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Report for Destin, Florida - Nearshore
Capt. Larry Pentel
July 27, 2000
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report
OFFSHORE
The King Mackeral bite has been the excitement of the past week. All the big wrecks and rocks have Kings on them and they have been anxious to bite . There are also a lot of good sized spanish thrown in the same schools. With the the King limit at two fish per person the spanish have been a welcome addition, especially on trips with just a couple of anglers. I have been slow trolling live baits on my mackeral trips and try to keep at least one bigger bait in the spread. It has paid off everyday with at least one big king in the box each trip. There are some big Kings here too. While I haven't landed a smoker yet this year I know of 4 fish in the 50# range caught this past week. There are schools of small ones also so be sure you check to make sure that 3# mackeral you catch really is a spanish. I have seen a lot of private boats with illegal fish lately. The king limit is 24 inches from the tip of the nose to the fork of the tail, not overall. The best way to tell the difference between a king and a spanish is to look at the lateral line, a kings line has a drop in it so looks sort of like a ski slope about mid way down his side. A spanish has an almost straight lateral line with no abrupt drop. A quick check of your fish's side can help you stay legal. If you really want to be safe just drag big hardtails and ladyfish.A friend did that the other day and only caught 2 fish, one weighed 45# tho--.
The Snapper bite is not as hot as it was 2 weeks ago. The fish seem to be heading a bit further offshore and I have been catching a lot more throw backs. Of course it is the end of July and it is amazing that we can still go and catch snapper on a 4 hour trip after getting a limit of kings. The fishing this year has just been fantastic. I imagine when the weather starts to cool this fall or we get a tropical storm to mix the waterup the snappers will be right back on the beach. I think the kings ate all the snapper on a couple of my rocks.
Inshore
The weather and the water are HOT!! Unfortunately this makes the trout fishing somewhat lukewarm. There are trout to catch it is just hard to get them to commit to bite. I ran a trout trip this morning that had us boat two nice fish over the 20 inch mark. We had a lot more big ones just mouth our baits though and never really eat. It is frustrating as a Capt. To watch your folks get the big bite and then reel the bait back with fang marks in it repeatedly .
The big inshore news is still TARPON. The bite at Indian pass has remained strong all this month. The peak fishing is usually the midddle of August. I can't imagine it getting any better. One day this week while I was catching a limit of Kings over here my neighbor at Indian Pass guided his party to 3 tarpon ( boated) a 80#, a 120# and one they estimated at 200#. On an 8 hour trip they were fighting tarpon for 6. I am trying to get back over there in about 2 weeks for a week to ten days. Give me a call and we will book a day or two of the most exiting fishing you have ever seen.
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