Hello out there to all you Sebastian Inlet friends and fanatics, I hope you all had a great and fun, safe weekend! The weather was nice, except for all the LOVE BUGS at the jetty! They were awful all weekend! But with that, the fishing was still pretty good, as it should be, just not a lot of bait fish around the jetty except for the greenies and pilchards, the mullet have thinned out considerably, but they will be back when we start having the NNE breezes and winds again to start them moving down the coast. The water temps remain decent at 83 degrees as of this report, and fairly clean still. The week should see the surf pretty small, 0-2 ft, and the winds light 5-8 mph, so that in turn will make for a great week to fish. While I was down over the weekend, there were several species being caught on various baits and artificials, but the most action was with the snook. So here we go with your action spots.

North Jetty

Over here most of the action has been on the early morning outgoing low tide. The big news was all about the snook bite, the last couple of days they have been biting pigfish and shrimp, some on live mullet, but mostly on the pigfish. It is that time of year when they will start hitting the pigs and pins that are coming out of the intercoastal. They hit them most times just out of aggression to kill them because they are an enemy to their eggs and fry that hatch, but sometimes they eat them too. (fun fact).Most of the fish I saw caught, and heard about have been over sized, but there were plenty of slots caught that went home. Also on the outgoing at the tip, and around the rocks and pilings the snapper bite is still going strong with quite a few decent mangroves being caught on shrimp, greenies, and small majorra. Lots of undersized fish, but also plenty of keepers as well. Most I saw were in the 11-12 inch range. Another snapper species I saw being caught were a couple muttons, but they were undersized, they have to be 19 inches before you can keep them. More action was with the spanish mackerel, live greenies, small jigs and silver spoons were the key baits. Most fish I saw were in the 14-16 inch range, not a lot were caught, but enough to get you interested. Those fish were being caught on the ocean side of the jetty, both tides. The incoming tide that was hot a week ago has fizzled out somewhat, pretty slow, but still a few decent snook being caught, and a few catch and release redfish mixed in. Shrimp, croakers and live mullet. For those fishing cut shrimp and other cut baits between the pilings the spot tail pins and black margates are still playing well.

South Jetty

Over here it has been quite crowded on the incoming tide, both onshore anglers, and boaters, the snook bite has been pretty good on live baits. On this side there are a LOT of smaller fish, but there are also plenty of slot fish to be had, you just have to weed through the “shorts”. Also over here the mangrove snapper are still playing on shrimp, greenies, and the small majorra. Outgoing at the tip is still all about the spot tails, black margates, jacks, and blue runners. Some snook also have been caught on the tide rip on croakers and pigs.

T-Dock Area

Back here the bite for mangroves and sheepshead and the black margates has still been decent, a lot of little snappers, but also some decent ones being caught as well. Live shrimp, cur shrimp, greenies are the baits of choice. The snook bite has picked up some as more of the regulars have been chasing them. Incoming tide with live baits are the trick. Back here there are a lot of oversized fish caught, but also a decent amount of slot sized keepers. Incoming tide is best, but some of the snook can be caught at the beginning of the outgoing while the current is slower, and the water is cleaner, once the dirty water shows up, the bite stops.

Surf Area, both sides

South side surf still remains dead with nobody fishing it except for the “day use area” way south of the inlet. North side there have been some anglers back out again as the sandbar slowly is being washed away creating some deeper water on the high tide time frames. Small whiting, croakers and some blue runners are being caught on cut baits. Haven’t heard, or seen any snook action yet on the beach due to the shallow water, and the absence of the mullet schools, but that is still to come when we get some more “fall like” winds and weather.

Well my friends, that’s it for this week. Supposed to be a nice week except for the afternoon storms, so grab all your gear and bait, food and drinks, and get out and fish, or just sightsee and relax.