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Fishing Report for the Florida Panhandle
Capt. Alex Crawford
July 9, 2003
Carrabelle - Saltwater Fishing Report
Hotter than the hinges of Hades. At daylight, the ambient air temperature is 80 degrees. By 10AM, it is 90 and rising steadily. Really don’t know how hot the hinges are in Hades, but summertime on the Forgotten Coast must be comparable. Only thing that I know for sure is hotter………….the angling! It’s a double your fun thing. Thrill seeking anglers get major league stretches of their strings, while satisfying that sun-seeker, gone coastal state of mind.
In the bay, sounds and passes, my most recent trips are producing some nice catches of trout and reds. As usual, the summertime inshore bite includes sharks, ladyfish, croakers and catfish. Have you tried a mess of fried croakers lately? Wuderbar! On average about twice a year I let a hardhead or gafftopsail cat insert a pectoral spine in my hand. Did that yesterday and, if you have never had the pleasure, it is serious pain, with no immediate remedy. How cobia can eat cats and handle the neurotoxins is nothing short of an evolutionary miracle.
Offshore, you can catch prehistoric fish right now. In the sargasso weeds, if you look closely and quietly, you will find the strange looking tripletail. This true pelagic gets its name from its three fins, anal, dorsal and caudal, that look like tails. Absolutely one of the top dinner fish, these brownish basketballs give a very good account of themselves on medium class tackle. First choice baits are small mullet, pinfish, live shrimp and small strips of squid. Cast right under their nose and watch their small mouth suck in your offering. Repeated casts are sometimes necessary to lure tripletails out of their weedy lairs. Inshore anglers can also target tripletail in summer. They orient to crab traps and nav markers in the Apalachicola Bay and Saint George and Saint Vincent sounds. Stout tackle is necessary to immediately pull them away from the structure, before they hang you up. Great sport and great eats!
Grouper are deep now. Start your search in 80 feet and go deeper. All of the fresh water near shore makes trapping pinfish an inexact science. Try catching blue runners off of sea buoys with sabikis tipped with squid. Small jacks are the next best thing to pins. Pogies are sometimes hard to find now with all the fresh water. Look for pelicans, terns and gulls working in the bay. Get upwind and drift down on them with your castnet. Or, look outside of the passes. Last week just south of the Cape Saint George lighthouse, there were acres of pogies on top. The birds were going crazy. Also saw a small pod of tarpon cruising the beach.
Need a little work on your summer suntan? Looking to pick a piscatorial fight? You can make it happen………….do it now!
Till next tide, tight lines and solid hookups,
Captain Alex Crawford
www.topknots.com
Proud Member Florida Outdoor Writers Association
Proud Member Florida Guides Association
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