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Fishing Report for the Florida Panhandle
Capt. Alex Crawford
April 9, 2003
Carrabelle - Saltwater Fishing Report
SUMMER ON SAINT GEORGE …………COME AND COAST AWHILE
So many fish, so little time! Piscatorial pursuits on the sun-drenched forgotten coast are just what the doctor ordered. World class angling opportunities abound right here, right now in this natural paradise. Dedicated anglers can target their favorite summertime fish species.
Out in the deep blue cobalt waters of the Gulf of Mexico, summer fishing is wide-open fun. For the casual fisherman or obsessed tournament angler, all the highly-prized pelagic fish offer their own unique challenges. Mahi-mahi (dolphinfish) begin to show up offshore starting in May. If these brilliantly colored high jumpers are your target of choice, be a prepared opportunist angler. Bring along your prerigged horse ballyhoo and drag them with a blue and white Islander on a well-formed line of Sargasso weeds. Bull dolphins can’t resist a natural looking ballyhoo. Thirty pound tackle is appropriate, as a 50 pounder may crash the baits. Or, if mahi fillets are part of the fish plan, be ready to chunk-bait the schoolies that always stay in the weeds. Bonito chunks are first class baits on 10 pound class spinners. Imbed a 1/0 live bait hook in the chunk of bonito on a short fluorocarbon leader. This technique is sight fishing at its ultimate, as you cast your offering to individual fish and watch the take. Engage your senses and let the adrenalin flow.
Sometimes trolling can be an impatient endeavor. Call it hours of boredom, followed by microseconds of sheer pandemonium. So, for the dedicated bottom-bumpers, wreck fishing was invented. Wreck fishing is a specialized game that requires live bait for best results. Multiple wreck targets include King mackerel, cobia, amberjack, grouper and snapper. In summer we catch quality live bait with sabiki rigs. For many anglers, catching bait is the highlight of the day’s fishing adventure. Also, when available, we cast net pogies or deploy an offshore bait trap to catch pinfish, hardtails and grunts.
Once you locate your wreck by GPS, a color bottom machine will show the fish. Anchoring on a corner of the wreck will minimize cutoffs in the wreck superstructure. Chumming at different depths will move snappers and amberjacks up in the water column. Freelined live baits will get bit. Cranking down and pumping up slowly and smoothly will put riders in the box.
For the bay fisherman, summer presents lots of options. Tarpon take up residence on the forgotten coast starting in June. Take your heavy gear and some live pogies to the West pass and be patient. The gorgeous speckled seatrout eat live shrimp on grass flats at first and last light. Hard-fighting redfish prowl the oyster bars looking for a meal on both sides of low water. Tripletails are true pelagics and hold on navigation markers and crab traps in the Apalachicola Bay and Saint George Sound. Big live shrimp are the ticket for good-eating tripletails. Marauding schools of Spanish mackerel can be found along the beaches and in the passes. So, come immerse yourself in the sunshine and celebrate your fun fishing experiences with spectacular dinner parties and photo memories that never die. So many fish, so little time!
Till next tide, solid hookups and tight lines,
Captain Alex Crawford
Proud Member Florida Outdoor Writers Association
Proud Member Florida Guides Association
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