Capt. Glyn Austin
Lets hope we don’t get the cold weather we had in early January. Water temps were 49 degrees which is a dangerous low temp for Tarpon, Snook and many other species. With the water temps in the mid-high 40 degree mark, the fish will be very sluggish and hard to get to eat anything. Live bait will definitely be the key to catching good numbers of fish. While the fishing wasn’t red hot after the fronts, as the water warms into the 60 degree range, the fishing will get good. Trout, Snook, flounder, bluefish, jacks and redfish will feed in the lagoon on soft plastic baits. I like to use Storm 360 GT Shrimp and paddletail baits. DOA Cals and shrimp work well also.
If its Pompano you are after and there should be plenty of them around if the water isn’t too cold. Doc’s Goofy jigs will work well in the inlet and along the beaches and flats of the lagoon from Sebastian to Melbourne for Pompano and bycatch will be jacks, bluefish, trout and Spanish Mackerel as well as a few big Gafftop Sailcats. You can also fish for the Pompano around the bait pods while targeting Trout and Snook. If you are fishing Sebastian Inlet and the pompano action is slow, you can try jigging the shallow parts of the inlet for flounder using a ½ ounce jighead with a Storm 360 Paddletail or a DOA Paddle Tail with pro cure. Flounder action should be pretty good with the cooler weather patterns and cold water as long as the water isn’t flowing out of the Sebastian river and the water is very dirty.
Anglers in Sebastian inlet can target snook and Redfish where the bite will remain strong. After the fronts roll through and the winds are howling, the bite can be very good in the evenings at the tide switch with a bucktail jig. It’s a great time to fish from the jetties because its difficult to fish from a boat in the rough inlet and low visibility. Live bait will be the key in the daytime and at night artificials will work well. Rapala XRap 14 and the Long Cast 14 are great plugs to fish from the jettys as well as from the rocks along the west side of the bridge. The Tarpon will continue to feed on outgoing tide through February during the strong cold fronts and the above lures will work as well as Hogy Eels and Paddletails and DOA Baitbusters.
The big jacks and some trout will move up in the Sebastian River as well as Turkey Creek in Palm Bay and Crane Creek in Melbourne. The Snook will be around the docks and tarpon are far back in the creeks. Live bait is best but the fish will eat soft plastics and some topwater on warmer days. Bundle up and stay warm as there should be plenty of action throughout the month of February for anglers looking to get out of the house on the nice days.
Capt. Glyn Austin
www.captainglynaustin.com
321-863-8085
Capt. Glyn Austin is a lifelong Brevard County Resident and full time inshore/nearshore fishing guide. Glyn runs a 23’ Shoalwater tunnel boat which is comfortable for up to 4 anglers and will let us get shallower than most flats boats for inshore fishing and offers a smooth dry ride when fishing the Inlet
and nearshore waters of
Brevard County.