Wow! It’s amazing how the lagoon waters can change in the blink of an eye. Last week we were reporting clean water in the Indian and Banana Rivers. Captain Justin and I had our anglers sight-casting to snook and redfish along the flats and mangrove covered shorelines of these bodies of water. This week, with all of the rain that has fallen, it seems that most of our area retention ponds are now overflowing into the lagoons and creating havoc with water clarity and salinity. This has pushed many of the fish off the shorelines and out into the central portions of both rivers. We have had to adjust to these changes and are catching most of our fish under causeway bridges and along the spoil islands right now.

The list this week includes pompano, speckled trout, mangrove snapper, tarpon, jack crevalle, redfish and plenty of those unwanted hardhead and gafftop catfish. Live finger mullet are a great live offering to use and Saltwater Assassin 4-inch sea shad in the pilchard, silver mullet and mama’s 14k colors are producing well. Top water lures like the Rapala Skitterwalk or the Storm Chug Bug are two other great lures to use. Fish around baitfish schools and your odds of a hookup increase greatly. The inlets have been another good place to fish early in the week while the seas were below three feet. Now that the waves are getting bigger the water is getting muddy. This condition will put some fish off their bite, but redfish will usually continue to bite in some cases.

The days are starting to get slightly cooler with a hint of north in the wind direction now that we have entered into “still summer” (known as fall in other states) so captain Justin and I are starting to run full day charters again from now until early December. Please check out our charter offerings on our website, Fineline Fishing Charters.com or give us a text or call at 321-505-8217 to see what we’re catching each day and what trip types we have available. Let’s go catch you next memory!

Despite limited time on the water this week, the Indian River continues to impress! The river is alive and kicking, with abundant mullet attracting some serious predators.

Species Update

– Big snook and trout are actively feeding on mullet schools
– Jacks and reds are also present in good numbers

Successful Spots

– Areas with visible predator activity on mullet (keep an eye out for surface action!)
– Windblown points have been particularly productive, thanks to the extra water movement

Effective Lures and Baits

– Larger paddle tails (4-5”) are getting attention
– Topwaters are also producing bites
– Live and cut mullet are both working well for those looking to use bait

On-the-Water Advice

– Focus on moving water and areas with current for the best action

The Indian River remains a fantastic destination for inshore fishing. Get out there and take advantage of the action!

Feel free to share this report with your fellow anglers!

Aaron caught this 34-inch snook using a live mullet

Good morning all you hard core Sebastian Inlet fishing junkies, hope everyone had a great weekend! This report is going to be a bit short, as nothing has changed from my report for last week.

The water is still a bit messed up with the rain water runoff staining it up, plus all the sand being churned up by the swell we still have, and it is going to get worse as the week goes on with the winds picking up a lot, and the seas going up to around 6-7 ft by Thursday. So It’s gonna get wet and rough out on the jetty, and the south side as well.

There are still a ton of baitfish all around the jetties, pilchards, greenies and finger mullet, but the bigger mullet that were coming down the coast have lightened up a lot, so that in turn with the poor water quality has slowed the snook bite to just some random catches, mostly in the surf and on the beach side of the north jetty.

The spanish mackerel over the weekend have went on a suicide mission and have been hitting the best I’ve seen in a while! Plenty of nice fish being caught, and the redfish also have added a lot of action to take up where the snook have left off. Most all this action has been on the incoming tide.

The south side, same thing, incoming tide, some spanish, a few snook and plenty of redfish and jack crevalle to keep it interesting on live baits. I did see though a couple pompano caught on the south jetty Sunday, and on the north jetty, a couple sheepshead and a black drum or two. And that’s pretty much all for this week. It’s not what it was a couple weeks ago, but it is some action, especially for the spanish mackerel, they’ve gone crazy on the north jetty!

Have a great week everyone!

With the full moon, not many mullet around and the north winds, I expected a slow week but it wasn’t slow at all. Inshore, the snook bite was on fire as were the trout, jacks and there were a few redfish too. High waters have pushed the fish into and around the coves in the spoil islands as well as the mangrove shorelines. Live bait was the key but artificials worked, too. Topwater bite is pretty good early and when there’s some chop, the subsurface soft plastics and Rapala Twitchin Mullet work well this time of year.

It should be similar this week and hopefully we will get some more pushes of mullet from the north as it’s been lackluster since that first push we got a few weeks ago. It’s an exciting time of year and the best time to get your inshore slam.

Mahi and sharks are the theme of the week. Actually we had more mahi than kings this week. The water out to 220′ has been an odd color of black. It’s actually black mixed with some brown in it, almost like Okeechobee Cyprus black. Very odd to say the least. Hopefully this week of wind blows it out of here. Bunker and mullet have been in the northern bight and plentiful.

Trolling both has produced many species on the reef and on Pelican. No special secrets or special lures or fluorocarbon nonsense. Just go drag some live bait on the reefs and local wrecks. Tip of the week, fish slow! It hasn’t been on fire by any means but there’s a few fish around to have fun with. AJs are out in the deep but wont be getting to them this week. Jetty fishing with finger mullet has been a hit and miss. But when the tide is perfect, it’s as hard as you can go.

Have fun and be safe!

With the continued high water we are experiencing, the redfish bite has been good using topwater plugs, finger mullet and pig fish. Tarpon are thick in the river and inlet. The best baits to target them this week have been live mullet, swim baits or on fly. I am expecting to have a good bite this week pre-storm and really good bite next week post storm. I have days available, you can reach me at 386-295-5991 right to my website.

Got out twice last week, Friday morning on East Lake Toho and Saturday morning on Fish Lake. Friday, Lakefront Park was closed so I went over to Chisholm Park and started fishing at the end of the canal to the right along the reeds and pepper grass, picked up 2 small ones before getting down past the grass and moved to the canal leading to AJ Lake. Started along the riprap and docks working down to the bridge where I caught 6, including a 3.19lbs. Fished the right side between the riprap and the pilings, using a Strike King Ocho worm 5 inch Honey Candy color and got 4. Moved over to the left side and got another one between the pilings and the riprap and got one more from the middle of the bridge. I had 2 come off that pulled drag more than the 3lber did. After 20 minutes I continued down to AJ Lake but didn’t get another one in the boat but did have a few bites.

On Saturday went with friends in his boat to Fish Lake, where I caught 9 including a 4.89lbs, another over 3lbs, one over 2lbs and a couple over 1lbs. The biggest was on a Strike King Ocho worm 6inch in Black and Blue flake, caught in the first cove, nothing in the other cove before moving across the lake and worked up the shore line, fishing docks, lily pads and the reeds. Caught some on the Honey Candy and the rest on a Yum Dinger in Green Pumpkin with Blue flakes. The other guys caught 5 total using Junebug, Junebug Red and Watermelon Magic worms.

The bite has been a little challenging this past week with the full moon phase. Between the influx of rain over the past couple of weeks and the stronger tide swings from the full moon we have had a lot of water throughout the New Smyrna Beach backwaters and Mosquito Lagoon. The fish are still there and ready to eat but just takes a little more effort to locate them as they have new areas to explore with higher water. Search baits like plugs and spoons have been working well when targeting the large pods of bait that are scattered across the flats. Live bait has also been doing the trick to keep a consistent bite as well. As we get through this full moon phase the water levels should start to get back to normal and the bite will only get better.

The beaches are full of fish this week, but the high surf is making it a little difficult to get out there and enjoy catching them. So we are chasing fish around the lagoons this week. Captain Justin has been focusing on fishing for tarpon on most days. These fish are ranging from the little 2-5 pound canal and creek fish all the way up to full grown adults that are running over 100 pounds. Yes believe it or not if you know where to go and what to look for you can catch 100 plus pound silver kings right here in our lagoons between Palm Bay and Titusville. Natural baits are working best but a few of these tarpon will strike artificial lures and flies. Big jacks, bull sharks and plenty of large sailcats can be expected when fishing for the tarpon.

Redfish are another species that are showing up in good numbers these days. They range from shoreline crawlers in the 18 to 24-inch range to big bulls measuring over 40-inches. On days when the water is calm we are finding schools of bull redfish and big jacks that are chasing mullet throughout the Indian and Banana Rivers. Yep, you know it’s the time of year to break out the top water plugs and go to work. There is no need to go to the gym and do “arm day” after an outing pulling on a few of these fish.

Hopefully you all are ready to get out and have some fun with us while the fishing is this good. You can do so by calling us at 321-505-8217 or booking your trip right on our up to the minute reservation page on our FinelineFishingCharters.com website. Let’s go catch your next memory!!

This week’s focus was on exploring both dock structures and mangrove shorelines/flats. While the docks were relatively quiet, the mangroves and flats proved to be hotspots.

Redfish Success

Early in the week, I targeted redfish using cut mullet on a 7/0 Octopus hook with a 40lb leader and 20lb braid. Casting close to mangrove shorelines and letting the bait sit until something picked it up, which yielded an impressive catch. A previous encounter with a school of reds in the area helped identify the prime location.

Snook Action

On Sunday evening, I shifted focus to snook, using finger mullet hooked through the upper lip with a 4/0 circle hook and a 30lb monofilament leader. Slowly moving along mangrove shorelines until finding areas with loud bait activity, and approaching quietly, led to multiple snook catches.

Outlook

With the current conditions and bait activity, I’m optimistic about the week ahead. Mangrove shorelines and flats are expected to remain productive, making them priority targets.

Key Takeaways:

– Mangrove shorelines and flats are producing quality catches
– Cut mullet effective for redfish
– Finger mullet successful for snook, jacks and trout
– Quiet approach essential for snook in shallow waters

Tight lines for the week ahead!

Let me start by saying the beach fishing in the Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach areas has been electric when those mullet schools swing by. Yes, it has been rough on a few days, but the snook, black drum and pompano have been firing most days. All the customers have been running in circles for bait and lures.

All right, let’s calm it down now. We haven’t been tortured or cut short of a mullet run this year by any named storms, allowing these baits to swim naturally for a change. It’s nice to see the schools moving by in the foaming, clean green waves crashing hard along the shore, with mist spraying off the tips as you watch the tarpon and sharks pop them off in the distance. It’s always cool to see, and it’s even more electric to hook onto them, even for a brief second before they jump and launch your lure or bait 10 yards into the distance. It’s every fisherman’s drug—it’s what keeps us fishing more.

Lures of choice have been Live Target silver mullets, along with NLBN 5-inch paddle tails and the good old trusty Bomber hard baits for snook and tarpon. All the other fish have been biting heavily on frozen shrimp pieces and clam rigged on a pompano rig. Lead size is determined by the wave height and current push, so it’s best to have a variety of leads to choose from.

If you have been putting off your fishing trip due to weather forecasts, I highly recommend just going because the fish are there waiting for you. You’re not going to melt in the rain.