Sebastian Inlet is a great place to fish in July. Snook and redfish are spawning and the jacks are chewing anything they can get a hold of. We like to fish live bait along the jetties as well as drift the inlet day or night for great action throughout the entire month. A live pinfish rigged on a 5/0 VMC circle hook and 50lb fluoro leader will do the trick during the month. Catch and release is required because snook are out of season and both snook and redfish are over slot and since the fish are spawning, please take extra care reviving your catch.
The tarpon, jacks, kingfish, bonito and snook are off the beaches and the nearshore reefs outside Sebastian Inlet from Melbourne to Vero Beach. Bring your sabiki and look for schools of glass minnows, threadfins or sardines. You can catch the threadfins and sardines on the sabiki and use them for bait around the bait pods off the beach and along the shoreline if the swells are down for snook and redfish action. Rig your baits on a 7/0 or 8/0 VMC circle hook and freeline the baits in the trough on the beach, along the bait schools or sight cast to rolling tarpon. If artificial baits are what you like to use, cast the Mirrolure 77M in purple demon or the Rapala Gliding Rap at the beach tarpon in clear water.
The inshore bite in July can be good early morning and late evening, but the morning bite shuts down quick as the water temperatures rise with the sun. Find the flats with the grass coming back and fish the potholes with topwater early and fish the deeper mangrove shorelines and docks with suspending baits like the Rapala Twitching Rap or BX minnow or the Mirrodine from Mirrolure.
There will be good action on sharks, tarpon and snook in all of the area creeks. Live finger mullet is the best live bait but you can also try chunk mullet or pogies. The fly guys will have the best success on the tarpon but anglers using topwater should get some good action early in the morning.
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