Week of February 26: Entire north jetty has reopened, but chilly water has slowed the fish bite
The forecast calls for sunny skies, a high of 70 degrees, E winds of 9 mph becoming ESE this evening, and 0 to one-foot seas.
Drumroll, please...and now for our weekly fishing report, courtesy of “Snookman” Wayne Landry:
“Good morning, Sebastian Inlet anglers and visitors. I hope everyone enjoyed last weekend’s mild weather. Despite the great weather, the fishing was still pretty slow everywhere. The water conditions, temperature — up to 63 degrees from 61 — remains too chilly for the ‘snookies’ to want to play. They prefer temperatures ranging between 70 and 82 degrees, with 77 being the magic number for me. But folks are catching a couple here and there.
First things first. The north jetty is finally open. And I mean 100 percent open: The temporary and cumbersome wooden repair structures are gone. Let’s give a big shout-out to the Sebastian Inlet State Park team for their hard work in returning the jetty to normal. They worked two days last week in rough conditions to install the grates and have them inspected. You guys and gals ROCK! Thanks. If you’re glad it has reopened, please email the state park and express your thanks. They would appreciate that. Now off on the fishing report.
Fishing throughout the entire inlet remains pretty slow. It is hit-or-miss due to the aforementioned weather conditions. The inlet has been loaded with schools of threadfin herring that usually show up this time of year — March and April — and they are pretty thick. One of my friends told me that he hasn't seen that many threadfins there in about 20 years. He threw a small cast net and said he retrieved about 50 pounds of them. The downside is that cold water is preventing the snook from feeding. Usually, they would be all over the threadfins! But they are catching a few, and on live shrimp, too. Most catches have been on the incoming tide, north jetty, and some at the tip on the first of the outgoing. Also, I did see a couple of redfish caught on Sunday and some small bluefish on the outgoing on spoons. Not much else is going on. The south side has also been pretty slow with only a few snook on the incoming tide on live shrimp, and some small bluefish on the outgoing at the tip.
The surf areas and the T-dock area and along the shorelines has been non-productive, also due to the dirty and cold water. Not anything going on in those areas. I keep reminding myself, it IS still winter, so it's going to be a bit slow. Anticipated ESE winds should blow in some warmer water and possibly improve the bite. One can only hope.
Well folks, that's all I have for this week. When conditions improve and the fish decide to come out to play, I can go back to my breakdown action spotter format. Until then, get out and enjoy the outdoors, and mild temps.” — Snookman