Sebastian Inlet Snook on Vibes!
Join the leader of the Nomad Vibe Tribe as he gets out of his beloved Chittum Skiff and hits the jetty at Sebastian Inlet, Florida. He never visited before and as a dedicated bait only destination he did not know if he would be well received or if the big Snook reported to be there would hit a Vertrex Vibe. Turns out he did not have to worry about either thing! Read on!
Sebastian Inlet Vibe
The first cold front of the year has passed. Rumors of Snook at Sebastian Inlet had me wanting to try a Vertrex VIBE from shore. The jetty is almost always arm to arm anglers. Stories of there being a hot Snook bite on live shrimp. It is daunting rolling up to a land based location loaded with season live bait anglers hoping to get bites on lures. Since I had never fished there before my expectations were low and hoping to learn more about the fishery for the future.
Getting a late start after dropping my kids off and making the 1.5 hour drive put me there at 10am and I had to leave by 1pm. After a couple bites I felt very optimistic. It was time to try the new Croaker color.
It wasn’t long and I was hooked up to an over slot Snook. After a back and forth battle the fish was close to the jetty almost ready for the pier net. The fish made a quick move and wrapped around a concrete piling. The locals were impressed the fish were eating lures during the middle of the day in what they thought was a live bait only bite.
I tied on another Croaker Max 95 and this time got a 34” Snook in the net. The bites were coming steady and anglers started asking questions. Taking pictures of the lure packaging and asking where they could be found. Two young guys that work for the Snook Nook Tackle Shop asked how I was working the lures. During a demonstration cast I got thumped twice and hooked up to another quality fish almost like they were on demand. Another nice fish in the net and back fishing.
Noah Young was one of the Snook Nook employees watching and I said grab my spare rod and give it a try. Noah jumped a couple real nice ones off, had a bunch of bites and foul hooked a nice over slot. He picked up the double pump Vibe technique quickly and really liked how the lure fished. There was another angler fishing 6 feet away waiting patiently with a live Mullet. All of a sudden I got hammered by another Snook. The fish never pulled drag but the guy said “wow… I heard that one”. The bite was so aggressive the braid made a loud snatching sound.
By the end of the session I had 14 bites, landed 3, chaffed one off and got broke off around structure by another. The Vertrex Vibes, in particular the new Croaker Color were clearly out fishing live bait. Anglers were so excited to learn more about these lures that most of my time was spent talking and not fishing.
Even when trying to leave the parking lot a couple different anglers stopped me to get information about where these lures could be purchased, what size and color I was using. I’m blown away at how friendly this fishing community is. I can’t wait to go back and fish there again.
Tackle used- Nomad Inshore 20-30# Spin Rod
20# Pandera Cyan Braid
Vertrex Max 95 in Croaker, Green Gold Gizzy and Grunt.
(The Croaker was out performing the other colors considerably.)
