Greenies Brought Mangrove Snapper Out to Play!

This lucky snook escaped the bite of a Goliath Grouper mid-fight and was released safely!

Good morning all you fishing and beaching fanatics out there! Hope everyone had a great weekend even though it was HOT! Here is the update on the inlet fishing for ya. Well along with the hot air temps, the fishing has heated up as well through out the inlet as a whole. Water temps have been holding in the 86 degree range and the greenies have been pretty thick everywhere, and in turn that all has brought the mangrove snapper out to play! Last week and the weekend they were catching lots of them everywhere. They are about a month late showing up, but they are here now, and plenty of nice keepers being caught! Remember, they have to be 10 inches overall to keep, and you can only keep 5 per person as a bag limit. Plus there have been all kinds of other fish being caught around the inlet. So here we go with the breakdown.

North Jetty

Over here last week Tuesday through Thursday was a really good week for the mangrove bite. Lots of fish, plenty of keepers were caught on the incoming tide and the very beginning of the outgoing tide all along the rock seawall from the catwalk out to the jetty area! Live greenies and cut greenies were the bait of choice for the snappers. You can get the greenies by cast netting them, the bait shops don’t sell them because they are so hard to keep alive. Also being caught in this area I saw some nice redfish being caught on artificial lures, top water. The reds were caught on the beginning of the outgoing tide. Out on the jetty the mangroves were biting, but not as well as back along the wall. Incoming tide between the pilings with live or dead cut greenies were getting the bite. Beach side the water is still really shallow because of the sand bar that has formed over there, but there were some nice spanish mackerel caught on live greenies and gotcha lures. The water was so clear you could see them swimming around chasing the minnows present around the jetty. And as always this time of year when the spanish are around, so are the barracudas looking to eat one that gets hooked up. The cudas can be caught on a very lively large live bait, or a green or pink tube lure reeled quickly through the water. I was told one of our regular anglers caught 2 big ones last week about 40 inches or so. Also on the incoming tide last week Tuesday through Thursday the catch and release snook bite went off! The boaters were hooking a lot of them and landing some of them, and the goliaths ate the rest! Live croakers were what they wanted. I fished Thursday with some nice live shrimp I had and hooked up 5 and landed 2 in a 2 hour time frame. Bite was good. I didn’t lose any to the groupers, got lucky. I also did see a couple nice redfish caught too. All the action was on the incoming tide. Outgoing tide at the tip before the nasty runoff water started out there was a decent snook bite on the croakers, along with a few cubera snappers that were hooked up, but not landed, the goliaths ate them mid fight! They like them too! They pretty much eat everything they can catch!

South Jetty

Over here same thing. Incoming tide all along the rock seawall from the tip to the catwalk has been mangrove snapper city! A lot of fish are being caught, but a lot of them have been too small to keep, but in turn there are quite a few keepers being had as well. Live greenies, cut greenies and live shrimp are the baits of choice. Also over here on the incoming the “summer snook” are hitting live croakers for those of you that like catch and release fishing. Most of them have been the smaller juvenile fish, 28 inches and under, but every once in a while, a bigger one comes along. Catch and release redfish were also present over here as well. At the tip on the outgoing tide the black margates, blue runners and smaller jack crevalle, AND some mangrove snapper are biting cut baits and live greenies. Once the runoff water gets around the tip and flows south, it pretty much shuts down and the pesky catfish start.

T-Dock area

Back here, same as last report. The clean incoming and very beginning of the clean outgoing tide the snappers have been biting really good on cut and live greenies, and shrimp. Several different species being caught but most are still small. The mangroves have been the predominate species being caught and some are big enough to be kept. Once again, lanes need to be 8 inches minimum, mangroves 10 inch minimum and muttons 18. Don’t get caught with under sized fish, it isn’t worth ticket. Also back here there have been some catch and release action with the snook and redfish. Live baits and artificial swim baits are catching fish. Again, the clean incoming and first of the outgoing tide before the nasty runoff water starts to fill the inlet, is best. Also for you light tackle guys the spanish mackerel are around chasing the schools of greenies and glass minnows. Small white or green jigs or live greenies fished free lined or with a float will do the trick to catch some.

Surf Area, both sides

The south side of the inlet has been pretty slow due to the nasty tanic runoff water coming out and flowing south along the beach, then returning on the incoming tide as it gets caught between the jetty and the new sandbar that now connects the monster hole reef to the beach. Catfish and some nurse sharks are being caught along with some stingrays. Just further south at the parks day use area, there is a rock ridge out there and is sometimes a good place to find mangroves, snook and redfish. Live baits are the best. North side being much shallower because of all the sand that has washed down the beach from the restorations, you will need to go some distance up the beach for deeper water. The water has been pretty clean and there are some nice whiting being caught on cut baits. Look for schools of minnows and greenies in the surf, and you might just find some predators around. Snook, tarpon, redfish and spanish mackerel follow the bait pods around, and you just might get some action tossing medium sized swim baits, or live baits into the surf. Also there have been reports of some sharks being around as well. I did see some bonnet heads and Atlantic sharp nose sharks swimming in the surf at the jetty. They will eat anything, and fight pretty good too!

Well, that’s all I have for you folks for this week. Looks like August is going to be a great month to fish! Grab your gear, get some bait, get your water and sunblock and get out and have some fun, and catch some nice fish!