Well , fellow anglers – I’m back, due to some unforeseen misfortune’s I’ve been off the reporting scene for the last month and it’s time to get the message out – THE FISHING HAS BEEN AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE FANTASTIC FOR THE REST OF THE SUMMER!!!!!
Inshore – there’s a host of fishing in the bay if you’re not inclined to fish the Gulf. The Speckled Trout will not be caught in big numbers during the later day light hours, but the early morning top water action will be as good as it gets over the next two months. Night fishing is when you will catch the big numbers of Specks now, you anglers that want to learn to catch Specks in the summer time need to give me a call and line up a night trip. It’s a lot cooler and the fishing is non-stop after dark – remember, things that go slurp in the dark are monster Specks!! For the early morning bite use big top water mullet imitation plugs, I like SPRO’s Salt Dawg 125 and Rapala’s Skitter Walk SSW-11 for the dog walking plugs. The Salt Dawg plug is a lot easier to use and works great for the angler that is learning to walk the dog. Color is not as important as the action, just get whatever looks good to you and practice walking the dog, you’ll catch some monster Specks this time of the year. Redfish are doing very well, of course they will be on the docks in the middle of the day, but I’ve been catching lots of Slot Reds on the flats also. The ¼ ounce gold spoons are a go to bait up here. The flashy spoons look like a small crab swimming above the grass to the Red Fish, be sure not to work it too fast and stop it every five feet or so and let it drop into the grass like a crab would do, this will draw a strike when you have a leery fish following the lure. I also catch lots of shallow water Reds on the dog walking plugs. I go to smaller versions of plugs that I use for the Specks. The Reds can get the smaller plugs into their mouths easier and they don’t make as much noise when they hit the water.
Then, there’s all the other species that are readily caught in the bays. Spanish Mackerel are a blast to catch on light tackle, I use my trout tackle, 10 pound spinning outfits and cast gold and silver spoons like the Clark Spoons to the schooling fish. When you find them it’s more of that non-stop action that I like. Use a 12 inch piece of 40lb test fluorocarbon leader to keep from losing your spoons. There are Sharks, Grouper, Red Snapper, Grey Snapper, King Mackerel, Cobia and even the Tarpon will be moving into the Bays in July. It’s just too much to handle this time of the year just pick what you want to do and let’s just do it!
Near-shore – I got to fish the first sixteen days of June in the Gulf for Red Snapper. With the opening of Red Snapper season being June 1st this year and the weather being right on schedule, the fish have been hungry and BIG. Then, after a few days off I’ve been back out there for the last five days and all I can say is WOW! All the fishing that I’ve been doing is in State waters, less than nine miles out. Lots of people don’t think that there is this quality of fish on these near-shore reefs, but I’m here to tell you - the places that I’m fishing are covered up with fish.
Red Snapper by the dozens, Big King Mackerel, Barracuda, Amberjack, Sharks, Cobia, Lane Snapper, Grey Snapper (Mangrove Snapper), Trigger Fish, Spanish Mackerel, False Albacore, Chicken Dolphin (little Mahi-Mahi), Triple Tail and I’m sure I forgot to mention a few, but this is a list of what you can expect to see in a day’s fishing the near-shore reefs here in the Northwest Panhandle of Florida- that includes Destin, Navarre, Pensacola Beach and Perdido Key, Florida and also the guests that I have that travel from Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama to fish with me-- I make it worth the drive, don’t I guys.
I have an old friend that said he enjoys the times when the fish aren’t biting, for then he had time to see and hear all the things he would miss if he were too busy hauling in BIG fish.
I know one thing for sure - You ain’t going to catch’em sittin’ on the couch!!
So get out there, take a kid fishing and have a Blessed Day!
Capt. Eddie