mahi

John Entrekin writes, “My son, John Jr., and I had an enjoyable trip together on May 6 in big swells of five to six feet. We caught a few nice Mahi…the largest weight 16 pounds.

Good morning all my Sebastian Inlet fishing friends, I hope everyone enjoyed the wonderful, HOT weekend we had! The weather was great for the beaches and the fishing. So here we go with this week’s report.

The fishing has picked up a bit over the weekend, the water has also cleaned up quite a bit from what it was, and warmed up to near what it should be along the coastal area around the inlet. Sunday it was reading 78, but as of this morning Monday is showing 77, it should be in the lower 80’s for this time of year. The other good thing I saw over the weekend was the presence of a lot of bait fish, mullet and threadfins were everywhere around the north and south jetties. The majorras that were around have taken somewhat of a vacation, and have been tough to find. For the most part though, fishing was pretty good on both sides of the inlet. So here’s your breakdown of the hotspots…

North Jetty

Over here most of the action has been on the high tide cycle of the day. Quite a variety of species were caught over the weekend. On the beachside of the north jetty I saw some really nice pompano and a couple whiting caught on fresh dead shrimp, along with plenty of blue runners and jack crevalle. On the inside of the jetty over the rock pile at the tip using large live shrimp, a few snook were hooked up with only a couple being landed. Either they were broke off, or big daddy G ate them!! The goliath groupers were hungry for snook this weekend! I only heard of one slot snook caught all weekend. Around the pilings on the inside they were catching some small black margates, a couple of small mangrove snappers, and a couple sheepshead as well. Another species that were caught over the weekend were some nice catch and release redfish all along the shoreline from the gate at the jetty back to the bridge. Live croakers and shrimp were the baits of choice for them. At the tip on the outgoing it was mostly small blues, jacks and catfish, with maybe a snook or two hooked up and lost. Most of the guys were fishing either live shrimp, mullet or small croakers. That’s pretty much it for this area, it was fishy, but just not up to what it should be yet.

South Jetty

Over here the same deal, incoming tide has been the better time to fish. Plenty of small undersized snook being caught all along the inside of the rock shoreline on small live croakers. Saw quite a few caught, but most of them were too small to keep. Redfish were also present in the area and tide. At the tip and beach side on Sunday the water was pretty clean for a change and they had caught a few nice pompano and whiting on cut shrimp. Incoming tide and the outgoing tide produced. The outgoing tide also produced plenty of blue runners, black margates and jacks just to keep things interesting on the outgoing tide.

T-Dock Area

Back here it has still been kind of slow, but on the incoming when the water is cleaned up there have been a few snook caught on either live majorra, or croakers. On the dock around the pilings, like I mentioned last week, the small mangrove snappers are starting to show up. Most are too small to be kept, but they are around. Small live or dead greenies and shrimp will intice a bite from them. Incoming or outgoing tide will work. And as always, those pesky puffers are ever present and hungry. For those tossing jigs and silver spoons to the channel area, there are some of those big jack crevalle playing around chasing the schools of mullet in the inlet.

Surf Area both sides

On the south side just past the jetty, the beach area all the way down to our “day use” area with the paved parking and rest rooms has been producing some pompano and whiting and of course the pesky catfish. The water has been pretty clean for a change, but that is going to change the next couple days with some pretty brisk SSE winds going to be picking up. Live sand fleas, and shrimp, either live or dead was getting the bites. North Side, the north parking lot in the park, and the area just north also has been producing some pompano and whiting, same baits, shrimp or live sandfleas. Also a couple guys I chatted with said they found some nice snook on the beach when they found some schools of mullet there. Most of them were too big to keep, but that’s a step in the right direction, as this time of the year the snook will cruise the beaches looking for food. Also when the water warms up some more, we will see some big tarpon start running the beaches as well. Any live bait or large swim bait will entice a bite from them! Hang on, that will be fun!!

Well my friends and fanatics, that’s all I have for this weeks report, but it is getting better as time rolls on. Grab your gear, plenty of H20 and get out there and catch a memory, and some dinner for the table!