Sebastian Inlet Fever
- October 12, 2007
- 0 Comments
- By Story/Photos By Matt Badolato
Well, I'm stuck here in college land so, sadly, this entire report is secondhand. I will be gettin back to da beach this weekend and will have a firsthand account of whats goin down between the jetties. This is generally my favorite time of year to fish the inlet because the bait goes into snowbird mode tryin to get south asap. Once the mullet feel those cold fronts on their fins they beeline toward Miami on the Atlantic express. Big snook, tarpon, reds, and kingfish all stack up around the jetties awaiting their passing prey.
Lately the tarpon have been starting to show up. They should peak sometime next month once it gets a tad colder. From reports I've head anglers are doing really good throwing big bucktails way off the north and south jetties. Those in boats are hooking up on big mullet while drifting the mouth of the inlet, especially when it is really windy and rough. Granted you don't wanna be out there in the first place, but it sure as heck is a good time to be catchin fish.
Same goes for the snook on those windy days. The wind has been pushing baitfish up along the rocks on both sides, especially the south because of all the northeast winds. The snook gang up on the stranded mullet and feast till they're full. The reds will usually be hanging out in the deeper parts of the channel, but when their forage moves to the shallows, don't be surpised to see some red and gold colors flashing on the surface. Black and silver windcheaters and 5" Storm swimbaits are my two all-time favorite inlet tools; use them wisely, they have been known to deplete fish populations.
The mangrove snapper are still thick as well along the rocks. With the abundance of mojarra and greenies flushing out of the river, bait is not hard to find and the fish will be in feeding frenzies when the tide is running through. Use light leader, (20-25#) small hooks, and as little weight as you can get away with and you oughta be havin snapper dinner in a couple hours.
There have also been a lot of bluefish, spanish macks, and snook along the beaches feeding on the mullet that are crusin down the trough. Try spoons, plugs, or white bucktails if you like to fish artificially. Live croakers and mullet are the best natural baits you can present, and a big snook will rarely ignore a big, live croaker grunting in the surf zone.
Looks like we're gettin a cold front tomorrow, so this will get the fish in every body of water in a feeding mode, so get out there and fish! River, Beach, Inlet-it's all good. Flounder season is right around the corner and you know what that means...
...actually, I dont know what it means in the scheme of things. You could get all cosmic and subatomic about it but hey, flounder fishing is fun. Go get inlet fever, I sure got it out here in Borlando.
Looks like there's gonna be waves this weekend.