August can be a great time to fish the Indian River Lagoon as well as the beaches from Melbourne down to Sebastian Inlet as long as the ocean is calm and the tropical storms aren’t wreaking havoc on us. If the bait comes in the Lagoon I like to focus on the flats, spoil islands or mangrove shorelines that are loaded with bait from Palm Bay to Sebastian in the early morning. Early bite should be good with topwater baits such as Rapala’s Skitter Walk. The bite should stay solid if you switch to subsurface baits or live bait as the sun comes up and the water warms. If the fish wont hit topwater early, go straight to the subsurface with the Rapala Twitchin’ Mullet and Twitchin’ Minnow. If soft baits are your preference, D.O.A.’s 3” shad tail baits work well or you can try the D.O.A. Shrimp and C.A.L. 4” jerkbaits in natural patterns.
If the bait is plentiful in the Lagoon and along the beaches, the inlet bite should be strong with pins, pigs and croakers being the best baits during the daytime, and Rapala X-Rap 14 lures and Hogy Pro Tail Eels and paddletails at night. Anglers can also look for bait pods along the beaches from Melbourne down to Sebastian to target tarpon, cobia, snook, kingfish and sharks. If anglers have live bait, fish the trough for snook and redfish as well as the occasional tarpon looking for a meal. Find schools of glass minnows and you can have a ball with the bonito, mackerel and sharks as well.
Anglers can also focus on the creeks from Melbourne down to Sebastian for snook, tarpon, sharks and big jacks. After the heavy rains, fish the spillways with live baits or fish the Storm 360 GT paddle tails and D.O.A. TerrorEyz in the deeper waters. For a hard bait, use the Rapala Twitchin’ Mullet and Twitchin’ Minnow for good success on snook and juvenile tarpon. Anglers can also target the shorelines, docks and oyster bars for snook and may even find a few flounder too.
Capt. Glyn Austin
Going Coastal Charters
www.goingcoastalcharters.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.