Snook Fishing at Sebastian Inlet

Snook at Sebastian Inlet

If Sebastian Inlet has a signature fish, it is snook. The inlet is one of the most reliable places in Florida to hook one, and Captain Richard Ladrew has spent his life fishing this stretch of water learning where they sit and when they feed.

Snook are ambush predators. They do not chase bait across open water — they sit behind structure with their nose into the current and wait for the tide to deliver food past them. Everything about catching them here follows from that one habit. Find current, find an edge in it, and there is a good chance a snook is sitting on the downcurrent side.

They are also a fish with a temper. A good one will run for a bridge piling the moment it feels the hook, and the difference between landing it and losing it is usually decided in the first three seconds. Captain Richard rigs accordingly and will tell you before you cast exactly what to do when it eats.

Where Captain Richard Finds Them

The inlet itself is the main event. Snook stack along the jetty rocks, in the bridge shadows and in the turbulent water where the lagoon meets the Atlantic. The stronger the tide runs, the more predictable they become.

Inside the Indian River Lagoon, Captain Richard works dock lights, mangrove edges, spoil island points and the deeper troughs that hold fish when the flats get too warm or too cold. On a falling tide, the mouths of creeks and cuts draining the flats are worth more than any amount of open water.

Best Time of Year

Snook are catchable at Sebastian Inlet year round, but they are strongest from spring through autumn. April through June is the pre-spawn and spawn period when the biggest fish move to the inlet, and September through November is the other peak as they feed hard before cooling water pushes them back into the river. In the coldest weeks of winter they move into deeper, warmer holes in the lagoon and bite slowly — catchable, but the pace changes.

How Captain Richard Fishes for Snook

• Live bait is the honest answer most days. Mullet, croaker, pilchards and pinfish all work, and Captain Richard matches the bait to what the fish are already eating rather than to what is easiest to get.
• On artificials, soft plastic paddletails on a jighead, flair hawk jigs in the inlet current and topwater plugs at first light all have their days. Around lights at night, a smaller profile usually beats a bigger one.
• Leader matters more with snook than with almost anything else here. They have sandpaper jaws and a habit of finding structure, so Captain Richard runs heavier fluorocarbon than most anglers expect and checks it after every fish.

Rules and Regulations

Current status: Open in season — slot limit, one per person

• In the Indian River Lagoon region, which includes Sebastian Inlet, recreational snook harvest is open February 1 – May 31 and September 1 – December 14. It is closed the rest of the year.
• The slot limit is 28″ to 32″ total length, with a bag limit of one fish per person per day.
• A snook permit is required in addition to a saltwater fishing licence — both are covered for you aboard.
• Snook can be caught and released year round. Outside the open season, every fish goes back.

Regulations checked September 2026. Size limits, bag limits and seasons change — the current rules are always on the FWC saltwater regulations site. Captain Richard Ladrew fishes to current regulations and will tell you on the day what you can keep. On a Zookeeper Charters trip you are covered under his licence, so there is nothing for you to buy.

Trips That Target Snook

• Half Day Inshore Fishing — Half Day, $600
• Full Day Inshore / Nearshore — Full Day, $975
• Night Fishing — Half Day, $600