Sebastian Inlet Report

 As of this week, the illustrious “Snookman” Wayne Landry adds a new spot to his fishing report – the catwalks beneath the Sebastian Inlet Bridge: “Good morning my Sebastian Inlet anglers, I hope everyone had a great weekend! Fishing for the most part, again, has been pretty slow due to the silted water, seaweed and a cold upwelling that moved inshore, lowering the water temperature by about 4 or 5 degrees - and that scant temperature change affects the bait, and ultimately, the fish activity. 

North jetty: The water over here was pretty dirty over the weekend, with both tides full of seaweed, making it a little tough to fish ‘cleanly’. Visibility was poor and some of the small baitfish present a week ago were gone. I saw mullet around, and small greenies to help keep something biting, however. Sunday, I saw mangrove snapper being caught in and around the pilings and the rocks at the tip on the northeast corner of the jetty. Most fish were on the small side, about 10 or 11 inches, and not a lot of them being caught. There were also small Spanish mackerel around, but I only saw a couple caught on the live small greenies. Schools of small jack crevalles were around the jetty, feeding on schools of greenies. I saw a couple of redfish — in the 30 to 32” range, too big to keep — caught at the tip of the jetty on the outgoing tide on live mojarra. And just an FYI for everyone, as of September 1, all redfish on the east coast of Florida from about Ponce Inlet to Fort Pierce, will be catch-and-release only. They cannot be harvested anymore due to the decline in the stock in our area. 

South jetty: Nothing but seaweed and very dirty water, both tides. 

T dock: Small snappers of various types are still being caught on small greenies, live or dead, and cut bait around the pilings. I did see a nice flounder about 18 inches caught back here last Friday on mojarras, but not much else as it is pretty weedy back here, too. 

Catwalks, both sides: The south side, as mentioned, has been weedy and dirty and hard to fish. Also, being shallower here than the north side, it is tougher to fish. The North catwalk is better  to fish because the water is deeper and generally cleaner. The last few times I was checking this area, anglers were catching nice mangrove snapper on cut baits on the outgoing tide. The fish were anywhere from 11 to 16 inches. Folks are also catching black margates on cut bait. One I saw was measured at 18 inches -that's a big one for that species. 

Surf area, both sides:  The south surf has been dirty and all weedy from the southeast winds, so not much over there. North surf has been producing nice snook on live baits and swim baits for those fishing early and late high tides. Also, whiting and croakers are being caught on cut baits and fish bites. If you find some schools of glass minnows in the surf, Spanish mackerel, jacks and tarpon could be present and will hit spoons, jigs and live baits.