A happy angler at the south jetty on Friday.

Good morning all my Sebastian Inlet fans! I hope everyone had a great weekend despite the afternoon rains. This week is supposed to be about the same, so get out early. Lets start off this report with some good news, no the jetty isn’t opened back up yet, but as of last Saturday the T-Dock is finally opened back up! Lol. So here we go with the report. Note, snook season is now CLOSED until September 1st.. Catch and release only!!

North Side

Over here the fishing has been kind of slow still due to the restricted access of places to fish. On the outgoing tide fishing has been slow, most of the action has been on the incoming tide along the rocks west of the tide pool. Small mangrove snapper and sheepshead are being caught on live and dead shrimp. Up under the bridge there have been some small snook being caught on live majorra, if you can find some. West of the tide pool along the mangrove shoreline area there are some snook being caught also on live baits. Also some sheepshead and snappper are being caught as well. Live of dead shrimp.

South Side

This side has been where most of the action has been, mostly on the incoming tide. At the tip it has been all about the pompano being caught on small goofy jigs. They are still around because the water is still cool enough for them, plus it has been pretty clean, which they like. The snook bite had been pretty good too for those fishing live majorra, shrimp and threadfins. Most of the fish have been under slot size, but a few keepers were caught. The boaters fishing the area have been doing well. As mentioned, snook season is now CLOSED until September 1st, catch and release only! The outgoing tide on this at the tip of the jetty has been producing black margates, lookdowns, nice sand perch and a few whiting and pompano on sand fleas and cut shrimp. Jack crevalle and blue runners and some small bluefish round out the species being caught on small jigs and spoons.

T-Dock Area

Back here there have been some bigger snook being caught on live majorra, shrimp and croakers, incoming tide. Now that the T dock is open back up, expect the snapper and sheephead bite to pick up fishing around the pilings on dead shrimp and cut baits. It’s the time of the year for them. Either tide is good. Also expect to see some spanish mackerel to start showing up with all the tiny minnows around the dock. Very small jigs and swim baits will attract a bite from them. Jack crevalle and bluefish are possible as well.

Surf Area, both sides

The south side has been where the action has been, slow, but there has been fish being caught. Pompano, whiting and bonnet head sharks are being caught, along with a few bluefish that are still around due to the cooler water temperatures we still are seeing. 77 as of this report. Sand fleas and shrimp are the baits of choice. Surf on the north has been pretty slow due mostly to the water being low tides in the morning. Just isn’t enough depth to bring the fish in. It’s been clean though. There hasn’t been a lot of mullet running the beaches like there was, but be on the lookout for any and there might be snook, tarpon and big redfish around them for some action.

Well, that’s it for this week, wish I had more, but when the north jetty opens back up, it will add to the action, since that is where the majority of the action is this time of year. Have a great week everyone!

Good week fishing, inshore, and off the beach, but a slow end of snook season in the lagoon. Got some over slot fish and a few other slots but the slot size fish weren’t as cooperative for us. Live bait was the best bet but artificial worked early morning specifically top water. We found some nice schools of jacks along the beach as well as some big fish in the lagoon. The fish on the beach were pretty finicky and the ones we caught in the lagoon were on live bait. There’s a lot of little sharks along the beach as well as some tarpon, but not as much bait as we should have at this time.

As we get more rain, it should push more bait out of the creeks and the lagoon and push some more bait inshore. Looking for more opportunities in the near future with schools of tarpon as well as bonito crashing on the bait pods.

I hope everyone is doing well and had a wonderful week! The fishing along Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach has still been hit or miss. A few whiting, palometas, black drum, and sharks have been chewing. The weeds have been patchy in areas, but for the most part, it’s been fishable. The waves have been relatively calm compared to a few weeks ago, and we’re starting to see hotter days followed by afternoon showers.

This week, the waves are expected to stay calm, and the winds will be fairly light—ranging from about 5 to 15 knots most days. Just keep an eye out for those sneaky storms—they can pop up out of nowhere, haha.

The most popular rigs have been ones with white floats, pink floats, or no float at all. There hasn’t been a need for sputnik weights lately—just 3–4 oz pyramid sinkers have done the job. We’ve got Blue Magic shrimp back in stock, and it’s been the best bait by far. Just use small pieces about the size of your thumbnail—and please, please, please peel your shrimp. It makes a world of difference!

Hope everyone has a great week! Tight lines!

Great week for fishing last week. Monday was my first time taking my grandson fishing in freshwater. We headed to the Stick Marsh hoping for his first bass to be caught.

Our bite was very slow for the both of us which made for a not so day of catching but my mission was accomplished with him landing his first bass throwing a wacky work in the stumps. He was excited to see alligators freely swimming around and when they started to make their growling noises the look on his face was priceless.

The next day once again back on Stick Marsh with my friend that I fish with once a week and once again it was a grind with only 12 bass to the boat. I really thought a new moon would have created a better bite for us, but it just didn’t happen. Friday everything changed from fishing to catching to end our week. My mission was to bring a fly rod and maybe get a bass if at all they were willing to bite better. My first spot I always stop at on Stick Marsh didn’t give up a fish, so I moved on. In recent outings, I’ve been watching lots of bird activity along one of the shorelines so with the correct wind, off I went to see if it was holding fish.

Once I idled into the spot, I made my first cast throwing a Yo Zuri Pencil lure that has a “Walk the Dog” style to it and after a few twitches of my rod tip it was blasted by a bass that after getting it to the boat was about 4 pounds. I released it back to the water and made another cast close to where the last fish came from and once again another big blow up and another bass of similar size made it to my boat. I quickly pulled out my fly rod to see if I could get one fish at least close to the same size as the other two and was gifted with not just one but 20 more!

I started with a Double Barrel popper pattern but lost it on my third fish after it wrapped me around a stump. I tied on a Stealth Bomber pattern and proceeded to catch away. Then the sun came out from behind the little cloud cover I had and the wind made a slight direction change and the bite was over, just like that. It was a great end of the week for fishing but on a sad note my trim and tilt switch went out on my boat so now it’s back to Boathouse Discount Marine for the fix.

Not much has changed since last week and that’s a good thing. The fishing is still on fire! We are still catching bait in the same general areas which are the basin in Port Canaveral, the bite and along the beach south towards the pier and brown condos. We haven’t had to push beyond the reefs, that’s where all of our action has been and we are catching a bunch of different species. Wahoo, kingfish, cobia, mahi, blackfin tuna, jacks and cudas we all caught this week.

There is a thermocline so the action on the bottom is a little slower but hopefully that will move off sooner than later and things will heat back up targeting the bottom.

An elusive “slot” snook Friday evening at the south jetty

Good morning all you Sebastian Inlet fanatics, I hope you all had a great and safe weekend, despite the afternoon thunder storms. Weather was nice, water was nice, but the fishing was a bit slow for the most part, no baitfish anywhere to be found, and that made it kind of tough, but there was some majorra, you just had to search and work hard to find any. There were some fish being caught, just not like it should be for this time of the year. The water was pretty clean for the most part until the winds switched and became SSE, which in turn dirtied it up on the south side. The seaweed was still around, but nothing like it was, also the water has warmed back up to 78 as of this writing, which for this time of year should be in the low 80’s. So that’s that, here we go with the action we did have.

North side

The action over here has been up under the bridge on the rocks on the outgoing tide, a few anglers who were able to find some majorra were catching some small undersized snook, and a couple small catch and release redfish. Remember in this area, you are NOT permitted to go past the fencing with the no trespassing signs just east of the catwalk, it is a designated construction area. Back towards the back, west of the tide pool on the incoming tide a few snook have been caught fishing live majorra, and back along the mangrove shoreline. That’s pretty much it for this side since fishing access is limited.

South side

Over here all the action has been at the tip of the jetty on the outgoing tide, cut shrimp was attracting bites from black margate, spot tail pins, small whiting, and some very nice sand perch. I also did get a report of some flounder being caught as well, but didn’t hear if they were keepers or not. The incoming tide has been pretty slow with the dirtier water, but there were a couple undersized snook caught on live croakers. That’s pretty much the jest of it out here.

T-Dock area

Back here the fishing has picked up a bit from what it has been, but with the T-dock still being closed, it is limited. On the incoming tide, and beginning of the outgoing, if you find some majorra, snook are possible. I did hear about a few slots being caught, but I did not see any the entire weekend I was there. Early morning seems to be the time for that. Along the rock shoreline I did see some small mangrove snappers being caught, which this time of year when the water warms up on the intercoastal, they will start showing, plus all the tiny minnows that are around the T-dock attract them. Also being caught back here are sheepshead, and a few black drum, live or cut dead shrimp for the snappers, drum, and sheepshead.

Surf Area, both sides

North side has been pretty slow due to the fact that we have a massive sandbar on that side from the jetty all the way up to the north parking lot which makes finding deep water tough, so not many folks fishing this side. On the south side the water is much deeper, but also much dirtier due to the SSE winds kicking it up. An occasional pompano or two have been caught, along with some small whiting on live sandfleas and cut shrimp. Puffers, catfish, and some pesky bonnet head sharks round out what is happening on this side.

Well friends, that’s it for this week! This week is going to be kind of iffy weatherwise, but if you get out early before the storms, you might just catch some fish. Have a great week folks! Snookman.

This week on the Indian River was incredibly productive! The larger female snook are starting to make their way to their spawning grounds, although many can still be found in the backwaters. While their numbers are beginning to thin out, it’s still a great time to target these fish.

The arrival of summer-like conditions has also brought an influx of tarpon to the area, adding excitement to our fishing adventures. Whether you’re targeting snook, tarpon, or other species, the Indian River has been providing plenty of action for anglers.

If you’re looking to catch some of the larger snook before they spawn, now might be the time to get out on the water. And with the tarpon around, you can bet on some thrilling battles. Get out there and see what the river has in store for you!

Tyler with his first snook!

Inshore fishing is still really good, but the bite is early. Plenty of snook and some good trout as well as some jacks and a few redfish here and there.

Nearshore waters are warming and the jacks are showing up in good numbers. There are some tarpon around but not that many yet and they are picky. The water off the beach was cold all week and warmed up on the weekend. Both jacks and tarpon were picky but the small sharks were eating well.

AJ caught his first tarpon off the beach

Kingfish will be showing up on the beach in decent numbers as the water stays warm and the bait stays around. The kingfish will eat both live baits and artificial baits and they will mix in along with the bait schools and even the schools of tarpon. The rain should help the bite a bit as it pushes the smaller baits out of the creeks and lagoon and gets the fish we are looking to catch fired up.

Captain Joe and Captain Dylan have been crushing it targeting our local reefs, both 8A and Pelican. Live bait is kind of hard to find so it’s a good thing to grab a box of minnows just in case. They have been working just fine but always better to get live bait if you can find it. Overall, the fishing is insanely good right now! All species are chewing.

This past holiday week has been some banner fishing from Daytona Beach south into New Smyrna Beach and Mosquito Lagoon. It has definitely been some summer conditions with warm days and afternoon showers to cool things off for the evening. The bait has been plentiful both north around the oyster beds in New Smyrna area and south across the shallow grass flats of Mosquito Lagoon. Look for the redfish and trout to be holding in and around the scattered bait. Plugs, soft plastics and spoons have all been working well for an artificial bite. If live bait is more your style look to pinfish, shrimp or finger mullet for a consistent bite.

It looks as though we will be heading into this week with the summer time pattern of afternoon storms which will only increase the bite by cooling the water temps down a bit.