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Report for Destin, Florida - Nearshore
Capt. Larry Pentel
February 20, 2006
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report
I know it's been a while since I wrote a report but it's that time of year when a good captain does boat work instead of fishinin'. A good rule of thumb is that every hour spent fishing requires 20 to 30 minutes of time spent working on eqiupment. During the summer when I'm running every day I spend about a hour a day just fixing whatever "glitch" needs it after cleaning the boat- this means that during the winter I have all that catching up to do---. By the end of this week all three boats and all those dozens of rods and reels will be ready to go again. Until the first few trips when I'm back to fixin' that daily "glitch" !!
While the weather for the past month has been pretty rough we finally got a break last weekend. On Saturday I ran a Dad and 2 eight year olds on as pretty a day as the Chamber of Commerce could have ordered. Foggy on the beach, small swell and pure glass and bright sun offshore. By 10 AM I was down to my short sleeves and wishing I had shorts on instead of jeans. The fish seemed to be enjoying the weather also. Our 4 hour trip boxed 5 nice grouper ( up to 17#) 3 redfish just under the upper slot, two triggers and couple dozen big pinks. We released a big redfish and a bunch of short groupers.
On Sunday I ran three anglers who had never been in the Gulf before but were hard core bass anglers. The day started cold and windy but I knew what was coming so we started late ( 9:45). The plan payed off as at 11:00 the wind died to nothing, the sun came out and it was another beautiful day. We did have a few issues with the " don't yank" technique, as all bass oriented folks do but we came back in with 7 nice groupers and a triggerfish. My folks were exited by how much meat they got on a half day trip. If they had gone during snapper season it would have been hard to carry the fillet bags as we threw back a bunch of good sized red snappers.
The surface water temp on the beach was 57- 61 about 4 miles offshore. There were HUGE schools of bait in 60 to 75 ft. water. Not cigar minnows or herring but smaller minnows about 2 to 3 inches long locally called silversides or anchovies. If all this bait stays in close there should be a movement of fish back inshore pretty soon. I tried a few spots in close but as usual for this time of year they were devoid of life- best fishing was from 85 ft on out, about 4 miles offshore and beyond. The fact I found the school of redfish on Sat.( in 70 ft.) is a good indication that the predators are starting in after the bait.
Only 1 month till cobia season !!!!!!!!!
I had dreams about 'em this weekend and had a rod ready while bottom fishing,- just in case.
Capt Larry Pentel
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