Jack crevalle in Sebastian, Florida

Big jack crevalle run at Sebastian Inlet from about June through October, following the mullet schools, while small jacks turn up in nearly every other month.

Jack crevalle are caught at Sebastian Inlet in every month the Sebastian Inlet District has reported since late 2024, but the large fish keep a schedule set by mullet. The District's weekly fishing report shows big jacks of 10 to 20 pounds from June into the fall mullet run, which peaks in September and October, while winter and spring reports mostly describe small jacks mixed with bluefish at the jetty tips. The inlet lies on the Brevard and Indian River County line north of Sebastian, inside Sebastian Inlet State Park.

The summer start is documented on July 1, 2025, the day the north jetty reopened: on the walk out, small schools of large jack crevalle, 15 to 20-pounders, were chasing mullet and mojarra along the seawall and making quite the commotion. Two weeks later, the July 14, 2025 report explained the link. Schools of mullet were coming into Sebastian Inlet on the incoming tide, and they were attracting big jack crevalle and tarpon.

The fall mullet run, from September into November, brings the largest numbers of big jack crevalle to Sebastian Inlet.

The mullet run is the main event for jack crevalle at Sebastian Inlet. In Part 5 of its biology series, the Sebastian Inlet District writes that every year, from September well into November, millions of mullet migrate down the coast, leaving the Indian River Lagoon through the inlet to spawn in the ocean, and inlet anglers watch for the tarpon, snook, redfish, jacks and sharks that feed on them.

The 2025 run shows how that plays out. By August 25, 2025, anglers tossing jigs and silver spoons on the outgoing tide were catching nice jack crevalle that were following the schools of mullet into the inlet. On September 8, 2025, the District's fishing guide wrote that he believed the fall mullet run had officially started. Millions of mullet of all sizes surrounded the north jetty that weekend, and the big jack crevalle were tearing them up at times; most of the jacks were in the 10 to 15-pound range, caught on big live mullet and spoons. The south jetty tip produced big jacks and redfish on live and cut mullet on the outgoing tide.

By October 20, 2025, jacks dominated both sides of Sebastian Inlet. On the north side, about the only fish caught after the morning were tons of jack crevalle, some ladyfish and small bluefish on live finger mullet, spoons and jigs, and the report added that on the south side, as with the north, the majority of the fish caught were jack crevalle, plenty of them.

The 2026 season at Sebastian Inlet followed the 2025 pattern, with big jacks chasing mullet from June through early October.

It did, with the big fish arriving earlier. On June 8, 2026, redfish and big jack crevalle that were chasing the mullet schools coming into the inlet were caught on live baits in the channel area. The July 20, 2026 report described mullet schools coming in around the bait shop area and the cleaning table on the late afternoon tide, with monster jack crevalle busting them up. On August 17, 2026, the arrival of mullet improved the snook bite at Sebastian Inlet, with lots of snook caught along with big jack crevalle, and on October 5, 2026 the north jetty was still giving up some big jacks along with catfish and ladyfish.

Spring gives an early signal. The May 11, 2026 report noted schools of mullet coming down the beach and listed snook, big jacks, redfish and tarpon as the predators that follow them up and down the beaches north and south of Sebastian Inlet.

Big jacks at Sebastian Inlet feed where mullet and baitfish are pinned or moving: the jetty tips on the outgoing tide, the channel, the seawall and the beach north of the north jetty.

Big jacks feed where bait is pinned against structure or moving with the current. The August 11, 2025 report said the big jacks were hitting silver spoons and jigs fished in the channel area, and the outgoing tide at the Sebastian Inlet jetty tip produced big jack crevalle for anglers fishing live and cut shrimp. The seawall between the bait shop and the bridge, the cleaning table and the beach just north of the north jetty all appear in the reports when mullet schools are present.

Winter jacks are smaller and less selective. After a December cold front, the December 1, 2025 report said the only place fish were caught was the north jetty, where anglers were catching small jack crevalle, bluefish and blue runners, all on cut dead baits. Tide timing matters in nearly every Sebastian Inlet report, and NOAA publishes predictions for station 8722004, Sebastian Inlet bridge, along with prediction stations at Micco and Wabasso farther inside the lagoon.

The crevalle jack is a powerful roaming predator that enters the Indian River Lagoon through Sebastian Inlet to feed rather than to spawn.

The Sebastian Inlet District treats the crevalle jack as a visitor that comes to eat. Part Three of its fish biology series names the bluefish and the crevalle jack as two of the more common estuarine feeders that access the estuary via Sebastian Inlet, predators that enter the Indian River Lagoon for days, weeks or seasons rather than using it as a nursery. The District describes the crevalle jack (Caranx hippos) as a powerful predator that will attack and eat anything it can, with pinfish, mullet, anchovies, Atlantic bumper, croaker and mackerel making up the bulk of its diet.

The Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida gives the maximum size of a crevalle jack as 39.8 inches and 55.1 pounds, though fish are common to 23.6 inches, and places spawning offshore along the southeastern Atlantic coast and in the Gulf Stream from early March to early September. The 15 to 20-pound fish reported at Sebastian Inlet in July 2025 are large adults by that measure.

Jack crevalle at Sebastian fall under FWC's default limit for unregulated species: two fish or 100 pounds per person per day, whichever is more.

Jack crevalle caught at Sebastian Inlet or in the Indian River Lagoon have no species-specific limits. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission lists jack crevalle among popular 'unregulated' sport fish, alongside whiting, ladyfish and pinfish, and warns that the term can be misleading. Standard gear rules still apply, and Florida Statute sets a default bag limit of two fish or 100 pounds per person per day, whichever is more, as listed by FWC in October 2026. Legal gear is hook and line, spears, gigs, haul seines and cast nets.

Inside the Indian River Lagoon north of Sebastian, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's fishing page for Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge permits fishing in the open water areas of the refuge and names Jack Crevalle with redfish, snook, sea trout, flounder and mangrove snapper among its popular sportfish.