Redfish in the Lagoon — Sebastian, Florida

Redfish, the common name for red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), are one of the defining inshore fish of the Indian River Lagoon and Sebastian Inlet. The single most important fact for anyone fishing near Sebastian is a rule: since September 1, 2022, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has allowed only catch-and-release fishing for redfish in its Indian River Lagoon region. A redfish caught from the Sebastian Inlet jetties, the Sebastian River or the lagoon flats cannot be kept, whatever its size.

The fish themselves are plentiful enough to appear in most weekly reports from the Sebastian Inlet District, which describes the inlet as a passage that redfish use to move between the Atlantic and the Indian River Lagoon. Reports place them at the north jetty tip, on the inside of the jetty, along the seawall near the bait shop, and with the schools of mullet that run the beaches each fall. Inside the lagoon, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists redfish among the sportfish found in the open waters of Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, north of the city.

Florida now manages redfish by region. In a July 13, 2022 release, FWC approved nine redfish management regions, prohibited captains and crew from keeping a bag limit on for-hire trips, cut the off-the-water transport limit from six to four fish, and made the Indian River Lagoon region catch-and-release only. The current FWC regulations page defines that region as running from Lytle Avenue/South Causeway in New Smyrna Beach south to the Martin-Palm Beach County line, so the lagoon waters off Sebastian fall well inside it.

The approach came out of a longer history. FWC states that red drum were overfished in the late 1980s, and that in 1989 Florida adopted the 18 to 27 inch slot, a one-fish bag limit and a March to May closed season. Stocks recovered and, according to FWC, now exceed the agency's goal of 40 percent escapement in most parts of the state. In 2022 FWC shifted to smaller regions judged each year on six metrics: escapement, relative abundance, habitat, harmful algal blooms, fishing effort and stakeholder feedback. Elsewhere in Florida the slot and a one-fish bag remain, but the Indian River Lagoon region around Sebastian is the one region where harvest is closed.

Gear rules still apply to catch-and-release fishing in the Indian River Lagoon. FWC lists hook and line and cast nets as legal gear and prohibits spearing, gigging, bowfishing, snatch hooking and multiple hooks used with natural bait. Commercial harvest of red drum is prohibited statewide. The Sebastian Inlet District has repeated the rule in its reports since the first fall it applied: in the week of September 19, 2022, the District reminded anglers at Sebastian Inlet that redfish have to be released.

The Sebastian Inlet District's weekly fishing report, published on Mondays, is the most detailed public record of redfish at the inlet. Its reports put redfish at the north jetty tip on the outgoing tide, on the inside of the jetty on the incoming tide, and along the wall between the bait shop and the bridge, where the January 12, 2026 report recorded a few catch-and-release redfish on the incoming tide.

Late summer and fall bring the largest numbers. The District's report for the week of September 8, 2025 described the start of the fall mullet run at Sebastian Inlet and said the north jetty action had been all about the redfish, most of them 28 to 34 inches, caught on live finger mullet, mojarra and shrimp. In the week of September 28, 2026, after days of 20 to 25 mph winds, the incoming tide produced several good-sized redfish on finger mullet, and all of them had to be released.

Spring and winter catches are smaller and depend on water temperature. In the week of May 11, 2026, the District reported redfish at the north jetty tip on the early outgoing tide, caught on live shrimp, small croakers and shrimp jigs, catch-and-release only and in the 27 to 30 inch range. Winter reports are thinner: in the January 12, 2026 report, the redfish noted at the north jetty tip came very early in the morning at daylight on the outgoing tide, alongside big black drum, while the seawall produced the catch-and-release fish on the incoming tide.

FWC's species profile describes juvenile redfish as an inshore species until they reach roughly 30 inches, at about 4 years, after which they move to the nearshore population. Spawning runs from about August through December in passes, inlets and lagoon estuaries, and redfish produce their drumming sound by rubbing special muscles against the air bladder. The Florida state record, 52 pounds 5 ounces, was caught near Cocoa, north of Sebastian, in 1996.

The Sebastian Inlet District's 2023 series on the inlet's fish, Part 4, groups redfish with snook, black drum, menhaden and striped mullet as estuarine-ocean migrants that use the Indian River Lagoon as a nursery for larvae and juveniles. A marine biologist interviewed for the series, who spent three years mapping red drum spawning grounds in the lagoon, places all known lagoon spawning sites 30 to 50 miles from the nearest ocean inlet, Sebastian or Ponce de Leon. The District notes that Sebastian Inlet is manmade and that settlers first tried to cut it in the 1880s, so red drum in this lagoon evolved to spawn inside it; with the inlet open, the biologist believes they now spawn in both the ocean and the lagoon.

That local picture fits FWC's statewide research. The Fish and Wildlife Research Institute reports that red drum do not normally travel long distances and do not stray far from where they were born, that Atlantic coast fish average 45 inches and 52 pounds, and that red drum can live more than 40 years. FWRI also notes that estuaries are vital nursery grounds, so loss of water quality or habitat in a lagoon such as the Indian River Lagoon can sharply reduce the number of young redfish that survive to adulthood.

FWC's 2025 Indian River Lagoon redfish annual review links the fishery to seagrass. It reports that young-of-year redfish abundance has remained low in recent years, likely because of poor seagrass conditions, and that seagrass in the south Indian River Lagoon monitoring zone was 45.8 percent below its 1943 extent in 2023. Seagrass has increased in the northern lagoon since 2021 but remains below historical levels. The review also notes that red tide is uncommon in the Indian River Lagoon, while other harmful algal blooms are common.

The same review finds that fishing effort has declined since 2022, when the catch-and-release rule was adopted, yet releases have increased, which FWC says may indicate greater redfish availability in the region. Stakeholders surveyed by FWC continue to name habitat loss and water quality as the main concerns in the Indian River Lagoon region.

Near Sebastian, the Sebastian Inlet District tracks the habitat closest to the inlet. Following a 2007 realignment of the inlet channel, the District was required to monitor seagrass in the inlet flood shoals for five years and chose to continue beyond the permit, according to its 2023 series. The District reports that because monitoring began before the 2011 algal blooms in the Indian River Lagoon, it can show the seagrass beds near the inlet held up well. Farther north, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permits fishing in the open water areas of Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, with bank and wade fishing on the lagoon side of Bird's and Pete's Impoundment Trails.