Tough Conditions Ahead @ Inlet, Snook Closed for Season

Good morning, Sebastian Inlet fishing junkies. I hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoyed the nice weather! That is going to change on Wednesday when a cold front comes through, heralding stiff breezes and big surf. If you’re going to fish, get it done these next two days. So here we go with the report.

First, just a reminder that snook season closes on Sunday, December 15, and will reopen on February 1. The fishing has been lackluster due to the cold water (66 degrees along our coast) and that in itself will sometimes slow the action as it gets too cold for everything. The snook fishing has pretty much shut down. You might find some, but you’re going to have to search for them. Most of the snook being caught are the juvenile undersized fish who don’t mind the cold so much. They are pretty much everywhere in the inlet.

North side

The boaters again are off the NE tip of the jetty doing well again, with lots of black drum, some pompano and sheepshead for the ones fishing live shrimp. The snook are mostly undersized, but plentiful, and you just might find a slot fish in the mix. Also being caught are redfish on live baits, pins, pigs, shrimp. Incoming tide is similar along the tide line on the inlet side of the jetty. Back by the steel, west of the tide pool, they have been catching black drum and sheepshead on cut shrimp, also some redfish and small snook. No flounder yet. Probably won’t hear much about them on this side this year due to all the good areas being closed to anglers due to the ongoing construction project.

South side

On the south jetty the fishing has been rather good, with good numbers of black drum, sheepshead and pompano on dead and live shrimp, and sandfleas on both tides, beach side of the jetty. The incoming tide has produced the same, but in smaller numbers. The snook over here on the incoming tide, as I have mentioned, are of the smaller undersized fish, but there have been a few keepers in the mix — you just have to put in the time to find one. Live baits and artificials are working. Another species I did hear about were the flounder, one lucky angler did catch a nice one about 3-4 pounds on a live finger mullet fished in the surf pocket area along the rocks. Along the shoreline from the bridge west to the T-Dock there have been fairly good numbers of sheepshead being caught on dead shrimp and sandfleas. Either tide is working, you just have to find them. Also, there are some of the smaller fun snook wanting to play on live baits and swim baits.

T-Dock are

Back here, it has been slow, with only the annoying puffers, and a couple of stingrays I saw the other day when I was down there. A couple of my friends were fishing around the cleaning station on the incoming tide the other day and caught a few black drum, but only one was big enough to keep, along with a redfish, and a small mangrove snapper, and a couple undersized snook. All were caught on live and dead shrimp.