Shark Fishing at Sebastian Inlet

Shark at Sebastian Inlet

A shark fight can last an hour. That is the honest starting point, and it is why Captain Richard Ladrew says plainly that this is a physically demanding trip rather than letting people find out halfway through.

These are the biggest, most powerful fish you can reasonably hook out of Sebastian Inlet. Blacktips run and jump. Spinners do what their name suggests. A bull shark simply goes where it wants and you go along with it until it decides otherwise. Nothing inshore prepares you for the weight.

Captain Richard runs both a half day and a full day built around this, targeting sharks and goliath grouper with tackle matched to each. It suits groups of friends who want a challenge. It does not suit guests with health concerns or limited mobility, and he would rather say so up front than ruin somebody’s day.

Where Captain Richard Finds Them

The inlet and the water just outside it, where bait funnels through on the tide and predators sit waiting for it. The beaches north and south hold fish through the warmer months, and the nearshore reefs attract them too.

Captain Richard positions the boat by current and bait rather than by a fixed set of numbers. Sharks follow food, and food follows water.

Best Time of Year

Sharks are here year round but the fishing is strongest from April through September when the water warms and bait is thick along the beaches and through the inlet. Blacktips and spinners are at their most reliable in that window. Winter still produces, just at a slower pace.

How Captain Richard Fishes for Sharks

• Fresh cut bait, fished where the current carries the scent naturally. Captain Richard matches bait size to what is around rather than to what is biggest.
• Heavy tackle, matched to the fish rather than to the angler — undergunned gear means a long fight that exhausts the angler and the shark.
• Non-offset, non-stainless-steel circle hooks are required by law when targeting sharks with live or dead natural bait. Captain Richard rigs accordingly. Circle hooks also hook in the corner of the jaw, which makes release cleaner.
• Pace yourself. The common mistake is fighting too hard in the first ten minutes and having nothing left for the next fifty.

Rules and Regulations

Current status: 1 per person, 2 per vessel — many species prohibited

• From a vessel the limit is 1 shark per person per day, with a maximum of 2 sharks per vessel no matter how many anglers are aboard.
• Eight species have no minimum size, including blacktip, Atlantic sharpnose, blacknose, bonnethead and finetooth.
• Seven species including bull, nurse and spinner carry a 54″ fork length minimum.
• 29 species are prohibited entirely — tiger, great hammerhead, lemon, dusky, shortfin mako and white sharks among them. These are released, every time.
• Circle hooks are mandatory when targeting or harvesting sharks with natural bait. Captain Richard fishes to current regulations and will tell you on the day what the fish in front of you is and whether it can be kept.

A closed season means you cannot keep the fish, not that you cannot fish for it. Captain Richard Ladrew targets every species on this list year round — in season you have the option to take fish home within the limits, and out of season it is catch and release. The fishing does not stop.

Regulations checked September 2026. Size limits, bag limits and seasons change — the current rules are always on the FWC saltwater regulations site. Captain Richard fishes to current regulations and will tell you on the day what you can keep. Florida fishing licences are provided for everyone aboard, so there is nothing for you to buy.

Trips That Target Sharks

• Big Game Shark - Half Day — Half Day, $600
• Big Game Shark - Full Day — Full Day, $975
• Night Fishing — Half Day, $600