I’m happy to report that the fishing action has finally picked up again. To begin, most of the north jetty is NOW OPEN! Only the last 30 feet or so remain closed for repairs. Now we can get to the fish that the boaters have been enjoying for so long. Also, park services has completed rebuilding the north side cleaning station and it has reopened. Great news and thanks to Sebastian Inlet State Park for all its hard work in getting us back up and running. With all that good news, here is good news on the fishing.
North Jetty: Last Tuesday, when park services moved the barrier to the end of the jetty, the water was clean and calm and the fish were biting. I was there fishing and we caught just about everything that can be caught this time of year. Everything was caught on live and dead shrimp. We had a lot of nice snook caught, several of them were slot sized keepers but most were either too small or oversized. There must have seen about 20 or 30 fished hooked up, but many were lost on the rocks when they ran around the tip. Redfish were plentiful as well with most of them being between 20 to 34 inches. They are still catch-and-release only. Black drum, sheepshead and a few pompano and nice whiting were being caught as well. For those throwing silver spoons and small jigs the bluefish, Spanish mackerel and jacks were playing. All of these fish species were being caught on both tides and on both sides of the jetty. After Tuesday, for the remainder of the week the ocean swell and the winds picked up and dirtied the water. The bite slowed, but the fish were still there if you had decent shrimp. The weekend — especially Saturday —was a mess, but Sunday calmed down, cleaned up and the fish were back. Along the rock wall between the catwalk and jetty on the incoming tide anglers were catching some nice sheepshead, sea trout and small snook on live shrimp.
South Jetty: The fishing has been slower as the water is shallower than the north side and the big swell we had last week and through the weekend put things on hold. Small snook and redfish were caught on live shrimp and the artificial shrimp jigs on the incoming tide, but it was wet fishing due to the wave action. Beachside, there were pompano and black margates caught at the tip on the outgoing tide — cut shrimp and sand fleas were the baits of choice.
Catwalks: The north side is still closed. On the south side, anglers were catching sheepshead and black margates on cut shrimp and sand fleas around the pilings, both sides.
T-Dock area: The catch here is pompano caught on both tides when the water is clean. Most were being caught on the small goofy jigs, but some were caught on shrimp. Also, there have been decent-sized Spanish mackerel and bluefish caught on small jigs and silver spoons. Sheepshead are also a good bet around the pilings with shrimp of live fiddler crabs. The boaters back here fishing the incoming and the first of the outgoing tide have been doing quite well with snook on live baits.
Surf area, both sides: The surf was largely blown out last week and the weekend, but with the westerly tides, expect calmer seas and cleaner water. Look for the clean water and some deeper water and you should see some pompano and whiting show up again. Live sandfleas and fresh cut shrimp should do the trick. Possible some black drum as well as they migrate down the beach this time of the year.
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