Capt. Larry Pentel
March 15, 2000
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report
OFFSHORE
Batten down the hatches! I finally get a chance to go cobia fishing and it blows 30 knots.
I spent most of last week bottom fishing offshore. There are still quite a few snappers around but it is still slow going untill you get past 100 ft. water. The bottom fish just haven't moved up into the short water yet this spring. Everything else is showing early, I had two wahoo up around the boat just 15 miles from the c-bouy last week. First stop in the morning, no live bait yet and we couldn't get 'em to eat a dead minnow or a lure for anything. They would look and chase but no strikes. We went on to catch a couple of jacks a bunch of snappers and some groupers but I sure wanted the first 'hoo in the new boat.
I had cobia trips planned for last weekend but the wind howled out of the NW on Saturday. I did not see the point in going looking and not hope to really see any. I talked to two boats that went Sunday. They didn't see any cobia but saw several small schools of Jack Crevalle in the 20# class and a couple of headfish (mola-mola). If you've never seen a headfish you wouldn't believe anyones description of them. Just another added bonus to being out on the water. I had a cobia trip lined up for today but once again the weather did not cooperate. The weather man had predicted 10-15 knot SE winds with a 3 ft. swell, perfect cobia conditions. Instead it's blowing 25 to 30 and the surfers are saying it's too rough to ride. Oh well, we've got 2 months of cobia season to come. I'm sure I'll get lots of chances to cure my fever for the year.
INSHORE
The trout are back and coming on strong. Sam Wesley said he and Jim Bishop caught 47 one day last week at the East end of the bay, the bigest at 5#. Even with Sam telling the story I figure they caught at least a couple dozen. I've heard several other reports from closer to the pass also.
The pompano and spanish have yet to show up good. The cold front last weekend has probably slowed things up a little. The weather should straighten out by Sunday and I expect all this East wind and high surf to move all kinds of fish up into casting distance.
Gulf Fishing off Grayton Beach in beautiful South Walton. Red Snapper to Cobia to King Mackeral to Grouper. No need to get up early or drive for an hour to a marina. We will pick you up on the beach and be on a reef or wreck in usually less than 15 minutes. Some of the Gulfs best fishing lies just offshore of the snow white sands of South Walton. We also offer Tarpon trips at Indian Pass during the summer run. July and August have large schools of giant Silver Kings feeding just off the beach.
