Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Charters

These grass flats are what make Mosquito Lagoon, or Mosquito Bay, as it is often mistakenly called, a great place to fish. They are home to shrimp, crabs, clams, snails, marine worms, and a multitude of baitfish. These food source holds redfish, spotted seatrout, and black drum year round.

You have the chance to catch redfish in excess of 30 pounds any day of the year. In the summer months, one may encounter tarpon from 5 to 100 pounds, along with snook, ladyfish and jack crevalle. Despite the scary sounding name, there are no mosquitoes or bugs bothering us while fishing.

There is always something to see in Mosquito Lagoon and the surrounding Merritt Island National Wildlife and Canaveral National Seashore. These two federal refuges serve as a buffer for the Kennedy Space Center and have prevented development. As a result, the Mosquito Lagoon has remained much like it was in the past. In addition to the fishing, you can also view the variety of wildlife the lagoon and refuge have to offer. Giant manatee can be seen daily spring through fall. Bottle nose dolphin call Mosquito Lagoon their home year round and can often be seen in less than 2 feet of water searching for a meal. Sea-turtles, stingrays, and a wide range of wading and predatory birds live here as well.

The redfish, or red drum, is the king of Mosquito Lagoon. These fish live in our waters year round and can be caught every day of the year. The Mosquito Lagoon and north Indian River Lagoon are the only places in the world where redfish live their entire lives inshore. This means that on any trip, you have the chance to catch a full grown redfish over 20 pounds. Fish topping 35 pounds are not uncommon. The average Mosquito Lagoon redfish is from 22-27 inches and are normally caught in less than two feet of water. Light tackle spinning or flyrods are used to target these fish. They will eat a wide variety of artificial lures and baits. They are often spotted by looking for "tailing fish that are feeding in the shallow grass.

Travel to the Mosquito Lagoon takes about one hour from the Orlando, Disney, and Kissimmee area. From that region, I meet my clients in Titusville and have them follow me into the wildlife refuge. It is about a 30 minute ride from Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach and Cocoa Beach. From New Smyrna Beach redfish charter it is around a 30 minute drive. In order to legally fish in the waters of Mosquito Lagoon which are inside the wildlife refuge and national seashore, guides must have a permit from the US government. Guides who have this permit are required to prove they have a license and insurance. many guides advertise Mosquito Lagoon on their website and then pull a bait and switch tactic telling customers the fishing is better elsewhere because they do not possess a permit. If you want to fish Mosquito Lagoon proper, you can check if your fishing guide is listed on the Merritt Island national Wildlife Refuge permitted guides list.