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Report for Destin, Florida - Nearshore
Capt. Larry Pentel
December 6, 2004
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report
I can't believe it's almost Christmas ! I had trips booked all around Thanksgiving but the weather only let me run 2 days in the Gulf. Lots of fish when we did get to go tho.
I ran one "kid trip" that was great. I picked up 2 Dads and 2 boys and we went out for about 2 hours and caught a bunch of triggers,red snappers we had to release ( season closed) and missed several grouper. Ran back in, dropped the boys off and picked up 2 girls. The girls did real good putting a bunch of trigs and vermillion snappers in the box while the dads continued to "feed" groupers. The older gal ( 'bout 12) wanted to slip lead fish like her dad for those bigger bites so I rigged her up. She pretty quickly put a nice black snapper in the box! Alright, picture made, high fives etc. and were back to fishin'. She right away hooks up a fine red grouper and with lots of yelling and encouragement gets that in the box. Now in the mean time both dads are getting grouper bites and either yanking( big no-no) or aren't able to turn the fish before he buries up in the rocks. My young angler took a break to rest up and then made "one last down". Sure enough she hooks bubba. From the bite and the fight it's a big gag grouper. She's doin good, winding when she should, resting when she can and she's got him coming. I'm looking over the side with the gaff in hand and can see the big shape coming up when all of a sudden a REAL BIG shape darts in and grabs her fish. A big bull shark is now attached to her line and appears to be hooked good. Alas the shark had way more horsepower than the gal and won the battle. Still a great trip and she had braggin' rights agianst all the "boys"
There is a little commercial snapper season open this week and I got to go for three days till it blew up yesterday. We got close to our 200# limit each day and fairly easy. Seems to be lots of fish around and the water is still warm enough for 'em to be chewin' good. Quite a few triggers still also. I love being able to commercial fish a little in the winter. Not only can I make a few bucks when there is VERY little charter business but I actually get to fish! About the only time I realy get to do it all myself any more and not hand the rod off!
Ran a couple Indian Pass trips and found the trouts still doin it good. One of my anglers had an ultralight trout rig and hooked a redfish in the middle of bay. Two HOURS and eight minutes latter we got a red of about 28# up to the boat. Quite the battle and the first time I've ever had to back down hard on a fish in my flats boat. We chased him in reverse for about the first 45 minutes or so before the fish even realized he had issues!
Just 'cause it's the holidays doesn't mean the fish won't bite- If it's pretty and you got time you should go-
Capt Larry Pentel
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