Reported by Capt. Sherrie Stovall onJanuary 4, 2008
Sebastian Inlet Offshore & Beaches
Surf
Winter has been warm and this major cold front on the eve of January will cool the water temperatures off and set some of these fish into a long awaited winter pattern. The pompano are migrating up down the beaches with each front that comes through. Look to catch some good numbers of fish in the surf as the water temp starts to drops. The bite may be as close to shore or out past the sand bars, so stagger your casts to find the holding area. Try using sand fleas or cut clams on a multi-hook rig held down to the ocean floor with a 4-5oz. pyramid. The weight of lead will vary based on the ocean current and conditions so keep as assortment of sizes with you. The pompano limit is 6 per person over the size of 12 inches.
Bluefish and Spanish mackerel are lining the surf. Cast out a shiny Gotcha Jig or a silver spoon to grab their attention, little jigs for the Spanish and larger spoons for the blues. Keep a small piece of wire in front of your rig to prevent bite offs. If casting and retrieving isn’t your game try using cut mullet on a wire bottom for the Bluefish.
Sebastian Inlet
Flounder should be leaving the lagoon in waves as this late season cold blast settles in for the new year. The flounder fishing is best at tide changes and the first hour into the new tide. Rule of thumb is usually slack tide to the outgoing tide being the primo time to fish, but this year so far it is the reverse. Whatever your preference, fish both tides to see which tide will produce fish. Mud minnows and smaller finger mullet are a sure bet when trying to catch the flat fish. Many smaller 3 spot flounder have been caught with only a few southern flounder landed on a daily basis. The cooler water temps will push the big boys out of the river. Expect some fish to push 8-13 lbs.
Sheepshead and black drum fishing inside the inlet is awesome this time of year. The fish will school up around the Inlet Bridge and pilings with cooler water. Try using sand fleas, fiddler crabs and cut clams to hook up. Large redfish are being caught on the outgoing tides by drifting heavy spoons. Bluefish are also being caught using the same tactics. For those of you interested in dipping shrimp, the weather is turning nasty and should produce some strong north winds to help push the shrimp out of the river and through the inlet on outgoing tides. Get out your shrimp net and lights hit the catwalks or L dock at the inlet, or those lucky enough to have a boat, anchor up outside the channel to dip from the boat.
Offshore
Offshore the kingfish should start moving into the shallow 70 ft. reefs. The fish are ranging 10-15 lbs, with a nice smoker or two in the 20’s. Try trolling some king spoons to find the schools and then you could switch to live bait for some light tackle tug of war.
Expect the bottom bite to be hot, as long as clean water conditions are there. If the water is churned up and dirty, Mr. Sharky will pay you an unwanted visit. There is still a short supply of live bait on the reefs, some large schools of greenies are outside the inlet in 50 ft. of water. Look at the bottom recorder to locate them. Bethel buoy has some small schools of pinfish and blue runners on it but it is lacking the sardines and cigar minnows. The deeper bottom numbers seem to be holding more sharks, but some nice sized grouper and snapper have also been taken. The inside shallow reefs are good for the smaller bucket fish but the sharks are not as thick. Frozen sardines are still working on the schools of red snapper. There have also been reports of some scattered cobia on the 70ft and 90ft. reefs. I cannot stress how important it is to keep a jig tied up and ready to cast at any moment.
A few nice weed lines have been reported offshore in the 300ft. range holding some smaller schoolie dolphin. You know the bigger boys are hanging down just a touch deeper so drop the down rigger and troll or live bait the weed lines. Winter is usually rougher offshore and the sailfish are hot during those conditions. Keep an eye out for a double hook up too.
As we say goodbye to 07’ let’s look forward to a calmer weather and better fishing in 2008. Happy New Year!
Visit our new Whitey's Photo Album site for loads of pictures new and old.
More information, or wish to book an Offshore Charter, please call us on 321-724-1440, or email us: captstovall@whiteysonline.com
Expect the bottom bite to be hot, as long as clean water conditions are there. If the water is churned up and dirty, Mr. Sharky will pay you an unwanted visit. There is still a short supply of live bait on the reefs, some large schools of greenies are outside the inlet in 50 ft. of water. Look at the bottom recorder to locate them. Bethel buoy has some small schools of pinfish and blue runners on it but it is lacking the sardines and cigar minnows. The deeper bottom numbers seem to be holding more sharks, but some nice sized grouper and snapper have also been taken. The inside shallow reefs are good for the smaller bucket fish but the sharks are not as thick. Frozen sardines are still working on the schools of red snapper. There have also been reports of some scattered cobia on the 70ft and 90ft. reefs. I cannot stress how important it is to keep a jig tied up and ready to cast at any moment.
A few nice weed lines have been reported offshore in the 300ft. range holding some smaller schoolie dolphin. You know the bigger boys are hanging down just a touch deeper so drop the down rigger and troll or live bait the weed lines. Winter is usually rougher offshore and the sailfish are hot during those conditions. Keep an eye out for a double hook up too.
As we say goodbye to 07’ let’s look forward to a calmer weather and better fishing in 2008. Happy New Year!
Visit our new Whitey's Photo Album site for loads of pictures new and old.
More information, or wish to book an Offshore Charter, please call us on 321-724-1440, or email us: captstovall@whiteysonline.com
Whitey's Bait & Tackle
321-724-1440
9030 S Highway A1a
Melbourne Beach, FL 32951
