My Past Fishing Trips & Local Fishing Reports

Pensacola - Navarre - Gulf breeze - Perdido Key

 Inshore Fishing Report By

 Captain John Rivers

Archive Reports 

 2008   2007

June27th  

Lady anglers on the Mega-Bite are showing the guys how it’s done! The guys have certainly caught their fair share aboard the Mega-bite, but lately the women have been slaying ‘em. The inshore trout bite here on the Panhandle has still been pretty good, nothing like it was in May, but we are still catching some quality fish. We finally got some much-needed rain and that really helped the inshore bite. The key to a successful trip is to start early and have the right baits. Just what are the right baits? I’ll let in you in on a few of my secrets. My go to baits in the hot summer months are live pinfish, Bass Assassins Blurp 3” Shrimp (Electric Chicken), or Berkley’s Gulp Alive 3” Shrimp (New Penny) under a popping cork. These are easy for the clients who have limited fishing skills and almost always provide some fun light tackle action. Now, when the popping cork just won’t perform, and sometimes it won’t, what do you do next?  

 I’ll dip into my magic tackle box and pull out a few trusty lures. If you haven’t used the new Mirr0dine 17MR, you need to go out and get a few. These things are proficient trout catching lures. I’ve put some good fish in the boat using these baits. I also like to use soft-body baits from time to time in the heat of the summer. Bass Assassin makes some great 5” Jerk Shads in a few colors that have put fish in the boat on a regular basis. I use Pearl White, Golden Bream, and Electric Chicken, just to name a few. Rigged with a 5/0 –6/0 Worm Hook this bait is deadly to trout!

So where am I catching these beautiful spotted creatures? I can’t give away all my secrets, but I know that some of you see me out and know where a few my early morning spots are, like the Jet Ski flats. This spot has put a few trout on the end of the line, and every once in a while I’ll get a nice fish out of there, but the good trout are spread out more now that’s it June. Back in May, I was catching some big fish close to the boat ramp, which was great, since I didn’t have to run far, but now I’m making 8 – 15 mile runs to get some quality trout in the box. Not that I mind, it’s good to give the motor a workout. Generally, I’m catching my trout in 3ft – 6 ft of water depending upon what time of day it is and what the water clarity looks like.

So what’s up with the red fish in our area? The Mega-Bite has had trouble finding quality reds the past few days. I’ve been out and hooked a few fish, but not with any kind of consistency. I think that heat wave we had a few days back hurt the red fishing, or maybe I’m getting rusty.  Most of my fish are coming off a few honey holes around the docks. Most anglers that fish our waters on a regular basis know that Pensacola docks hold redfish, and if you hit enough docks you will probably get lucky and pull a few good fish off them. I’ve found that the evening bite has put more reds in the boat than the morning bite. Not sure why this is, but that’s what has been working for me and a few of my other captain friends. Also in the evenings, the reds have been found cruising the flats busting up mullet schools. 

I’ve hit my shark hole a few times this year, and the bite has been great just like it was last year. We’ve hooked a few big fish this year that we couldn’t turn, but hey, that’s what makes it fun! You can’t have a fishing trip that doesn’t include a story about “the one that got away.”  Plenty have gotten away, but that just means there’s more fish to be caught another day.

I’ve also been out around the pass and offshore a few times this past week. The red snapper are still gobbling up the bait, and we’ve boated a few nice king mackerel, too. We’re starting to get that usual late day rain shower, so be sure to watch the weather before going offshore.

June is coming to a close, and July is right on top of us. With Independence Day weekend and then the Blue Angels show coming up, be extra careful on the water. Show each other courtesy, and be willing to let some things slide. Just remember to start early, be patient and keep a positive attitude. I truly believe that if you get frustrated on the water you won’t have a productive day. Lastly, watch the weather, it’s going to get hot again this week with heat indexes over 105, so drink plenty of water, don’t get hammered, and try to be off the water by noon if you can, and be safe.
Till the next adventure, here’s wishing everyone tight lines.

Capt. John

June20th  

Is the sun getting closer or what? With 105-to 110-heat indexes and humidity levels near or over 85 %, this is one crazy summer. The only thing making the heat somewhat bearable is that the fishing is hotter than ever.

Since it starts to really heat up around 10am most mornings, I’m only running 4 hr inshore trips and my nearshore trips are staying right around 5 hrs. With the nearshore bite being so good, it’s really not taking long to get my limit of snappers, and we still have time to hook up a few kings, too. Some of my latest trips have yielded some big fish. Today, June 19^th, we put 2 snapper in the boat near 10 lbs each, a monstrous flounder, and a nice king.

Inshore, the trout bite on the flats is not as crazy as it was last month, but it’s still pretty good. If trout fishing is your thing, then I suggest starting out around 5am and stopping around 9am. Start out pitching a top-water MirrOlure Jr. and then switch over to a MirrOdine 17MR. I have several favorite colors that work well, so pick out a few of your own and see what works best for you. I have found that the Trout cannot resist these life-like lures. Also, if you take the time to catch some small live pinfish and put them under a popping cork, you will most definitely put a few more trout in the boat or into the ice chest for a cookout.

In and around the pass, I’ve seen large schools of Spanish mackerel nearly every morning around 6am. Also mixed in with the Spanish are bluefish and ladyfish. Slow trolling a two-hook speck rig will keep the younger anglers busy reeling these fun-fighting fish. Out near the Massachusetts, there are also large schools of Spanish. These Spanish are running a little bigger than usual it seems. I like slow trolling a spoon with either a treble hook or a single hook. Mann’s makes a spoon that’s made of lead and is painted like different baitfish. It comes in different sizes and they work great for Spanish. While trolling these lures you will surely hook a few hard tails, bluefish and even a few fun-jumping skipjacks. Also around the Mass’, I’m seeing some schoolie kings, but be ready as you could hook up with a smoker. Last year I hooked my biggest king at the Mass’; it was a whopper at 40+lbs.  Continuing a little farther offshore around the # 3 - #4 buoys, large amounts of bait can be found hanging out as well as large schools of Spanish. I’m also catching quite a few kings on light tackle.

June15th  

It’s been a great week of fishing aboard the Mega-Bite, especially with calm seas for the past 5 days days. I’ve put fishing the flats for trout on hold and have been out in the gulf searching for some nice red snappers. The gulf has been so flat, that you practically glide across the water to your fishing hole.  I haven’t caught any monsters yet this year, but we have caught some good quality red snappers along with some stud black snappers. I’ve been fishing a few of my #’s from last year, and let me tell you they have been producing well. I’m very pleased with my new Cabo trolling reels; they have been great for snapper fishing. I purchased them for this year’s king fishing as well as snapper fishing. I wanted a rod and reel combo that could handle both king and snapper fish, and these combo’s are perfect. I’m using the Cabo 20’s and 16’s with 30lb mono on the 20’s and 20 lb mono on the 16’s. The drags on these reels are awesome; we turned a few fish that I didn’t think we would turn.

The king bite the past few days has been hit and miss on the wrecks. One day the bite is great, and you can put out a live cigar minnow and you’re on, but then the next day you can’t give a bait away. I have found that drifting baits out has resulted in more kings than trolling.

Although I have been booking a bunch of snapper trips, I did make it out to the flats a couple of days last week, and the trout bite was still very good. The bite ended around 9am for me, so I suggest you beat the sun up, and get out there early. I’m still catching my trout on a lot of the same things I mentioned in my last report.  A friend of mine fishes a lot at night and he was telling me that the late afternoon bite and night bite is red hot, and fishing the dock lights has yielded some quality fish.

I have a few more offshore trips next week, and will be fishing for kings and snappers and a few more trips that will be on the flats. Check back to see my next report and see what we’re hooking up.

Here are some pics from my latest trips.

Tight Lines.

June 6th  

What a week of fishing! With all the big fat hungry trout I’m hooking, there’s no way I’m leaving the flats anytime soon. Well, maybe just a few times to go after a few Red Snapper and a few reel-screaming kings. I’ve got a few offshore trips this week and I’ll post a report on that later, but for now let’s talk turkey, that is Trout.  

I have tried to get out on the water every day when Mother Nature has allowed it. We had a few rainy days last week and I was not able to get out, but let me tell you, the weather has not scared away the trout. The trout bite has just been unbelievable. They have been responding favorably to a wide variety of baits from live pinfish under a popping cork to Bass Assassin’s Blurp Jerk Shads, and as for the top-water action, it’s been awesome!  

I’m pitching a MirrOlure Top Dog Jr in two different colors, either a chartreuse and red combo or purple and black. I’m also pitching the bigger Top Dogs to entice some gators to grab a hold, and so far we’ve missed more than we’d care to admit, but we are getting the strikes.
I’m still catching the specks in 2 – 6 ft of water depending upon what the time of day is and what the weather conditions are, a lot depends on whether its sunny, rainy, windy, etc. All this plays a big part in where I go and what I use when I trout fish.

Lets talk about redfish; I’m finding my reds in shallow water 2ft – 4ft. I’ve even found them right up on the beaches. When you see these fish stay low, pitch a jerk shad like a Blurp Drunk Monkey or a Berkley Jerk shad 5” in Camo or Mullet pattern. I rig these two ways, one on a jig head and the other with a worm hook and a slip bullet weight. Just like I did when I was up North bass fishing. It’s crazy how similar inshore saltwater fishing is to fresh water bass fishing. As for what other inshore species I’m targeting, I’m also catching a lot of Ladyfish, (aka skipjacks), along with bluefish and some nice good eating Spanish mackerel.

Report # 2

Well I made it offshore the past few days and let me tell you if you want to get you some good-eating red snapper they’re out there. With the calm seas in the gulf, I couldn’t resist and we made our way offshore about 5 miles to one of my honey holes. I had my family on the boat a few days back and what a day we had. The weather was perfect and the seas were flat. My father-in-law, Phil, has not been out in the gulf for about 8 years, so he was looking forward to doing some snapper fishing. He had pretty much avoided going out in the gulf because of a bad experience on one of those deep-sea party boats, and even though I don’t go out unless it’s calm, we just never had the right conditions or the same day off. Well, now that he is retired, he has more free time available, and we finally set up a trip for him and the family. We headed out a little late for the trout bite, but we still planned on staying in the bay and doing some trout and maybe even some shark fishing. I suggested we take a quick trip to the gulf to see if the seas were calm enough to maybe go after some red snapper, and when we got a look at the gulf, we couldn’t resist. After stopping for some cigar minnows at the bait boat, we cruised out to my snapper spot. Phil couldn’t get over how smooth the water was and how well my boat handled. As soon as we reached our destination, we were marking fish. After each drift over the spot we were bowing up with quality fish. Every time I looked over at Gina’s dad, he was bowed up fighting a fish. He was all smiles all day. My son, Nick, and his girlfriend, Blake, were having a blast, both catching their limit in snapper and both landing a king mackerel. We kept 8 Snappers for the dinner table, and Blake almost got us a gag grouper for dessert, but it was just shy of legal. It was a day for memories and these pictures will definitely make it to the hall of memories, our hallway of family photos.  

Report #3
On Monday June 8^th, I had a Sean and his wife Jennifer and their two sons aboard the Mega-bite. They had never been offshore for snapper and kings, but today they got what they came from Texas to do. Sean was telling me that to get Snapper back home they have to go 30+ miles offshore. After just a short 35-minute run getting bait and only 6 miles offshore, we were boating some nice red snapper for the ice chest. Both boys had fun reeling in fish of their own, (mom and dad had to help hold the rods), but the kids had a blast cranking up their trophies. After a few hours, both boys fell asleep for the ride back to the dock. They, too, will have plenty of pictures for their hall of memories.

 May 31st

Whether you prefer grilled Trout or sautéed Trout, now is the time for catching all the Speckled Trout you can eat! This has been one of the best months for trout, and it just keeps getting better.

I have been on several trips this past week, and as soon as we stop the boat, we are pulling in some nice trout.  We get an early start, mainly just to avoid the heat, but the trout are up and at ‘em, and you know what they say about the early bird…well, the same goes with trout.

I won’t give specific locations on where I’m catching them; that’ll take all the fun out of catching your own fish. But I can tell you to fish the shallow water flats around 2 – 5 ft deep.  Now let’s talk tackle.

As for me, I’m on Quantum’s pro staff now and I can vouch that they make a top-notch reel. I will tell you, if you’re just getting started with inshore fishing, and are not sure which rod and reel to use, give the Quantum’s a chance. I replaced almost every bit of my tackle with new rods and reels made by Quantum.  If you already have a favorite rod & reel combo, stick with it, but if you ever get the opportunity to try out Quantum’s product, well, even if I wasn’t on their pro staff I’d be using them. I had 3 Cabo’s before I ever got on the pro staff program. 

For most of my inshore trips, I’m using my new Quantum Energy 20’s, my new Catalyst 20’s, and my new Boca 30’s. I’m working with Quantum on promoting their products and I’m here to tell you they have come a long way with their reels. All these reels I mentioned are topnotch and have some of the smoothest drags that I’ve ever used. I’m using 10 lb Berkley Big Game braid on the 20’s, and 20 lb braid on the 30’s. I have all the reels on Boca 7ft medium to med-hvy rods depending if I’m working docks or open water.

A couple of the baits I’m using are the Bass Assassin BLURP shrimp and jerk shads. I prefer, (and so do the trout) Electric Chicken, Golden Bream, and Root Beer colors. I’m also using Berkley’s Gulp Alive 3” shrimps in New Penny. Another lure that has been producing some great catches is Mirrolure’s “MirrOdin” 27MR-18 and 17Mr-18 suspending twitch in a few top-secret colors. Just kidding! Here are the colors from their catalog:

BKGCH— Black Back, Chartreuse Belly, Gold Luminescence

18 — Green Back, White Belly, Silver Luminescence

BCH— Chartreuse Head, Black Back & Belly, Gold Luminescence

 Here are a few pics from my past trips. Enjoy.

I’ll be out on the water again this week both inshore and nearshore. Stay tuned for more pics from those trips.

Tight lines…Capt. John

May 28th

Well, the weather has definitely turned around for the better. Get out while the weather is good and head to the flats for some “speck-tacular” speckled trout fishing. This has to be the best year I’ve seen in for speckled trout in the last five years, and it’s not just a lot of trout, but big trout. We’ve had a lot of rain over the past 3 months and this week was no exception, but it’s actually keeping the trout from heading back up in the upper bays and inlets. There have been reports of some fish heading back, but from what I’m catching a lot of fish have pushed onto the flats. Since we’ve had so much rain, the water is much murkier than normal, but again it only seems to be helping the fishing. I like a little murkier water as I feel it helps camouflage your leader and helps your artificial bait blend in more, and the fish aren’t so leader shy. When it’s light out, make sure you’re fishing something with a rattle and use a light mirror colored bait. If it’s dark or overcast, switch over to darker bait. You’ll be reeling ‘em in before they figure out your wily ways.

Enough of the trout already, let’s talk about the redfish bite, which also has been very good. On a few of my last trips, I stopped over at a few of my favorite docks, and I’m telling you the fish were hungry. One dock held 12 good fish in the 22” range and yesterday, (May 26^th), we boated 3 reds, and kept one. One red was 16”, another was 27 ½” and one was a keeper at 22”. We hooked one more, but it broke us off. I’ll have to stop over on this dock on Saturday during my redfish tournament to see if any good slot fish are around.

Staying inshore, I’m also catching ladyfish, bluefish, with even a few Spanish mackerel mixed in. With the speck & redfish bite going great, I’ve not really ventured out in the gulf to go after any Kings. The gulf has been a bit choppy for me, so I’ll just keep catching specks and reds, until it decides to calm down. Of course, then I’ll be hankering for some red snapper, just in time for the June 1^st season to start.

I’ll be on the water a bunch the next few weeks, so keep checking back for more reports.

Till next time, here’s wishing you (and me) tight lines.

Capt. John

May 18th

Speck mania is sweeping the waters in Pensacola along the ICW and in our back bays.

This has to be by far the best Speckled trout fishing I’ve seen in the past 5 years. On my past 8 trips, I’ve boated 4 – 5 fish in the 3lb range and a couple in the 4 – 5 lb range every time. It’s been unreal!  Popping Corks with a Blurp 4” shrimp in Electric Chicken shrimp has been working great to entice these spotted beauties. I just started using this bait recently, and it’s working like a charm. Another good bait I’ve recently discovered is Bass Assassin’s 5” Jerk Shad in Golden Bream and Electric Chicken. I know I mention Electric Chicken a bunch in my reports, but this color is one of my go-to colors. It rarely fails me. It’s like Trout and Red fish can’t resist it.

The trout bite should stay strong all summer. We had a lot of rain in the early spring and it pushed a lot of the trout that normally stay in the back estuaries and upper bays down to the ICW. The reason they left the upper bays was because the salinity level was too low, due to all of the fresh water from the heavy rains. Some of the big trout are moving back into the upper bays and estuaries, but many of the trout that have moved onto the flats will stay throughout the summer months.

The bite has been good from 6am till around 11am and then it seems to shut down, but then it picks back up for my afternoon trips. Along with the trout bite, I’m catching a lot of nice keeper redfish in the 20” to 26” range and a few right at the 27”slot. The tackle I’m using for most of my inshore trips are my new Quantum Boca 30’s and my Energy 20’s, spooled with 10lb Berkley Big Game Braid on Boca 7ft medium rods. This set up is perfect for light trout fishing, but also has enough backbone to handle the hard pull of a redfish.

 A few more species that are showing up on the flats are Pompano, Spanish mackerel, Bluefish and Skipjacks. These fish are great fun on light tackle. I’ve not been out in the gulf yet this year as it’s been way too rough to head out looking for kings or even jacks on the beaches. As soon as the seas get around a foot or less, you can bet I’ll be out there bowing up on some big jacks and some drag-screaming kings. June is almost upon us and that means most of the baitfish are here and that also means the migratory fish are here.

June is one of my favorite times to fish as the fishing is top notch and it’s not too hot.

If you’re thinking about coming to the gulf coast near Pensacola, give me a ring and we’ll get you hooked up on some great light tackle inshore Pensacola fishing.

Till next time.

See you on the water,

 Capt. John

May 12th

It’s the first week of May and the wind is still blowing. We fishermen need a break already; it’s been 4 months too long! With the wind blowing a gale almost everyday the only time I’ve been able to go fishing has been very early, from 6am to 11am and even then the wind seems to get blustery around 9:30 am.

Windy weather aside; if you’re not out trout fishing, you need to get out there. This has been a banner year for the Mega-Bite for Speckled Trout. The past four trips have been great. We’ve boated close to 80 trout, and of those fish, we’ve had our limit or close to the limit each time. We are catching fish in the 14 – 18” range, which makes for some great light tackle inshore action.

 On the last two trips, my clients hooked up two nice big fatties, one weighing in just over 4 1/2lbs, and then on Saturday my client Jim from Pensacola hooked up a nice 23” monster which had a girth of 15”. I wish I had remembered my scale; it had to weigh somewhere around 5 ½ to 6lbs. Jim also hooked up my first Pompano of the year in the ICW, but again I didn’t get the weight, but my guess would 3 ½ to 4lbs.

I was out a few days ago doing a little scouting on my own, and I hooked up a few nice fish. Here’s a picture of my big trout; a big 5lb female, this girl hit a Bass Assassin 5” Jerk Shad Blurp in Electric Chicken. Early that morning, I was throwing a top water Mirror Lure Top Dog Jr. in blue and chartreuse. I caught a few nice 18inch trout, but didn’t locate that monster like I did with the soft body bait.

 The tackle I’m using for most of my inshore trips are my new Quantum Energy 20’s, spooled with 10lb Berkley Big Game Braid, on Boca 7ft medium rods. Today (Saturday May 9), we were using popping corks with 1/8oz jig heads tipped with Berkley’s Gulp Alive 3” shrimps in New Penny color. I was also using live shrimp from time to time and pitching a Mirror Lure suspending twitch bait in blue and sliver. The other lure that has been a consistent producer is the Bass Assassin Electric Chicken 5" BLURP Saltwater Shad on an 1/8oz red head jig head. All these different setups produced fish today, however the bite was hot from 7:00am  – 9:30am, and as soon as the wind kicked in, it shut off.

With my successful trout-producing honey holes, I’ve not spent much time in the pass. I did manage to get to the pass on Sunday afternoon to go after some hard-pulling skipjacks and some big Spanish macks. Slow trolling a ¾ oz Spro bucktail jig around the shallows of the pass has produced some great inshore action on the skipjacks as well as the Spanish.  When the wind stops blowing so hard and the gulf calms down, I’m hoping to get out along the beaches to hook up some big Jacks and I can’t wait to start hooking up on some drag-screaming Kings.

Fishing has been great in spite of the wind, and I’m sure when the dog days of summer arrive, I’ll be missing that breeze, but I’m ready for some great inshore summer action either way.

Till the next report, see you on the water.

Tight Lines.
Capt. John.

May 2nd

Some crazy weather in March and April made for some tough fishing conditions. March ended with 27” of rain and April followed up with 20+ knots winds for several weeks. Of course, true fishermen are like the mailman; he will deliver the mail in rain, sleet, or snow, and we’ll fish as long as we’re breathing

The fishing was very good the first two weeks of March for Sheepshead, but it soon ended with all the muddy water that was pouring out of the rivers. We did manage to enjoy a few good days of fishing from time to time at the end of March and the beginning of April. With the abundance of fresh water, a lot of fish were pushed out sooner than usual, but next season’s sheepshead run will be off the hook. This April was fair as far as sheepshead go; but nothing could rival this April’s redfish run. Redfish can handle more brackish water than a lot of fish; so all the rain didn’t affect the redfish bite much. When the wind wasn’t wailing, which wasn’t very often, I managed to get the boat out and hook up a few fish. I had Spring Fever, and took every opportunity to get my fish on

The water clarity is slowly starting to look a little better, and today’s trip (May 2^nd) was decent, with 6 trout on the flats including two keepers, and we even had a fat one spit the hook. FYI, I was throwing top-water plugs, (top dog jr) one in orange and one in purple. I had live shrimp, but my guys wanted to fish artificials, so I saved the shrimp for the pass and the jetties

I headed to the pass and the water is still murky, but not as bad as it was two weeks ago when it really could have passed for the chocolate river on Willie Wonka. We’re still catching the little catfish, but not as many as last week, thank goodness. The Redfish bite has been pretty good for the bulls in the pass while drifting live shrimp on a Carolina rig. My tackle for drifting for the reds is my new Quantum Boca 30’s spooled with Berkley big game 20lb braid. I’ve matched those with the Boca rod 7Ft, MH 12 – 20lb, and 20 lb mono fluorocarbon leader and a #1/0 Gamakatsu kale or circle hook.  My other set up is the same rod and reel combo, but I’m using a 2oz jighead rigged with a Berkley Gulp 4” shrimp.  These sets ups will positively put some big reds in the boat; but it can be a waiting game, but well worth the wait

I’ve not been out Cobia fishing at all this season, which I am bummed about. I really wanted to get up into the sight tower and spot me a big ling, but with all the rain, muddy water, and running a few trips, it’s been put on hold. I have heard that the Pompano bite has been particularly good near the old coast guard station, however you have to have the right conditions so you can see the fish. There has also been a few schools of Jacks cruising down the sand bars, so I can’t wait to get out and hook a few of these guys for my clients. We’ll see how the Quantum drags really hold up to a 25lb Jack; I’ve heard that Quantum’s Cabo and Boca drags are the best around, and I can’t wait to test that claim.
Summer is almost here, (my a/c bill proves it already), so dust off your tackle, load your favorite top water plugs, get out and hit the flats for some early morning top water action.

See you on the water.

Capt. John

April 18th

A break in the weather, finally, so I hit the water bright and early. I met up with Sandy and her brother Jim for a day of fishing. Sandy and Jim are both from up north and they don’t get to see the gulf coast very often. We planned the trip for last Friday, but Mother Nature must have been having hot flashes once again, and decided to keep the fan on high all weekend. But we managed to finally get out on Monday. What a day it was; calm winds in the morning with a beautiful sunrise over Pensacola Bay. We loaded the boat and made our way across the bay heading for our first spot. It was early (6 am) and no one else was on the water. Both Sandy and Jim were kayak anglers and both love to fish. But where we were fishing they couldn’t get their yaks unless they wanted to paddle for 15 miles. I set anchor and we pitched our baits eager for the first strike. Our first strike was a good one as Sandy yelled out, “ FISH ON!”

This was Sandy’s first redfish and she said it pulled harder than any catfish she’d caught up north. She fought the fish like a pro and was all smiles when she boated him. With a quick measurement at 25”, the fish hit the icebox. This fish was heading back to Tennessee. Jim was waiting his turn, but his redfish didn’t want to show its face for a while. A few hours went by and he finally hooked up a nice 26 ¾ inch, 7.85lb redfish.

 Had we been in a tournament, we’d be in a pretty good position. This was Jim’s first redfish as well, and since this fish was in the slot, he joined his little brother in the ice chest. A couple of hours went by and we had two nice keeper reds in the box. While Sandy and Jim were trying for more reds, I decided to see if the Mangrove Snapper were around, and I didn’t have to look too far. I hooked a few and passed off the reel to Sandy and she had fun fighting them on light tackle. We fished for the reds in this spot for a little while longer but didn’t get any more takers, so we focused on the mangroves and I showed both Jim and Sandy how to skillfully hook these guys.

 Once they got it down, it was all over for the mangrove snappers. Jim and Sandy managed to put 8 keeper mangroves in the ice chest and put back as many more that were not legal. The mangrove bite was great for a while, and then, just like the redfish bite, it died off. I decided to pull anchor and hit another spot and within 15 minutes of our 2^nd spot Sandy yelled, “ FISH ON!” She was beginning to sound like a broken record, but it was music to my ears when I heard the way the reel was singing. It was no doubt, another big red, and by the way the rod was taking a bow, it had to be a good one. Sandy did very well fighting the fish, and boated a nice 28 ½” red.

 After we took a few quick pics and let him go, we went back to fishing. Jim managed to hook up a small gag grouper and one undersized sheepshead and Sandy hooked what we thought was another redfish, but which turned out to be a small hammerhead shark. All in all, it was a great day on the water with great clients. Thank you Mother Nature for letting us go out and play!

Today’s Tackle Box:

7ft med Boca Rods w/ Boca 30 spinning reels spooled with 20lb Berkley Big Game Braid. 20 lb Berkley Fluorocarbon with a # 4 Gamakatsu circle hook on a Carolina rig  (¾ oz egg weight). Bait used was live shrimp.

Ice Box Tally:

3 - Redfish - 1 was over the slot

8 - Mangrove snapper

1 - Spanish mackerel

1 - Small hammerhead shark

2 - undersized sheepshead

1 - undersized grouper

Till next time, here’s wishing you tight lines.

April 15th

Dust off your sunglasses and hook up the boat, because the wind has died down and the rain has finally let up. The next 7 days look to be great here on the panhandle. The water quality is still very murky, but that’s ok; the redfish don’t seem to care, as the bite has been on fire. I’ve been putting my new Quantum Boca reels to the test, and let me tell you, they are great reels. The drag system is top notch, and if any fish is going to test these reels, it’s going to be a redfish. The bite in the pass has been very good for sheepshead and black drum, with most of the fish around 5lbs, but we’ve hooked a few this year in the 8lb range. The redfish we’ve been hooking have been caught near the pass and on a few secret spots of mine. (Book a trip with me, and I’ll show you)! I’ve been hooking them on 1/4oz  -1/2oz jig heads with 4” Berkley Gulp Alive New Penny Shrimp.

Last week, while we were red fishing, a large school of jacks showed up and the bait pods were jumping out of the water trying to get away from these voracious feeders. We managed to hook up a few, and they are great fun on light tackle. When a school of jack starts feeding, nothing survives, and if you get a bait or lure anywhere close to them, it’s fish on! Another fish that’s making a good showing is the black snapper on the jetties.

 We have a few jetties in Pensacola and all of them are holding black snapper. Even though these fish aren’t the biggest fish around, they are certainly at the top of many anglers’ dinner menus. Pompano are also starting to make a good showing, too, and as the water clears the bite will get much better, I’ve not been out too much cobia fishing, yet, but I’ll be out a lot this week and next. Check back for a report.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

April 9th

Wind & Rain, go away, come again another day (or should I say another month). In the past 12 days we have had over 14” of rain, and I’m over it. I’ve only been able to get out a couple of days on the water, but when I did, the fishing was awesome. I was very concerned about the large amount of fresh water that was getting dumped into the bay, but the sheepshead stay near the bottom, so it must not affect them too much.  On my last trip a couple of days ago, we boated over 20 sheepies, which were all in the 5 –8lb range. They were practically jumping into the boat. I guess they were sick of all the rain, too. Along with the sheepshead bite going well, I’m still catching some big redfish. All the sheepsheads are being caught on live or frozen shrimp and live fiddler crabs. The reds are being hooked up with 3/4oz jig heads rigged with either a Berkley Gulp 3” shrimp or live shrimp; most the time they are not too picky, and I’ve found that the Gulp works just as good as live shrimp if not better.

 Near one of my honey holes, I’ve also been hooking up some tasty black snapper, with most of the fish in the 14 – 16” range. These fellas make for some great sandwich filets.

Even know we have had a lot of rain the fishing is still pretty good. Specks have shown up on the flats near the mouths of the canals and buoys. I have also seen some Spanish mackerel in the pass and bay jumping this past week.
As soon as this wind dies down the fishing is going to be red hot.

We’ve got a cold front hitting us today and tomorrow (April 6^th – 8^th) and hopefully this will be our last one. After that clears out, the conditions should be great for the next few weeks.

March 18th

They say that March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb. Well, whoever came up with that, must have known something about the sheepshead bite here on the Panhandle. The sheepshead bite is finally on fire. On a few of my last trips, we hooked up with some nice 4 - 5lb black and white striped sheepies. Not only are we hooking up quality sheepshead, but we are also catching some big redfish. This has also been a great season for large black drum. These hard fighting fish are a blast to catch on light tackle and they don’t taste too bad either. 

Today, March 18^th was another good day on the water, other than it being a little windier than the weatherman said, (he’s the only person I know that can be wrong 75% of the time and still have a job) J. But even with the waves a bit bouncier than I care for, we still had a banner day; 15+ sheepies and one big redfish to end the trip. My crew (Kevin, Eric, Sam, and Maggie) was from Minnesota and had never saltwater fished before, but they caught on quick, which was a good thing, because they were catching fish. 

Seeing Eric land his first ever redfish was a thrill. He told me that it was the biggest fish he had ever caught. Megan also had a great time fighting her first saltwater fish-- a big Pensacola pass sheepshead, weighing in around 6lbs. Sam and Kevin were too busy pulling up sheepshead to notice Eric fighting a big fish, but when Sam and Kevin landed theirs and Eric was still fighting his fish, they joined in on rooting him on.
 

We were using a #2 Gamakatsu circle hook with 3ft of 20lb Berkley fluorocarbon leader and a 20lb Spro swivel with a 1 – 3 oz egg weight, depending upon the current. We used live shrimp, (you can substitute fresh frozen shrimp), however, live shrimp works best if you can hit the bait store early enough. Seeing a big trout explode on my lure is just an awesome sight! A few cobia have already been caught, but it’s still a little early. There are always a few caught the second week of March, but the truly good fishing for those brown beauties really won’t kick off until around March 28^th  – April 20^th. This is when I’ll be out using my sight fishing tower to scan the water for my chance at a ling over 70lbs.

As the water continues to warm, the bite should only get better. The deep drop-offs in the pass and around the bay are holding some big fish. In a few weeks, the trout will start to move onto the flats and that’s when it really gets fun. I can’t resist throwing a top water plug as the sun is to starting rise up over the horizon.

As you can see, we are already getting some great fishing opportunities, so take a trip to Pensacola and experience some great inshore light tackle action.
See you on the water.
Capt. John

March 12th

Another awesome day aboard the Mega-Bite! This time I was greeted with sunny skies and calm seas. I met up with David and his son Justin for a day of fishing, and we left Shoreline Park around 7am. With no fog and calm seas, I put the hammer down and cruised across Pensacola Bay at a swift 45mph; it wasn’t long before we were on my spot. I wanted to fish the same spot I did on Monday as it produced some quality fish, and I was hoping today would be no exception.
Today’s lure choice was Mann’s 2oz redhead jig tipped with a 4” Berkley Gulp. We drifted it off the back while the guys were Carolina rigging live shrimp near the bottom for Sheepshead and whatever else might be hungry for a free breakfast. 

The first fish of the day was a small undersized grouper. We released him back and dropped again to see what else lurked below. We fished for a good 20 minutes, waiting patiently for the bite to turn on, and when it did, it was fish on for a good two hours. David looked up and told me that the back rod with the gulp was bent over. Quickly, I handed him the rod and it turned out to be the biggest fish of the day: a 40” redfish. David was all smiles while he was battling this big bruiser. His son Justin was watching and wishing he would have grabbed he rod, but he would have his chance a little later on. After David lugged his fish in the boat, we took a few pictures and then released the fish so it could be caught another day.

Justin was having fun, pulling up a few small red snapper and another undersized grouper. I was wondering where the sheepshead were, and then I heard David say,” Fish on!” (You never get tired of hearing those two little words)! It wasn’t long and the fish started to show its black and white stripes, so we finally had us a sheepshead. Next, I heard Justin say “Fish on,” and not just because I like to hear it. We had another sheepshead hit the deck. It was turning out to be another great day of fishing aboard the Mega-Bite. As good as the bite was, however, Justin still didn’t have that Redfish he was longing to catch

Justin with a nice Black Drum

It was nearing the end of the charter, and I started to bring in the lines off the back of the boat. I was reeling in the big jig with the Berkley Gulp, when out of nowhere, (well, it had to come from somewhere), came a big 25lb red! It swam right up right next to the boat and SLAMMED the jig. It was FISH ON! This time, I handed Justin the rod and said, “Here’s your red. Have fun.” After a good 5-7 minute fight, Justin had his trophy in the boat, and didn’t stop grinning even after the photos.

That’s how we like to end a fishing trip.
I’ll be on the water all week, keep checking back to see what the next catch is on the Mega-Bite. If you would like to experience a day of great inshore fishing, just give me a ring, and I’ll do my best to get you to say, “FISH ON!”
Until then,

Tight Lines…
Capt. John

March 9th

As I cautiously made my way down the bay toward the old Ft. Pickens pier, I hoped that the morning fog would lift soon. I had a charter this morning, and they weren’t going to let the fog put a damper on our trip. We popped out of the fog near the pier and surprised a boater as he was setting his anchor. He said, “Where did you come from?” I told him we came from the east, but more importantly I asked him if the fish were biting. He actually had just gotten there, so we were all fishing blind, to say the least. We fished near the old pier for a few minutes, but didn’t get any bites. I decided to move on to my next spot, and left the pier, which was soon out of sight. It wasn’t too long and I was on the spot marking fish. On our first drift, I heard Joe say, “I think I’ve got a good one!” and after about 10 minutes he was right, he had landed his first ever redfish, a whopper at nearly 25lbs.

 Joe was all smiles for the camera. A few minutes later, Chris said, “Fish on!” and now he was battling what I thought was another red, but turned out to be a nice 6lb Sheepshead.

Nick was also hooked up with a black drum, a bit smaller around 5lbs.   While this was going on, Kevin was waiting for his bite. He didn’t know it yet, but his fish was going to be the catch of the day, a 42” Redfish!

It was a great trip today, even with the fog. Our tally for the day was 3 small undersized Gags, 2 undersized Red Grouper, 1 Scamp, 2 undersized Red Snapper, two keeper Black Drum, two Sheepshead and I lost count on how many missed hookups or how many broke us off. Of course, as always, all undersized or oversized fish were safely released.
Here’s wishing you bent rods and screaming drags.

 
Capt. John

Feb. 28th

Spring is right around the corner in the Panhandle!

The sheepshead bite has really started to pick up on some of the bridges, rock jetties, and rock ledges in the pass. It's not on fire yet like it's going to be starting around March 15th, but the bite has been pretty good. Not only are we hooking a few nice sheepshead, but we're also putting some healthy black snapper in the ice chest. As sheepshead start to show up, they help bring a mix to the fishing while we're still catching white trout near 3-mile and Bob Sights Bridge. Red fishing has been a little slow during the day, but at night starting around 6pm to 10pm during an incoming tide, the bite has been downright awesome. Most of the fish are just over the slot, but we're putting a few reds on ice in the 26" – 27" range. The only drawback to fishing at night is the cooler temperatures sometimes, but just this past week we had warmer than normal temperatures so we were able to get out and do some fun night fishing. Were going to have a few more cold night so were going to have to break out the cold weather gear for a few nights. But not for much longer, as spring is right around the corner.

really enjoy fishing the springtime for pompano, reds, sheepshead, which show up along with bait, and then before we know it, the migratory fish, such as cobia are here in force. Speaking of cobia, the annual cobia migration is also right around the corner starting somewhere around March 20th until around May 10th. I have a t-top / sight fishing tower on my boat for sight fishing, which I also use to fish the flats in the summer time. Sight fishing for cobia along the beach has become very popular among many anglers along the NW panhandle region. Everybody will be up as high as they can get on their boats to look for that telltale brown shadow, and then it's game on!
So what are you waiting for? Book your spring break trip in Pensacola and come fish aboard the MEGA-BITE for your best vacation ever. See Florida from the water while fighting that trophy fish of a lifetime. Let's go fishing! Call me today.

This is a 4 hr trip last spring. 

We caught a lot more then this, they only wanted to keep a few for a small fish fry.

As  you can see fishing in March can be great fun for the entire family!
Tight Lines.
Capt. John

Feb. 13th

I’ve been fishing both the backcountry and in the bay this past week, and the fishing has been hit and miss. In the bay I’ve been targeting white trout, redfish, and a few flounder. The trout bite has been pretty good using Berkley’s Gulp Alive curly tail white grubs on a ¼ jig head. The same lure has helped put a few flounder in the box as well. As for the redfish, they are hitting Berkley’s Gulp Alive 3 – 4 “ New Penny Shrimp on a ¼ oz  - ½ oz jig head. Slow bouncing it off the bottom has proven to produce the best strikes. Fishing back up in Blackwater Bay and Escambia Bay has been productive when the tide is right. The Speckled Trout bite has been pretty good with catches in the double digits. Remember that during the month of February, Speckled Trout season is closed so we have to put them back. Most of the trout have been around 16 – 18” with even a few over 20”, and these are a blast to catch on light tackle. 

Red fishing in this area has also been pretty good depending on the tide. Fishing up in the backcountry is all about tides; if you don’t have the right tides you aren’t going to catch fish, and that’s just the way it is. So make sure you check the tides before you decide to go off for a day of fishing. I like to fish the incoming tide so I have some water moving and some water to work with.  I also recommend a few things if you’re going to fish these shallow water areas. Make sure you have a boat that has a shallow draft and some type of sight casting platform or poling platform to help you spot these fish. Most of these fish are in 10– 24” of water and spook very easily, so stealth is a must when fishing the shallows. Secondly, I recommend a Powerpole on the boat. This relatively new gadget has revolutionized inshore fishing for me and many other shallow water anglers.  Getting back to the redfish, I’ve been catching most of my fish by sight fishing from the tower and using Berkley’s 5” Jerk Shad in either Chartreuse or Camo; these two colors rigged on an 1/8– 1/4 oz keel worm hook has proven to be the ticket.

As you can see, we’re still catching fish here in the NW Panhandle during the winter months. You just have to pick your days for the right weather and tides.

Coming up in a few weeks is Spring Break, and this means warmer temperatures and great fishing. Starting around March 5^th, the Sheepshead bite will be off the hook and will last for around 5 – 6 weeks. During this time last year, we were hooking up quality reds and black drum like it was nobody’s business. So, if you’re looking for some great inshore action during March or April, give me a shout and I’ll put you on some great fishing.

Tight Lines.
Capt. John

Jan. 23rd

With a break in the cold weather, I was finally able to get out and do some fishing. My clients Bob and Randy from Canada were here for a couple of weeks, but were unable to get out the first week they were here, because it was too cold, well, at least too cold for me and the fish. It was ranging between 22  - 28 degrees for a few mornings. Of course, Bob said when he left Canada, his hometown got down to a negative 45 degrees! What are we complaining about?

Getting back to the fishing report, Friday was a great day on the water with temperatures reaching the middle to upper 60s. I was ready to get out on the Mega-Bite for some January fishing. Our first stop was in the pass near a few of the jetties. The bite was kind of slow, however, we hooked up a nice under-sized gag grouper around 17”, took a quick photo and tossed him back. 

After that, we hooked in to what I was sure was a redfish, but it took us around some rocks and broke us off, so we spent a little more time fishing the jetties trying for some black snapper, but they just weren’t in the mood to eat. The bait I was using was frozen shrimp, since the bait shop was out of fresh. Black snapper seem to bite better on live shrimp than the frozen, but frozen will do in a pinch.  Another bait I like to throw is Berkley’s Gulp Alive in the jars and a few of the other types in the zip lock packaging. Since it was overcast, we used the frozen shrimp and also gave the Gulp a try in the 3”New Penny Shrimp and 5” Jerk shad in the mullet pattern.

Not ready to throw in the towel, we headed into the bay where I’ve had some luck with the trout lately, and it turned out to be a good move, as the bite was on fire. Randy boated over 30+ white trout and hooked up with a nice redfish that again was lost on debris. The bait of choice was Berkley’s Gulp Alive curly tail grub in white on a ¼ oz jig head in red or chartreuse.

Bob also hooked up around 20+ trout and lost what we thought was a red on the pilings. Along with trout we boated some nice whiting. The whiting were in the 1-½ lb range, and if you have not eaten whiting, be sure to give it a try; you won’t be disappointed. It was a great day on the water, and I enjoyed the good company and great weather. We just couldn’t get a red in the boat, but were happy with the catches we made.

I’ll be on the water again this week fishing for some reds up in the backcountry, so I’ll give a report in a few days.
Here’s wishing you tight lines.

Capt. John.

Jan. 14th

Well, the New Year arrived with high winds and very cold weather. Next week is going to be downright cold with lows at night down in the 20's! Since it's going to be so cold, I've scheduled most of my trips for the late afternoon. I'll post a report on those trips in a week or two, unless frostbite claims my typing fingers. For the past two weeks the white trout bite has been very good, with Berkley Gulp white curly tail grubs as the bait of choice on an 1/8 – ¼ oz jig head.

I've also been catching a fair amount of slot sized reds with Berkley's 5" Shad in Camo and Mullet colors. Along Ft. Pickens on the bay side, the Grouper bite has been ok, and this past week we pulled two nice keeper fish off the rocks in 25 ft of water while trolling a Mann's stretch 25. The colors I was pulling were Pink and Cabo Sunset.

The big bull red fish are still around, but not like they were in November. The bite has been ok from around 12pm – 3pm; most of the fish have been caught on an incoming tide in the pass and I've also found a few fish in the bay schooling on top busting baits. And to end the report, I can't forget to mention the black snapper bite: it's been off the charts! If you're looking to put some black snapper in the box, give me a ring, I've got a spot that's loaded with fish and they are yummy fried up.

It won't be long and spring will be here, and don't forget about the big sheepshead run. These fish are great eating and they can pull some drag for sure. Starting around March 15th is the time to set up your trips and the bite stays steady for about 5 weeks. So give me a ring and book your spring break trip today.
See you on the water.

Capt. John