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Fishing Report for the Florida Panhandle
Capt. Alex Crawford
September 8, 2002
Carrabelle - Saltwater Fishing Report
Inshore, trout are eating pinfish and pogies in the bay on the Northeast corner of the Cut. Try the last hour and a half before high tide. Nice bluefish are feeding outside of the Cut on the Southwest side of the jetties. A trace wire leader will help you land these choppers with the razor sharp teeth. The Cut is loaded with bait now. Glass minnows, pogies and razorbellies are everywhere. Look for gulls and pelicans diving to find Spanish Mackeral cutting up the bait. This Summer the Spanish have been the biggest I have seen in years. The net ban is now 6 years old and the results are apparent. Four and five pounders are common now. For the sheer joy of getting a hard pull on your string, put your favorite ultralight spinning outfit into action. Catching and releasing 5 pound gafftopsail catfish on four pound mono is loads of fun. Play some string music with the sweet sound of your drag whining that familiar long song.
If your vessel can venture into skinny water, try the oyster bars at low tide at the mouth of the East or St. Marks river where they flow into the Apalachicola Bay. Try for reds with a ¼ ounce slider jig and a frisky shrimp. Go to fluorocarbon leaders to minimize cutoffs on sharp oyster shells. Another refish spot worth a shot is Bird Island. The Bird Island in the Gulf 2 miles Southwest of the West Pass. Take a couple dozen hardy finger mullet and a small slip sinker to the East end of the island. You can castnet your bait from the island. A West or Southwest wind is best and good current is a necessity. If the reds are not biting, the 10 pound bonnethead and blacktip sharks will be.
This week I have had two offshore trips and they have been super productive. One group from Dallas wanted to eat some tasty snappers, so we ventured out to one of my wreck numbers and dropped live pogies on mangroves. We lost some leaders to the Spanish and the sharks, but that is all in the game. Just tie your leaders in advance of your fishing trips to reduce downtime(prepared opportunist). We also caught some nice lesser AJs and some Mackeral to 14 pounds on cigar minnows. Another excellent option is to run South off the East end of Saint George Island into 55 feet of water and anchor on live bottom. When the water is moving, you can fill your box with two delicacies of the sea, black seabass and gray triggerfish. Quality squid is the ticket and small hooks for the triggers.
Until next tide, tight lines and solid hookups,
Captain Alex Crawford
Proud Member Florida Outdoor Writers Association
Proud Member Florida Guides Association
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