Report for Destin, Florida - Nearshore

Capt. Larry Pentel
February 12, 2007
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report

I'm Back! And with a new boat too!

I have (finally) put the grinder up for the year and took the new boat out a few times this past week. The motors now have 20 hours on them and I ran my first charter on the new and improved "Dead Fish" yesterday.

Not having been fishing for a while put me behind the curve on the shakedown cruise and first trip out. We did more running than fishing but I was still surprised as to how few fish I marked on the spots we checked. We came in with a nice gag and a few whites and mingos. I worked on the boat 2 more days tweaking out the problems we found and tried again. This time we ran offshore a ways and fished deep (for me)in over 100'. We came in with a limit of amberjacks (3)releasing 7 more, 4 nice gag grouper and a pair of trigs. Two more days of tweaking and I was ready for a charter. The 2 dads and 2 boys I took had driven up from St. Marks having caught redfish there on Sat. and were exited about going after "big" fish.

We ran 10 miles offshore and stopped on an old wreck to catch bait. The boys thought that the rockfish and squirels that were fillimg up the live well were a blast and fought good but wanted something bigger. We ran another 7 miles offshore to where I had located the jacks and fullfilled all thier expectations. We landed our 5 fish limit of legal jacks ( a couple were pushing 30#) lost some big ones and threw back some "shorts". We fished our way back inshore a little and added 2 gag grouper, a big red grouper, and a pile of triggers to the box. A great board for a 6 hour trip.

Several other boats out of grayton were fishing this week also and all had the same story. There are fish to be had but you have to run to get to them. All the wrecks and natural bottom inside of 100' are pretty much devoid of life. As I am often heard to repeat "God gave 'em tails and no fences". Wether it's the water temp or the bait movement the fish are out deep right now. That may change in 10 days but the good news is I know where they are right now!

With cobia season right around the corner I am glad to be done with boat building. The new rig runs great, rides a little better than the old one and is a little faster. I increased the live well by 12 gallons and it has a little more room on the back deck. The peace of mind from having twin engines when your running 20 miles out is pretty nice too! At first glance the boat looks the same as the last one. The hull design is the same ( same mold). Most of the improvements are in the materials and in places you can't see. I look forward to writings years of reports from the newest ( and most improved ) "Dead Fish"

Go get 'em! It may be winter but the nice days are down right gorgeous and you can appreciate 'em even more !!!!

Capt Larry Pentel

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