Beach, Inlet, Offshore, They'r All Good!

Fishing Report
Reported by Capt. Sherrie Stovall on Novemer 3, 2007
Sebatian Inlet Offshore & Beaches
Offshore

With constant windy weather and rough seas, it has been really hard to get offshore for fishing in the last few weeks. If by chance a nice weather window comes along, take all of your best tricks and head east. Run out till the water cleans up and start looking for some weeds. The dolphin have been biting in 130 –150 ft. on trolled baits with an average fish 8-15 lbs. and even up to 20 lb.+. Several wahoo have been biting on the downrigger with weighted mullet or your favorite cone head lure. The winter months bring the sailfish migration up into the waters offshore Sebastian Inlet. When the winds are right Kite fishing with a live goggle eye or blue runner can be an awesome way to lure a sailfish right to the surface. Watch him slash the water with his bill as he tries to feed on the bait dancing on the surface. Many of the other game fish will also take a swipe at the kite baits. Mahi. Kings and black fin tuna are also attracted to the activity. I really like the Aftco kite system with the light and medium wind spars. It gives you the option to change the flight of the kite by adding/removing the spars for light/strong winds without having 3 different kites to fly in different wind conditions. The idea is to set the two baits down wind of the boat about 200ft and at 100ft away from the boat. The height required to fly the kite will depend on the strength of the wind, adjust your spars and let the kite fly so that your baits are staggered a good 50-100ft. apart. When a fish hits you want the other bait to be far enough away to clear the slack falling from above. The kite gives you a good drop back for a hook set, so start reeling fast when the clip pops and enjoy the fight. Kite fishing will be trial and error when you first start until you learn what the wind and your boat will do. But once you get everything set up right you will be hooked on it.The rough seas in winter months spread the bottom fish around to new holes and some revisit old hot spots. Begin dropping baits at about 70 ft. of water and work all the way out into the 200 ft. range. The grouper and snapper seem to be really hungry and are feeding on just about anything you put on a hook. Live bait has been very scarce along the shallow reefs, so you might want to spend some time the day before catching pinfish or mullet for your trip. Frozen sardines and squid are useful in the dirty water to attract a bite.
Inshore

Trout fishing is hot in the early mornings on topwater plugs like the Mirrolure 19MR series. The favorite color is the green or black colored lures. Redfish and snook are cruising along the flats and keeping with the trout too. As long as you see some schools of finger mullet on the surface, the fish will be close. Keep a look out for the pompano skipping in your boat wake as your run the channels and leave the flats. Spin back around and go up from where you saw them, then drift back over the area throwing a small jig tipped with a shrimp or a sandflea to hook up.
Sebastian Inlet

As the water cleans up, the Spanish mackerel has been showing up on the beaches. Large numbers are right off the inlet and will strike at any shiny spoon or got-cha jig sent their way. The black drum have started to show up on the north side of the inlet. Clams and fiddler crabs are doing the job and the fish seem to be ranging 5-10lbs. The redfish are feeding in the inlet most of the day. Any tide change seems to be producing a strong movement of bait and that really makes things happen. Large numbers of pinfish are gathering in the inlet and heating up the snook action at night. Many of the snook are short but the numbers of bites are impressive. Remember the new snook regulations are 1 fish per angler and a 28-32 inch slot limit.With cold weather coming soon, the flounder bite should be on. The big doormats should start moving out of the river on the tide changes. The 3 spot flounder have been biting and the larger summer flounder should follow soon. Finger mullet, mud minnows, small mojarras or shrimp will work well for the flounder. Jigging with a light jig head tipped with shrimp or mullet works well around the south side rocks in the shallower water. Don’t forget to enter our Annual Flounder Tournament. The entry is $10 per person and runs form November 1 through Dec 31, 2007. You must enter prior to fishing. Just stop in the shop and sign up. The tournament is 100% payout. The prizes are First Place $100, Second Place $70, and Third Place $30 guaranteed. The purse will go up as more anglers sign up. This tournament is a lot of fun and many people look forward to it every year.
Surf

The surf is still very warm and only a few pompano seem to be here. As the cold fronts being to drop the water temperate, and the surf cools, the pompano numbers will increase. One good thing so far this year is that the sandfleas seem to be showing on the beaches right now and last year they were scarce all season. Clams and fleas will be the best baits to target pompano and whiting. The bluefish already are here and have been biting for a few months. They seem to have showed up with the mullet in August and stayed. Try using cut bait on the bottom or cast spoons and jigs at the blues. Get out of the house and work off some of that turkey dinner…. See you on the water!

Whitey's Bait & Tackle
321-724-1440
9030 S Highway A1a
Melbourne Beach, FL 32951
www.whiteysonline.com/
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More information, or wish to book an Offshore Charter, please call us on 321-724-1440, or email us: captstovall@whiteysonline.com