Fishing Report for the Florida Panhandle
Capt. Alex Crawford
January 4, 2003
Carrabelle - Saltwater Fishing Report
Consult your cardiologist prior to pumping up full-grown Gag groupers in cold weather. It may be hazardous to your case of winter cabin fever. With ambient air temperatures in the low thirties in the mornings, the loose in layers thing is mandatory. However, the warm Florida sun will make you toasty with afternoon temperatures moving above sixty. Combined with some strenuous grouper-crankin’, you have a terrific New Year’s recipe that will vaporize the fun meter.
Right now, grouper are reliable, shallow and great fun to catch. My last trip scored a box full of reds and gags on poggies and Northern mackerel. The successful pattern was simple. We anchor fished where Mr. Grouper lives, hard live bottom. Using the bottom machine to locate fish, we marked them and fished vertically. When the bite slowed, we moved up and down the current, looking for new shows. Adjusting how much scope you have on your anchor line and moving right and left by cleating the line amidship is a technique that yields more fish without reanchoring. Also, you can find more fish by simply turning your outdrive full left and right to waggle back and forth in the current. Or, if all else fails to find fish, you can chum them to your baits, but that is a story to be told in detail another time.
Black seabass are eating really well now. Always keep a few smaller sticks rigged for seabass. Grouper tackle is overmatched for this sporty little cousin. The best bite will come when the current starts to rip. Be the prepared opportunist angler and invest in a couple boxes of quality California squid. Cut off the entire tentacle sections and thread them on your 5/0 Owner Mutu-Lite circle hook. You’ll catch several fish on one bait. Black seabass males are in their spectacular spawning colors now, with that big hump on their heads painted turquoise blue/green and dorsal spines iridescent in the sun light.
Inshore, the dependable bite is still Sheepshead. On a warm, sunny day at low tide, go to your favorite marsh and collect your own supply of fiddler crabs. It is just a load of fun and fiddlers are filet mignon to Sheepshead. Plus, you will improve your catch ratio, as Sheepshead just suck them right into their toothy mouths.
As I peer out my office window at the wonderful watery horizon that is the Gulf of Mexico, my New Years’ thoughts wander into an introspective daydream. I count my blessings for the opportunity to pursue my beloved obsession, so cleverly disguised as a job.
Wishing all the very best New Year!
Till 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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