The following is an archived fishing report for the below date and location. If you are looking for the most current fishing reports on the Mosquito Lagoon, Port Canaveral, Sebastian Inlet, Ponce Inlet, nearshore beaches and Indian River in east central Florida then please visit our reports page. Also visit our "video reports" page to see an HD version of this fishing report.

If you are here in the Orlando, Disney, Kissimmee, Palm Coast, Tampa, Cocoa Beach, Jacksonville, Edgewater, Titusville, Sebastian, Palm Bay, Lakeland, Deland, Lake Mary, Oak Hill, New Smyrna Beach, Palm Bay, Melbourne, Longwood or Daytona Beach area and are looking into going on an inshore or near shore fishing charter for redfish, shark, triple tail, snook, seatrout, tarpon, cobia or black drum then please give me a call at (352)223-;7897 -; email me -; captdrew@floridainshorefishingcharters.com -; I will be glad to see if I can meet your needs or answer any questions you may have.

July 4th, 2018 East Central Florida Light Tackle Saltwater Fishing Report

Happy 4th of July 2018! Summer time is here and along with it comes some of the best fishing east central Florida has to offer. You can expect tarpon , redfish, trout, black drum, barracuda, shark, snappers, snook and so much more. Summer time to me and a lot others is one of the greatest times to fish here. As the days go by it will just get better and better. We have the next 4 months of some serious serious big game fish fishery going on here.

The past few weeks have been just outstanding fishing. Tarpon have started to move in off the beaches into the backcountry waters of the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River in New Smyrna Beach, Edgewater, Daytona Beach and near the Cocoa Beach area. As well as Ponce Inlet too. Over the next several weeks and months until our first cold front comes through it will just get better and better daily. Most of the backcountry tarpon we typically get here inside the inlet range from 5 pounds to 60 pounds on average. With a few here and there up and over 80 pounds. Now our beach and nearshore coastal tarpon range up and over the 100 pound range.

When I am fishing fortarpon inside the inlet and backcountry waters I like to throw the DOA Deep Running Baitbuster at them. The colors can vary between the black gray mullet pattern to the all time favorite white with red nose version. When they roll on the surface you will want to cast a few feet past them and then a few feet in front of them. The key is in front of them the direction they are going. Remember a key factor in fishing,not with just tarpon but all fish. They do not eat with their tails. Once you make the cast, let it drop a second or two and then just do a steady retrieve with a small twitching action. Be sure if you hook up on one not to give him any slack or they will shake it off or on the breach come loose. Also please remember to handle them with the utmost care. Also do remember that all tarpon over 40 inches must remain in the water at all times. Unless of course you have a tarpon tag, which I really see no reason for.

The other productive way to fish for these if you are not looking to throw artificial at them is to just free line a bait fish or a live blue crab. You can even place it underneath a small float of some sort. Using heavy leader and a 4/0 or so hook will work.

Now if you really want to start early the game plan can be to launch about an hour or so before any form of day light begins and fish some docks for snook and trout. The key here is to look for bait busting under lighted docks. Throwing a DOA Shrimp will work just fine or you can toss a jumbo live shrimp up there as well. Again heavy leader will be required due to they will go into the dock and structure to try and break you off. Also please remember that when you are fishing docks in the dark to show respect. Leave your lights on so the home owners do not think they are being robbed and no loud music. LOL you would be surprised at what I have seen. Also be very very careful of casting at the docks and boats. Someone owns those and does not want hooks all over them.

When weather is permitting I have been getting off the beaches looking for beach tarpon, cobia, barracuda and anything that is fun. Little Tunnyare thick and very fast paced moving fish. You can try and throw almost anything at them just be patient with them. I like to use a gold spoon due to the weight and getting that distance on the cast.

Barracuda over the reefs and wrecks are always a blast as well. Just be careful when handling them. They have rather large teeth! LOL Also when you are fishing some of the reefs I have been getting a crazy number of red snappers being caught. Now the issue here is I thought they were so endangered the federal government closed possession down to keep them. Yeah right! When a flats boat is able to catch red snapper out of Ponce De Leon Inlet then something is up there.

Off course when I am fishing my backyard the Mosquito Lagoon I am going for redfish, black drum and spotted seatrout. If you get out here early try to throw some top water first. Nothing like busting a big bad bull redfish with that. Or even a nice seatrout as well. As the sun comes up start to sight fish them. Watch for tails and movement. Again using either the DOA Shrimp or a live shrimp will work as well. Live shrimp will come in handy if you happen to come across the black drum. As they can be picky on their diets.

As the day moves on and the sun comes up and it gets hotter out just switch to a jig head with a soft plastic on it. Hit the spoil islands or drop offs that surround the flats. Blind casting the drop offs can produce several different species from reds to trout to lady fish to jacks.

Well again I wish everyone a safe and happy fourth of July! This is the greatest country in the world!

 

Florida Inshore Fishing Charters Site Map 

Captain Drew's Cell -; (352)223-;7897

Past Central Florida Fishing Reports

2006 to 2009 Archived -; Ponce Inlet, Sebastian Inlet, Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Reports
2010 to 2015 Archived -; Mosquito Lagoon, Port Canaveral, Indian River and Ponce Inlet Fishing Reports
2016 to 2020 Archived -; Mosquito Lagoon, Sebastian Inlet, Indian River and Ponce Inlet Fishing Reports

Orlando Light Tackle Saltwater Fishing Guide
Captain Drew Cavanaugh -; Florida Inshore Fishing Charters Cocoa Florida