Slow Bite but Good Weather Ahead

Good morning, Sebastian Inlet fishing fanatics. We had great weather last weekend. The fishing, well not so much. Before we begin, I want to remind everyone that the pathway on the north jetty between the railings and the yellow lines is a designated ‘safety walkway’ for pedestrians. In a medical emergency, EMS can’t roll a stretcher on the grates in the center of the jetty. Your equipment — coolers, buckets, chairs, umbrellas, bags, backpacks, etc. — CANNOT be in the walkway area; Gear must be placed in the middle of the jetty on the grates. Only yourself and the up to two fishing rods you are using are allowed in this area, and they CANNOT be strapped to the rail, and MUST be attended to at all times. Also, the north jetty will be closed to the public on May 1 and 2 for cleanup and maintenance. On these days, state law enforcement dive teams will conduct annual dive training.

Now on to the good stuff! Unfortunately, we had another slow bite at the inlet over the weekend, again due to the winds and water quality. Not much was going on in the entire inlet. On a good note, the water stayed at 73 degrees, so that’s good, and I did see quite a few schools of nice finger mullet roaming around the north jetty over the weekend, a good sign of things to come. On the backside, the mojarras have been hard to get — here one day, gone for several days. The commercial net fishers are having a hard time getting them for the bait shops. Here’s the breakdown at the inlet:

North jetty

About the only thing I heard about being caught here were pompano, on cut shrimp and sand fleas, Spanish mackerel, on the small white jigs and gotchas, along with some bluefish, same lures, and a couple of redfish on live shrimp. Most of the catches were from the tip of the jetty on the outgoing tide. The snook bite has been extremely slow, with only a couple being caught on the incoming, live shrimp.

South jetty

Same thing over here; not a whole lot is happening. Outgoing at the tip you have some blues, jacks, black margates, and a few pompano caught when the water is somewhat clean. Cut shrimp works for them. The incoming tide has been pretty silty from the rough surf, and the dirty water flowing out of the intercoastal that is mixing with the ocean water, keeping things kind of dirty. But if you can find cleaner water, you may find snook that want to play. Live mojarras and live shrimp are the best for this time of year, also finger mullet if you find some, as they are around. That’s pretty much for over here.

T-dock area

Slow here, except for the nighttime jig fishermen getting a few snook. Outgoing tide for that.

Surf areas, both sides

Rough surf equaled cloudy water and tough fishing. For the most part, nothing happening. If you’re lucky, and find a spot with clean water, pompano and whiting might be around, otherwise it’s just catfish, and possibly bluefish.

That’s all for this week’s installment of what’s happening at the fishing hole. We’re expecting fantastic weather all week, except for the winds to pick up again out of the SSE and will dirty the water some, but, in turn, warm it up more. Grab bait, lunch and water and get out there and fish! You never know if it is going to be your day to catch the big one! Have a great week