lucky angler’s even landed one at 60 pounds. Even more exciting is we accomplished all this before it gets even better. Historically speaking we’ve always had lots of days like this in September and October around Ponce Inlet, so we are poised to do even better over the next couple months. If a redfish over 40 inches is on your bucket list, you’d be well advised to get on the calendar now! You’ve still got a couple months left before they scatter and disappear for a bit late this fall. 

There’s been a tremendous amount of tarpon around over the past month or so at Ponce Inlet, New Smyrna Beach and down into Mosquito Lagoon. Tarpon in this area have ranged from 20-100 pounds. A little passing tropical storm forced a bunch of them into the river this summer and we’ve seen hundreds of them lately. We were doing pretty well in July, jumping one almost every day in the 50-80 pound range. They got really hard to get bites from in early August, but are starting to turn on again over the past 10 days or so. Just like redfish, you’ve got about another 4-6 weeks left before they make a quick hiatus out of here when the cold fronts start moving in. 

Snook fishing around Ponce Inlet and New Smyrna Beach is another bonus this time of year. Typically late summer and early fall are when we catch the biggest snook of the year. They are winding down there spawn season and eating and moving back to where they will spend the colder months. We’ve caught several snook in the 28-34 inch range during the past couple weeks as well as multiple other smaller ones. The snook population around New Smyrna Beach and Ponce Inlet stretching all down throughout the Mosquito Lagoon is the best I’ve ever seen. We haven’t had any hard freezes in the last 10 years so they numbers are booming! Snook season reopens on September 1st so it’ll be a hot ticket over the next few weeks. 

Half of September is booked up, but still have good openings scattered throughout the month. Same goes for October and November. Take advantage of the best redfish fishing of the year. I take short notice trips if I have time available. 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…

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

Mosquito Lagoon and New Smyrna Beach - Ponce Inlet Fishing Report June 2020

The best action since mid-April has been catching speckled trout and snook in and around the New Smyrna Beach and Mosquito Lagoon areas. The snook population looks to be the best I’ve ever seen around here with a lot of big fish being caught. Closer to Ponce Inlet we are catching bull redfish migrating in the channels, as well as a plethora of baby bull sharks that have invaded all the creeks and oyster flats. Tarpon are starting to show up and get active in the northern section of Mosquito Lagoon as well as the channels and creeks around Edgewater and Oak Hill. We’re basically in this summer pattern from now through Labor Day. So it’s looking to be a great summer filled with a busy calendar. 

Things have largely returned to normal here along the coast of Central Florida. Everything has basically reopened and the beaches are abuzz with vacationers. Calendar is booking at normal pace which means short notice trips will be tough to come by. Don’t wait till last minute, reserve dates in advance! 

Fishing for snook around New Smyrna Beach and down into the upper half of Mosquito Lagoon is the best ever seen around Volusia County. The population has exploded over the last decade with great numbers and this year there are lots of big ones being caught. Realize snook near Ponce Inlet are living outside of what’s considered their traditional range. Our numbers should be limited, but now catching 10-20 per day can be routine. We’ve been catching snook almost every trip nowadays. Snook will be moving through New Smyrna and Edgewater all summer heading to Ponce Inlet to spawn. Catching should stay pretty consistent on them all way through Labor Day and by early fall we should be catching some monster size snook. Snook season closed June 1 so it’s only catch and release the rest of the summer. 

Speckled trout fishing in the Mosquito Lagoon area got started a little slow this spring, but within the past two weeks it’s absolutely gone off. We went from 5-10 per day to 20-30 per day like someone just flipped a switch. Trout fishing for me this time of year is almost exclusive with live bait. We are also catching some excellent quality fish with some giant gator trout in the 7-9lb range. If catching a speckled trout over 25 inches the next 4-6 weeks is the time to do it. There’s always a legit chance in Mosquito Lagoon this month to catch a trophy speckled trout over 10lbs. 

The most interesting thing to include in this report is the number of baby bull sharks that have flooded our coastal waters in Volusia County. Typically we’ll catch a handful of sharks in the backwaters around New Smyrna Beach in a full calendar year. Some trips lately though we are hooking 10+ sharks per day and landing several of them. They are a blast, they fight hard, they peel drag, and they are easy to manage unhooking and getting quick pictures. Obviously there was a really good birthing that went on in the Indian River so they’ll likely be here a couple more months as they work their way towards Ponce Inlet. 

With our redfish numbers continuing to be in yearly decline, this year has been the slowest I’ve seen. They are really widely scattered nowadays and can be tough to find. It’s really being dictated with water levels, when it’s been up you’re likely to find none but when water levels are really low we’ll find pods schooled in traditional areas. Water is really clean throughout the whole Lagoon system so sight casting is outstanding when we find them. The best action for redfish is in the channels and creeks targeting big redfish over 20lbs moving to Ponce Inlet for a later summer and early fall spawning season. They can be caught every day from now through the end of October. September and October will be phenomenal with multiple days with 10-15 giant redfish caught. 

Business is slammed with the virus reopening phases.  My calendar is pretty full and summer months are filling fast. Summer months are tremendously busy so don’t wait till last second unless you have to. I take short notice trips if I have time available. 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…

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

New Smyrna Beach - Indian River Lagoon - Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report February 2020

Spring is getting close to arrival in Central Florida. Baitfish are starting to show up in good numbers again and water has been warming quickly after a good dose of cold in January. Mosquito Lagoon redfish have been present in good numbers and given us the best bite since the fall. In addition to seeing good numbers of redfish, we’ve also located good numbers of big speckled trout laid up on shallow mud flats. There continues to be good schools of black drum roaming around the Indian River Lagoon. The New Smyrna Beach creeks and backwaters have had great numbers of snook schooled up. 

The past month in Mosquito Lagoon has given us the best redfish bite since the fall. Our redfish fishery isn’t what it used to be a decade ago…redfish numbers are much more limited and tougher to find. Having said that, a dose of consistent cold, low water and has schooled them up which made for some great sight fishing opportunities. As the weather fluctuates so does the catch numbers. We’ve had several days of 10-20 redfish, and several others that were just a couple. There’s no way to predict it in advance, just got to see what kind of weather we have to work with. They should continue to give us good opportunities through the end of April. Giant bull redfish over 25 pounds are starting to form into smaller spring schools in the Indian River Lagoon. We are sight casting these monsters and things will only improve on those chances throughout the spring and summer as they get more active. 

The cold low water has also pushed up a bunch of big spotted sea trout into the shallows of Mosquito Lagoon. Speckled trout don’t school like redfish, but where you find one you’ll usually find a dozen or two scattered around nearby as well. It’s the best time of year to see some of the biggest trout you’ll ever see, problem is they are very lethargic and spooky in the clear water. Good news is things will only get better for catching the big gator trout in the Lagoons as we get into late spring and summer when more baitfish begin to show up. May through July will feature some of the best chances ever to get a trout approaching 10 pounds or better. 

Even though we haven’t really been doing any good catching them right now (it’s been too cold and they are refusing everything), it’s an outstanding sight to see how many snook are hanging around in schools in the backwaters around New Smyrna Beach and Ponce Inlet. They have definitely picked up the slack in fish numbers as redfish numbers have declined. As the water begins to warm snook will start to migrate back to their summer spots and when they do the bite will dramatically improve. 

The Indian River and a few spots in Mosquito Lagoon have large schools of black drum roaming around. These fish are getting ready to spawn during the next month or two and as things warm up they will scatter widely. I typically don’t spend a lot of time targeting them but if we happen to stumble into a school, it’s game on! 

If you’re reading this report chances are you’re wondering what we’ve been catching prior to booking a trip. Please realize March and April are two of the busiest months of the calendar year. Each are already over half way full and both will be full booked so short notice trips will be tough to come by. Don’t wait!!! I have about 10 days open in March and about 12 days open for April. I take last second scheduling if time permits. 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…

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