Fine weather for bluefish, redfish, Spanish macs, sheephead, black drum and more
“Snookman” Wayne Landry’s auspicious report for this week:
Good morning, Sebastian Inlet fishing fanatics. I hope everyone enjoyed the fine weather last weekend. Last week, Monday through Wednesday, fishing was awesome! The water was the right color (bluish), relatively clear, water temps were around 78 degrees and everything was biting at the inlet. There were many baitfish as well: finger mullet, greenies and pilchards. I saw all these species being caught: Spanish mackerel, bluefish, ladyfish, sheepshead, black drum, pompano, redfish, snook, mangrove snapper, small mutton snapper and flounder, (which are closed until December 1. EVERYTHING we can catch at the inlet was being caught. The north side was the hot spot. Then came Thursday and Friday; the water cooled down and we had a green alga bloom, ( which turns the water that funky green color) due to the water temps changing so drastically — from 78 down to around 70 to 72 — and that pretty much shuts everything down until it normalizes again. Did some research on it. Microplankton and the phytoplankton absorb carbon dioxide in the air and create chlorophyl which makes them green, turning the water green. A little ocean education for you, in case you ever wondered why it does that. Saturday and Sunday the water cleared and warmed up, and had a bit more blueness to it and fishing picked up a tad, not like it was, but they did catch some fish around the inlet. The breakdown:
North jetty: It was hit-or-miss. Saturday and Sunday began slow, but when the tide came in and the water cleared, snook bit on live shrimp and the small ‘thumper shrimp’ jigs. I saw a lot of snook being caught, but most were on the short side. However, I did see several nice slot fish caught. There were also some nice catch-and-release redfish caught on either live mullet or shrimp. Also, there was a nice Spanish mackerel bite on the beachside of the jetty on live pilchards; they didn't want the small greenies this time. I also saw a couple of mangrove snappers caught, too. Their numbers are dwindling because the water is getting too cool for them. Atlantic spadefish and sheepshead round out the bite on the jetty.
South jetty: Saturday and Sunday on the incoming tide there was an awesome snook bite mid tide! Lots of fish were being caught on live baits, small croakers and pigfish were the baits of choice. Most of the fish I saw caught were again undersized, but there were plenty of slot fish caught. In watching the guys and gals on Sunday — which was the better day — it was what we old-timers refer to as combat fishing. Stuff was flying everywhere! In 20 minutes, I must have seen 10 to 15 hookups with fish, but most were either lost or were undersized. I didn't see much else caught over here on the incoming tide, no reds or blues; it was all about the snook. Outgoing tide there were some jack crevalle and small bluefish caught on live and cut baits. A couple black margates, which are always around the tip were caught too, along with catfish and puffers. That's pretty much it.
T-dock: Back here there wasn't much action. There was plenty of bait around the dock, but not much being caught. I did see one undersized mutton snapper and an undersized mangrove caught. Most of the action was the pesky puffers that are always around when the water is dirty. Incoming tide I chatted with a couple of the guys fishing snook, and they said they hadn't even had any bites. The water on the incoming tide was not very conducive to good fishing, despite the plentiful bait.
Surf area, both sides: South side surf fishing over the weekend was hit-or-miss. If you could find clean water like a couple of my friends did, you could find some action. They were fishing at the state park's day use area just south of the inlet and caught some nice bluefish, Spanish mackerel, a couple of pompano, mangrove snapper and jumped a big tarpon on a live mullet. The other fish were caught using live shrimp. Pretty good morning of fishing I'd say! At the north side you can expect the same thing: some clean water, and you could find some fish biting. Same species.
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