redfish caught by nathaniel lemmon

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

December 1, 2008

The past few weeks of fishing here in Florida have been simply incredible! Our famed crystal clear waters have returned and are equally famous redfish schools are beginning to form. However, the highlight of the month is the incredible catch numbers we are posting on a daily basis. Whether it be redfish, trout or snook, we have landed an average of 24 fish on every charter and day on the water in the Mosquito Lagoon over the past two weeks. Eight of the past 10 days saw us land over 20 redfish; and on 5 of those days we landed over 15 snook too. It’s been one of the best Novembers I have ever seen, and there’s no signs that’s it’s going to slow down heading into December. Every fish in the region is eating with reckless abandon as they prepare for the winter months...and my skiff is sitting in front of the buffet table.

Sight fishing for Redfish around Mosquito Lagoon has been epic...no better way to describe it. During the 21 days we spent on the water in November, we landed over 230 redfish. The water temperatures have chilled into the 50’s and 60’s and the crystal clear waters are starting to form our famed 100-300 fish schools. The shrimp runs have taken off and the reds are stuffing themselves on the new food of choice. The action has been hot and heavy in the deeper water, sand spots, sloughs, and creeks. Catching and landing 20 redfish every day has been the norm for the past two weeks. Artificial lures like the DOA shrimp, Gulp shrimp, and Strike King Zulu, have been my ticket to catching success. On poor weather days or when we’ve had kids in the boat, we’ve been drowning shrimp with excellent results. Sliders, shrimp, and crab flies have been my flies of choice for fly anglers. While doing some exploring around the Mosquito Lagoon lately, I have also located three schools of GIANT redfish in the 15-30lb range, and I had clients land a few from one school in the 12-15lb range.

Snook fishing has to be the number two option as of late. Ask how many guides are putting 10-20 snook in the boat a day right now around here and you won’t find many (if any). Now throw in the fact we are doing it on artificial lures. We had recent days of 22, 23, and 27 snook in the boat on days leading up to Thanksgiving, so even with the cold weather, the bite is on. We landed over 190 snook during the past month. All of the the fish we’ve landed are ranging from 1-10lbs. Our top lures of choice have been a DOA shrimp or a Strike King Zulu and ZToo soft plastic. We’re catching them in Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River, and up at Ponce Inlet, but the deep winter holes have yet to fill up...it’s still a shoreline event. We’ve been sight fishing a couple of shoreline in particular (with crystal clear water) and they are stacked with hundreds of laid up snook. Snook season closes in two weeks (Dec 15th), so I’ll be making a last minute push to land some 28-32” fish before the season closes until February.

Spotted Sea Trout shouldn’t be forgotten about. We’ve had great success on trout lately and have caught a few fish over 7lbs, a lot more in the 4-6lb range, and too many to count in the 15-20” range. The patterns changed and now the big trophy trout are working their way up onto the flats to spend the day sunning themselves in sand spots and slough edges. We’re getting a shot sight casting to at least one trout every day over 10lbs. Soft plastics have been my ticket to success. Clouser and seaducer flies have been my choice for fly anglers, but long leaders and accurate casts are a priority.

The Flounder run is on in areas around Ponce Inlet, the colder weather has brought a ton of Bluefish inshore around New Smyrna Beach, Black Drum are still on the flats in the Mosquito Lagoon, and I’m still spotting occasional Tarpon as well in various areas...all of the above good opportunities for anyone looking to do something different than what was discussed above.

December is now shaping up to be busier than usual, but I still have good openings scattered throughout the month. Book a trip with me now to experience some of the best fishing of the year. Read my fishing charter page to view the top reasons why you should book your trip today. I look forward to fishing with you soon…386-212-4931. You can also read reports from the past year by visiting my Report Archive.

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