Good morning all you Sebastian Inlet aficionado’s, I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend outdoors, the weather was very nice for all things outdoors! Just a reminder to you all, SNOOK SEASON IS NOW CLOSED UNTIL SEPTEMBER THE 1ST. Only catch and release is permitted. The snook are in their “spawning mode” now since the water is warm enough to spark them to do so. The water temp last week was up to 83-84, but has since dropped down to 80 for the last couple of days. That has shut down the bite we were having last week early in the week, and that temperature drop has caused that nasty green “snot weed”, algae to grow, and it is everywhere in the inlet, making it really tough to fish as it gets on your line and just makes a mess, plus it “spooks” the fish when it is on the bottom just waving back and forth in the current. Anyway, I was down at the inlet all last week, and both weekend days, and it was pretty slow, with only a few fish being caught, mostly on the north side where the water was cleaner, the south side was still pretty muddied up on both tides, and the “snot weed” was worse due to the shallower water. So here we go with the not so hot action spots.

North Jetty…

Over here there has been a showing of some tiny glass minnows, and pilchards all around the jetty and the rocks at the tip and the beach area, that is a good sign as it will attract the spanish mackerel to come in to play, and as the move further into the inlet, will attract the mangrove snappers to start their summer bite. All good. There has still been quite a few nice schools of finger mullet still coming down the beach. The bite on the jetty has been at the tip on both tides, with the early incoming being the better tide to fish, and the late evening. There are big schools of snook in the inlet doing their spawning thing, and sometimes will bite. Most of the fish I did see caught the past week were all over slot, with only a couple being keepers, 28 inch minimum, 32 maximum, tail pinched for both. Live croakers has been the hot bait for them, if you can find some, also live shrimp accounted for a few along with live finger mullet. Also making a pretty decent showing all last week were schools of redfish feeding on tiny crabs coming out of the river on the outgoing tide. Jigs, swim baits and top water chuggers have been the baits to use. Most of the fish have been in the 30-36 inch range. Redfish are closed, and only catch and release are permitted. Another species I was told about are the permit which show up around the inlet in the summer when the water warms up. They also feed on the shrimp and crabs flowing out of the inlet. Those fish have been ranging in the 30-37 inch range, lot of fun to catch! The mangrove snapper are starting to show up as well, several undersized fish have been caught, but I did see a couple of nice 12 inch fish caught earlier last week on live shrimp on the inlet side of the jetty, incoming tide. Another mention are the cubera snappers that reside at the tip of the jetty, a few of them have been caught over the last week as well, live mullet and croakers were the bait for them. Then you also have the normal cast of characters, catfish, blue runners, ladyfish, small jacks, and on Sunday one angler was catching shovel-nosed sharks. They were on the beach side of the jetty.

South Jetty…

Over here there hasn’t been many anglers fishing due to the dirty water, and the nasty “snot weed” that has kind of taken over the bottom on this side. But they are catching some fish in that mess. Spot tail pins, black margates, some sand perch and of course, kitty fish! Outgoing tide at the tip. The incoming tide has produced a few decent redfish, and snook when the season was open, but again, the weeds played a big factor in keeping the bite pretty slow.

T-Dock Area…

Back here the action has been pretty slow, not very many folks back here fishing, and the ones who were, were not the regulars. Some small mangrove snappers were caught along with some spot tail pins and the ever-present puffers! Cut shrimp fished around the rock shoreline and dock pilings was where it was happening.

Surf Area, both sides…

South side has been a dirty weedy mess, and nobody was fishing it. North side was a bit cleaner and deeper when you got away from the jetty north, whiting, a few pompano, croakers and some small black drum hanging around has been the cast of characters. Sharks are also cruising up and down the beach looking for a meal, I watch a big, about 12 ft great Hammerhead shark chasing a smaller shark on the beachside of the north jetty on Sunday, trying to catch it, but the smaller shark that about 4 ft long was just too quick and maneuverable, and he didn’ catch it! But it was neat to watch!

Well my friends, that’s all for this week! The water is warming up, baitfish are showing up, water is cleaning up, was crystal clear on the north jetty Sunday morning beachside, you could see all the snook and others swimming around. We should have a pretty good week weatherwise, so grab your gear and drinks etc, and go out and enjoy the inlet, or the beach!

Cheers.