Great Fishing after the Storm
Capt. John Rivers
September 17, 2008
Pensacola - Saltwater Fishing Report
What a week. Hurricane Ike made landfall in Texas early Saturday September 13th causing havoc along its coast. What it brought to Pensacola was rough surf, a little wind, and hopefully good fishing. After Gustav came through the fishing was very good for grouper and just about everything else. With the swells that Ike brought in for a few days, the fishing will definitely see a boost.
We had a great day of fishing on Tuesday the 15th, with specks, loads of Spanish mackerel, and one of the largest schools of redfish off in the bay I've seen in years. My trip started out at 6am fishing the flats of Santa Rosa Sound using popping corks with a small 1/8 oz jig head and a 3" grub in chartreuse made by Mann's Baits. It turned out to the bait of choice for the specks. I decided to head down the bay to the west to see if the Spanish were hitting, and what I found instead was a nice surprise; one of the biggest schools of red fish I seen in years.
The only problem was they didn't stick around long; we hooked up two and landed one. After we failed to find the reds again, we decided to go after large schools of Spanish mackerel busting up on all the large schools of blood minnows. The fishing was excellent, and we boated somewhere around 15 – 18 Spanish in the 2 – 5 lb range, and even lost just a few that would have topped the scale at 6lbs.
Mixed in the schools of Spanish were huge ladyfish and bluefish, and on light tackle they are loads of fun. As you can see, fall has arrived and the fishing is red hot. So if you're going to be in the area this fall, give me a ring and we'll see about getting you hooked up on the Mega-Bite!
Here's wishing you tight lines.
Capt. John Rivers
Mega-Bite Inshore Charters
850-341-9816
Thanks to my sponsors:
Mann's Lures, SPRO Fishing Tackle
Gamakatsu Hooks, Pure Fishing - Berkley
ABU Garcia, Shakespeare
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