Great day on the water in Pensacola
Capt. John Rivers
April 22, 2009
Pensacola - Saltwater Fishing Report
A break in the weather, finally, so I hit the water bright and early. I met up with Sandy and her brother Jim for a day of fishing. Sandy and Jim are both from up north and they don't get to see the gulf coast very often. We planned the trip for last Friday, but Mother Nature must have been having hot flashes once again, and decided to keep the fan on high all weekend. But we managed to finally get out on Monday.
What a day it was; calm winds in the morning with a beautiful sunrise over Pensacola Bay. We loaded the boat and made our way across the bay heading for our first spot. It was early (6 am) and no one else was on the water. Both Sandy and Jim were kayak anglers and both love to fish. But where we were fishing they couldn't get their yaks unless they wanted to paddle for 15 miles. I set anchor and we pitched our baits eager for the first strike. Our first strike was a good one as Sandy yelled out, " FISH ON!"
This was Sandy's first redfish and she said it pulled harder than any catfish she'd caught up north. She fought the fish like a pro and was all smiles when she boated him. With a quick measurement at 25", the fish hit the icebox. This fish was heading back to Tennessee. Jim was waiting his turn, but his redfish didn't want to show its face for a while. A few hours went by and he finally hooked up a nice 26 ¾ inch, 7.85lb redfish.
Had we been in a tournament, we'd be in a pretty good position. This was Jim's first redfish as well, and since this fish was in the slot, he joined his little brother in the ice chest. A couple of hours went by and we had two nice keeper reds in the box. While Sandy and Jim were trying for more reds, I decided to see if the Mangrove Snapper were around, and I didn't have to look too far.
I hooked a few and passed off the reel to Sandy and she had fun fighting them on light tackle. We fished for the reds in this spot for a little while longer but didn't get any more takers, so we focused on the mangroves and I showed both Jim and Sandy how to skillfully hook these guys. Once they got it down, it was all over for the mangrove snappers. Jim and Sandy managed to put 8 keeper mangroves in the ice chest and put back as many more that were not legal. The mangrove bite was great for a while, and then, just like the redfish bite, it died off. I decided to pull anchor and hit another spot and within 15 minutes of our 2nd spot Sandy yelled, " FISH ON!" She was beginning to sound like a broken record, but it was music to my ears when I heard the way the reel was singing. It was no doubt, another big red, and by the way the rod was taking a bow, it had to be a good one. Sandy did very well fighting the fish, and boated a nice 28 ½" red.
After we took a few quick pics and let him go, we went back to fishing. Jim managed to hook up a small gag grouper and one undersized sheepshead and Sandy hooked what we thought was another redfish, but which turned out to be a small hammerhead shark. All in all, it was a great day on the water with great clients. All over and undersized fish were released.
Thank you Mother Nature for letting us go out and play!
Today's Tackle Box:
7ft med Boca Rods w/ Boca 30 spinning reels spooled with 20lb Berkley Big Game Braid. 20 lb Berkley Fluorocarbon with a # 4 Gamakatsu circle hook on a Carolina rig (¾ oz egg weight). Bait used was live shrimp.
Ice Box Tally:
3 - Redfish - 1 was over the slot
8 - Mangrove snapper
1 - Spanish mackerel
1 - Small hammerhead shark
2 - undersized sheepshead
1 - undersized grouper
Till next time, here's wishing you tight lines.
Tight Lines.
Capt. John Rivers
Mega-Bite Inshore Charters
850-341-9816
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