I didn’t get a ton of time on the water this week, so instead of a play-by-play report, here’s something that’ll help you put more sheepshead in the boat.

This is prime time to target sheepshead, and the key isn’t complicated:

Old structure + heavy growth = sheepshead.

They’re structure-oriented fish that feed primarily on barnacles, oysters, and other crustaceans. If you’re looking at clean pilings or bare seawalls, you’re in the wrong spot. Sheepshead want the nasty stuff — the thicker the growth, the better.

Here’s what to focus on:

• Dock pilings – The older the dock, the better. Look for pilings absolutely covered in barnacles and oysters.
• Bridge pilings – Current + crusty growth is a perfect combination. Fish tight to the structure.
• Mangrove roots & fallen trees – Especially when there’s oyster growth attached.
• Rock piles & seawalls – If they’re coated in growth, they’ll hold fish.

If the structure looks clean, move on.

If it looks rough, crusted, and alive — fish it thoroughly.

This time of year, they stack up on this kind of habitat, and once you find the right growth, you’ll usually find the fish.

If you’ve never specifically targeted sheepshead before, start by finding the growth first — the fish come second.

Water temps are getting back to normal but theres still very little bait in most areas of the lagoon south down by Sebastian. The ocean temp is a little colder than normal in the mid to low 60s which has been keeping the lagoon south by the inlet a little cooler as well. With wind changes from north to south or east, that water temp will warm up quite a bit. The bite was good this week with the typical trout, jacks, pompano and mackerel in the lagoon around the inlet and along the beach with some good sized weakfish and silver trout off the beach. Artificial baits have worked well for most species but the weakfish and silver trout have been keying in on live or cut shrimp.

We found a few schools of big black drum with some redfish mixed in as well. That action has provided anglers to get on some bigger trophy sized fish. This weeks warmer temps and some southerly winds should increase the water temps along the beaches and in the lagoon which will help the bait situation and should improve the bite from our redfish, snook and trout.

We were able to get out right before the cool front came in. Live bait was tough to find so we reverted to slow trolling frozen minnows over Pelican Reef and the results were pretty good. The kingfish are back which always makes for a great day with our clients. Unfortunately, the bottom bite was pretty much nonexistent.

I have come out of my hibernation this week, sort of. This week’s weather looks like Spring is in the air for our Frozen Tundra Florida. I plan on hitting up the lakes without having to wear my heavy jacket and thick wool socks.

There is one lure that works well in our nearby lakes but especially during the spawn. What’s great about it is the variety of ways that you can rig it to fish in these different ways. I’m talking about a similar soft plastic (Senko) type of stickbait. Texas rigging it with no weight where shallow water and grass exist or adding a light weight for deeper or windy conditions too. Another way that I rig it is with a small gold blade in the tail section and swim it slowly through the grass. The vibration and flash have caught many fish for me. Another way of fishing the stickbait is Wacky Rigging it when slower presentations are needed. The possibilities are almost endless with this one simple worm. Always keep one tied on for great results.

Well, we’re finally getting some warm weather coming in. I wanted the warmer temperatures! The trout bite is getting much better. The black drum and redfish continue to stay schooled up and will eat a well-placed shrimp. Redfish and trout will eat soft plastics like Z-Man 3-inch paddles. We should start seeing cobia showing up with the rays in the next couple of weeks along the beaches. Keep checking the reports to see when they arrive, I’ll let you know. I have dates available the last week of February and then into March. You can book me by calling 386-295-5991 or going right to my website www.fatfishguideservice.com

Hello all my Sebastian Inlet friends and family, I hope everyone had a great weekend with the great weather we enjoyed! It was very nice again, except for Sunday’s pretty windy day. This report is going to be another short one as nothing has changed at the inlet fishing wise. The water temperature is up a tiny bit to 67 from the chilly 59-62 we were seeing, and it has stayed pretty clean on both sides, except for some seaweed that came in again over the weekend. The fishing was very slow all weekend, and pretty much all last week, I fished 4 days last week and worked both days this weekend and didn’t see much being caught. About the only thing accounting for all the action were the small bluefish and jacks, they were everywhere, and biting everything! Both sides, and both jetties. Here is a little bit of a breakdown.

North Jetty

Lots and lots of blues and jacks being caught on all baits, spoons and jigs. Either tide, it didn’t matter, but the outgoing was better at the tip. There were also some pretty small spanish mackerel caught too, but most didn’t make the 12-inch minimum to keep. Spoons and jigs. All through last week and through the weekend I did see some black drum being caught, not a lot, but enough to keep folks interested, some sheepshead as well. Most of these fish were caught on the outgoing at the tip, but some I did see were caught on the incoming tide, also at the tip. Other species I did see caught on the beachside of the jetty were some decent whiting, and a few pesky Atlantic sharp-nosed sharks. Live sandfleas and shrimp got those bites. No snook and no redfish were caught that I saw, or even heard about. The water is still too cold.

South Jetty

Over here it has been the same way, lots of blues and jacks, but not much else. I did hear about some black drum, sheepshead and a few nice pompano caught at the tip on last Monday, drum on shrimp, and the pompano/sheepshead on live sandfleas and goofy jigs. Over here on the incoming tide along the rocks there were reports of some small undersized snook being caught on live pilchards and shrimp, but nothing big enough to keep. Zero flounder.

T-DOCK

Back here it has been slow as well, when the dock is open about the only thing I saw, and heard about were some of the blues, jacks, and spanish mackerel being caught on small spoons and jigs. I did see some nice whiting caught over the weekend on cut shrimp on both tides. Nothing much else.

Surf, both sides

There hasn’t been very many folks out fishing the surf that I saw, and talked to, but either side they have been catching some whiting, catfish, the small sharks, stingrays, and the south side on last Monday produced some decent pompano on live sandfleas.

Well folks, that’s it for this weeks report, not much, but something. I hope everyone has a great week!

Reporting from the surf in Melbourne Beach…

Friday – 2/13

Got out around high tide at 2pm. Water temp 68°F. Sand fleas were abundant early but made themselves pretty sparse as the afternoon set in. Other anglers reported a slow bite for the day, and that continued until about 4pm / outgoing tide. From then on, things were pretty interesting. The final tally was two whiting, a catfish (notable because I’ve surprisingly seen very few this season), a black drum, and the icing on the cake was the final fish of the day: a 14” beautiful specimen of a pompano! He bit on my last flea, which had a body so small, barely larger than the diameter of the hook. LETS GO!

Saturday – 2/14

Lines in the water at Melbourne beach at about a quarter to 2, around high tide. The water temp fittingly measured out to 69°F (happy Valentine’s 😉). Other anglers reported no action, and sparse sand fleas. We were able to find enough to get by. The bite turned on for a few minutes and we caught a few croaker and a small black k drum. Didn’t get to stick around as long we did the day prior and am anxious to see how things set up Monday morning.

Monday – 2/17

A spring tide with peak high coinciding with sunrise and a calm sea — should be good, right? Not so fast! Last week I was thinking we’d be back in the water temp Goldilocks zone (~68°F – 72°F), but it measured in well below at 65°F. There was certainly activity out there, but I was only hooking up with little guy croakers and jacks.

Here’s what’s been going on in the Melbourne beach surf this week, with periodic updates throughout… There’s been some fish caught, but no pompano in my experience, and mostly undersized other species.

UPDATE: Wednesday, Feb 11th

Incoming Tide – Early Evening / Late Afternoon – Water temp: 68°F
Just went to take the dog to the beach for a quick afternoon walk, but the water was pretty, temperatures comfortable, and a bunch of my neighbors were already out there with wet lines running operation skunk works. Despite the surf being a bit more tame and water cleaner, and it generally looking fishy, there wasn’t any action. But still, it didn’t take much arm twisting for my neighbor to convince me to go grab a rod and come back out. So I did. 30 minutes later, it was about a quarter to 5, incoming tide, and I was ready to hook into the fish. By that time, he other anglers were ready to pack it in. Naturally, the laws of the universe engaged and as soon as they turned in, the bite turned on.

I caught 4 fish in quick succession over about 10-15 minutes. 2 black drum, 2 whiting, all pretty small. They were all released. After the last fish, I was out of sand fleas (which were present in the surf today, unlike yesterday), and the sun was setting, so I called it a day. Also, notably, the water temps dropped back down a clip into the high 60s after a steady climb back to low 70s over the preceding days.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Feb 10th

Incoming Tide – Early Evening / Late Afternoon – Water temp: 73°F

Got in an afternoon surf fishing session in Melbourne Beach, today. I got out there just before high tide. The water temps are warming up at 73°F. Only 7 days ago I got a reading of 58°F. It was an absolutely gorgeous day at the beach, but not much for fishing production. My baits consisted of blanched sand fleas, fish bites, and the few lives sand fleas that were caught (they were pretty sparse out there). The end result was just one whiting, which is about to be cooked up for dinner. The surf has been pretty hit or miss for the past few weeks. A week from now, once we’re out of the neap tide and our water temps have solidified a comfortable bottom in the 70s, the surf fishing should be much more predictably productive. I’m looking ahead to some morning sessions next week where periods of peak water movement coincide with sunrise. ‪

UPDATE: Monday, Feb 10th

Went out briefly for the period straddling high tide. Seas were much larger than expected and thick patches of weeds started to take shape in the surf right as the winds shifted out of the east. I only hung around for about an hour before calling it.

Rougher seas than expected. Lots of chop and a ripping current.

Sunday, Feb 8th (and preceding week)

It was cold and windy, but with largely a dominate west wind, the surf remained very fishable all week. I had a few limited opportunities to get out there and took them, and the bite was pretty active. The only species we were bringing in though were black drum.

I got a reading of 58°, the only sub-60 water temperature recorded this winter, and most likely the very bottom before things warm up into spring.

Don’t forget that weather patterns change for fish in the ocean the same way they do in the lagoon. If it’s cold, downsize your presentation. One drop loop on your pompano rig instead of 2; smaller, if any, floats and beads, etc.

Hope everyone stayed warm over the past couple of weeks with all the cold fronts that rolled through. This week and next week look like they’re going to warm up, and hopefully that helps warm the water up a bit too, because the cold has definitely been taking a toll on the fish.

The waves are expected to calm down this week, so hopefully the beach bite picks up.

People have been catching lots of small whiting, black drum, and baby pompano. It’s something to reel in, but not exactly what we’re hoping for. That said, I have heard of a few keeper black drum and pompano mixed in with the smaller fish.

Stick with the same bait and rigs as usual: a pompano rig with orange floats (or pink), tipped with peeled pieces of frozen shrimp and sand fleas. Clam has been working well at times too, so make sure you bring a variety of bait.

Not much more to report this week, so as always—tight lines!

Fishing has been decent despite the coldest weather we had in 15 plus years. Still some pompano around as well as some trout, bluefish and ladyfish. There are also a few scattered schools of Black drum roaming the south end of the lagoon and if you can find them, you can have a lot of fun with them.

Temps have stayed cold throughout the week and water temps haven’t been above 62 degrees. Late week bite slowed quite a bit with the consistent north winds and high pressure. As the temps warm and the winds shift to the east or south instead of the north, the bait should show back up and the bite should improve.