Pensacola, Navarre, Perdido Key Inshore Report
Capt. John Rivers
September 3, 2009
Pensacola - Saltwater Fishing Report
Rain for the past couple of days has kept me off the water, but gave me a chance to go through my tackle. I make sure everything is top-notch and ready to go, so when I hit the water, I'm not hindered by sub-par equipment.
As for what's been going on in Pensacola, we've had a lot of rain, which has muddied up the water a bit, but that's all good, as I like the water a bit murky. I would rather have it murky than crystal clear so that the fish are easier to sneak up on.
I went out after kings before the rain came in a few days ago, but struck out king-wise. However, we did manage to put a few medium-sized Spanish on ice, so it wasn't a totally wasted trip. Since the king bite was not the best, I decided to hit the flats for Reds, and my two honey holes that have kept me "in the red" all summer didn't let me down this time either. I went with what has been working the best, one being the trusty Mann's Spoon worked slowly off the bottom, and also Mirr0lure's Catch 2000jr in either the mullet pattern or the chartreuse pattern.
Both these colors have worked great the past few weeks. We've also been finding tons of big blue fish on the flats. I like working a top-water plug to entice these toothy critters, and if you've never seen a 5lb bluefish hit a top-water plug, just book a trip with me, and you will be in for a treat. Along with some big bluefish we're also catching Spanish and ladyfish in the same general areas.
Last week on a few of my trips, we stopped over at my shark hole and the bite there was pretty decent. On Saturday we hooked a big black tip around 5 – 5 ½ feet, and worked it hard to get it to the boat. Every time the shark got anywhere near the boat, he ran off a good 30 yards of line. This battle went on for nearly 30 minutes, and we thought we might have lost him when he got tangled up in the anchor rope for a few minutes, but with a bit of quick maneuvering on my part, and my angler was back to battling his toothsome trophy. I grabbed the gaff and had the shark boat side for a few quick pics and then we released it. We caught a few more sharks, but not as big as that one, and my client also caught a nice 20" grouper, which we had to throw back for it to grow up some more.
As you can tell, the fishing here is still going strong. I'm not booked the next few days and I'm going to do some scouting for some new spots holding fish. Labor day weekend is coming up and I might need to search out a few other spots, as there will be a lot of boat traffic for the weekend. My clients this weekend will want to catch some nice fish, so I will make sure to have some tricks up my sleeve. Most captains go out even on their days off to scout new areas and to try out new tackle and new techniques. This way the client is always taken care of. Hey, and it gives us a chance to catch that trophy fish, too.
If you have never been to Pensacola in the fall, I invite you to come visit me during the month of November. The weather is perfect with temps in the low 70's to upper 60's most of the day. It is also the peak of our annual fall redfish run. Hundreds and hundreds of redfish make their way to Pensacola to spawn and eat, and they create quite a spectacle that you have to see firsthand to really appreciate. Every client that comes to fish with me in November almost always comes back to experience it again. Imagine seeing 500 monster redfish boiling the water and throwing your jig in the middle of the school, and watching your bait get slammed the moment it hits the surface. And these fish are fun-fighters that won't give up the fight easily. If you book a trip with me in the month of November, I can almost guarantee a monster trophy redfish. It's so awesome to see the smile on my clients' faces when they hookup one of these big bronze bruisers and then get it in the boat. They almost always say that it is the biggest fish of their life.
I can't wait. I am counting down the days.
Until then, keep checking back to see what else we're catching aboard the Mega-Bite.
Tight Lines.
Capt. John Rivers
Mega-Bite Inshore Charters
850-341-9816
Thanks to my sponsors:
Mann's Lures, Power-Pole, SPRO Fishing Tackle
Gamakatsu Hooks, Fenwick Rods, Pure Fishing - Berkley,Stren,Quantum
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