Fishing Around A little Up North

Surf: Whiting, pompano and bluefish are dominating surf catches this week. The blues and whiting can be found almost anywhere, but the larger pomps are concentrated south of Melbourne Beach where water temperatures are warmer. Live sandfleas are working best, but can be hard to find on the beach. Local bait shops will carry them.

Sebastian Inlet: During the day, bluefish are still tearing through the inlet during high tides. Rat-L-Traps, silver spoons and fresh cut mullet are working best. The black drum bite has slacked off a bit, but a few are still coming over the jetty rails. At night, big reds are hitting live pins and pigs drifted through the channel. The tide pool is currently being dredged, and that area remains closed.

Inshore: In the northern Banana River, reds and black drum are schooled up in large numbers on the shallow flats, especially in areas where boats are prohibited. Try sight-casting to these fish, which are between 15 and 20 pounds, with live hand-picked shrimp. Down south near Grant and Sebastian, seatrout catches have been good for anglers fishing over seagrass in 2 to 3 feet of water. Small diving and twitching plugs, soft jerkbaits and live shrimp are working well.