Fine Winter Fishin'
Capt. Larry Pentel
November 28, 2008
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report
My last report I said the Flounder had started to show on the inshore spots and I might get to play with 'em myself some. Well, I called up one of my regular anglers and invited him on a play trip to chase flatfish with me and boy did we have a great time. The flounders have moved up to the beach in numbers not seen for several years. We caught this box of big 'uns (the grouper with them in the picture below is 23 inches) right off Grayton but all the Destin boys are whacking 'em pretty hard at the East Pass as well. While these were caught on a jig and strip bait the rig of choice is a bull minnow on a short slip lead rig drug across the bottom. Three friends of mine limited out at the C-Buoy off Destin 2 days ago in two hours with minnows--
I even get to catch fish some days!
It's Thanksgiving at the beach so I have been Booked all week. We got to fish the last 4 days but it's raining today and the forecast is for worse weather tomorrow- Oh well, it was a nice 4 days! Mondays trip was a Dad and Son crew who have fished with me for years. They have caught Kings, Groupers, Tarpons, etc and always want to do something a little different each trip. This time we found a school of Jacks and got 'em fired up at the boat. A great time was had by all and we even got a few Triggers for the freezer as well.
This young man always catches fish!
Tues was blowy with the wind howlin' from the North. We tried to grouper fish right up on the beach and found quite a few to bite but only got one big one to the boat. A Red about 20#'s that fed a group of 11 that night! We got a few triggers and stopped on a Flounder spot on the way in to add some groceries to the box.
Wed was a family trip with folks that come every year. We mixed it up on a slick calm day and got some BIG triggers, a few jacks and some pinks and b-Liners. We also released a Red Snapper 'bout 15# intentionally and several Groupers by accident---
The young lady caught the big Trigger in the middle by herself. Quite the battle!
Yesterday was Thanksgiving and I had scheduled it off. With the forecast for it to be the prettiest day of the month and to day to be nasty I asked my today trip if they wanted to fish Thurs instead and they were all over it. These gals hadn't gone before and didn't know what to expect. They were all relatives of my Monday group who have fished with me for years and who asked me to "beat the gals" down some. We found two different schools of Jacks that went into feeding frenzy's on the surface at the boat. Beating 'em down was harder than I thought tho as they all hung in there to the last drop. A great time was had by all with lots of yelling and screaming and tangles with fish all around the boat. One of the gals asked for Trigger fish as she had heard they were the best table fare. We found those too and they figured out how to catch 'em pretty quick. All in all a beautiful day, a great bite and some happy folks. It was so nice on the beach when we came in I cleaned fish barefoot in a tee shirt!
Moms day off- The kids didn't go !
Good fishing options around but not many charters till Christmas week. Next week is the Sambar Deer hunt on St Vincent Island and one of my regulars got drawn. I'm shuttling his crew and gear over and then staying at Indian Pass to bring 'em back (hopefully with a 600# Stag!) after the hunt. I may just have to chase a Redfish in the skinny water since I'll be "stuck" there for a few days-----Life is tuff sometimes--.
In the meantime. I've got 2 boat trailers that need to be rebuilt. The deck on the cat boat needs to be redone and I need to sit down and order $500 worth of reel parts to start rebuilding them. Lots to do in the off season!!!
If it's a pretty day you should be fishin'!!!!
Capt Larry Pentel
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