Why the Water Turns Funky Green & More

Christian caught this 39-inch redfish on the south jetty using a pigfish. He said he also caught 8 more between 25 and 30 inches.

Good morning all my Sebastian Inlet fishing fanatics. I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend with the fine weather we had! So here we go with what you all have been waiting for all week…

Last week Monday through Wednesday toe fishing was really awesome! The water was the right color, (blueish) and pretty clean, water temps were around 78 degrees and everything was biting at the inlet! There was a lot of baitfish around as well, finger mullet, greenies and pilchards. I saw all these species being caught, spanish mackerel, bluefish, ladyfish, sheepshead, black drum, pompano, redfish, snook, mangrove snapper, small mutton snapper and flounder, (which are closed until December 1st. So it is safe to say EVERYTHING we can catch at the inlet was being caught, the north side was the “hotspot.”

Then came Thursday and Friday, the water cooled way down and we had a green alga bloom, (which turns the water that funky green color) due to the water temps changing so drastically, from 78 down to around 70-72, and that pretty much shuts everything down until it normalizes again. Did some research on it, and the micro planktons and the “photo planktons” which absorb the carbon dioxide in the air and create chlorophyl which makes them green as in the leaves on trees do, turns the water the green color. A little ocean education for you all today, just in case you ever wondered why it does that. Saturday and Sunday the water cleaned up, and warmed up some and had a bit more blueness to it and fishing picked up a tad, not like it was, but they did catch some fish around the inlet. So here we go with the break down.

North jetty

Over the weekend it was a “hit and miss” deal with the fish. Saturday and Sunday it was slow to start, but when the tide started coming in and it cleaned up some there was a pretty good snook bite on live shrimp and the small “thumper shrimp” jigs. I saw a lot of snook being caught, most of them were on the short side, but I did see several nice slot fish caught. There were also some nice catch and release redfish being caught as well, live bait, either mullet or shrimp. Also, there was a nice spanish mackerel bite on the beach side of the jetty on live pilchards, they didn’t want the small greenies this time. I also did see a couple nice mangrove snappers caught too, so they are still around, but in numbers as they were. The water is getting too cool for them. Atlantic spadefish and sheepshead round out the bite on the jetty.

South Jetty

Over here both Saturday and Sunday on the incoming tide there was a really awesome snook bite mid tide! Lots of fish were being caught on live baits, small croakers and pigfish were the baits of choice. Most of the fish I saw caught were again undersized, but there were plenty of slot fish caught. In watching the guys and gals on Sunday, which was the better day, it was what us old-timers refer to as “combat fishing”! lol. Stuff was flying everywhere! In 20 minutes, I must have seen 10-15 hookups with fish, but like I said, most were either lost, or were under sized. I didn’t see much else caught over here on the incoming tide, no reds or blues, it was all about the snook. Outgoing tide there were some jack crevalle and small bluefish being caught on live and cut baits. A couple black Margate’s, which are always around the tip were caught too, along with the pesky catfish and puffers. That’s pretty much all for over here as the outgoing tide was pretty nasty.

T-Dock Area

Back here there wasn’t a whole lot going on. There was plenty of bait around the dock, but not much being caught. I did see one undersized mutton snapper and an undersized mangrove caught. Most of the action was the pesky puffers that are always around when the water is dirty. Incoming tide I chatted with a couple of the guys fishing snook, and they said they hadn’t even had any bites. Again, the water on the incoming tide was not very conducive to good fishing, even though there was plenty of bait around.

Surf Area, both sides

South side surf fishing over the weekend was a hit or miss deal as well. If you could find some clean water like a couple of my friends did, you could find some action. They were fishing at the State Park’s day use area just south of the inlet and caught some nice bluefish, spanish mackerel, a couple of pompano, a nice mangrove snapper and “jumped” a big tarpon on a live mullet. The other fish were caught using live shrimp. Pretty good morning of fishing I’d say! The north side you can pretty much expect the same thing, some clean water, and you could find some fish biting. Same species.

Well, that’s all I have for now my friends. It looks like from my surf report for the rest of the week the winds and the surf are going to start picking up again due to that new Tropical storm way out in the Atlantic ocean that will be sending us the wind and waves. Everybody have a safe and enjoyable week! Get out if you can before it gets too rough, as there are fish to be caught!

Snookman.