Super User everythingthatswims Posted April 12, 2015 Super User Posted April 12, 2015 I spent 4 days fishing Sebastian Inlet this week with my brothers during our spring break. We had a blast! Caught lots of fish, learned a lot, and added 15 new species to our list, which is now somewhere in the 120 range. During the week we caught LOTS of jacks, a decent number of spanish mackerel including a giant 30"er, lots of bluefish, some lady fish, lots of small mangrove snapper, a couple flounder, and an interesting mixed bag from the crevices and holes in the jetties that we explored. Most of our jacks were caught free lining threadfin herring, they can definitely be caught on lures but the fish were so keyed in on the herring that it was best to just get a cast net full of bait and go to work. The Spanish Mackerel were caught on gotcha plugs and live ballyhoo. Mangroves were mostly caught on live shrimp, the water was crystal clear and we were sight fishing, they would just stare at pieces of cut bait or frozen shrimp, live shrimp was clearly the way to go. Snook were constantly visible, but from what we were told, they mainly feed at night and just hang out during the day. We only fished at night one time, and we couldn't do much with the snook since the blues, jacks, and lady fish were so thick (not complaining!). You couldn't keep a bait in the water for more than 10 seconds before it was eaten, it was by far the craziest frenzy I have ever witnessed. I threw my 6' cast net on a school of herring and ended up with three 18-20" blues, about a 25" lady fish, and 100 or so herring in one toss. To all of you living in Florida, I'm jealous. Everyone we talked to was saying the fishing was really off compared to what it can be, and we were out there having the time of our lives! And a note to everyone out there, please remember to keep an eye on your fishing gear when exploring a new place. We did not know that the area we were in is notorious for stolen fishing equipment, and ended up losing around $400 worth of stuff including 3 rods one morning when we set our stuff down and walked 75 yards away for 5 minutes to catch bait. It happened very fast and it was a very dumb move on our part to leave our gear unattended. Some thief is now the proud owner of almost my entire jerkbait and crankbait collection minus the deep divers that stayed home in VA. Baby Goliath Grouper Not even sure what this little guy is, caught him in a cast net, very cool looking fish! Sergeant Major, (Sebastian Inlet equivalent of bluegill) Many double and triple headers on jacks during blitzes in the mornings. 30" speed demon And the mangrove snapper. Incredibly strong for their size and very fun to target. Lots of other interesting fish caught, but I didn't want to make the post too photo heavy! 1 Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted April 12, 2015 Super User Posted April 12, 2015 Great outing, Sebastion is a premier fishery, my area is pretty dead now. Snook are my main target fish, I have noticed over the last 10 years certain nuances. They are nocturnal feeders, best time for me is about 30 minutes before and 15 minutes after sunrise on the outgoing tide, that's when I'm fishing the inlet or ICW. In the warmer months with bait present I can catch just as easy on the incoming tide. The surf has it's own set of rules, 80 degree water and up brings them in, some being caught now the water is about 75. The rougher the water the better, flat water isn't ideal. I can catch snook on the beach in the daytime, not near as nocturnal there. Jacks have been happening for the last 6 weeks, they were schooling (jacks school by size), now it's just a single fish. Sizes have been running from about 7# to 12# or so. I always check out the surf report before heading to the beach. http://www.surf-forecast.com/ Quote
Super User BassinLou Posted April 12, 2015 Super User Posted April 12, 2015 Glad you had a fun visit. Sorry about your gear. Lesson learned unfortunately. Never ever leave gear unattended. Theft really ticks me off. 1 Quote
Joedodge Posted April 13, 2015 Posted April 13, 2015 Sorry you lost the gear! Thieves are rotten people! Yeah we are lucky with all the types of fishing we have year round here. I grew up fishing just like you guys did on your trip! I pier and surf fishing is a lot of fun! Glad the trip treated ya well Quote
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