By: Capt. Glyn Austin
March was a great month to fish with the warmer temps and April means the hot weather is here to stay. With the bait moving into the lagoon for the summer, the inshore fishing will be great for big trout snook and reds.
The Snook, tarpon and sharks are plentiful in the Sebastian River, Turkey Creek in Palm Bay and Crane Creek and Ballard Park in Melbourne. I like to fish Rapala Subsurface baits as well as D.O.A. shrimp and TerrorEyz, Storm GT360 Paddle tail baits Live shrimp and mullet are a great live baits to use. Fish the rolling tarpon in both forks of the river early in the moring and and pick apart the shorelines and docks for snook. The sharks will eat live and dead baits in the lower river between the railroad and US 1 bridges and around the powerlines.
Fish the spoil islands in the Lagoon from Palm Bay to Sebastian for snook, trout, redfish jacks and flounder. I like to fish the Rapala Skitterwalk V early mornings for the topwater bite then move to subsurface baits as the sun comes up. Fish the edges of the bait pods along the mangrove shorelines for the same species.
The big jack crevalle that station themselves in the inlet’s swift current looking for a meal to float by. Live pigfish or pinfish are the best bait most days. I also have consistent success with big Storm GT360 Paddle tail baits rigged on heavy jigheads. Nightime is when the snook and redfish are more active on artificial baits such as bucktails, jigs, soft plastics and diving plugs for anglers fishing from the rocks or jetties.
Tarpon, jacks, Bonito, Sharks, Mackerel and cobia can be along the beaches from Sebastian to Melbourne in April and can be caught from a boat and from the beach as well. Rapala hard baits and soft baits from Storm, Hogy and DOA all are very productive. Live mullet, greenies and pogies will also work well.
Capt. Glyn Austin
www.captainglynaustin.com
321-863-8085
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.