Lackluster Mullet Run @ Inlet

Kirby and his Spanish mackerel!

Good morning all my Sebastian Inlet fishing friends, hope everyone had a nice relaxing weekend! It’s that time again to let loose with the what’s happening, or what’s not happening at the inlet. As I stated in my last report the inlet was going to be a really big mess all last week, and it was! Big swells and blustery NNE winds pretty much put a damper on all the fishing, even inside the inlet. The water got pretty dirty and a BUNCH of sargassum weed showed up again. Not a lot like before, but enough to be a problem with cast netting and getting on your line. The north side was worse than the south side. There was still a lot of mullet in and around the inlet, but not like it should be for this time of year. Seems as though we are not the only area suffering a dismal mullet run, I read a couple reports that is that way all the way along the coast of the southeast, from NJ all along the Florida coast. But anyway, there have been a lot of small finger mullet keeping the predator fish around. So enough of that, here are your area breakdowns.

North Jetty

Over here like I said, the weeds have been pretty bad making for a tough time fishing “cleanly” as it gets all on your line and in your cast net. The fishing picked up Thursday when the winds decided to slow a bit and the swell to go down as well, the fishing picked up pretty good as the water cleaned up some. There were a lot of the smaller finger mullet all around the jetty, and some very small greenies as well. The “hot topic” for over here was the spanish mackerel bite, it was really good from Thursday through Sunday, with Sunday being the slower of the days. A lot of really nice spanish were being caught for those using live greenies, and the smaller finger mullet. There were several anglers who had the knack for them and were catching fish upwards of 24-28 inches!! Several anglers also got close to their limits on these big macs!! Very nice fat macs. Also the other species I saw quite a bit of were the bluefish, a lot of 2-3 pound fish showed up Friday and Saturday and were biting just about anything you tossed out! Also the jack crevalle and lady fish kept things interesting for all. All of this action happened on the high tide, ocean side of the jetty. Also another species I saw quite a bit of were the red fish, they were catching them on both tides, and on both sides of the inlet. Live baits of any kind worked for them. Remember the redfish are still CATCH AND RELEASE ONLY!!. The snook bite was pretty quiet for the most part, a few were caught on the incoming tide at the “rock pile” on live shrimp. Most were too small, but I did see a few 29-30 inch fish caught. Outgoing tide at the tip was producing some redfish, jack crevalle, ladyfish and small snook. Live baits of any kind was the key. Also, I did get a report of one lucky angler that had caught a nice cubera snapper about 28 inches, about 10-15 pounds. So they are still active. Live mullet was the bait for that fish. Along the wall from the jetty to the catwalk on the incoming tide, there have been a few snook and redfish being caught on live baits, mullet, pins and pigs. Most of the snook are small, and the reds were 25-30 inches.

South Jetty

Over here the fishing has been a bit slower due to the nasty dirty water flowing out of the inlet from the rain runoff from Sebastian River. It flows out then down the beach south, then it flows back in on the incoming tide. Not an ideal fishing scenario. When it does flow back in and some cleaner ocean water from the north side mixes with it, there has been a pretty decent snook and redfish bite all along the shoreline, incoming tide. Most of the snook have been small, but there were quite a few nice keepers caught. Live pinfish has been the bait of choice. Also, there were some of those 2-3 pound bluefish being caught over here as well. Outgoing tide has been a disaster with the very dirty tannin stained fresh water, with only puffers and catfish being caught! Occasionally you might see a black Margate or two being caught. Cut shrimp for them. Also some jack crevalle have been present to play with.

T-Dock Area

Back here the fishing has been very slow due to the dirty tannin stained water from the rain runoff. Doesn’t get much of a chance to clean out. Plenty of mullet around, but no predators chasing them. The only thing I saw caught back here over the weekend puffers and some very small mangrove snapper and mutton snapper, too small to be kept. Talked with one of myfriends that fishes at night back here and he said even the night time bite was lacking. Plenty of mullet he said, but no snook or reds, just big jack crevalle.

Surf Area Both Sides

The south side surf has been a mess with all the rain water runoff coming out of the inlet and flowing south along the beach, has basically shut everything down. Too much fresh water. Nobody has been fishing it.

North side on the other hand has been a lot cleaner with the NNW winds we had over the weekend. The surf has calmed a bit and cleaned up somewhat. Look for schools of mullet and you should find the snook and tarpon, redfish and blues. Fish live mullet or the medium to larger swim baits to entice a bite. Oh, and watch out for sharks, they will also be around looking for a handout. One of my friends that fishes the beach just north of the jetty took home a keeper snook two days in a row!! Live mullet. Keep an eye out, as the water cools down some more, and cleans up the pompano should show up. I did have reports of some being caught a week or so ago when the water was cleaner. Cut shrimp or fish bites will work. Plus there should be some nice whiting as well.

Well guys and gals, that’s it in a nutshell! The wind and wave report looks pretty good for the entire week, and the water has cooled down to the 80 degree mark, so things should approve through the week as we don’t have anything out there to make it worse. Grab your gear, drinks, some bait and get out to your favorite fishing spot and see what you can catch. You never know this time of the year what you might catch. Get out and enjoy the Florida “fall” outdoors!! Snookman.