It’s THE SNOOKMAN!

Hey there all you Sebastian Inlet fans and anglers! I hope you all enjoyed the great weekend we had. Good news, the fish are starting to show up, and bite! Both sides of the inlet! Plenty of baitfish around, greenies, majorra, and schools of mullet in the late afternoons. The water WAS clean, but over the weekend it got a bit dirty, but still cleaner than it has been, and it should stay pretty decent as looks like this week is going to be pretty nice, SSE winds in the 5-10 range, and seas in the 0-2 ft range, according to my surf reports I monitor, and water temps holding in the 81-84 degree range, which is good for this time of year. The only down side of it all is that most of the fish I saw, and I caught last week were on the incoming high tide phase, which is getting later and later as the week progresses. With all that being said, here are your “action” spots.

North Jetty…

Over here like I mentioned, most of the fish have been caught on the incoming tide. Lots of really nice catch and release snook were being caught on live shrimp, croakers, majorra, and as always, the artificial shrimp jigs, but the majority of the snook have been on live shrimp. They DO get fussy once in a while and only want one bait in particular. That’s what makes them such a challenge. I fished last Wednesday and hooked 10, and landed 7 of those with one monster weighing about 30 pounds. Most of the fish caught that day were bruisers in the 18–22-pound range, 38-40 inches, with a couple pushing the 22-30 pound range. Big girls, and they were pretty tough to land. Also on the incoming tide over the weekend, I saw a few really nice mangrove snappers caught on small shrimp and live and dead greenies around the rocks at the tip, and in the piling’s inlet side of the jetty. Also around the tip, one of my friends was catching some nice lookdowns on tiny shrimp and small greenies. Incoming tide. The outgoing tide the fishing was a bit slower due mostly to the stained ICW water coming out and shutting the bite down. Lot fresh water from all the rain runoff coming out of Sebastian River into the inlet. Some snook and reds were caught on croakers and majorra, and a few of the big jack crevalle that were chasing the schools of mullet. Friday when I was down, and again on Sunday I did see a few nice 16-18 inch spanish mackerel caught on live greenies, incoming tide, beach side, live greenies and spoons. Also on that side of the jetty over the past week I have seen a few big barracuda swimming around looking for a quick snack. One of my friends was fishing for spanish on last Wednesday with a silver spoon and enticed a 47 inch Cuda to hit it! That was fun to watch. Moving on, back around the bait shop area to the cleaning table, on the late afternoon tide there have been schools mullet coming in and the monster jack crevalle have been busting them up! Freelined mullet and top water poppers and 5-6 inch swim baits were getting bit by them. Most of these fish were in the 15-25 pound range! Quite the good fight. For those fishing live shrimp, majorra and greenies, there have been some decent mangrove snappers caught as well. 12-14 inch range on them. Remember, they have to be a minimum of 10 inches overall to be harvested, with a daily bag limit of 5 per person, per day.

South Jetty

For those who are willing to walk the 7 tenths of a mile from the south day use area, up to the jetty, I did get and update from one of my guys who does fish there, on what’s biting. Most of it is the regular species, black margate, small sheepshead, some whiting, spot tail pins, and a few really nice mangrove snapper, all on cut dead shrimp, outgoing and incoming tide. Also being caught on the outgoing at the tip are the jack crevalle, any kind of bait will get them to bite. Incoming along the shoreline the boaters have been catching some catch and release snook on any live bait, croakers being the best.

T-Dock Area

The section of the dock that is open, and the surrounding area has been producing some small sheepshead, mangrove snapper, lane snapper, and a few nice whiting, all on dead cut shrimp around the pilings and the rocks. Either tide has been good. There have been a few snook caught back here, but most of the action has been out front in the inlet.

Surf Area, both sides…

Again, as last week, nobody has been fishing the areas because on the north side, dur to the huge sandbar, there isn’t any water in the surf to fish properly, south side, there is no access due to the parking lot being off limits, and the guys walking up the beach have been fishing the jetty, and not the surf.

Well everyone, that’s all for this week, better than what it has been, and should continue to get better as the mangrove snapper and spanish mackerel move in, those two species are our summertime go to catches. I hope you all have a great week! Stay safe, and stay well!! Snookman.