sebastian

A lone angler and his feathered companion stake out the breakwater at the Sebastian Inlet tidepool.

Good morning, Sebastian Inlet fishing fans. I hope everyone had a good weekend, despite the winds! This is another short report because the high winds and huge surf at the inlet for the last few days have made it difficult to fish some areas — especially the south jetty where it has been wet and wild! This week isn’t going to be much better, until the weekend possibly.

The fishing on both side of the inlet west of the bridge has been hit-or-miss, but there have been fish caught in small numbers. Over the weekend, the water quality and clarity looked great, but was still pretty chilly at 66 degrees. Along the shorelines west of the bridge, north side, there were reports of whiting and sheepshead being caught back in the area of the steel on live and dead shrimp. West of that area, back by the mangroves, anglers were catching small undersized snook on live shrimp and thumper jigs. Everything was too small, but still fun.

On the south side, west of the bridge, there were a couple anglers catching sheepshead on dead shrimp and sand fleas; either tide was good — you just had to find the fish. I did talk to a couple guys who saw some flounder caught back there on live finger mullet. The three fish they saw caught were in the three to four-pound range, with one they heard about in the 10-pound range! I’m hoping that this year will be a better flounder bite, because last year was horrible.

Near the cleaning station on either tide, black drum and sheepshead are possible on live and dead shrimp. At the T-dock, with the cleaner water, Spanish mackerel have shown up on small white jigs. Around the north side in the back of the inlet in the intercoastal, there have been reports of a good pompano bite on shrimp and goofy jigs, along with spotted sea trout on swim baits and live baits, but you can’t keep them until January 1. Good fishing for kayakers and boaters.

That’s all I have for now. We need the weather to calm back down, and it will get better. Reminder: Snook season is now CLOSED until February 1. Have a great week, everyone!