Today’s (December 8) forecast calls for rain in the morning, cloudy skies in the afternoon, a high of 72 degrees, N winds of 15 mph, and two to three-foot seas.

Our fishing guide, “Snookman” Wayne Landry, says the fishing started like a kiss and ended like a curse last week, thanks to a downturn in the weather on Thursday. Here’s the scoop:

“Good morning all my Sebastian Inlet friends, I hope everyone enjoyed the nice weekend we had, it was really nice out. This week is shaping up to be the same, but a tad cooler than last week. Here we go with this week’s report: 

During the beginning of last week (Monday through Wednesday), the fishing was good on the north jetty tip; many slot snooks caught. The fishing was rather good everywhere in the inlet, with the north jetty being the hot spot. I saw several species of fish caught on both sides. The fishing fell apart on Thursday due to the weather change, winds, waves, and dirtier cooler water. They were still catching some fish, but not like early in the week. I was down on Thursday through Sunday to get the lowdown on the action. Here we go with your action spots:

North jetty: All the action was at the tip of the jetty, both on the incoming tide and the outgoing tide, with live and dead shrimp being the key baits. Snook and redfish were caught on live shrimp; most of the snook were slot fish, just not a lot of them, the redfish caught were in the 28 to 30-inch range, but are catch-and-release only in this area. On the dead shrimp and sand fleas, anglers were catching  black drum and sheepshead, and I saw a couple of whiting as well. Other species caught included jack crevalle, bluefish, lookdowns, Spanish mackerel, and those ever-present annoying catfish! Lots of them. Along the seawall between the bait shop and bridge was pretty much unfished, I did see some anglers fishing in the area, but were not catching anything. 

South jetty: Here, all the fuss was about the FLOUNDER! The season reopened on December 1,  and the cooler water has drawn them in. Both tides are producing fish, with the beginning of the outgoing being the better time for them. I saw several in the three to four-pound range caught over the weekend, and chatted with a couple guys who have been fishing them all last week and said the must have caught over 10 fish in that period, with the biggest being a nice seven-pound fish. There are also quite a few smaller fish in the 14 to 16-inch range caught as well. Finger mullet have been the bait of choice for the bigger flounder, and live shrimp and thumper jigs accounting for the smaller fish. On the incoming tide at the tip, they’re catching snook on live shrimp and pinfish, but the majority of them have been undersized and released. A few made the slot and went home. Other species being caught over here were bluefish, lookdowns, jack crevalle, sheepshead, and a couple of pompano, all on cut shrimp at the tip on the outgoing tide. Oh, and a couple black drum, and the ever present catfish too. 

T-dock area: Dredging in the inlet has slowed the action, but when the T-dock is opened during the weekends, anglers are catching Spanish mackerel and jack crevalle on small jigs and spoons. Also on Saturday, I saw one lucky angler fishing a small Thumper jig along the backside of the dock catching two 15-inch flounder. Around the pilings, there are also sheepshead biting on cut shrimp and live fiddler crabs. The snook and redfish have been largely absent due to the noise and activity of the dredging project. And, yes, I did mention the T-dock being open on the weekends. Park management is opening the T-dock on weekends, but it is closed during the weekdays. 

Surf Area, both sides: It has been mostly slow, mainly due to the surf increasing over the weekend and dirtying the water. Whiting, sheepshead and smaller black drum and bluefish were caught on shrimp and sand fleas; a couple of pompano mixed in as well, especially on the south side beach south of the jetty, and also catfish. 

That's it for this week. Once we get past today and tomorrow, the seas are expected to drop back down and the winds should soften and blow from the west, which will help improve water clarity. This will, hopefully, ignite the fishing action. The water temperature is good at 70 to 71 degrees, but we'll see. Remember folks, snook season closes on December 15. It reopens on February 1. Cheers.” — Snookman.