Killing A Good Thing

Thuggery causes Sebastian north jetty to close at night

SEBASTIAN INLET — Because of increasing reports of vengeful behavior by some fishermen, Sebastian Inlet’s popular north jetty fishing pier will be closed at night for a temporary period starting in about two weeks.

At a special meeting Wednesday, the five-member Sebastian Inlet District Commission voted 3-2 in an unprecedented move to close the 745-foot jetty from dusk to dawn daily while commission staff and its legal counsel work with state and local agencies for better law enforcement and ways to quell the reckless activity.

Of primary concern to the commission are the numerous reports its staff has received from boaters becoming the targets of jetty anglers throwing or casting lead weights, lures and other objects into their boats, mostly at night.

A small band of troublemakers are believed responsible.

Scouting Around Palm Beach/Martin County Area

INSHORE

     Just a reminder that snook season opened on Sept. 1.
     There are snook in the surf along Jensen Beach when the seas are calm. If you’re using artificial, small topwater lures are working best. There are also a few tarpon around early in the morning, along with plenty of jacks (throughout the day). These fish can also be found in the inlets.
     In the Indian River, snook, tarpon and jacks are all biting around the bridges. There’s also a good trout bite from Nettle’s Island and to the north. The “mosquito ditches” are loaded with little tarpon and small snook.
     The snook fishing on the beach has been great from Jupiter down to the Lake Worth (Palm Beach) Inlet. There’s a lot of bait in the surf, and the inlets are loaded with snook. There have also been a few Spanish mackerel spotted on the beach recently.
     With snook season open, the bridges and dock lights are sure to be busy at night in the Intracoastal throughout Palm Beach County. You’ll also likely find jacks and tarpon in these spots.
     Snook are being caught around sunrise in the surf along Boynton Beach. And there’s a good permit bite in the late morning and early afternoon.
     In the Intracoastal, sheepshead, snook, jacks and mangrove snapper are all holding near the bridges in and around the Lake Worth and Boynton Beach areas.

LAKE OKEECHOBEE
     The water quality is really good at the lake, with a lot of clean water. The fishing has also been excellent.
     Although there haven’t been many large bass reported lately, big numbers are being caught. The best action is along the outside grass line and the offshore islands.
     As you’d expect this time of year, the best fishing is still during the early-morning hours, and while artificial lures are working well, live shiners have been the bait of choice lately.​

courtesy of Palm Beach Post 

Sebastian Inlet Report

                          

09-02-16 FRIDAY: TGIF! SNAPPER, SNOOK, REDS AND JACKS. 

Winds are blowing out of the South at 16 mph, gusting to 23 and there is a moderate chop on the water. Winds are forecasted to shift to the Southwest this afternoon. NOAA has a small craft advisory in effect for winds through this afternoon. The weekend forecast looks like we will continue to have rough conditions through Saturday night but our boaters may get a chance to get off the dock on Sunday. Always check the NOAA forecast prior to boating. 

Sarah at the Sebastian Inlet Bait and Tackle Shop reported a decent bite yesterday. Some nice Snapper came over the rails including a beautiful Cubera, some nice slot Snook and Reds were landed by inlet regulars and visitors alike. Mike Ricciardi of Vero Beach fished the north jetty from 11:00 - 4:00 and reported a good bite, the regulars did well. Finger mullet were working well, although they are still on the scarce side. Slot Snook usually run and hide on opening day but yesterday they were still hanging around as were oversized and slot Reds and Snapper. 
Our photos today are courtesy of Jonathan Reese. Jonathan and his son Brenden fished the north jetty  and landed and released some beautiful oversized Reds. The father and son team reported a variety of species coming over the rails and a variety of baits were working to land them. Most fish were caught on the incoming tide between 9:00 - 10:00 p.m. but the bite slowed shortly afterward. In addition to the Reds, they also landed a C/R Snook. They saw Mangrove and Mutton Snapper, Ladyfish and some other C/R Snook landed by other anglers. All their fish were released properly, thanks gentlemen, nice catches!

Photo one features Brenden Reese with an oversized Red. Photo two features Jonathan with his oversized Red. 

From Todd / Eric @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach

INSHORE:  Snook season is back open, and it's game on right now.  Plenty of snook around for those looking to try and catch one in the slot.  The snook will be around area bridges at night, and tucked up against seawalls and under boat docks during the day.  Starting to see a few trickles of finger mullet coming in, and that is what the snook will be cued in on right now.  Keep that in mind when picking out your lures, and be sure to have a X-Rap or Vudu Mullet tied on.  Should be a few tarpon mixed in with the snook, and most likely some bruiser jacks.  Still some mangrove snapper biting inshore around the bridges as well.

SURF/PIER:  Fishing along the beach and at the Juno Beach Pier remains good with a good amount of assorted action.  Snook season is open and the snook are still along the beach and at the Pier in good numbers.  Low light periods of the day will be the best time to target them, especially for those hoping to catch them on lures.  Rapala X-Raps, Yo-Zuri Minnows, and silver spoons are all good choices to throw in the surf early in the morning and then again later in the afternoon.  The Juno Beach Pier has seen good action on the snook, a few kingfish, good numbers of spanish mackerel, and lots of jacks.  The blacktop sharks are along the beach, as are a fair number of tarpon.  Even been a handful of pompano floating around.  Lots of good stuff going on if you get a chance to go...you should!

From Capt. Charlie @ Fishing Center - Ft Pierce

Looks like we are surrounded by tropical weather bringing rain and winds to the area. We dodged rain storms this week and even got wet on occasion. The rains and wind will continue for a while as these systems move through the state. Plan your outdoor activities carefully and watch the weather before you venture out. Fishing has been good in spite of what mother nature doles out.

Snook season opened with lots of rain to challenge anglers who wanted to get out the first few days of the season. Bridges and inlets are usually the hot spots for those wanting to catch a keeper snook. Our best bite this week has been snapper. Lots of keeper size fish have moved into the river and you can find them just about everywhere lately. Channel edges, bridges and docks are some of the favorite areas that snapper like to hang out. Most of our nice sized fish have come off the grass flats.

The fall mullet run is about to get into full swing along the Treasure Coast. As the schools of finger mullet arrive, so will the predators looking for an easy meal. Top water lures, DOA shrimp and live bait can find some nice fish hanging around the edges of the bait schools. 

Sebastian Inlet Report

                                    

09-01-16 THURSDAY: SNOOK SEASON HAS ARRIVED! 

Winds are blowing out of the East-Southeast at 16 mph, gusting to 20 and there is a moderate chop on the water. NOAA has issued a small craft advisory for winds that is in effect until Friday afternoon. Showers are likely and we have a slight chance of thunderstorms. 

Today is the first day of Snook season. A Snook stamp is required on your saltwater fishing license if you are fortunate enough to land one in the small slot of 28" - 32" and you plan to keep it. No Snook stamp, no Snook. One per person per day is the bag limit. Please abide by the FWC regulations. If any of you regulars see somebody taking an illegal fish, don't hesitate to say something. If an angler refuses to be educated, call FWC at 888-404-3922 or text Tip@MYFWC.com. 

Snook is the big draw now that the season is open; landing a slot fish remains the hard part. We are still seeing Mangrove Snapper, big Reds and Jacks. Lookdowns, Blue Runners a few Margate and Spanish Mackerel are coming over the rails in small numbers. A few finger mullet are beginning to arrive in small numbers and that gets everybody excited!

Our first photo today features Scott Rose with a C/R Snook he landed on Saturday using an artificial. Scott was fishing the south side at mid-day, he released the Snook right after the photo.
John Caprice sent in our second photo of his friend Mike Paul. Mike landed the big C/R Snook in the surf on the north beach.

From The Crew @ Whites Tackle - Ft Pierce / Stuart

Inshore the snook bite was good last night with the opening of snook season for those who fished in Ft. Pierce,Sebastion,and Stuart. The jetty and bridges have produced well on both jigs and live bait on the out going tide with a few fish on the incomming to. The bite should be good tonight with this windy and rainy weather. Stop on in and get all your snook fishing gear we have First Light Jigs and Snook Snatcher jigs in all colors with some jigs in the Ft. Pierce on sale for 2.19$ for the opening of snook season. For those people that are looking for blanks and want to make custom jig rods we carry Phenix Black Diamond Blanks in 15-40lb and 20-50lb  in 8ft 8.6ft and 9ft we Phenix Black Diamond Hybrid blanks in 8.8ft 12-30lb and 15-40lb stop on in and check them out.