The Calm Between the Storms
Capt. Larry Pentel
February 10, 2010
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report
I had a Snowbird family that wanted to fish in the Gulf with the good fortune to have a several day "window" they were able to go. We picked what I guessed would be the warmest, calmest day of the week and got treated to a great day of winter fishing. As my old friend capt Randall (Jones)used to say :
" Guess right, you're smart, guess wrong and you're dumb". I'd rather be lucky than good any day !
We left the beach a little before 9 AM and ran about 10 miles to fill the livewell with wigglers and familiarize everybody with how the tackle works. Another 8 mile run and the bottom machine shows a big school of fish up in the water column above a big wreck. I started putting baits on hooks and we had fish on before I could get the 3rd rod baited. The Jacks were HOT! We fished 3 rods at a time for about 2 hours and managed to bring 23 or 24 to the surface ( I lost count). All the fish were good sized with the majority of 'em being 25 to 30#. As exciting as catching AJ's is we had the added adrenaline rush of watching 2 (big) Bull Sharks chase one fish up to the surface. I'm sorry to say he didn't make it but, hey, the "landlord" has to eat too. They made a meal of the Jack and then left us alone getting satiated pretty easily.
Always Nice to Have Big Fish Day
We kept our 4 fish limit and then started to fish our way back to break up the ride in. I couldn't find any dumb triggers of legal size but we did catch a bunch of Pink Snappers for the box as well as the ever present Red Snappers (released) and several Red Groupers. With Groupers closed till April 1st we had to realease 'em which is no big deal when you allready have 120#+ of fish in the box but it did hurt to let one big fireplug go with just a picture------
Released but the Angler Still has Braggin' Rights !
Plenty of fish to catch offshore if you can time the weather. Not to much activity up in the short water right now. I'm allready looking forward to cobia season. It just came to mind that in 6 weeks the beach will be starting to come alive !! I can't wait. So many fish to chase-- so little time to "do it all" !
See you the next warm, calm day!
Capt Larry Pentel
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