 |
Report for Destin, Florida - Nearshore
Capt. Larry Pentel
November 12, 2005
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report
A beautiful day and I've got the day off. The charter season has slowed down to where I'm just booked a couple days a week. Usually thats about all the nice calm days we get a week this time of year but so far it's still wonderful. Bright sun, 75 to 80 in the Pm and calm seas from the middle of the day on-. Boy I love living here- glad I was born here, saved me the trouble of moving!
Yesterday ran 2 of my ( used to be) regulars who got caught up in hurricanes and other life changing things that interfere with fishing. We started out to a chilly morning with a stiff NE wind that kept us hugging the beach for while. By 10:30 we were pulling off clothes and running in a slick calm Gulf. After a few refresher courses in grouper fishing everybody got their groove back and we had a great day not just fishin' but catching too! While the triggers weren't as hot as I'd hoped (we came in with 27)the groupers were chewin' nicely. We brought in 12 of more than legal size and threw back dozens of "shorts". Some bona-fide "frieght train" bites humbled anybody who started to get too cocky tho-. It was so calm by mid-day that I even got to fish some as the boat just stayed wherever I put it. I was getting a little cocky ( and mouthy) as I was was cranking up a fine gag only to have my shoulders rearanged as a huge bull shark ate him right at the boat. Sometimes that crystal clear water can be downright scary! We caught a couple "smaller" sharks and killed one for the box. Also found some amberines on a couple spots that worked every body out. Boy do they pull! They haven't showed up in the big numbers yet but the water is still 74 degrees- probably be a little while 'fore the amberines and the flounders really hit the beaches.
I ran inshore trips this past weekend out of Indian Pass. The trout bite was as good as it gets in the late afternoons. We sight fished redfish in the middle of the day Fri and Sat. with limited success and chased trout late in the day. Friday we had 1 redfish and 60 to 70 trout, Sat PM, we caught well over 100 trout (150?)with several schools of a fish every cast for a half hour at a time. The gal of the couple I took has "been there and done that"- caught groupers, snappers, billfish and even held the all tackle record for Bluefin Tuna for a while (somewhere around 1300# at the time) BUT You will never see her more excited than in the middle of a trout rally. I can't unhook fish or tie knots fast enough for her when it's happening. She really makes life as a guide great, keeps me exited too and fishing that much harder. She's got a little Penn ultra light that she throws until something Fubars and then grabs one of mine and throws it 'till I straighten hers out- The worst thing that could happen would be for her to miss a cast! Meanwhile her husband is catchin' fish too and havin a grand time but without the seriousness ! I look forward to taking them every fall as much as they look forward to coming.
Sunday PM I got to fish! A couple friends came over and we "play fished" for trout with much hootin' and hollerin' and lots of insults about each others angling abilities. We Launched at 2:30 and were back to the ramp at 5:30 with an "official" count of 82 specks. There was some argument that it was 81 as one the fish I was swinging in ( we didn't try to net any, if they got off oh well) threw the hook and flew through the air untouched and missed the boat entirely before landing back in the water. I said he counted as I could have swatted him in the boat had I needed too. By this time we had long had our 15 fish limit and it was just one more thing to argue about ! A great bus drivers holiday!
capt Larry Pentel
More Fishing Reports:
|
|
|
|
