Sebastian Inlet Report

06-22-15 MONDAY: REDS, MANGROVE SNAPPER, LOOKDOWNS, JACKS, BLUE RUNNERS AND C/R SNOOK

Welcome summer, because it hasn't been hot enough for us! Winds are barely moving out of the West-Southwest at 2 mph, gusting to 5 this morning and there is a light chop on the water. There are no NOAA Advisories. We have a beautiful morning at the inlet, although very warm and still. If you head to the inlet be sure to take plenty of water, sunscreen and insect repellent. 

Tommy Turowski at the Sebastian Inlet Bait and Tackle Shop reported a pretty good weekend for our inlet anglers. A lot of oversized C/R Reds were active, quite a few Atlantic Spadefish came over the rails (which is unusual for this time of year), a few Lookdowns, Jacks and Blue Runners were in play but the draw remains Mangrove Snapper. Tommy talked with a couple of snorkelers over the weekend who reported a lot of fish in the water. Plenty of big C/R Snook are out there too, it's spawning season and they aren't real active now. 

Our photo of the day is courtesy of  Rich Thomas. who was using a Rapala X Rap lure to entice this big 9 lb. Mangrove Snapper that broke the hook just as Rich grabbed the fish...whew, lucky save! Tim reported that Snook were busting out of the water but they had no luck with them. This Snapper was quite the catch.

One of our readers sent an inquiry regarding bag limits that we thought would be helpful for other anglers with the same question. The following bag limit overview came from the FWC web site:

Overview
In general, the daily bag limits set by Commission rule for saltwater fishing are for a calendar day (24-hour period from midnight to midnight). These limits are also possession limits. Therefore, it is illegal to possess more than one day's bag limit "while in, on or above the waters of the State or on any dock, pier, bridge, beach or other fishing site adjacent to such waters" with regard to most species.

Once you have caught and possess the bag limit for a species, you may not harvest any more of that species until the next 24-hour period. Thus it is illegal to take the catch to shore and then return to the sea to harvest another daily bag limit during the same calendar day.

Exception
There is an exception that allows individuals to possess double the daily bag limit certain fish only when fishing from a headboat or charter boat on a trip that spans more than 24 hours and:
The vessel has a sleeping berth for each passenger aboard the vessel; Each passenger possesses a receipt issued on behalf of the vessel that verifies the length of the trip.
Species included in this exception include: snapper (gray, red, Atlantic vermilion, cubera), red grouper, hogfish, black sea bass, red porgy, amberjack (greater, lesser, banded rudderfish)