Today’s (June 8) forecast calls for partly cloudy skies, a high of 85 degrees, ENE winds of up to 13 mph and one to two-foot seas.

 Our fishing guide, “Snookman” Wayne Landry shares a tale of lukewarm fishing and reduced parking availability at Sebastian Inlet:

 “Good morning, all you Sebastian Inlet fans. I hope everyone had a great weekend. Summer's here and the kiddos are out of school, so the inlet tide pool will be a busy place! Just a heads up,  the Sebastian Inlet Bridge replacement project has begun on both side of the inlet. The project impacts parking in that the entire north parking lot is fenced off, except for one row of parking spaces facing the restrooms and picnic area. The northernmost lot remains open. On  the south side, the entire area east of the ranger station to the rock shoreline, and back along the entrance, is fenced off, eliminating south jetty fishing. Everywhere else is still accessible for now. Law enforcement will monitor the closed areas for trespassing. Please, for your own safety, stay out of those areas. Thanks all. This week's fishing report is somewhat slow. Nobody caught fish in great numbers:

North jetty: Out here, most of the fish caught have been on the afternoon incoming tide; quite a few nice catch-and-release redfish have been caught on jigs, live shrimp, live mullet and mojarra being fished along the rock shoreline between the bait shop and cleaning table. Note: the cleaning table has been relocated closer to the bait shop due to bridge construction. Also, some of the reds were caught on the jetty as well fishing those same live baits in the channel area, along with big jack crevalle which are chasing the mullet schools coming in the inlet. Folks fishing between the pilings during the incoming tide were catching undersized sheepshead, and I did see a couple of mutton snapper, which didn't make the cut to go home. They have to be 18 inches before they can be kept. These fish were only about 15 to 16 inches long. Also caught in the same area were undersized mangrove snapper, they are showing up, but just not in numbers and sizes to keep. Live and dead shrimp for them. On the outgoing tide at the tip of the jetty, using live baits, mullet, mojarra, croakers, there were catch-and-release snook and reds caught. Remember, snook season is CLOSED now; catch-and-release only, as is also with the redfish. Big jacks and blue runners are hitting spoons, baits, and vertical jigs in the channel area. Around the rocks at the jetty tip, small sheepshead and mangrove snapper are biting live and dead shrimp. I was also told that a few of the nighttime anglers floating small live crabs on the outgoing tide have been catching permit, 35 to 37 inches. That's it for here due to silted and cooler water conditions. 

South jetty: Closed due to the bridge replacement project.

T-dock: Back here, most of the action has been on the incoming tide, around the cleaning table, where the water has been relatively clean: small sheepshead, mangrove snapper, mutton snapper, and a bunch of sand perch were caught on small hooks baited with little pieces of shrimp. Use light weight, fished on the bottom at the shoreline, to get the bite. The sand perch have NO limits on them, size-wise, but do have a per person bag limit of a hundred pounds per day, as they are an unregulated species.  On the outgoing tide, big jack crevalle and a few redfish were caught on spoons, jigs and live mullet. 

Surf area, both sides: These areas have been largely blown out from all the ESE winds and the big surf. So, no report for that. 

That's all for this report. Expect a decent week weatherwise. The wind and surf is anticipated to  calm down, according to the surf report I monitor. Get out and enjoy the beach/inlet, but remember, parking is at a minimum on the north side. Get there early as the park has been shutting down when reaching capacity — which has been reduced by two thirds due to the bridge project. Cheers!” — Snookman.