Fishing in August — Sebastian, Florida

August at Sebastian Inlet is mangrove snapper season, with catch-and-release snook and redfish, lookdowns, Spanish mackerel, big jack crevalle and the occasional cubera snapper or cobia around the jetties.

The snapper arrive on water temperature. For the week of August 11, 2025, the district's guide announced the snapper bite is here: mangrove snapper were everywhere once the water leveled out in the mid 80s, most fish ran 11 to 14 inches and averaged 13, and many anglers over four days had reached the bag limit of five per person with a 10 inch minimum. The north jetty bite came on the early morning incoming tide around the tip, the beach side pilings and the rock pile, on live shrimp, greenies and cut mojarra.

The rest of the August lineup at Sebastian Inlet changes with the bait. Lookdowns and black margates bite on the clean incoming water, Spanish mackerel of 14 to 16 inches showed up on live greenies and tiny white jigs in the week of August 18, 2025, and big jack crevalle hit spoons and jigs in the channel. In the week of August 3, 2026, the district heard of two cubera snapper of 26 to 27 inches taken on live mullet and croakers at the north jetty.

NOAA's nearest records put August ocean water near Sebastian at about 84 degrees, but district reports show inlet readings from 71 to 89 degrees within a single month.

The NOAA coastal water temperature guide lists an August average of 83.8 degrees at Trident Pier in Port Canaveral and 83.7 degrees at the Canaveral buoy 20 nautical miles offshore. Sebastian Inlet can run far hotter: on August 18, 2025, the guide reported 89 degrees over the weekend and wrote that snook prefer roughly 72 to 82 degrees and dislike water above 85, which slowed the bite.

Sebastian Inlet can also run cold in August. In the week of August 3, 2026, the district reported the water had dropped back down to 71 when it should be in the low to mid 80s, and expected ESE winds to warm it again; by August 10, 2026, it had climbed back to 78. The August 24, 2026, report showed 83 degrees, inside what the guide called the summer comfort range, and on August 31, 2026, the reading slipped to 78 from 82 the week before.

August is also storm season. The National Hurricane Center climatology page says the first Atlantic hurricane tends to form in early to mid August, and in 2025 hurricane Erin kept Sebastian Inlet quiet, producing 8 to 9 foot waves on the Thursday and Friday before the weekend that churned the water up and down the coast, according to the August 25, 2025, report.

In August the north jetty carries most of the catch, the rock shoreline between the jetty and the bridge and the T-Dock hold snapper, and the south jetty requires a long walk from the day use area south of the inlet.

Access shaped August 2026. The district's report for the week of August 10, 2026, said the south jetty may only be reached from the day use parking area south of the inlet, because the Sebastian Inlet Bridge replacement project has closed regular access for the next few years. On the north side, the August 3, 2026, report described a massive sandbar that left shallow water even at high tide, and rain runoff from the Sebastian River moving south along the beach kept the south side dirtier than the north.

The north jetty has its own August courtesy rule. On August 11, 2025, the guide reminded anglers that the area between the railings and the yellow lines must be kept clear of carts and equipment so emergency medical crews can use the walkway, with gear placed in the center of the jetty. The same report found mangrove snapper along the rock shoreline between the jetty and the bridge, best on the incoming tide when the water is higher and the current slower.

At the T-Dock, August 2025 reports describe cleaner water than out front and mangrove snapper of 10 to 12 inches around the pilings and rocks near the cleaning station, plus Spanish mackerel on small jigs and live greenies under a float. In August 2026 the dock was mostly closed, the district reported, so fewer anglers fished it.

Snook at Sebastian Inlet bite poorly in August because they are spawning and surrounded by goliath groupers, and FWC keeps them closed to harvest until September 1.

The district explains the spawn on its own terms. In the August 11, 2025, report, the guide said the snook at the T-Dock had slowed because the water was so warm and they were in spawn mode, spawning on the full and new moons in summer, with a full moon on August 9. On August 31, 2026, he described snook as still in spawn mode the day before the season opened, with the water down to 78 degrees and the mullet schools thinned out.

Big predators add to the problem at Sebastian Inlet. For the week of August 4, 2025, the district wrote that goliath groupers were herding snook and redfish all over the inlet and that a few huge bull sharks were around too. Snook and redfish caught in August are released: redfish, as the August 31, 2026, report reminded readers, are closed in the area and must go back unharmed. One bright spot in late August 2026 was a 33-inch cobia caught on live mullet at the tip, which the August 24, 2026, report said had to be released because cobia must be 36 inches.

For Sebastian anglers, August ends the snook closure on August 31, and in even years it brings a 10-day blue crab trap closure from August 10 to 19.

FWC's snook rules close the Indian River Lagoon region, which covers Sebastian, from June 1 to August 31, then allow one fish per person in a slot of 28 to 32 inches from September 1. The FWC blue crab rules close standard blue crab traps in all waters of Brevard through Palm Beach counties from August 10 to 19 in even-numbered years, so the closure applied around Sebastian in August 2026 and returns in August 2028; dip nets and fold-up traps remain legal during it.

August tackle at Sebastian Inlet is built around small live baits: the guide's August 11, 2025, advice was a Carolina or split-shot rig with a short leader of 30 pound test or less, because mangrove snapper can be leader-shy. Tackle of that kind is listed under fishing tackle on Digital Towns Market. Digital Towns Market is our marketplace. Last verified: October 10, 2026, on the FWC snook and blue crab pages.