Kayak Fishing: Mangrove Islands – Sebastian Inlet State Park

Launch Spot

I launched my kayak from the kayak/canoe launch located within Sebastian Inlet State Park – located on the south side of the inlet at Sebastian Inlet State Rec Area.

Where I Fished

Once I launched from the kayak launch area I went straight across the inlet, which I will say, compared to last summer with a paddle – is a lot more enjoyable with pedals. Also I went on a weekday, so there wasn’t as much boat traffic going out to sea.

I caught my first fish of the morning, a good sized Jack Crevalle just south of Little Grace Island. I continued to go north for about 2 solid hours then back tracked back towards LGI. The water levels are super duper low right now, we badly need rains! There were a lot of places I explored but wasn’t able to fish due to the water being really shallow. The nice thing about the drought we are in, is that the water is really clean. When the rains do inevitably come, it will be nice to see some spots get deeper, and the overall water temps get cooler, but the down side will be that it will probably bring more pollution and run off, and turn many places in the lagoon system into chocolate milk color again.

Topwater Report

I had good success catching a good sized Jack Crevalle on the south west side of Little Grace Island, ones this size tend to put up a pretty good fight, especially when you are in a kayak. I know they are not the most sought after fish to catch, but once they get to this size or bigger they become “yellow submarines” and can be great fun, especially when blowing up on topwater.

Once I moved past LGI, I stuck to the western shorelines of mangroves to maximize the window that I could catch fish on topwater. Right now it has been tough going with the sun because there are basically no clouds, the sun comes up fast, and even if you launched in complete darkness, before you can blink that sun is up, and it is very bright and bearing down on us. You can see in all of the pictures in the report, there are bluebird skies, and no clouds what so ever. So it is very imperative if you like the morning topwater fishing to choose smart areas where the mangroves, or buildings or whatever can cast shadows as the sun is rising.

The plug that has been working well for me the past few weeks is the Yak Tribe Topwater in their Dulce colorway, which is their off-white, bone color. This has long been a standard color for inshore topwater as most bait fish, including mullet have a lighter belly, which is that bone white color. After my mishap earlier this spring with the treble hook through the finger, I have been rolling with the in-line single hooks. I use VMC 2/0 hooks that I get from Strike Zone. I have been using the same plug since March, with the same two hooks, which are super strong, and never rust. This is a really quality bait, that I got from this link – https://www.yak-tribe.com/product/yak-tribe-topwaters/ for $6.99. I challenge you to find a better bait for the buck!

Summer Heat & Mangroves

As I mentioned above, the sun is bright, and there are no clouds to help the situation, the winds have died down, and the water levels are low. If we are being honest about it, it makes for pretty tough conditions out there! But that doesn’t mean it is impossible. For me, I opt to beat the bushes, but depending on where you are fishing, you may be able to fish docks – especially those with deeper water. When fishing rocks and docks, you may want to use a jighead for your soft plastics to get them down in the zone, but for the skinny water and mangroves, my preference is a good natural bait fish color paddletail on a 3/0, ⅛ oz twistlock hook.

I also have been successful as of late with weedless and weightless soft plastic jerk baits, or flukes as many people call them. Either way they skip really well, and you don’t need a weight in skinny water, I opt for a 3/0 EWG worm hook. I also like the Clarity Lures Ned Shrimp on a 3/0, ⅛ oz twistlock hook as well.

I usually opt for the paddletail at first because I can cover more water, fish a bit faster, but if I go an hour or so with no bites I switch over to the fluke, or the shrimp and slow it down. Sometimes low and slow, is the way to go. Sidenote, I have been smoking a pork butt for about 14 hours, and my stomach is growling, so yeah…low and slow, is the way to go.

As far as the species go, I have been catching a lot of Snook under the mangroves, but I have also caught more Redfish in the past month than I have caught in the previous year. They’re all small to medium sized ones, but this is a great sign hopefully of things to come for our fishery! In addition to Snook and Redfish, I have been catching a lot of Mangrove Snapper under the mangroves as well. When I got up to bigger paddle tails or flukes, I get thumps, and often times get the back half of the bait torn up, but when I fish the shrimp lure, or smaller 3 inch paddletails, I end up hooking up with Snappers a lot more. I have caught several of keeper and above size, so if you like Snapper, especially for eating purposes, then you can find them in good numbers in the mangroves. Downside to catching a bunch of Mango’s is, they poop all over the place, the other day I had to beach my kayak mid trip and use an empty water bottle to clean snapper poop off of the deck and front part of the kayak. Just be careful when you are landing them, they are pooping machines, I am talking new born baby level pooping machines. Holy moly!

Lastly, a much as the drought conditions have made fishing tougher, the lower water levels in the lagoon make skipping lures under mangroves a lot easier than it will be during the height of the wet season. If theres one thing that will break your heart it will be to be out fishing and see Snook wreaking habit deep in the groves, and they’re inaccessible to cast to because the water levels are up.

Putting the “Space” in Spacefish

If you live here along the Space Coast, and you are observant of the skies, then you will know there have been a ton of rockets being launched, however I have yet to actually see one take off while I am fishing, but that all changed this past week, I saw this rocket launch on Wednesday morning. By the time I saw it, and got my phone out, I was able to get a picture right before it fully ascended upwards and out of the sight of the naked eye.

Conclusion

It was about this time last year that I caught my PB Snook, and then broke that PB again within the same hour – I was fishing from the kayak in the actual inlet, I have always done well in this area of mangroves north of the actual inlet, but I have never caught anything over slot there – but for me, it is a more enjoyable experience to be back in the quiet backwaters and in the kayak and catch my share of fun-sized (medium) Snook, I know there are bigguns back here too, but I think I will need to book a John Page charter to find them!

Thank you for taking the time to read, and thank you to Kayaks By Bo for being our Paddle Partner! Go check them out at their new location in Cocoa!

It’s super duper hot out there, make sure you pack plenty of water and Gatorade in your cooler before heading out to kayak fish! Tight lines everyone, until next time!