Week of October 3: The post-hurricane waters are brimming with mullet

Today's forececast calls for sunny skies, no rain, a high of 80 degrees, North winds at 14 mph, and 2 to 3-foot seas. The remainder of the week is expected to be sunny and dry. 

Good morning, fishing fanatics. I hope everyone fared well through the storm and had little or - even better - no damage. We dodged a bullet! My heart and prayers go out to our neighbors in southwest Florida in their recovery efforts. 

Now for data on Ian’s effects on our coast. I was monitoring the web cam weather station Wednesday night from 11 p.m. through 1:20 a.m. Thursday before the station went down. At 11 p.m., the winds were 40 to 45 mph, with gusts to 61 mph. By 12:30 a.m., winds were 60 to 67 mph, with gusts to 81 mph. And that lasted until 1:10 a.m., when they went winds dropped to 51-52 mph, with 61 mph gusts. Then,  the weather station went down. Repairs may take time, as the gusts tore the main power and computer box from its mount.   

Now, for fishing report: Go fishing! Sebastian Inlet State Park opened at 8 a.m. Saturday and the jetty opened an hour later. The inlet is alive with all kinds of mullet: finger mullet, medium mullet and the bigger ‘smoker’ and roe mullet. There wasn't a single place where there wasn't mullet, and fishing was off the charts! Especially the north jetty and surf area. There were mullet as far as the eye could see! Lots of snook were caught, but most were between 18 and 24 inches and had to be released – but, man, were there a ton of them being caught. I didn't see too many oversized snook caught, but I did see several slot fish taken.  Along with them were an impressive number of small redfish caught. Most were also between 18 and 24 inches, but anglers can't keep them either, as their season is closed. Plenty of ladyfish were hooked and some landed, as they do a lot of jumping when hooked and usually come off the hook. I also saw a lot of small tarpon rolling around, and some were landed. Most were between five and 20 pounds - small but fun! Jack crevalles, Spanish mackerel and blues were in the mix as well. I saw a few sharks harassing larger mullet schools, too. Overall, it is a very fishy time at the inlet right now. I also received a report of a nice flounder hooked and lost on the north surf pocket. It is time for them to start arriving now that water temperatures have dropped down to around 80 degrees. 

Get out there and fish. It’s that time of the year – fall — when fishing just gets better, especially when the water cleans up a bit more. Good luck, be safe and enjoy the fishing and outdoors. — Snookman.”