snookman

The Snookman… or should we call him “Snook Doctor?”

Good morning all my Sebastian Inlet fishing fanatics, hope everyone had a great weekend! The weather sure was good, but not so much the fishing, again! As you all should know by now, the conditions and the fishing at the inlet can change very drastically from day to day, as it did this past week/weekend. Last week from Tuesday through Thursday the snook bite on the north jetty on the incoming tide on live shrimp was really good, with quite a lot of fish being hooked, but most were lost due to breakoffs and the ever present and hungry Goliath groupers!

I did see a few nice slot fish caught and kept, and several under sized that had to be tossed back. Conditions during that time frame were really good, clean water, warm water, the water temperature was up to 83-84 which they like, and light winds, then came Friday, the last day to keep a snook, and it all changed for the worst! The winds started blowing ENE at 15-25, the seas picked up, and the sargassum weed along with the “snot weed” got really bad and made it hard to fish, plus the water got really muddied up, and cooled down to 80 degrees from the 84 we had previously. I only saw 3-4 snook hooked that day, early into the tide with only 2 landed that were too small to keep, whereas previously in the week there were at least 20-25 fish being hooked daily. So once again, the snookies are safe! Lol.

Around the rest of the inlet there has been some nice bait fish showing up, small greenies being caught on sebiki rigs and cast nets on the north jetty, along with some finger mullet that are still around. The majorras are still being hard to come by, they are around, but you have to work for them. So here we go with the break down areas. And remember guys and gals, snook season is now CLOSED until September the first, catch and release only, along with the redfish.

North Jetty

Over here, before the water got all messed up and cooled down, the mangrove snapper bite has turned on, and about a month early! The last week while I was down, I saw many nice ones being caught around the rocks and pilings on both tides. Unlike most years when they start showing up, they are small, these fish I saw being caught were in the 11-12 inch range! Pretty nice fish. Live shrimp and small greenies and cut baits are getting the bite, also I saw a few mutton snappers caught too, but too small to keep, they have to be 18 inchs. Another species that has been being caught are the cubera snappers. Live mullet and chunk baits fished around the rock pile and pilings just might get you hooked up with one. Most of them being hooked have been lost to the rocks, as they are a pretty tough fish to get them out of the rocks where they hang out.

Another species to look for this time of the year when we have cleaner and warmer water, are the permit and the tarpon. Last week while I was down fishing I saw many tarpon heading out of the inlet and heading north up the beach. Most of the fish I saw were in the 30-50 pound range, but a couple of times I did see quite a few that would be over the 100 pound range! Redfish are a possibility also this time of the year on the outgoing as the small “silver dollar” sized blue crabs are coming out of the inlet, and they along with the permit are feeding on them.

South Jetty

Over here last week also the snook bite was awesome, until Friday where it got messed up just like the north side did. The wind blew all the muddy water and weeds over here as well. Small croakers were the baits of choice on this side. Most of the fish were caught on the incoming tide and were undersized, but I did see when one of my friends and his group of 3 anglers have their 3 slot fish in the 29 inch range. Also over here the mangroves are around as well, and again they are on the 11-12 inch range. Same baits for the bite, live bait and cut baits are working. On the outgoing tide at the tip, they are catching black margates, blue runners, small jacks and an occasional pompano or two when the water is very clean, along with the ever-present catfish and puffers.

T-DockArea

Back here the snappers are around the dock pilings and be caught on small live baits, and cut baits like shrimp and greenies. Most of them back here are smaller than what is being caught on the jetties. Mangroves, muttons and lane snapper are the species being caught. For those fishing with large silver spoons and the bigger bucktails there are quite a few large jack crevalles in the channel area follow the schools of finger mullet in and out of the inlet. There has been a lot of the small greenies starting to show up around the dock, but it hasn’t attracted any spanish mackerel yet.

Surf Area, both sides

For the most part the surf has been blown out, rough and dirty due to the ENE 15-25 mph winds we had all weekend. Not anyone out fishing the beaches around the inlet, so no report on that this week.

Well, that’s it for this weeks installment of “what’s happening at the inlet!” The weather is supposed to be good, and the winds calm down a bit. So hopefully the water will clean back up, and warm back up and turn the bite back on! But you never know unless you get out there and try. Have a great week everyone!