Today’s (September 1) forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies, a possible midday thunderstorm, N winds at 12-14 mph and two to three-foot seas. Look for showers and thunderstorms through next week.

Our fishing guide, “Snookman” Wayne Landry is excited to announce the reopening of Snook Season:

“Good morning, Sebastian Inlet fanatics. I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend! SNOOK SEASON is finally here!  Except for one thing…somebody forgot to inform the snook about it being open! Haha. I was at the inlet all weekend, as were many others, on Monday, opening day. It was a nightmare with all the people out there! There were hardly any fish caught of any species in the entire inlet, especially the popular north jetty.

While I was there, water conditions were poor due to the tannin-stained stormwater flowing from the Sebastian River and the C54 Canal and mixing with the ocean water. The seas were calm, but the water quality was off. I did see nice schools of mullet coming down the beach on Sunday, but not on Saturday nor Monday. They were moving pretty quickly and so were the fish following them. Mostly big jack crevalle, some snook were seen cartwheeling through them near the jetty. Hopefully, a sign of things to come. Oh, and the water is still a bit warm for this time of year; it was showing 86 degrees as of this writing. Temperatures need to drop to around 80 to 82 degrees to fire up the action. With all that out of the way, here are the action spots. 

North Jetty: Here, most of the action has been on the incoming tide. All week there was a decent redfish bite on live finger mullet, shrimp and mojarra. Only a few snook that I saw/heard about during the week and weekend. They, the snook know what time of year it is!! They always go on vacation for about a week or so. They will be back. Other fish caught over the weekend include small snappers, lookdowns, and a couple decent Spanish mackerel. Small live shrimp and greenies for the snapper and lookdowns, small white jigs for the mackerel. The outgoing tide at the tip is producing redfish and a few snook at the beginning of the tide before the water dirties up. Baits used are live mullet and mojarra. Jack crevalle are there as well to keep things interesting. One angler I chatted with got hooked up with a big tarpon, but as always happens, it got away. Mangrove snapper have been caught along the walkway between the jetty and the bridge, but they have been on the smaller side. Greenies and shrimp on the incoming tide , and the very beginning of the outgoing. 

 South Jetty: On the incoming tide, there have been decent snook caught on live mojarra and croakers all along the jetty. The water over here is a bit better that the north side — it's sandy, but not tannin-stained like the north, and the snook don't mind that. Some redfish and jacks are around as well to keep the interest up. The snapper bite on this side is still decent, but again, most of the fish were on the smaller size, but quite a few keepers. Dead shrimp and greenies were the baits of choice. On the outgoing at the tip, it's mostly small snapper, puffers, catfish and black margates, with a few jacks mixed in. Dead shrimp and cut bait will do the trick. 

T-Dock Area: Back here it has been slow. They are still catching small snappers around the pilings and the rocky shoreline, but again they are on the smaller size. Incoming tide will be the better time to fish, and the very first of the outgoing tide before all the nasty water starts out.  Schools of mullet coming inside the inlet improve the chance for  big jack crevalle following. Large silver spoons and jigs tossed out to the channel area may attract a bite. The snook bite has been mostly slow, but they’re catching decent fish in the late evenings on the first of the outgoing tide using live baits, jigs and swim baits. 

 Surf Area, both sides: Once again, the surf fishing has been slow, the water is still silted up from the big mid-week waves last week. The south beach has been stained from the fresh water coming out of the inlet and running south, plus low tides all morning make it harder to reach the fish.  The North side has been a bit better due to the mullet coming down, and the water has been a bit cleaner. Look for the schools of mullet and if you find some, fish them with large swim baits or live mullet as there may be snook, redfish, tarpon, big jacks, and even sharks that arrive when the mullet get thick. 

Well, my fishing friends, that's it for this week. Like I mentioned, we need cooler water to improve the fishing. I've been fishing the inlet for over 50 years, and I just have to say, fall fishing is usually the best time of the year when the conditions are right! With that, everyone have a great week.” — Snookman.