Sebastian Inlet Report

          

THE BITE IS IMPROVING IN SPITE OF THE ROUGH CONDITIONS,Black Drum, Whiting, Reds, Snook and short Pompano

We have cloudy, churned up conditions at the inlet this morning.  Winds are blowing out of the East at 16 mph, gusting to 22 and the water is rough.  Seas are building and the ICW is rough as well.  We have potential afternoon showers in the forecast for today and over the weekend; pack your rain gear if you head to the inlet.  NOAA has a small craft advisory in effect through Sunday afternoon.  It’s not a good weekend for our boaters.

In spite of the rougher conditions this week, the weather was warmer and the bite picked up.  We received an update from snow bird Rich Blum who is back from the frozen north for the winter.  Rich has been out on the north jetty fishing the past couple of days and reported a fair bite on Wednesday and a better bite yesterday.  Black and Red Drum have been the most consistent species and some nice Sheepshead are coming over the rails.  The Sting Rays have been thick but seem to be thinning out now.  Yesterday the Black Drum were hitting well on the incoming tide.  Thanks Rich!  Rich and Dennis Fletcher pose with some of the nice Black Drum they landed Wednesday.

Wayne Pollock of south Jersey was in Melbourne Beach visiting family and had a chance to fish the inlet on several days.  Wayne reported a strong Whiting bite all week on dead and live shrimp, particularly during the incoming tides.  They had a great time landing the 14” – 17” scrappy fighters which were fantastic table fare.  We received an update from inlet regular Mike Ricciardi of Vero Beach who fished the north jetty again yesterday afternoon.  The day was beautiful even though the high winds kept it cool.  Mike reported a lot of Sting Rays in the water but not as many as the two previous days.  Pompano were disappointing as the 6 – 8 that came over the rails were short and had to be returned.  Approximately 12 Black Drum were landed, 2 slot Reds and 2 oversized were landed by anglers free lining live shrimp.  8 – 10 C/R Snook were landed and Whiting were plentiful.  It sounds like fishing is starting to return to normal, if only the wind would give us a break!  

Our 2nd photo today features Mike Ricciardi of Vero Beach with two Black Drum he landed off the north jetty yesterday on shrimp.