I reeled hard to let the circle hook set. Then, a sharp pull brought my rod tip down. The mullet started freaking out as my braid danced in front of me. We spotted a school of tarpon farther north along the beach and quickly picked up lines to get there. Tarpon don’t always play nice at the surface, but eventually, at least one fish from the school will gulp air. I added a bait into the mix as we passed a couple of schools of obnoxious Atlantic bumper. Angler Shawn Bean, Sport Fishing‘s editorial director, grabbed one of the rods as Austin put the boat into gear to slow-troll. He pulled out a couple of heavy spinner setups, bolstered with Shimano Saragosas.Īustin pitched lip-hooked mullet behind the boat, staggering their distances from the stern. In the morning calm, Austin found a piece of reef in 20-foot depths that served as our starting point. But much closer to shore, silver giants hang around in spring and summer. Heading out of the inlet to nearshore waters offers anglers opportunities at mackerel, cobia and bottomfish such as snapper and grouper. “He fought it off the bottom, but suddenly the main line snapped and the braid slithered down into the depths.” Nearshore Fishing in the Atlantic Ocean “One fish that Glyn hooked had to be over 40 inches,” said MacKenzie. Austin allowed the boat to drift underneath the Highway A1A bridge during the fish fight. Most of the reds were landed and released, but a couple of drum had their own intentions. “The croakers naturally swim toward the bottom for safety, and we’d let our baits plunge just deep enough for reds to find them.”
“We got rid of the weights and free-lined our tail-hooked baits down to the ledges,” said MacKenzie. Many of those reds bit using a third technique that only boat anglers can exploit.Īway from the jetty, ledges in the channel stack fish up on the deeper down-current sides. In total, the trio caught a half dozen 20-plus-pound redfish, with the largest drum close to 40 inches. MacKenzie’s biggest snook of the morning was a bruiser, measuring 37 inches. Sebastian Inlet’s north jetty is notorious as a fish attractor and producer most seasons, boat and jetty anglers have the opportunity to catch slot-size and over-slot snook and redfish, along with species such as Spanish mackerel, flounder, bluefish and others. Austin had to make sure his catamaran didn’t drift over lines coming from anglers fishing from the jetty. Austin’s boat drifted with the current inside the inlet, allowing both anglers to spot-cast in and around the boulders. On the incoming tide, MacKenzie and Townes cast croakers toward the inlet side of the jetty. “Croakers are incredibly lively and loud, attracting snook and redfish better than baitfish like mullet,” says MacKenzie.Īustin utilized two other techniques when the tide turned. We used two-hook rigs baited with chunks of Fishbites to catch as many as we could.”Ĭroakers attract reds and snook with their namesake drumming sound. “If they’re around, it pays to spend time catching a bunch of them. “Croakers are like candy for big redfish and snook,” says MacKenzie. Instead of casting lures on top, the trio spent time catching baitfish before heading out to the end of the north jetty.
On another day, Sport Fishing‘s Mark MacKenzie and Drew Townes joined Austin to target Sebastian Inlet’s bull reds, but they utilized completely different tactics to score on their trip.
Together, we hoped to accomplish the unofficial Sebastian slam, consisting of snook, redfish, seatrout, tarpon and false albacore catches. A slew of co-workers of different fishing levels and abilities experienced what Sebastian, Florida, had to offer over a couple of days of fishing. The trip was part of a larger group of Sport Fishing editors and staff members fishing together, with home base nearby at Captain Hiram’s Resort. I joined both Glyn and Jesse Austin for a day of fishing in early June.
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