Good morning all you Sebastian Inlet fanatics, I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend! Well it’s finally here, SNOOK SEASON! Lol. Except for one thing, somebody forgot to inform the snook about it being open! Haha. I was at the inlet all weekend, as were a lot of other folks, especially on Monday, opening day, it was a nightmare with all the people out there! Bad thing about it was that there wasn’t hardly any fish caught of any kind in the entire inlet, especially the popular north jetty. Again while I was there the water was very messed up from the tannin stained freshwater coming out of the Sebastian River and the C54 canal from all the rain in the middle of the state, too much fresh water mixing with the ocean water and just surrounding the entire jetty areas, and parts of the beach, surf area. The seas were calm, but the water quality was way off. I did see some nice schools of mullet coming down the beach on Sunday, but not any on Saturday or Monday. They were moving pretty quickly and so were the fish following them. Mostly big jack crevalle, some snook were seen cartwheeling through them near the jetty. Hopefully a sign of things to come. Oh and the water is still a bit warm for this time of year, it was showing 86 still as of this writing, it needs to drop to around 80-82 to get it fired up. With all that out of the way, here are the action spots.

North Jetty

Out here the action has been mostly on the incoming tide. All week there was a decent redfish bite on live finger mullet, shrimp and majorra. Only a few snook that I saw/heard about during the week and weekend. They, the snook know what time of year it is!! They always go on vacation for about a week or so. They will be back. Other fish caught over the weekend include some small snappers, lookdowns, and a couple decent spanish mackerel. Small live shrimp and greenies for the snapper and lookdowns, small white jigs for the mackerel. The outgoing tide at the tip is also producing some redfish on the beginning of the tide before the water dirties up, and also a couple snook. Baits used are live mullet and majorra. Jack crevalle are there as well to keep things interesting. One angler I chatted with got hooked up with a big tarpon, but as always happens, it got away. Along the walkway between the jetty and the bridge there has been some mangrove snapper being caught, but again they have been on the smaller side. Greenies and shrimp on the incoming, and the very beginning of the outgoing.

South Jetty

Over here on the incoming tide there have been some decent snook being caught on live majorra and croakers all along the jetty. The water over here is a bit better that the north side, it’s sandy, but not tannin stained like the north, and the snook don’t mind that. Some redfish and jacks are around as well to keep the interest up. The snapper bite on this side is still decent, but again, most of the fish were on the smaller size, but quite a few keepers. Dead shrimp and greenies were the baits of choice. On the outgoing at the tip, it’s mostly small snapper, puffers, catfish and black margates, with a few jacks mixed in. Dead shrimp and cut bait will do the trick.

T-Dock Area

Back here it has been pretty slow. They are still catching some small snappers around the pilings and the rocky shoreline, but again they are on the smaller size. Incoming tide will be the better time to fish, and the very first of the outgoing before all the nasty water starts out. With the schools of mullet showing up and coming inside the inlet, the chance for some big jack crevalle following them is possible. Large silver spoons and jigs tossed out to the channel area may attract a bite. The snook bite has been slow for the most part, but they have been catching some decent fish in the late evenings on the first of the outgoing on live baits, jigs and swim baits.

Surf Area, both sides

Once again the surf fishing has been pretty slow, the water is still silted up from the big waves we had mid week last week, and the south beach has been stained up from the fresh water coming out of the inlet and running south, plus the fact that we have been having low tides all morning, makes it harder to reach the fish. North side has been a bit better due to the mullet coming down, and the water has been a bit cleaner. Look for the schools of mullet and if you find some, fish them with large swim baits or live mullet as there may be some snook, redfish, tarpon, big jacks, and even some sharks that do show up when the mullet get thick.

Well my fishing friends, that’s it for this week, not much, but it is better than it is sometimes. Like I mentioned, we really need the water to cool down a bit and things will pick up. I’ve been fishing the inlet for over 50 years, and I just have to say, the fall fishing is usually the best time of the year, when the conditions are right! With that, everyone have a great week!