The recent cold fronts and the moon phase has helped push some of the excess water out of the New Smyrna Beach and Mosquito Lagoon area. The water clarity is awesome on leeward sides of shorelines but the high winds have churned up the bottom making very hard to sight fish in the open. We still have bait through out the lagoon and with the stronger tide pulls last week the shrimp had even started to make an appearance. The trout , black drum and red fish bite has been good when conditions have allowed. The water temps have cooled a little and is starting to push these fish into there Fall time patterns. This time of year i like to use a lot of different baits from live to artificial. Look for the red fish and the larger trout to be hanging around the sand holes and on and and around the mud flats. A slow retrieve with soft plastics, ADL spoons and a twitch bait are all excellent choices. The flounder have made a move into the backwaters as well and can be picked up the same way and in addition bouncing a live shrimp on a jig head is always a good choice. in the next few days they are calling for the winds to settle a bit and expect the bite to only increase.
Capt Patrick Rood
www.spotntailcharters.com