Private Fishing Charters
from Port Canaveral
to Vero Beach

Sebastian Inlet is the only natural opening between the Indian River Lagoon and the Atlantic for a long stretch of this coast, and I base the boat there because it puts three completely different fisheries inside a short run. Behind the inlet is the lagoon: mangrove shorelines, grass flats, spoil islands and the Sebastian River, where I fish live bait and artificials for snook, redfish, seatrout, sheepshead, black drum and flounder. The inlet itself and the beaches either side hold tarpon, jacks and sharks on the moving tide. Outside, the reefs anywhere from Port Canaveral down to Vero give up mangrove snapper, grouper and kingfish, and further out it is mahi, amberjack, red snapper in season and the big sharks.

I pick the water on the morning, not the week before, based on wind, tide and where the fish were yesterday. Some days that means the Vero mangroves, some days the reefs off Melbourne Beach or a run up toward Canaveral, some days the inlet on an outgoing tide with the bait pouring through. I am on the water most days of the year, I fish FWC research charters alongside my own trips, and I match the bait to what the fish are already eating rather than to whatever is easiest to catch. Rods, tackle, bait, licences and fish cleaning are all covered; you bring food, drinks and sunscreen.

Staying nearby? See Melbourne Beach fishing charters or Vero Beach fishing charters for how the trip works from your side of the inlet, and what bites at Sebastian Inlet each season — it is good year round.