Fishing in June — Sebastian, Florida

June at Sebastian Inlet is the hand-off from spring to summer fishing, with snook closed to harvest and the first small mangrove snapper and Spanish mackerel arriving.

The Sebastian Inlet District weekly report for June 2025 and June 2026 describes a month of transition. Early June still holds spring fish: on June 2, 2025, the action at the south jetty tip was all about pompano on small goofy jigs, still around because the water was cool enough for them. By late June the first summer fish appear, and the reports turn to small mangrove snapper, small Spanish mackerel and big jack crevalle.

Slow weeks are common. Headlines in June 2026 included hot weather with slow fishing and lovely but hot weather with lousy fishing, as cool water, algae and runoff kept fish away. Light tackle for the summer snapper and mackerel bite at Sebastian Inlet is part of the fishing tackle collection on Digital Towns Market. Digital Towns Market is our marketplace.

Snook can only be caught and released at Sebastian in June, because FWC closes harvest in the Indian River Lagoon region from June 1 through August 31.

FWC's snook rules close the Indian River Lagoon region from June 1 through August 31, and the District repeats the date at the start of the month. The June 2, 2025 report said snook season was closed until September 1 and snook were catch-and-release only in the interim. On June 1, 2026, the guide added that the snook were in their spawning mode with the arrival of warmer water.

Snook still bite at Sebastian Inlet during the closure. In early June 2025, small snook were caught under the bridge on live mojarra and along the mangrove shoreline west of the tide pool, and on June 22, 2026 a couple of catch-and-release snook and reds came in the very early morning on live croakers at the north jetty tip on the outgoing tide. The June 18, 2026 report said the night bite had been decent on bucktails and swim baits.

June fishing at Sebastian Inlet depends on water temperature and clarity, and the District's reports often found the water cooler than the mid 80s it should reach.

Cool water has been the main complaint at Sebastian Inlet. On June 16, 2025, the water was 78 degrees when seasonal temperatures should be in the low 80s. On June 1, 2026, the water had reached 83 to 84 degrees the week before, then dropped to 80, which shut down the bite and brought a nasty green snot weed algae that clogged lines throughout the inlet. On June 18, 2026, the water was down to 81 when it should be in the mid 80s, and on June 22 it fell to 77 degrees as persistent westerly winds blew warm surface water away from shore.

Runoff adds to it. The June 18, 2026 report blamed tannin-stained stormwater flowing from the Sebastian River and the C-54 canal, which is not good for saltwater species, and the June 22 report noted runoff flowing out of Sebastian Inlet on the outgoing tide. NOAA's Coastal Water Temperature Guide lists a June average of 82.8 degrees at Trident Pier, north of Sebastian, and NOAA publishes tide predictions for station 8722004, Sebastian Inlet bridge.

The summer species at Sebastian Inlet start to show in June: small mangrove snapper, small Spanish mackerel, big jacks chasing mullet, and greenies and pilchards for bait.

Bait comes first. The June 1, 2026 report described tiny glass minnows and pilchards around the north jetty and called it a sign that Spanish mackerel would follow; by June 22, small greenies were around the jetty and schools of mullet were still coming down the beach, and a couple of small Spanish mackerel and lookdowns were caught at the north jetty tip. On June 8, 2026, big jack crevalle chasing the mullet schools into the inlet were caught with redfish in the channel area.

Mangrove snapper start small. On June 1, 2026, several undersized snapper were caught along with a couple of 12-inch fish on live shrimp on the inlet side of the north jetty, and the guide noted cubera snappers living at the tip of the Sebastian Inlet jetty. In the lagoon, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge north of Sebastian lists mangrove snapper, snook and redfish among the sportfish in its open water, where fishing is permitted year-round outside the posted buffer around Pelican Island.

June reports from the Sebastian Inlet District carry jetty news and rules, from the 2025 reopenings to cast-net and right-of-way reminders.

June 2025 was a month of reopenings. The June 2, 2025 report announced that the T-dock had reopened on Saturday while the north jetty stayed closed for construction, and the July 1, 2025 report described June 30 as a grand day for the reopening of the north jetty. In 2026, the June 29 report noted that the concession and restaurant had reopened and that greenies and pilchards were showing up around the jetty.

The same June 29, 2026 report set out two Sebastian Inlet jetty rules. Cast-netters must take only what they can use and quickly return the rest, and leaving baitfish to die on the jetty breaks both a park rule and an FWC rule. At the tip on the outgoing tide, boats have the right-of-way over jetty anglers, and the guide asked anglers not to let out hundreds of feet of line into the boats fishing farther out.