Report for Destin, Florida - Nearshore

Capt. Larry Pentel
September 5, 2001
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report

Labor day has come and gone and so have most of the tourists. I don't have a trip on the books untill Friday and have actually got a bunch of all these "real world" chores done the past two days. I'm sure with one more day on the hill though I'll be itchin' big time to fish.

I went over to Indian Pass last week and fished for a few days. Sad to say I broke my record. Thursday and Friday my folks didn't even hook a Tarpon. I don't mind not landing one on days when we jump several but the fish were the fewest I've ever seen this time of year.The catfish wre noticeably absent too. Not that the trips were devoid of angling intensity. The sharks are thicher than ever before seen. For any one who has ever fished with me over there it may be difficult to imagine more sharks than usual. The big diference is SIZE. Instead of catching a dozen 5 to 30# sharks a day we are hooking 'em that average about 100#. What really made it exciting was a lot of them are spinners. Three times my folks on Fri. were yelling "Tarpon on" for 100 yards or better of drag as a huge fish jumped and spun behind the boat. After 3 or 4 jumps tho it kind of becomes obvious that while it may be big it isn't silver.

Another great angling change were the tripletails. I saw some the biggest ones i've ever seen. Even saw one pair that weighed over 50# together! My Friday trip has already caught a big (150#) tarpon this year so he and I are going to try to break the current summer record that the DEAD FISH set back in July with an 18# 'tail. I've heard several stories of bigger ones hooked but that one still holds as biggest to the scale !

Back over this way the inshore bottom fishing remains HOT. We've got a full moon going right now that usually slows down the grouper and snapper a little. From the trips I ran this weekend it'd be scary if this was slow. My most fun trip the past week was a 4 hr with 2 dads and 3 girls 'bout 6 to 12. We went out and the dads were catching a few fish but the 12 year old figured it out pretty quick and was impressing me. When one of the smaller girls got a little queesy I ran both of them in and one of the dads. Allright, we get back out with the 12 year old and her dads buddy. As we're going back to fish for about 45 minutes the buddy teases a little and makes a bet on biggest and most. He got his clock cleaned. He had the buffet line going and all i was doing was baiting his hooks while the kid was grunting and puffing and pulling 'em up. She couldn't wind fast but when they bit she hooked 'em. His tally-3 triggers; Hers-4 triggers, 4 snapper( to 5#s) and a grouper! Not only was she great with the rod she rubbed it in perfectly when we got back with her dad. After I had cleaned all the fish and was loading up to leave the last thing I heard was " so I guess my 12 year old kicked yer but huh?" It was hard to say good bye with a straight face.

It's never to early to take your kids fishin'. Just be carefull you don't lose a fishing buddy to emberasement!

Capt. Larry Pentel

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