Fishing in Sebastian

Anglers in Sebastian fish five connected waters: the Indian River Lagoon off Indian River Drive, the refuge waters around Pelican Island, Sebastian Inlet, the Atlantic beaches and offshore grounds beyond it, and the St. Sebastian River.

Each water has a different manager and a different public door. The City of Sebastian runs the riverfront piers and ramps, Indian River County runs the parks on the St. Sebastian River, Florida State Parks runs the jetties and launch at Sebastian Inlet State Park, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages the lagoon waters of Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge. Freshwater anglers drive west to Farm 13/Stick Marsh in northwest Indian River County. The table sets the five saltwater options and the freshwater one side by side.

Sebastian Inlet holds so many species because it is one of only five navigable channels joining the Indian River Lagoon to the Atlantic, so ocean fish and lagoon fish pass through the same narrow cut (Sebastian Inlet District).

The cut is not natural. The Sebastian Inlet District notes that settlers first attempted cutting an inlet at its current location in the 1880s (Sebastian Inlet District fish series, part 4). Two rock jetties now frame it. The district gives the north jetty as 1,000 feet long and the south jetty as 575 feet, and Florida State Parks says impressive catches are often made from both jetties at Sebastian Inlet State Park, which are ADA accessible (Florida State Parks).

The district's five-part series with biologist Dr. Grant Gilmore sorts Sebastian Inlet fish by how they use the lagoon. Groupers, snappers and sheepshead spawn offshore but spend their juvenile months in lagoon seagrass and mangroves (part one). Bluefish, pompano, various jacks and cutlassfish are estuarine feeders that come through the inlet to eat (part three). Snook, redfish, black drum, menhaden and striped mullet migrate back and forth between the lagoon and the ocean and spawn in both.

Seagrass is the reason the nursery works. The district states that a single acre of seagrass may support as many as 40,000 fish and that, because of the sand bars, Sebastian Inlet has all seven species of seagrass, a mix not found elsewhere in the Indian River Lagoon. That is also why the district has paid for seagrass monitoring around the inlet since 2007.

Shore anglers in Sebastian use three city piers on the Indian River Lagoon: the twin piers at Riverview Park, the pier at the Main Street Boat Ramp and the pier at the Yacht Club ramp on Indian River Drive.

Riverview Park sits at 600 U.S. Highway 1, at the corner of County Road 512 (Sebastian Boulevard), and the City of Sebastian lists its twin piers for observation of the river or fishing (City of Sebastian, Riverview Park). The Main Street Boat Ramp, at Main Street and Indian River Drive, has a fishing pier beside the ramp (City of Sebastian, Main Street Park). The Yacht Club ramp is at 820 Indian River Drive, just north of Riverview Park, with a fishing pier, docks and a restroom (City of Sebastian, Yacht Club).

Across the lagoon lies Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service allows fishing in the refuge's open water for redfish, snook, sea trout, flounder, mangrove snapper and jack crevalle, and permits bank and wade fishing on the lagoon side of Bird's and Pete's Impoundment Trails (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). The posted buffer around Pelican Island itself stays closed year-round, and manatee slow speed zones are posted along Spratt Creek.

Upriver, the St. Sebastian River gives boat anglers a sheltered start. Indian River County lists Dale Wimbrow Park, near Sebastian and Roseland, with a boat launch 7 feet deep at the end of the ramp and fishing access, open daily from 7:30 a.m. to sunset (Indian River County). Donald MacDonald Park, also on the Saint Sebastian River, has a boat launch and an observation boardwalk (Indian River County).

Sebastian lies in the FWC Indian River Lagoon region, where redfish are catch and release only and snook and spotted seatrout have their own closed seasons on top of the statewide license.

A Florida resident annual saltwater license costs $17, a five-year resident license $79 and a nonresident annual license $47, while the resident shoreline license, good from the Sebastian riverfront piers and the jetties but not from a boat, costs nothing (FWC licenses). Snook require a separate permit, $10 a year, even for shoreline fishing.

For snook in the Indian River Lagoon region, which covers Sebastian Inlet and the lagoon, FWC sets closed seasons from December 15 to January 31 and from June 1 to August 31, a slot of 28 to 32 inches total length and one fish per person per day (FWC snook rules). Redfish in the same region are catch and release only (FWC red drum rules). Spotted seatrout in the region close from November 1 to December 31 and, when open, carry a 15 to 19 inch slot and a two-fish daily bag (FWC seatrout rules).

Inside Sebastian Inlet State Park, Florida State Parks prohibits spearfishing and posts fishing regulations at both entrance stations. Last verified: October 11, 2026, on the FWC website.

The nearest major freshwater fishery to Sebastian is Farm 13/Stick Marsh, a 6,500-acre impoundment in northwest Indian River County that FWC ranks among the top 10 trophy bass spots in Florida (FWC).

FWC credits the bass fishing at Stick Marsh to a special no-harvest rule: largemouth bass there are catch and release only. Water depths run 4 to 8 feet, and FWC warns boaters about submerged and floating timber. The site has a double-lane concrete ramp, an airboat launch, restrooms and paved parking, with no gas, food or bait on site. Other sportfish named for the impoundment west of Fellsmere and Sebastian are bluegill, redear sunfish, black crappie and several catfish species.

Most Sebastian anglers check the Sebastian Inlet District fishing report, which the district publishes on Mondays at sitd.us (Sebastian Inlet District).

The online archive lists weekly reports from the week of December 30, 2024 onward, and the district says older weekly fishing reports dating back to 2021 can be requested. Each report walks the inlet spot by spot. The report for the week of October 5, 2026 covered the North Jetty, the South Jetty, the T-dock and the surf on both sides of Sebastian Inlet (report of October 5, 2026). It also explained why fishing had slowed: with the C-54 Canal spillway opened, fresh, tannin-stained water was draining into the Intracoastal Waterway and out through the inlet on the falling tide.

Gear for these waters ranges from light spinning outfits on the Indian River Drive piers to heavier rods on the jetties. Digital Towns Market is our marketplace. It carries fishing tackle on Digital Towns Market, and the Sebastian Inlet State Park bait and tackle concession is listed by Florida State Parks on the park's amenities page.