Good morning all my Sebastian Inlet peeps! I hope you all had a great weekend despite all the rain and thunderstorms we had with hurricane Helene, and everyone is well! This report is one of those I don’t like doing, but I call it as I see it.

With the park being closed last week on Wednesday and Thursday because of the storm threat, and it opening back up Friday, and there was nobody out fishing, and the fact that the water quality over the weekend was very poor from the winds and huge surf kicked up, the water got pretty dang muddy and tannin stained from the intercoastal runoff. While I was down on Saturday and Sunday there were all kinds of mullet of all different sizes and shapes, tons of greenies and pilchards, but absolutely ZERO predator fish after them! The mullet schools were so relaxed they looked like they were on vacation! Lol.

About the only thing I saw on either day were just a handful of spanish mackerel being caught, and they were kind of small, and a ton of those pesky catfish everywhere, heck even the boaters were catching catfish! Not good. I didn’t see the boaters catch any snook or redfish either. So yeah, it was a bad weekend to say the least. Even a few of my “hard core” jetty pros worked real hard Sunday to catch something, but nothing. It will get better, it always does after a storm rolls through, it just takes a few days for the cleaner ocean water to come back in and rejuvenate the area to an acceptable salinity level the fish are comfortable with. The baitfish can tolerate it, but not the gamefish.

So we will see how this week goes, and hopefully it cleans back up pretty quickly. And that’s all I have my friends. Have a great week! Snook man.

Had a great week of inshore fishing, despite the winds that we had during the week. Plenty of snook and trout with a few redfish in the mix. Live bait has been best, but we got plenty of fish on DOA paddle tails, jerk baits and several fish on top water, specifically the Rapala Skitterwalk. Fishing the shorelines and islands with bait is your best bet for success inshore. And this month is your best chance for catching a quality inshore slam.

Unfortunately with the hurricanes out there, it was too rough to get out and chase sharks and tarpon. Looks like we will have better weather and wind forecasts to get outside and look for the bait schools.

The water temp is 82 degrees when we started this morning and 85 when we finished this morning. Water level is up about 12.”

Top baits this week for me were the Bass Assassin RSB worms, Chatterbaits and the Mike Bucca 6” Bull Gill in Bone color.

I’m fishing the Bass Assassin RSB worms with an 1/8oz weight and fishing it along hydrilla edges near deeper water. The only colors I used this week were Gooseberry and JB Blue. I’m using a 5/0 VMC Redline EWG hook. I like letting these sink to the bottom and pull it along the bottom fairly slow. I had to really let it sit the later in the morning before they’d pick it up. I’m fishing these in 6-13’ of water along hydrilla edges for the most part.

I’m fishing my Jackhammers in scattered hydrilla and ripping it out of the thick stuff. Green pumpkin and Blueberry Bass Assassin Whoopa Craws are my trailers that worked best for me this week. The craw trailer allows me to fish the chatterbait a little slower. All my chatterbait fish are in 5’ or less water.

The 6” Mike Bucca Bull Gill in Bone color is my go to swimbait this week. I’m fishing these along thick grass edges near deep sharp drops or cuts near main canals. It is a fish catcher and it will work all over Headwaters. Swim these just under the surface for best results. Get on the Bullshad email mailing list so you can get the bait drop info.

I only have a few dates available in October so if you’re planning on getting in on the buzzbait and chatterbait bite book it now!!! Last year was epic the entire month of October. Here is a couple pictures and videos from last October.

Tight lines!

Beach fishing this past week, after the storm passed through, wasn’t too shabby for many. There was lots of action along the beachline with pompano, whiting, redfish and black drum. The beach was eroded down to the shelly sands that Cocoa Beach is known for, and the fish absolutely loved it. Surprisingly, the water wasn’t as dirty as it usually is following a storm. Plenty of troughs were dug out for us to fish in as well.

Fishing the close troughs and washouts has been producing the most bites, using frozen shrimp pieces and live sand fleas scattered in the sands. Pink and chartreuse floats on pompano rigs have been the choice of many. Using a 3-4 ounce pyramid lead has been effective on most days, but on some days, a 2-4 ounce Sputnik weight was needed to hold the bottom.

This was a quick report today. Hope y’all get out and fish! Tight lines!

The water has started to get back to normal levels after last weeks full moon tides and abundance of rain. The bite continues to be good throughout the backwaters of New Smyrna Beach and the flats of Mosquito Lagoon. Look for the pods of bait working across the flats and the game fish will not be far. As you head further north look for the structure as in the shore lines and oyster beds. There has been a variety of species like redfish, trout, snook and jacks holding on the structure. Spoons , plugs and soft plastics have been working well along with live bait. It looks like we have an approaching storm system coming out of the Gulf that should be here the latter part of this week . So the West Coast will need to hunker down but looks like us on the East Coast are going to get more wind and rain for a couple of days.

Wow! It’s amazing how the lagoon waters can change in the blink of an eye. Last week we were reporting clean water in the Indian and Banana Rivers. Captain Justin and I had our anglers sight-casting to snook and redfish along the flats and mangrove covered shorelines of these bodies of water. This week, with all of the rain that has fallen, it seems that most of our area retention ponds are now overflowing into the lagoons and creating havoc with water clarity and salinity. This has pushed many of the fish off the shorelines and out into the central portions of both rivers. We have had to adjust to these changes and are catching most of our fish under causeway bridges and along the spoil islands right now.

The list this week includes pompano, speckled trout, mangrove snapper, tarpon, jack crevalle, redfish and plenty of those unwanted hardhead and gafftop catfish. Live finger mullet are a great live offering to use and Saltwater Assassin 4-inch sea shad in the pilchard, silver mullet and mama’s 14k colors are producing well. Top water lures like the Rapala Skitterwalk or the Storm Chug Bug are two other great lures to use. Fish around baitfish schools and your odds of a hookup increase greatly. The inlets have been another good place to fish early in the week while the seas were below three feet. Now that the waves are getting bigger the water is getting muddy. This condition will put some fish off their bite, but redfish will usually continue to bite in some cases.

The days are starting to get slightly cooler with a hint of north in the wind direction now that we have entered into “still summer” (known as fall in other states) so captain Justin and I are starting to run full day charters again from now until early December. Please check out our charter offerings on our website, Fineline Fishing Charters.com or give us a text or call at 321-505-8217 to see what we’re catching each day and what trip types we have available. Let’s go catch you next memory!

Despite limited time on the water this week, the Indian River continues to impress! The river is alive and kicking, with abundant mullet attracting some serious predators.

Species Update

– Big snook and trout are actively feeding on mullet schools
– Jacks and reds are also present in good numbers

Successful Spots

– Areas with visible predator activity on mullet (keep an eye out for surface action!)
– Windblown points have been particularly productive, thanks to the extra water movement

Effective Lures and Baits

– Larger paddle tails (4-5”) are getting attention
– Topwaters are also producing bites
– Live and cut mullet are both working well for those looking to use bait

On-the-Water Advice

– Focus on moving water and areas with current for the best action

The Indian River remains a fantastic destination for inshore fishing. Get out there and take advantage of the action!

Feel free to share this report with your fellow anglers!

Aaron caught this 34-inch snook using a live mullet

Good morning all you hard core Sebastian Inlet fishing junkies, hope everyone had a great weekend! This report is going to be a bit short, as nothing has changed from my report for last week.

The water is still a bit messed up with the rain water runoff staining it up, plus all the sand being churned up by the swell we still have, and it is going to get worse as the week goes on with the winds picking up a lot, and the seas going up to around 6-7 ft by Thursday. So It’s gonna get wet and rough out on the jetty, and the south side as well.

There are still a ton of baitfish all around the jetties, pilchards, greenies and finger mullet, but the bigger mullet that were coming down the coast have lightened up a lot, so that in turn with the poor water quality has slowed the snook bite to just some random catches, mostly in the surf and on the beach side of the north jetty.

The spanish mackerel over the weekend have went on a suicide mission and have been hitting the best I’ve seen in a while! Plenty of nice fish being caught, and the redfish also have added a lot of action to take up where the snook have left off. Most all this action has been on the incoming tide.

The south side, same thing, incoming tide, some spanish, a few snook and plenty of redfish and jack crevalle to keep it interesting on live baits. I did see though a couple pompano caught on the south jetty Sunday, and on the north jetty, a couple sheepshead and a black drum or two. And that’s pretty much all for this week. It’s not what it was a couple weeks ago, but it is some action, especially for the spanish mackerel, they’ve gone crazy on the north jetty!

Have a great week everyone!

With the full moon, not many mullet around and the north winds, I expected a slow week but it wasn’t slow at all. Inshore, the snook bite was on fire as were the trout, jacks and there were a few redfish too. High waters have pushed the fish into and around the coves in the spoil islands as well as the mangrove shorelines. Live bait was the key but artificials worked, too. Topwater bite is pretty good early and when there’s some chop, the subsurface soft plastics and Rapala Twitchin Mullet work well this time of year.

It should be similar this week and hopefully we will get some more pushes of mullet from the north as it’s been lackluster since that first push we got a few weeks ago. It’s an exciting time of year and the best time to get your inshore slam.

Mahi and sharks are the theme of the week. Actually we had more mahi than kings this week. The water out to 220′ has been an odd color of black. It’s actually black mixed with some brown in it, almost like Okeechobee Cyprus black. Very odd to say the least. Hopefully this week of wind blows it out of here. Bunker and mullet have been in the northern bight and plentiful.

Trolling both has produced many species on the reef and on Pelican. No special secrets or special lures or fluorocarbon nonsense. Just go drag some live bait on the reefs and local wrecks. Tip of the week, fish slow! It hasn’t been on fire by any means but there’s a few fish around to have fun with. AJs are out in the deep but wont be getting to them this week. Jetty fishing with finger mullet has been a hit and miss. But when the tide is perfect, it’s as hard as you can go.

Have fun and be safe!

With the continued high water we are experiencing, the redfish bite has been good using topwater plugs, finger mullet and pig fish. Tarpon are thick in the river and inlet. The best baits to target them this week have been live mullet, swim baits or on fly. I am expecting to have a good bite this week pre-storm and really good bite next week post storm. I have days available, you can reach me at 386-295-5991 right to my website.