Sebastian Inlet Report

05-16-13 THURSDAY: SPANISH MACKEREL, BONITO, JACKS, BLUES AND SPOTS 

It's a beautiful morning at the inlet. Winds are blowing out of the South-Southeast at 5 mph and there is a light chop on the water. 

Yesterday morning was a slow one on the north jetty. One keeper Snook was landed early in the morning, a couple of Spanish Mackerel, a couple of smaller Blues, Jacks and Spots. Big Dave Hartwell reported that Tuesday he nailed some nice Spanish Mackerel and Bonito. Yesterday morning they could be seen breaking the surface of the water, but they were out of casting range. Dave was predicting they may be within reach on the incoming, but we didn't hear whether it happened or not.

Our first photo today features Tommi Truong of Orlando. Tommi and his buddy Willie Bridges were throwing Gotcha lures off the tip of the north jetty on  when they landed four good sized Bonito. 
Colton Easterling of Palm Bay is featured in our second photo. Colton and his brother fished the north jetty and hooked up with a 42" C/R Snook, his first one in 8 years! They were using mojarra and his brother hooked up with one about the same size right afterwards, but it evaded capture when they tried to net it. 
Photo three is of Jose Pomales and his friend Miguel, both from Orlando. The men were fishing the south jetty rocks when Miguel hooked up with the Lemon Shark using pilchards and shrimp. It took both of them to pull this Shark in for a photograph before releasing it. 

From Todd @ Juno Bait - Juno Beach Fla.

                                                                                                photo courtesy of Eric Gates

Snook season is winding down, so if taking one home for the dinner table sounds like a good idea, go get them now!  The linesiders are showing up on the beach, filling in at the inlet, and hanging around the bridges at night.  Along the beach Rapala X-Raps and small white jigs are a good choice.  Look for the snook to be cruising north and south in the first trough.  The bridges are holding good numbers of snook, and fishing at night is the only way to go.  Drifting live shrimp with the current is a great bait choice.  A flair hawk is a great lure choice for the bridges as well.

Mangrove snapper and sheepshead are hanging around the bridges as well.  Shrimp, live of cut pieces, is a great bait choice to fool those stubborn fish around the pilings.  Moonfish(aka lookdown) and sandperch have been caught around the bridges as well.

SURF/PIER- The pompano fishing has slowed down a bit, but it isn’t done just yet.  Clams and sandleas continue to produce a few bites from the pompano.  For those not into fishing bait, pompano jigs(like Doc’s Goofy Jig) may still get a few bites. Scattered schools of spanish mackerel have been moving up and down the beach and a few are always hanging around the pier.  

White Crappie Jigs are a good choice from the pier for the mackerel.  The small profile matches a glass minnow nicely.  As mentioned above, the snook are showing up along the beach.  Fish low light periods for best action, or try and sight cast them in good light for a real challenge!

Sebastian Inlet Report

05-15-13 WEDNESDAY: SNOOK, REDS, SPANISH MACKEREL, SHEEPSHEAD, MANGROVE SNAPPER, BONITO, BLUES AND COBIA! 

Winds are blowing out of the East-Southeast at 6 mph this morning and there is a light chop on the water.

We've seen a good variety of fish at the inlet including Snook, Reds, Spanish Mackerel, Sheepshead, small Mangrove Snapper, Bonito and Blues. There have been some nice schools of bait fish in and out of the inlet. 

Our photo features Tony Swiderski of Sebastian with a 21" and 24" Black Drum that he landed off the north jetty.

Todd & Eric Juno Bait and Tackle

                                                   Picking Lures

Walking into a wall of lures at a tackle store can be a bit bewildering at times.  Rows of different sizes style, and color lures can leave even the most seasoned angler scratching their head.   Luckily though, by keeping in mind three simple things; picking out fish catching lures can actually be very simple.

1.  You’ve heard it before, but it remains the most important factor in picking out a lure, “MATCH THE HATCH”.  Picking out a lure roughly the size, shape, and color (more on color soon!) of the most common forage should always be your base starting spot for picking successful lures.  It makes absolutely no sense to buy a 12” mullet swimbait when gator trout are keyed in on shrimp.   On the flip side when giant snook are blasting mullet along a seawall a DOA shrimp is not going to get a whole lot of attention.    Not sure what the prominent food source is in a specific area?  Ask the local tackle store; if a local tackle store can’t answer that question, it may be time to look for a different bait shop!

2.  Strongly consider the depth of water being fished, and/or the depth fish are feeding at, when picking out lures.  A fast sinking heavy jig is a poor choice in a few feet of water or when gamefish are striking baitfish on the surface.  The same jig though in a swift shipping channel current is a far better choice than a noisy topwater lure.  A Zara Spook will call them up, but only from a certain depth.  No lure is going to work that well if it isn’t spending most of the time in a fish’s strike zone.  Or as Eric says, “get the lure in front of the fish.”

3.  When picking out a lure, the angler must feel confident in your choice.  It is a funny thing to consider, but it may be the most important factor.  If the angler feels good with what is tied on to the end of the line, more bites will follow.  The fish can’t see confidence, but it results in more bites than anything else.   Confidence baits may not fit the above two criteria, but they are hugely important to have in the tackle box!

Here is a quick list of some of our confidence baits here at Juno Bait.  We will almost always have these lures with us, anywhere we go, and be able to fit the top two points and feel good about what we are using!

Todd’s Confidence Baits- DOA Shrimp, DOA Terror Eyz, Zara Spook Jr, 1.5oz Flair Hawk, ½ oz Gulfstream Shrimp Jig, Zoom Super Fluke and Super Fluke Jr

Eric’s Confidence Baits-   2oz  Flair Hawk, Super Spook, Yum Money Minnow, DOA Shrimp, Gambler Flap’n Shad, Bruiser Super Swimmer

                         

             

Sebastian Inlet Report

05-14-13 TUESDAY: SNOOK, REDS, BLACK DRUM, SPANISH MACKEREL AND SHEEPSHEAD 

We have sunny skies but windy conditions at the inlet this morning. Winds are blowing out of the East-Northeast at 14 mph and there is a small craft advisory in effect through the morning.

It looks as if fishing could be picking up a bit. We received an update from Chuck Fischer of Satellite Beach who was on the north jetty yesterday morning. Chuck reported very few people on the jetty. One oversized Snook was landed by Dave Lectric of Sebastian. Five or six oversized Reds came over the rails that were returned to the water. A few Spanish Mackerel, a smattering of Sheepshead, one nice Spadefish and two Black Drum found their way to the north jetty anglers.
Our first photo today features Ken Lopez of Palm Bay. Ken landed his 22.5" Black Drum off the north jetty last Friday, using live shrimp.
 Photo two features Scott Truong with a beautiful oversized Snook that was released unharmed after the photo. 
Vinh Bui is featured in photo three with a big, oversized C/R Red that was returned to the water.
Photo four is of Nam Bui with a C/R Red that was also returned to the water. Nice going Nam!

Sebastian Inlet Report

05-13-13 MONDAY: SPANISH MACKEREL, BONITO, SNOOK, REDS, BLUES AND JACKS 

Skies are overcast at the inlet this morning. Winds are blowing out of the Northwest at 5 mph and gusting to 10. We will probably see the wind pick up a little more this afternoon and we could see some rain. 

Over the weekend there was a good Spanish Mackerel bite and some Bonito were seen darting around and a few came over the rails. Tommy Turowski at the Sebastian Inlet Bait and Tackle Shop reported that the Mackerel were chasing glass minnows, but there were silver mullet and large greenies (threadfin herring) in the water as well. Snook, Reds, Jacks and Blues were also landed off the jetties over the weekend.

Friday morning was pretty slow on the north jetty, but a few folks got lucky with some nice catches. Our first angler today is Diane Buyce of Melbourne. Diane was using live shrimp Friday morning when this 29.5" Mackerel hit the #2 shank hook like lightning. Diane was able to get it over the rails and by the look on her face, she was one happy camper! 

Our next photo of  Jose who landed, a beautiful 38" C/R Snook, using a small, #3 split shot and live shrimp. Jose also landed two more oversized Snook that morning, one was 33" and the other was 34". All were released unharmed.

From Capt. Charlie @ Fishing Center - Ft Pierce

We have enjoyed some fantastic weather along the Treasure Coast this week.  After dodging rain storms for last week, it was nice to see the sun shining bright across the water.  Mild temperatures and light winds have made for some great fishing weather for anglers and the fish have cooperated for us this week.  Looks like this will continue for a while, so it's time to enjoy some fun, sun and fishing!
The bluefish and jacks invaded the river in numbers this week.   It makes it hard to trout fish when these hungry fish are in the area.  You can find jacks and bluefish from the inlets to just about anywhere on the river.  There are lots of snapper around the river right now.  Some of them have been nice sized fish.  It's that time of year to enjoy the top water fishing.  Try the new Airhead from DOA as a top water or slow sinking lure.   Bridges and docks continue to hold some sheepshead and snapper.  Look for whiting, bluefish and jacks in the surf.  It has been tough on the beach lately, but things should calm down soon.

Take plenty of fluids with you this time of year.  When the winds are light, it can get warm fast on the water.  Use lots of sunscreen as well.  Calmer water can really reflect that sun and give you a nasty burn if you aren't ready for it.  May is one of my favorite months.  Have fun on the water this month and enjoy the fishing!