This past week presented some challenging conditions with several windy days, but when I was able to get on the water, the fishing was excellent for the most part.

Key Highlights
– Snook and redfish were plentiful and cooperative, with several nice catches reported.
– Trout fishing was also productive, with fish hitting topwaters in shallow waters and erratically worked or falling baits in deeper areas.

Effective Lures and Techniques
– 4-inch Z-Man DieZel MinnowZ paddle tails rigged on 1/8 oz jigs proved effective for snook and redfish.
– Topwaters worked well for trout in shallow waters, while erratically worked or falling baits presentations were successful in deeper areas.

Weekend Outlook
– Winds are expected to pick up again this weekend, making it essential to find wind-protected areas to fish.

Tips and Recommendations
– Focus on finding sheltered spots, such as mangrove-lined shores or creeks.
– Be prepared to adapt your fishing techniques and presentations to suit the changing conditions.

Stay safe and tight lines!

This week looks to be a choppy, sloppy week for surf fishing, but it’s still a fishable condition for everyone with the right tackle. Swells will be rolling in between 2-5 feet all week, accompanied by the dreaded south and southeast winds meeting waves moving in from the northeast. It will be a week to find the calmer washouts on the beach and the cleaner water. Some beaches in Cape Canaveral had crazy clear water on certain days -— a nice change since they’ve been adding sand to widen the shoreline.

The rigs of choice have been chartreuse, pink and orange pompano rigs, paired with a 4 oz pyramid or a 2-3 oz sputnik weight. The choice of weight often comes down to personal preference depending on the conditions. If you know us at the shop, you know which weights work best for our area!

Fresh dead shrimp has been by far the most effective bait, along with live sand fleas. The fresh dead shrimp has been catching significantly more fish than any other bait. Be sure to ask us—or your nearest bait shop—for some fresh deads!

That’s all for this week. I hope everyone catches a bunch, and as always—tight lines!

Greg, owner of Snookside Charters (left) and an inlet regular showing off one of the many black drums caught in the boat at the tip of the north jetty.

Hello, all you Sebastian Inlet fishing fans. I hope everyone enjoyed the awesome weather we had all weekend. With that said, here’s what’s going on and what’s NOT going on at the inlet.

Let’s begin with news about the dredging project: The T-Dock and surrounding parking area is closed for the duration of the project. The dredge, barges and tug have launched in that area, with dredging expected to begin this week. Wooden ramps constructed over the dredge pipes at the south jetty allow access for those with fishing carts, as well as the handicapped folks. With that, here is the report:

North side

Under the bridge, on the LEGAL side of the fence on the incoming tide the sheepshead bite has been pretty good, with many fish in the two to three-pound pound range caught on live sandfleas around the pilings and rocks. There aren’t many places to fish as it can get busy and dangerous on the rocks, so be careful. Small undersized snook are being caught in that area as well on live shrimp. Back in the back there have been a few black drum, sheepshead caught on live sandfleas and shrimp on the incoming tide. Small undersized snook are back here as well, live shrimp for them.

South jetty

In the early morning, during the incoming tide, the snook bite has been decent on live shrimp. Most fish as always for this time of year are undersized, but I did see several mid- slots caught on Saturday and Sunday. They were 29 to 30-inch fish. On Saturday, I was there during the incoming tide and saw a couple of 14 to 16-inch flounder caught. The outgoing tide at the tip on both days was producing small snook, redfish, black drum, black margates, sheepshead and sand perch, live and cut shrimp and sandfleas were the baits of choice.

Back in the back on this side around the cleaning table I did see a couple of really nice black drum caught on live shrimp. The 20 to 24-inch fish were caught on the incoming tide. One of my regulars said that he caught some nice pompano back there on small thumper jigs, one of them he said was 18 inches, nice one! Small snook and some redfish round out the mix for back here, again, incoming tide, and the very beginning of the outgoing.

Surf, both sides

The surf fishing the most part still remains slow, with the water still cleaning up from the blow we had last week. The water quality has cleaned up greatly and as of this report is back up to 72 degrees where it should be.

That’s it for this week. Expect rain and winds on Monday, but it should settle down by Wednesday through the weekend. After Tuesday, it should be sunny and comfy again. So, get out there, grab your gear and go fishing, or just enjoy the beach. Be safe everyone!

Well gang, it’s definitely spring time. We have cold conditions one day, hot conditions the next and 360° of wind twice a week. This has the fish completely confused and almost un-pattern-able in the lagoons right now. On those days when you can find fish on the flats live baits like fingerling mullet or shrimp, or smaller soft plastics like the 3-inch Assassin straight tailed shad seem to be good options to get the reds, snook and speckled trout to bite. White or any combination of white and black, green or tan back colors are getting strikes from those species mentioned.

At the Sebastian Inlet and Port Canaveral, snook, redfish and black drum are the three top large game fish species we’ve been catching. Live shrimp is working best for the black drum and redfish. The snook will also eat shrimp but mainly in the afternoon or evening timeframe. In the mornings, they have preferred spots or croaker’s most of this week.

If you’re on the water during some of the calmer days, these fish have been firing off pretty good. So come on, book a charter with us and let’s go catch your next memory.

Nearshore shark fishing has been on fire! It’s been nonstop action for our customers wanting to lock horns with these toothy critters. Offshore, the kingfish are gone right now but we are starting to see a couple of mahi trickle in. There definitely seems to be more cobia in the last week and we have seen some rays out deep. Chicken rigging has been on fire for Captain Joe with lots of lane snapper and some triggerfish being caught. Always be prepared with a pitch rod while targeting these bottom fish.

Bill and his friends from New Jersey with some big black drum

Good week of fishing inshore and nearshore. Nearshore bite was good with plenty of bluefish, mackerel, jacks and sharks. Plenty of action on artificial baits as well as live bait for the sharks and mackerel. Inshore action was fairly good with some schools of big black drum in the lagoon along with some pompano, trout and snook.

Mr Conneen with a Tripletail he brought home for dinner.

Tripletail were on some of the crab trap buoys as well. Best bite was artificial but we did get some bigger snook on live bait. Paddle-tails from DOA and Rapala provided most of the action along with some bucktails from VMC for the pompano and mackerel. This week’s weather looks decent and we will be back out on the beach to see what we can get into and the snook bite inside should be heating up.

The Ocean Obsession out of Sunrise Marina at Port Canaveral is at it again putting their customers on a smorgasbord of tasty fish! Lane snapper, mangrove snapper, triggerfish and cobia have all made it over the rail and into the pail this past week. If you’ve been wanting to get offshore, book your next trip with this awesome captain and crew.

Despite having a very windy week, the fishing has been very good with lots of double hook ups of redfish and black drum. Soon we should have cobia starting to migrate up the beach with the water temperatures rising. We still have very clear water in the lagoon and on sunny days, the site fishing can be very rewarding. I have dates available in April so don’t forget your spring break trip, book them now before it fills up.

The weather finally started to behave here in the Central Florida area this past week. The wind had subsided making the backwaters of New Smyrna Beach and Mosquito Lagoon slick out for a few days. With those low winds and clear skies we proceeded to get some great sight fishing in for redfish and black drum and a few nice trout to boot. Shrimp, finger mullet and cut bait have been working well along with soft plastics and spoons for artificial. It looks as the winds are going to pick up just for a couple days this week and then will be lowing towards the latter part making for some great conditions for spring time fishing in the shallows.

Went to Alligator Lake twice last week, Wednesday and Saturday, and did okay. Wednesday was going to be a tournament but it was canceled for weather but I went anyway and got 4 before the wind got up too much. All were caught on a Gambler burner worm in Black and Blue, 2 in Alligator and 1 each in Trout and Coon all were 1.60 to 2.02lbs. Went back on Saturday morning and got 6 with most 1.75lbs and above. 2.29lbs was the first and biggest of the day and they were all caught on a Yamamoto Speed Senko in Gooseberry laminate.

This past weekend has been a tad bit windy here in the New Smyrna Beach and Daytona Beach area, making fishing a little difficult at times. The water clarity is still great throughout the Mosquito Lagoon which has been making for some great sight fishing on the clear skies kinda days. Shrimp, mullet and cut bait have been working well along with soft plastics and spoons. It looks as though mother nature has not gave up fully on winter yet as we have another small front visiting us which will drop the air temps for a few days. I believe the bite will continue to be good after this front passes heading into next week .

This past week was extremely productive, and I expect the strong bite to continue this week. Early in the week, I found larger schools of mullet, which is typically what I look for when fishing for snook. However, by Sunday, the mullet had thinned out, and I had to rely on power fishing along the mangroves to stay busy.

The snook loved the 4″ paddle tails, while the trout couldn’t resist the 5” jerk shad rigged weedless.

Looking back, the first half of the week was just as exciting. The snook bite along the mangroves and on the flats has really been heating up. I’ve observed them feeding on finger mullet and what appears to be greenbacks, so if using artificial lures, try to mimic those size baits. The 4” paddle tails and 5″ jerk shad have been doing the trick for me.

Additionally, the topwater bite has been good early in the morning for snook, trout, jacks, ladyfish, and the occasional red.

Yesterday’s sunrise trip yielded a nice snook caught just off a shallow, windblown point using a 4″ Diezel MinnowZ on a 1/8 oz jig. The 5″ jerk shad rigged weedless also produced well on the flats, catching trout.

Notably, I’m starting to see more fish in my traditional spring spots, indicating a potential shift in behavior. Keep this in mind when planning your next trip.