Inshore Fishing Highlights: Snook, Tarpon, and More in the Tomoka River

We have made it to the heat of summer. We have gone through some funky conditions the second half of June but things have chilled out for now. We went from minimal rain for several weeks to a bunch of rain over a short period of time with a system we had off the East coast. Inshore up in Ormond there’s been quite a bit of snook action back in the Tomoka River with a bunch of jacks mixed in there too. There has also been a bunch of tarpon further back in the Tomoka West of the US-1 bridge. I have been getting reports from a couple different people doing really well throwing artificial back there. We have even been getting keeper mangroves on small divers when targeting snook. There’s lots of fresh water back there from all the rain so keep that in mind if you’re using live bait. 

The shrimp have started running so you can expect a good variety in the intracoastal from Ormond down to Port Orange in the ICW. Seatrout, snook, redfish, flounder, and mangroves have been around docks and oyster bars. The shrimp just started running but hopefully by the time this report comes out they should be running even better. I really like using the local shrimp for bait but their shell can be softer than the usual West Coast shrimp that you typically find in the bait shops most of the year so I always bring extra. 

The inlet went downhill after all the rain and rough seas making the water really dirty so I’m hoping that clears up soon. There’s a lot of fish around but it definitely makes fishing tougher. There’s a bunch of tarpon of all sizes and I’ve been getting them to eat pigfish and croakers. Redfish have been hit or miss. I’ve had days with one or two and then others with a handful. Most of these fish have been 30-40” with an occasional slot fish. We have been catching some nice flounder around the inlet too, so I’ve been trying to bring some mud minnows when I’m out there. The mangrove snapper should start getting thick any time now and we will catch some nice fish for inshore up to a couple lbs. 

I get a lot of people looking to target sharks this time of year and there’s no shortage of them. Spinners, black tips, bonnet heads, hammers, black nose, tigers, and a few others can all be caught off the beach and some even inside the inlet and up in the river. 

We have some awesome fishing coming up the next couple months so give me a shout if you’re interested in setting up a trip!

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