Hello all my Sebastian Inlet friends and fans, hope you all had a wonderful and fun weekend! The weather was glorious! I think now we are getting into our “normal” spring weather pattern, finally! The water has cleaned up really nicely on both sides of the inlet, and the water temps are holding at, or around the 75 degree mark according to my site readings. Showing 77 today, which is the temp I like to see. Some bait fish are starting to show up in the inlet, Sunday I saw majorra on the south, and quite a few nice schools of finger mullet on both sides, also there are some threadfin herring in the inlet as well. So to get started, I would like to remind everyone that the NORTH JETTY, AND THE SOUTH JETTY WILL BE CLOSED ON TUESDAY THE 21ST, AND WEDNESDAY THE 22ND for routine annual structural inspections. The south jetty unfortunately will NOT be opening back up after due to structure damage from the last bout of big waves and hard SSE winds that was out a big section of sand under the walk way causing it to collapse, so it will remain closed indefinitely. So, with that said, here we go with this weeks action, or lack thereof. Was pretty slow everywhere again, but some species were caught around the inlet.

North Jetty

Over here most of the action has been at the tip of the jetty on the outgoing tide, some nice black drum, sheepshead and redfish were being caught on live and dead shrimp, and sand fleas. Most of the drum were small “puppy” drum about 10-12 inches, they have to be 15 to keep, some were big enough though in the 20-28 inch range. The sheepshead were also keepers, 12 inch minimum. For those tossing vertical jigs and spoons there have been a few blues and jacks being caught in the inlet channel. The snook bite has been a hit and miss kind of deal, there one day, and gone the next few days, but the ones being caught were mostly oversized, with a few slot fish mixed in. The incoming tide has been slow as well, a few snook and reds being caught on live majorra, and again, most are too big to keep, 28-32 is the size limits on snook. For those fishing live fiddler crabs and sandfleas around the pilings, some pretty nice sheepshead are still being caught. Up along the wall between the bait shop and bridge is still producing some nice catch and release redfish on any live bait, both tides.

South Jetty

CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!

T-Dock Area

Back here the bite has also been pretty slow, with only a few nice sheepshead being caught around the dock pilings on dead shrimp, fiddlers and sandfleas. Also there have been a few undersized snappers of various different species being caught, mangrove, lane, schoolmaster snappers, and of course the puffers!! The snook bite back here was pretty good last week while the majorra were around, but like everywhere else, it was hit and miss. The boaters have catching most of them, but the shore guys were getting them as well, most were oversized, but several slot fish were caught. Live majorra and threadfins were the bait the snook wanted to eat. For those tossing spoons and diamond jigs to the channel area, some blues are still around along with some jack crevalle, no spanish mackerel yet.

Surf Area, both sides

The surf on the south side has cleaned up a bit, but the fishing remains slow due to the weeds still hanging around, and some dirty water. Catfish, stingrays, and small sharks and some whiting are about all that I have heard of being caught. The north side surf away from the jetty where the water is deeper, and has cleaned up quite a bit is producing some nice whiting, black drum, Sheepshead, and an occasional pompano or two. Live or dead shrimp, sandfleas are the top baits for those species. And as I mentioned at the beginning of this report, some nice finger mullet are starting to show up on the beaches, so it is only a matter of time, and with the water warming up, the snook and reds and tarpon will be showing up for a snack! So keep your eyes open.

Well my fans, that is all I have for this week’s installment, after we get past Monday’s storms and wind, the rest of the week looks good. Grab your gear, bait, and snacks and get out and fish. It’s finally that time of the year for things to get better!