SEBASTIAN INLET FISHING

Early in the week we had some pretty good weather that allowed us to get off the beach and chase the tarpon and play with some Blacktip sharks. Topwater and live bait both worked on the sharks and we caught a few tarpon on live bait as the sharks were thick and hard to get the tarpon to eat. The inshore bite was pretty good with a few snook and plenty of trout, jacks, bluefish and a few pompano. Snook were eating live bait most of the time but we still managed a few on soft plastics but mostly smaller fish. Winds picked up later in the week and the bite got tougher as it does this time of the year with daily changes in weather conditions and wind direction.

This week the winds are high with a few fronts but the bait has been around pretty good and the rain will push more bait out of the creeks and into the lagoon which should help the bite when the temperatures stabilize.

Hello my Sebastian inlet fans, I hope everyone had a great weekend, the weather was good! This report is going to be a bit short, as there just isn’t anything happening at the inlet to report on, mostly in part to the absolutely crappy conditions down there the last 5 days! With the wind switch from offshore, to on shore NNE, then to SSE, and 15-20, it has made a big mess out of the Atlantic. Rough conditions and very muddy water ABD seaweed to boot have put a damper on the fishing, everywhere. The only good thing about all that is the water has warmed up some, and has been at 71 degrees the last 3 days, that’s a good thing. All we need is for it to calm back down and clean back up.

On my 2 last trips down there about the only fish I saw caught were some small blues, jack crevalle, blue runners, stingrays and bonnet head sharks on the south jetty. Not what everyone is looking for. The entire inlet from the jetty to the back, and the surf is just dirty, and weedy. About the only snook activity I’ve heard about are some nice fish being caught on jigs very early mornings before daylight, and late at night at the t dock area, same thing, jigs. And unfortunately, that’s it in a nutshell until we get better conditions. So, I hope you all have a great week, and it’s supposed to have another cool down at the end of the week, Wednesday through Friday. It was nice to have a bit of springtime last week. But it will be back.

Cheers everyone!

Had a great week of fishing inshore and off the beach. The warm temps have increased the water temperature to the low-mid 70s and the snook and trout became more active. Live bait is best for snook and the trout will eat both artificial and live bait. The water is very clear so the fish are wary and long casts are important. The clean water has made the inlet fishing tough this week.

Beach fishing has been fantastic. A lot of mackerel, bluefish and jacks in the trough and some spinner and blacktip sharks following the macs and blues. There have also been a few schools of tarpon around the bait pods along the beaches. Live bait has been working on the tarpon but if you can put in the time, DOA Baitbusters will work as well. This week’s weather is looking favorable with light winds and warm temps and the fishing should continue to be good.

Publix Mike, aka the “drum doctor,” caught this 70-pound “big ugly” while fishing for snook early Wednesday morning on a flair hasw jig on the south jetty.

Good morning all you Sebastian Inlet fans, I hope everyone enjoyed the fantastic weekend we had again! It sure was nice out. So here we go, lets “spring” into the report. Lol.

Fishing at the inlet has still been a hit and miss deal, but more on the “hit” side, with all sorts of action going on when the fish decide to bite, and the bite has gotten more reliable for those putting the time. The water has cleaned up a lot, the seas have stayed pretty calm for the most part, and the key thing here is the water temperature has gone up to a more acceptable level for the fish to want to play. The last two days it has been hovering right around the 70 degree mark, and if it gets up to 72, things will improve even more. And the fact that there is bait around in the inlet, is another bonus. I have seen majorra in the back, threadfin’s everywhere around the tips of the jetties, and the tide rip south side, and the big black mullet/roe mullet are in the inlet. The key ingredients are there, just need the water to warm some more. So here we go with the meat of the report.

North side, in the back

Back here I have gotten reports of some spotted seatrout, a few flounder and small snook being caught on live shrimp, on the incoming tide. Also being caught back here have been a few black drum and pompano. Live or dead shrimp are the baits being used.

South Jetty

Over here the action has been mostly on the outgoing tide, at the tip. Lots of small bluefish, jack crevalle, blue runners all on spoons and jigs, and cut baits. Pompano have been around on sand fleas, but not a big number of them. The talk of the south jetty has been the black drum, quite a few have been caught on sand fleas and shrimp, either live or dead. There has also been large schools of the “big uglies,” which is what they call the drum over 30 pounds, showing up swimming around the jetty in the early morning tides. Several of the fish were caught last week during the early morning outgoing tide on flair hawks! Yes these huge fish will eat a jig! Some were caught on dead shrimp as well. Th ones I saw caught were averaging in the 25-70 pound range. Big breeder fish! These fish of that size are usually NOT good to eat, the flesh is very gamey, tough, and the fish flesh is usually full of round worms that make it very non appealing! It is suggested that you please return these big breeders back into the water to make more! There also has been some of the smaller, edible ones being caught in the 15-24 inch range, perfect size for eating.

One day last week the big blues made a pass by again, with only a couple being caught on large silver spoons. On the incoming tide there were a few small snook caught, and some redfish as well. Thumper jigs did the trick for them. Along the shoreline from the bridge back to the T dock it has been pretty slow, some sheepshead and drum are being caught on the incoming, but not like the numbers being caught on the jetty.

T Dock Area

Back here it has been a hit and miss deal too, with the incoming being the better tide with the cleaner water. Black drum, whiting and some sand perch are being caught on dead shrimp. There has also been a few nice snook caught on live majorra and the thumper jigs, but not too many as the water is still a bit cool for them to “wake up”. The nigh time snook bite from what I hear has been decent, outgoing tide on flair hawk jigs.

Surf, both sides

The surf just north of the north jetty has been producing quite a good number of nice pompano, black drum and whiting. Cut shrimp and sand fleas are the best. A few of the pompano I saw were in the 3 pound range! Healthy fish. Over on the south side surf, right by the jetty in the pocket there has been some small flounder still being caught on live mud minnows. But I was told that the majority of the flounder are too small to keep, but there have been a few big enough to go home. Also the bonnet head and Atlantic sharp nose sharks are still a problem, and the puffers. A little farther down the beach at the day use area, in the state park, the pompano, whiting and black drum fishing has been really good since the water has calmed down and cleaned up. It has been pretty busy down there for the last week. Live sand fleas is the key bait of choice for everything. And from what I have seen, it really doesn’t matter which tide, but the rising tide is usually better as the beach water gets deeper.

Well, that’s all I have for this week, better than what I have had! And like I said last week, I believe we are on our way to some better fishing and conditions. This week is supposed to be spring like conditions again, but with some winds picking back up a bit for the end of the week, but not bad. So it’s time to get out, enjoy the fun in the sun, catch some fish for dinner, or just hang loose at the beach. Everyone have a wonderful week!! Snookman.

Happy anglers down visiting from Maryland had a good day on the water fishing for black drum and sheepshead with Fishing Devotion Charters off the tip of the north jetty.

Good morning, all my Sebastian Inlet fishaholics! I hope everyone had a great weekend! Here we go with this week’s installment on “what’s up at the inlet.”

The last five days I have been down there has been some action, just not anything to write a book about, but steady non the less. One day good, one day bad, one day good, and so forth. You just have to be there when the fish decide to bite. There has been a smattering of different species wanting to play, but like I said, not a lot, just enough to keep you interested. The majority of the good fish biting have been the black drum, and a few sheepshead on sand fleas and shrimp. A couple of pompano have been taken, as well. Beach side of the jetty on the outgoing tide has been the time.

Along with that, the stingrays have been out of control, and everywhere, but not every day. One day I was down I saw one angler catch two at the same time on a double drop rig!! Crazy. Also being a problem were the bonnet head and Atlantic sharp nose sharks eating everything. If you want, you are allowed to keep one of those per person per day, and they have NO size limit on them. They are good to eat, as long as you get the guts out quickly, and get them on ice right away!

Also biting are the small bluefish in the 12-13 inch range, alone with some jack crevalle and blue runners, also on any bait you are using. The big blues did make an appearance again, but didn’t stay very long, only a couple were caught on large silver spoons. Incoming tide was the time for them. As for the flounder bite, it hasn’t been very good, with the ones being caught small, 15 inches to undersized mostly.

The snook season opened on Saturday with a few fish being caught, but most were too big to keep. And several being undersized. Live shrimp and flair hawks were getting the bites. And on that note about fishing for snook, there were a couple of “young guns” I call them, out there on the jetty fishing for the big blues with Gotcha lures, they have very sharp hooks, and one of them snagged a snook, it was too big and it went back in the water, they started fishing again with the gotchas, you reel them pretty quickly and jerk then quickly so they dart from side to side to work properly, and they snagged another snook, too big and went back in the water. So, I watched these guys and they figured out that there was probably a school of snook out there where they were casting, and purposely started snagging snook! Apparently there was a school of them out there on the beach side sitting in the warm water, is why they were able to snag them. NOTICE, if you do happen to accidentally foul hook a snook while you are fishing, you CANNOT keep it. If you are purposely trying to snag one out of a school of them you know is there, that is ILLEGAL in the FWC rules and regulations! It states NO snagging / snatch hooking of snook is permitted! If someone calls the FWC, and they see you do it, it is a fisheries violation, subject to citation. Please don’t treat our snook like that. Now back to the fishing.

The incoming tide along the shoreline from the jetty back to the t dock has also been a hit or mis deal. You just have to be in a spot when the fish come by. Sheepshead, black drum, and whiting have been being caught on cut shrimp and sand fleas. I also heard about a couple small redfish caught, and they are still in a closed season. The flounder have been absent for the most part, but some of the smaller ones are being caught back by the ranger work area in the sandy area. Back at the t dock on either tide I saw over the last several days quite a few nice black drum, sheepshead and whiting being caught on cut shrimp. Not much else except for the pesky puffers.

So folks, that’s it for this weeks report, getting better as the water warms back up some. It was 60 pretty much all last week, except for Thursday it went up to 62, and now it is showing 63 as of this report. And the weather for the next week and a half looks to be pretty promising with light winds under 10mph, and small waves at the surf. So maybe we are on the upswing for a change. I wish everyone a great and safe week!

Simone, Dave and their grandson had a good day and got to take home snook for dinner opening weekend of snook season.

The water temps increased 17 degrees in one week which improved the bite inside the lagoon. Water temps increased to 67 degrees this weekend. School trout, plenty of jacks and bluefish on artificial as well as few snook for opening weekend of snook season. Looking forward to the increase of bait and the bite continuing to improve as the temps this week stay warm, water temps increase and hopefully the winds will stay light so we can get off the beach and find some consistent and steady action.

Good morning all you Sebastian Inlet hard core fishing junkies! I hope everyone is thawing out from all the COLD weather we had last week! Wasn’t very welcoming at all. Lol. But this week’s weather looks to be pretty promising and more spring-like — bring it!

So here we go with what I have, isn’t much due to all the cold weather, brisk cold winds blowing down the intercoastal and the beach water brining it down to the very cold temperatures we are seeing now. It’s been at 57 degrees for the last 4 days now, it really needs to warm up, but that isn’t going to happen until we have a wind switch to the E/SE and blow some warmer water back in. I was down at the inlet over the weekend, and there weren’t very many anglers out on either side. The south jetty water was very dirty and stained with tannic acid from the rain runoff from Sebastian River, plus there was a lot of seaweed around. I saw, and talked to some of my friends there fishing the south side, and there were NO fish being caught to speak of. Only saw 2 small undersized bluefish, and that was it from the tip of the jetty all the way back to the t-dock! Nothing. A couple of my friends were floundering, because they couldn’t get any flounder to bite. Haha. But that’s it in a nutshell, no sugar coating.

Just a reminder for you all, snook season opens back up Saturday February 1st, but DON’T get your hopes up, because the water is way too cold for them to want to play. I usually don’t start fishing for them until March when the water warms back up a bit. That doesn’t mean you might not accidentally catch one. Everyone stay well, be safe and have a great week!

James with a nice pompano on one of the coldest days of the year way back in a creek hiding from the wind.

Coldest water temps we’ve seen since 2010 at 50 degrees. Haven’t seen any fish kills thank goodness but temps got dangerously close. The bite went cold too. Not much action but we did get into some bluefish and trout on artificial. Didn’t fish live bait as we kept on the move with artificial to see if we could find some consistent action on the cold days. This week temps get back to normal and the beaches calm down. The action should improve as the water temps climb back into the mid 60s to low 70s in the lagoon. Look for some action from trout and a few snook along with bluefish, mackerel pompano and jacks.

Good morning all my Sebastian Inlet friends, I hope everyone had a great long weekend! This is going to be a quick report, just isn’t much going on down there except for all the migratory birds, and there are lots of them!

The south side of the park while I was down over the weekend was kind of dirty. Either tide there wasn’t much happening. All I saw were a couple anglers cleaning some small bluefish, 12-14 inches, and some just as small whiting, 12-14 inches as well. The fish were caught on the T-Dock on the end of the incoming tide, on cut baits, shrimp. The only other species I saw caught were the pesky puffers, they are everywhere, and eating everything! There were a couple guys trying for spanish mackerel, but no luck. Out on the jetty, and along the inside shoreline was pretty slow too, only saw a few puffers on the jetty, and a couple of small 12-14 inch bluefish. No drum, no sheepshead, pompano or whiting this time. I chatted with one of my friends that was targeting flounder the last few days on the beach side pocket, and he said he hasn’t caught, or hooked any over the weekend! And he usually does catch some fish. With the seas picking back up again, and the winds kicking back up as well, and the cold 61-62 degree water, this week is going to be a challenge for fishing. The north side beach area before this weather moved in was producing some nice pompano, black drum and whiting. One of my friends and a couple of his friends had a nice catch in their cooler on the last of the high tide, first of the falling tide. Live shrimp and sand fleas were the baits of choice. But that was on Saturday when the seas were calm, and the wind was light offshore, it’s all gone now!

So that’s all I have for now, wish it was better, but after all, it is still winter, and we are in a strange weather pattern, and things change from day to day, and this week is supposed to be cool and windy, and wet. I hope everyone has a great and safe week.

The cold weather and higher winds have slowed down the inshore bite for snook, trout and redfish. However, the sheephead, mangrove snapper and pompano have been pretty active in the river and along the beaches. There’s a bunch of bluefish and mackerel in the lagoon close to the inlet as well as on the beaches when you can get out. More cool weather this week should keep the bite very similar. Let’s hope the water temps stay in the low 60s and don’t get close to 50 so we don’t get another snook kill.