New Smyrna Beach Fishing Report

I apologize for not getting a report out last week but a new boat kept me busy. This year has been a little unusual (not bad) for offshore fishing and this week was no different. Although pogy pods have been showing up at the nearshore reefs, the mackerel troll was a little slow for me. I witnessed mackerel attacking baits like a torpedo out of the water this week, but only caught a handful on planers and spoons. Maybe I should have been live baiting with stinger rigs on spinning tackle. Next week I will switch it up and see how it goes. I am starting to become convinced that the bigger kings have seen too many spoons and won’t mess with it. Mangrove snapper are being caught off the bottom, but it takes technique to work these fish. I wasn’t able to get out past 20 miles because I could only fish half days. I hope to go deeper next week.


Inshore things have been mixed, but I have been finding redfish in the flats and will probably continue to all summer. I bought an artificial flats bucktail that mimics a fly, and it seems to be the best bet. Flounder gigging is also productive at the moment. Night fishing at the causeway has favored the incoming tide and slot redfish were caught as well as the occasional snook. Try a quartered crab, or a pinfish but be ready to hook into a couple rays with the pinfish rig. Storms are likely to continue the first half of the week but we should get clearer weather by the weekend. The west wall of the gulf stream is 40nm east on Ponce Inlet. Seas look to remain in the 3-4ft range offshore throughout the week and should trend smaller by the weekend, but please remember NOAA is not always able to be accurate so exercise caution in small boats. Winds look to remain 10-15 knots offshore all week out of the southwest, trending down during the weekend. Say hi if you see me out there, I will be inshore for a few days as my boat needs service already. Good luck and be safe out there.