Vero Beach Fishing Charters

The South End of the Same Water

Sebastian Inlet is the line between two counties. North of it is Brevard and Melbourne Beach. South of it is Indian River County and Vero Beach. On a map that is a boundary. On the water it is not much of anything — the same lagoon runs through it, and the same fish move back and forth with the tide.

Captain Richard Ladrew fishes both sides, most days of the week. If you are in Vero Beach looking for a charter, you are not looking at a different kind of trip. You are looking at the same boat fishing the south half of the water it already fishes.

What Is Down There

There is patch reef and live bottom off Vero, some of it close enough for a nearshore trip and more of it further out on a full offshore day. Live bottom holds fish the way bare sand does not, and having it at both distances means the sea state decides which structure you fish rather than whether you fish structure at all.

Inshore there are miles of mangrove shoreline along the back of A1A and behind the country clubs, much of it undeveloped, and a run of islands through the lagoon. Snook sit tight to the mangroves, redfish work the edges, and tarpon show in the deeper water through the warmer months. The islands fish well because the tide works around them from both sides, so there is usually an edge doing something even when the wind has a shoreline churned up.

None of that is exotic. It is good, ordinary Indian River Lagoon fishing, and it is the same fishing you would get on a trip booked from anywhere else on this site.

Where the Trip Leaves From

What You’ll Catch

The same fish that make the Indian River Lagoon worth fishing, with the reef adding to it: snook, redfish, spotted seatrout, tarpon, mangrove snapper, sheepshead, black drum and flounder.

Rules in Indian River County

Worth knowing before you book:

• Redfish are catch-and-release only. The Indian River Lagoon region runs from New Smyrna Beach south to the Martin–Palm Beach county line, so all of Vero sits inside it. You can catch plenty; none come home.
• Snook harvest is open 1 February – 31 May and 1 September – 14 December, slot 28″–32″, one per person per day.
• Spotted seatrout slot is 15″–19″, two per person, closed 1 November – 31 December.
• Goliath grouper on the reef are catch-and-release, as they have been in Florida waters since 1990.

Regulations checked September 2026 and change year to year — current rules are on the FWC site. Fishing licences, bait and all tackle are covered for you aboard, and Captain Richard will tell you on the day what you can keep.

Trips Fishing Vero Water

• Half Day Inshore Fishing — Half Day, $600. The mangrove shoreline and lagoon.
• Full Day Inshore / Nearshore — Full Day, $975. Inshore plus the reef outside.
• Offshore Fishing — Full Day, $1200. Further out than the patch reef.
• Kids Fishing Adventure — 3 Hour, $495. Short, calm and built for children.
• Sandbar Charter — Half Day, $600. Not fishing — swimming and the islands.

Staying in Vero? things to do in Vero Beach, from the water and off it.