Rutger Dungan sent us a photo of a rare catch, especially in June: a mammoth mutton snapper.
Good morning all you Sebastian Inlet fishing fanatics, hope everyone had a great weekend!
This report is going to be kind of short again as there has not been anything going on at the inlet to “write home” about, mostly due to the changing water conditions we experienced from last Wednesday through the weekend. Monday through Wednesday it was cleaning up real nice with the light offshore winds, the fish were starting to bite, then Wednesday late afternoon the winds switched ahead of the storms we had and started blowing hard out of the SSE at 15-25 mph with higher gusts during the storms and just messed it all back up through the weekend, and the water temp dropped back down to 81 from the 84 it was previously. Needless to say, the water got real dirty on the incoming from the roughed up surf, and with all the rain we had the outgoing looked like the Swanee River with all the runoff from Sebastian River/C54 canal. It looked like black coffee! When it gets like this, nothing wants to play. But it looks like it is cleaning up and we are supposed to have a nice week this week with decently mild winds and NO storms. So we will see how that plays out.
North Jetty
Over here the fishing as been pretty slow for the most part due to the amount of dirty fresh water that has wrapped around the jetty and went north in the surf along the beach due to the wind direction, and the fact that we have a MASSIVE sandbar on the beach side of the jetty that goes from the beach all the way out to almost the end of the jetty which keeps the water pretty shallow. There have been a few spanish mackerel caught on the high tide on small jigs and live greenies, but not many. Mangrove snapper are there between the pilings and along the rocks sometimes when the water cleans up a bit on the high tide. But as before, they are mostly too small to keep. At the tip on the outgoing there are still some “catch and release” snook being caught on live baits, along with jack crevalle and blue runners. Catfish, stingrays pick up the slack due to the dirty water present.
South Jetty
Over here the water has been much dirtier on both tides. Incoming from the silt and sand due to the stiff big SSE winds we had, out going from that washing back out of that water on the beginning, then the black “runoff” water from all the rains we had. There have been some fish caught at the tip on outgoing, but mostly catfish, stingrays and jack crevalle. Some catch and release snook have been caught on live baits on both tides, but most are smaller fish.
Catwalks
Both catwalks remain closed.
Surf Area (both sides)
If you can find some clean water there is a possibility of some whiting, pompano black drum to be caught on live sand fleas or fresh cut shrimp. All this week you will be having low water most of the morning so the fish will be farther out. Look for schools of bait fish, and if you find some, there just might be some spanish mackerel, tarpon, catch and release snook and redfish around them. Fish medium sized swim baits, jigs or any live bait for a possible hookup. I fished the north beach around the inlet last ween and there were some small tarpon around, but was only able to get one hookup.
T-Dock Area
Back here it has been a little better as the water is somewhat cleaner and tere are more small baitfish around. Spsnish mackerel, blue runners and jack crevalle can be caught on small jigs and live greenies. Around the dock pilings the small mangrove snapper are still around, but most are still under the legal 10 inch minimum to be kept. Lane and mutton snappers have ben present as well, but just a few, and just like the mangroves, they have been too small to keep. Muttons have to be 18 inches and the lane’s have to be only 8 inches. Also there are those pesky puffers that are always biting on cut baits. The snappers have been caught on live and dead greenies.
Well folks, that’s all I have for this week. Not much, but it’s something to keep us going! The weather is supposed to be good all week, rain wise and wind wise, so grab your gear and get out to your favorite spot and catch something hopefully. Remember, it’s going to be really hot too, so stay hydrated.
Good luck. Snookman.
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