Welcome to this week’s fishing report for Sebastian Inlet in Sebastian, Florida. The tides and moon phases have been favorable for fishing, and anglers have been having great success catching snook, redfish, and the occasional Spanish mackerel.
Live bait has been key to catching some of the larger fish this past week, with live croakers and live shrimp being the baits of choice. For those needing live croakers, Riggs Bait and Tackle in Melbourne, Florida, has plenty in stock.
If you don’t want to use live bait, some fishermen have been doing very well at night using large bucktails and paddle tails. Inshore fishing on the Indian River Lagoon has also been productive, with signs of mullet up and down the river. Speckled trout are becoming more abundant and easier to catch, and keeper-sized snook and redfish have been caught in the river. The artificial baits of choice are the Zman paddle tails and Yozuri twitch baits.
Moving on to Headwaters Lake in Fellsmere, Florida, the fishing has been steady for the past week. Large fish have been taken on live shiners, with the bigger fish hiding in specific locations. The stick marsh and farm pond have also been producing large fish on live shiners. If you’re not a live shiner fisherman, then the artificial baits of choice would be crankbaits, chatter baits, jointed baits, and speed worms. The key to finding big fish has been deep drop-offs and heavy coverage.
With the lack of rainfall in our area, the lakes are shallower than usual, and fishermen should be careful running across any of the lakes due to submerged objects and other dangers.
Lastly, the CCA is having a raffle for a brand new four-seater golf cart to support the rehabilitation of local coastlines and waterways and the planting of mangroves and seagrass. Raffle tickets are $20 each, and the drawing will be held on May 13. Good luck out there, and I hope to see you on the water.
Snyder runs the Anglers Anonymous Podcast (Apple – iHeart) with regular reports and fishing tips.
Catch anything? We would love to feature your catch! Let us know how you did by sending us your name, hometown, fish, bait used, and where you caught your fish, with photos to info@sebastiandaily.com.
Weather
After some rain on Saturday, the weather in Sebastian has dramatically improved. Temperatures will be between 85 to 87 degrees for daytime highs and overnight lows near 70.
However, there will be some gusts as high as 20 mph starting Thursday and next weekend, with a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms.
For boaters, winds are 5 to 10 knots, then increasing to 10 to 15 by Thursday. Seas are 3 to 5 feet all week.
There could be some small craft advisories on Thursday as the storms move in. Sebastian Daily will let you know if that happens.
