Redfish at Sebastian Inlet and the Indian River Lagoon

No: Sebastian Inlet and the Indian River Lagoon off Sebastian sit inside FWC's Indian River Lagoon redfish region, which has been catch-and-release only since September 1, 2022.

FWC's regulations page describes the region as running from Lytle Avenue/South Causeway in New Smyrna Beach south to the Martin-Palm Beach County line, excluding the Loxahatchee River, and lists it as catch-and-release only (FWC red drum regulations). The rule took effect with a package that also created nine redfish management regions, barred captain and crew from keeping a bag limit on for-hire trips, and cut the off-the-water transport limit from six to four fish per person (FWC, July 2022). A redfish landed at the Sebastian Inlet jetties, in the St. Sebastian River or on the lagoon flats goes back regardless of size.

The 18 to 27 inch slot dates to 1989, when FWC also set a one-fish bag and a March to May closed season after red drum were overfished in the late 1980s (FWC). Commercial harvest of red drum is prohibited across Florida. Last verified: October 14, 2026, on the FWC website.

Sebastian Inlet District reports find redfish at the north jetty in most seasons, with the biggest numbers when the fall mullet run pours down the beaches past the inlet.

The Sebastian Inlet District posts its fishing report on Mondays, and its online archive runs from the week of December 30, 2024 to the week of October 12, 2026. Most report pages name the week but print no year, so the reports below are cited by week.

Fall is the peak. The week of September 8 report opened with the fall mullet run drawing redfish, blues, snook and sharks to Sebastian Inlet, and said the north jetty action had been all about redfish, quite a few caught at the tip on the outgoing tide and on the inside on the incoming (Sebastian Inlet District). In the week of September 19 the guide wrote that a big swell from an offshore storm pushed mullet down the beach and the snook and reds arrived with them, adding that redfish have to be released (Sebastian Inlet District).

Winter and spring fish are fewer and come early. The week of January 12 report had a couple of big black drum and redfish at the north jetty tip at daylight on the outgoing tide, and a few nice catch-and-release redfish along the wall between the bait shop and bridge on the incoming (Sebastian Inlet District). By the week of May 11, redfish of 27 to 30 inches were biting at the north jetty tip on the early morning outgoing tide (Sebastian Inlet District). The week of November 24 counted redfish in good numbers on the north side on live shrimp (Sebastian Inlet District).

Because every Sebastian Inlet redfish must go back, FWC's release advice applies to each one: wet hands, horizontal support, no grip on the jaw or gills, and a cut line when the fish cannot be lifted safely.

For a redfish on the Sebastian Inlet rocks, FWC tells anglers to handle fish as little as possible and only with wet hands, and never to hold a fish by its jaw, gills or eyes (FWC fish handling). If a fish is gut-hooked or especially large, FWC says to cut the line as close to the hook as possible while the fish is still in the water, and to release fish head first. For a photo, the fish should be held horizontally with both hands supporting its weight.

FWC's guidance for piers and bridges fits the Sebastian Inlet jetties and the wall near the bridge: only bring fish onto a pier or bridge if they will be harvested, use a pier net or sling to support a large fish, and if it cannot be lifted properly, cut the line close to the fish (FWC). Since no redfish can be harvested in the Indian River Lagoon region, the practical reading at Sebastian is to release a big jetty red at the waterline rather than haul it up the rocks. The September 28 report noted that several good-sized redfish caught on finger mullet all had to be released (Sebastian Inlet District).

Beyond the inlet, Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, just south of Sebastian Inlet on the Jungle Trail, allows fishing for redfish in its open waters and bank and wade fishing at two impoundment trails.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says fishing is permitted in the open water areas of the refuge, with good opportunities for redfish, snook, sea trout, flounder, mangrove snapper and jack crevalle, and that bank and wade fishing is permitted on the lagoon side of Bird's and Pete's Impoundment Trails (USFWS). The refuge's public use areas are on the Historic Jungle Trail, 3.3 miles south of Sebastian Inlet; the Centennial Trail address is 11455 Jungle Trail, Vero Beach, and the refuge is open sunrise to sunset every day (USFWS, Visit Us). The same catch-and-release rule applies there, since the refuge lies inside the Indian River Lagoon region.

For the lagoon flats near Sebastian, FWC's species profile notes that in winter redfish are found in seagrass, over muddy or sand bottoms, or near oyster bars, and calls a live shrimp floated under a popping cork a good way to fish for them (FWC species profile).

Redfish grow up in the Indian River Lagoon, move to the nearshore Atlantic at about 30 inches, and pass through Sebastian Inlet between the two, spawning from late summer into winter.

FWC describes juvenile redfish as an inshore species until they reach roughly 30 inches at about 4 years old, after which they join the nearshore population; spawning runs from about August through December in passes, inlets and lagoon estuaries, and the fish make their drumming sound by rubbing special muscles against the air bladder (FWC species profile). The Florida record, 52 pounds 5 ounces, was caught near Cocoa in 1996. FWC researchers add that red drum can live more than 40 years, can grow on average to 45 inches and 52 pounds on the Atlantic coast, and do not stray far from the areas where they were born (FWC FWRI).

The Sebastian Inlet District's series on inlet fish groups red drum with snook, black drum, menhaden and striped mullet as fish that move between the inlet and the lagoon and use the lagoon as a nursery (Sebastian Inlet District). The biologist interviewed for the series, who mapped red drum spawning grounds in the lagoon for three years, said all known lagoon spawning sites are 30 to 50 miles from the nearest ocean inlet, Sebastian or Ponce de Leon. The District notes that Sebastian Inlet is manmade, first attempted by settlers in the 1880s, which is why the lagoon's red drum evolved to spawn inside it.

The Sebastian catch-and-release rule can change, because FWC reviews each redfish region every year, but as of October 14, 2026 the Indian River Lagoon region remains closed to harvest.

When it set up the regions, FWC said its new approach includes annual reviews and that redfish regulations may be changed each year in response to them (FWC, July 2022). The reviews weigh six metrics: escapement, relative abundance, habitat, harmful algal blooms, fishing effort and stakeholder feedback (FWC). On October 14, 2026 the FWC regulations page still listed the 2025 Indian River Lagoon Redfish Annual Review as the newest, so a 2026 review for the lagoon had not been posted there yet. Anglers at Sebastian should treat the regulations page, not older reports, as the current rule.

Habitat is the metric closest to Sebastian. FWRI states that estuaries are vital nursery grounds for red drum, so falling water quality or habitat loss can sharply cut the number of young fish reaching adulthood (FWC FWRI). The Sebastian Inlet District has monitored seagrass in the inlet flood shoals since a 2007 channel realignment and says that, because monitoring began before the 2011 algal blooms in the Indian River Lagoon, it can show the beds near the inlet held up well (Sebastian Inlet District).