With bait moving into the lagoon for the summer, the inshore fishing will be great for big trout, snook and reds, as well as some flounder. Live bait will be the key to getting the bigger fish to eat. Greenies, finger mullet and pigfish are the key baits in the springtime. Rapala’s Skitterwalk and Twitchin’ Mullet are great topwater and subsurface baits and D.O.A. 4” jerk baits and 3” paddletail baits are great soft plastic baits to target the gamefish early mornings; then switch to live baits as the sun gets higher.
The snook, tarpon and sharks will plentiful in the Sebastian River, Turkey Creek in Palm Bay and Crane Creek and Ballard Park in Melbourne. Fish Rapala SubSurface baits as well as D.O.A. Shrimp and TerrorEyz, Storm GT360 Paddletail 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 U.S. 1 bridges and around the powerlines.
The big jack crevalle and redfish 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 Paddletail 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 D.O.A. all are very productive. Live mullet, greenies and pogies will also work well.
Capt. Glyn Austin
Going Coastal Charters
www.goingcoastalcharters.com
321-863-8085