By Capt. Michael Savedow, Edgewater River Guide
Welcome to summer 2026! With kids on school vacation, the Indian and Halifax Rivers are great places to teach them the basics of fishing and make it easy to catch plenty of fish. For younger children, start with abundant panfish like Mangrove Snapper and Pinfish. A small #4 or #6 hook, light weight, and a small piece of peeled shrimp will keep the action steady. Kids can learn to bait a hook, fight and safely unhook fish, take a quick photo, and practice catch and release. Building skills that will help them become better anglers as they grow. For kids with more experience, teach them to freeline live shrimp or use simple artificials like a leadhead jig with a soft plastic tail. They’ll catch Spotted Seatrout, Ladyfish, Jack Crevalle, and more. Keep it simple, easy, and fun while teaching conservation and respect for marine wildlife.
Snook season is closed June through August, so practice catch, photo, and release until it reopens September 1. The local snook population is the best it has been in years, so handle them gently for healthy future stocks. Redfish remain catch-and-release only in Mosquito Lagoon south of the SR44 bridge in New Smyrna Beach. Summer seatrout fishing on Mosquito Lagoon with live pigfish and croakers remains a local tradition. Pigfish are also excellent bait for redfish, snook, snapper, tarpon, jacks, and ladyfish. Fish them freelined and tail-hooked along drop-offs, sloughs, and flat edges. A quick pop of the rod lifts the bait off the bottom, attracting strikes. In shallower water, adding a float keeps the bait suspended above the bottom.
Around docks and structure, use heavier tackle and live bait for snook and other larger fish. Bigger pigfish, croakers, and pinfish are prime baits for bull reds, tarpon, and sharks when drifting the ICW channel from Edgewater to Ponce Inlet. Tarpon can also be sight-cast anywhere from offshore Ponce through the inlet, bridges, the ICW, and south into the backcountry.
