 The fact you are reading this report is proof I’ve once again survived my annual quest to put the brakes on life and escape to the confines of the Sebastian area of the Indian River Lagoon. For over 22 years, I’ve taken a week off in November to do nothing but fish. My only dilemma was a week of seaside fishing adventure, cool salty breezes, magnificent starry nights, spectacular sunrises, and good friends, passed by in the wink of an eye. The old adage is certainly true, time flies when you’re fishing and having fun.
Although life is Sebastian was great, the typical blustery November weather kicked up the seas and muddied the water making conditions a challenge, and passage through the Sebastian Inlet in a 17-foot Maverick tough. As we all know, fishing is fishing and hardcore anglers never let the little stuff bother them. So we sucked it up and made the best of it, and we still manager to catch a ton of fish. Each day on the water was an adventure, and I even had to break out my winter shorts on a couple of the cooler mornings.
Listed below are some observation made on our quest:
Snook:
The snook bite was going off while drift fishing the inlet at night during periods of tidal change. Many of the local anglers returned to the dock with limits of snook caught on a single drift through the gauntlet of boats and shore anglers using live pigfish, and pinfish. This is full contact fishing, so stay alert and be patient with other anglers.
Mullet Run:
There are still good concentrations of finger mullet present in all areas of the central lagoon. When conditions settled down, bait showering the water’s surface to escape predators was a common site. The mullet schools have begun to thin out in the Canaveral area, and they will begin to diminish in Sebastian as the water cools.
Flounder Run:
Flounder concentrations at the inlet have been limited to mostly small gulf flounder. This week we targeted flounder each day managing only one decent sized fish taken on a RipTide Mud Minnow jig. The run should intensify as soon as the water cools down a bit, so be prepared to hit the inlet at a moment notice if you are a flounder pounder.
Pompano:
Pompano have begun to show up in the inlet cuts and on the flats of Long Point, Honest John’s, and Black Point. We managed to catch several nice pompano while jigging for flounder. We also observed a good number of pompano skipping as we ventured across the flats. These fish are forming up for their annual migration seaward, so their numbers will improve as the cold fronts pass.
Spotted Sea Trout:
Although out of season, we did manage to catch some really nice sea trout up to six pounds, using Cootee root-beer curly tail jigs on the channel side of the spoil islands.
All in all, it was a fantastic week of adventure, and I’m already dreaming of next year’s November Sebastian fishing odyssey.
As always, if you have any questions or need information, please contact me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn |
