Fishing Report for the Florida Panhandle
Capt. Alex Crawford
July 25, 2001
Carrabelle - Saltwater Fishing Report
Inshore fishing has been respectable, considering the breezy and occasional liquid sunshine weather conditions. Live bait has been the ticket. Small pinfish, finger mullet and the biggest shrimp you can buy will get the attention of Mr. or Ms. Channel Bass, aka FL redfish. Twelve pound class spinners with flawlessly smooth drags will get it done. Without having to motor all over the bay looking for fish, two patterns are successful. First, look for large congregations of oyster boats. Reds love to feed on oyster bars, especially at low water. Stay clear a safe distance and, whatever you do, don’t disturb the very hard working oystermen. Another workable drill is to fish the pilings near the small hump in the St. George Island bridge. My clients caught some slot reds and dinner plate flounder there last week on live finger mullet on a virtual ebb tide. There are bulls there as well, so take a 20# class outfit to pull them out of the pilings. Forget anchoring in the oyster shells, just tie up and fish down current from the stern. Yesterday the baby tarpon were gulping air all around us, but they would not eat, even when presented a frisky pinfish.
Offshore catches are dependable for grouper, snapper and a few kings and cobes. Go to the Franklin reef and anchor up on the best bottom machine show you can find. Catch some squirrel fish on a squid-baited sabiki rig and drop them on 30 pound class tackle. Black grouper will follow them all the way to the boat, if the AJs don’t slam ‘em on the way down! Mangrove snappers have been biting silver dollar size pinfish on live bottom. Sauteed gray snapper with lemon butter and garlic, drowned with an ice cold brew, is close to the nectar of the gods. Captain’s Tip of the Month: For more productive bottom fishing, invest in a power anchor windlass to save a tired back and a quality fish marker buoy that only plays out line to the exact depth. When you are vertical on top of them, you can pump them out of the razor sharp coral..
Until next tide, tight lines,
Captain Alex Crawford
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