Report for Destin, Florida - Nearshore

Capt. Larry Pentel
April 24, 2000
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report

OFFSHORE

Bottom fishing remains fantastic with Red Snapper taking center stage. Almost every rock or wreck in 75' of water on down is holding fish. Some of course are way better than others but the fish are here. I ran two bottom trips this past week and we had our snapper limit in less than two hours fishing both days. Luckily there are quite a few trigger fish to chase after the snappers are caught. Triggers don't enjoy the glamour snappers have but there isn't a finer fish for dinner in my opinion. Not only are there lots of snappers the grade is pretty good too. I had a lady angler fishing light tackle on one trip and we now have two IGFA line class records pending for Red Snapper.

While I havn't chased 'em the King Mackeral bite is pretty hot also. They clipped off several of my bottom rigs while snapper fishing and we have caught several on the flypole while bottom fishing. Speaking of flypoles I had a 15-18# Dolphin hit one last Wednesday while bottom fishing 3 miles off the beach. It seems everything is showing up early this year.

The cobia run continues on but without the glory days everyone is looking for. The fish are here but they are just drizzling through, very fews pairs, mostly singles. I went 3 days looking for cobias this week with mixed results. One trip we found 3 fish and caught one (51#) on a jig. The other two fish would not even look at a live eel let alone a lure. My next day was every captains nightmare. We looked for 5 hours and never even saw a fish to throw at. Lots of turtles and rays but no cobia swimming with any of'em. Easter Sunday afternoon almost made up for it. After going to church and doing the family thing in the morning I hooked the boat to the truck at 1 Pm and headed for the beach. My fisherman knew we didn't have a lot of time and the overcast skies made it a slim chance of finding any fish. He had to leave that evening though and desperately wanted to catch a cobia. We hadn't looked for 15 minutes before the sun popped out and I immediately found a fish. My clients first cast was a little off but the second time the jig landed perfectly and the fish was all over it. After a great fight which included a tail out of the water jump and lots of shakes and lunges I gaffed the 35# fish and put him in the box. The sun stayed behind a thick blanket of clouds for the next hour but broke through just as we were giving up. In the 5 minutes of sunshine we found another fish. This one acted like it hadn't eaten in a week, charging the jig at warp speed and not even stopping to chew. Unfortunately our luck ran out as the hook pulled after the first run. With the sun now completely gone and the rain starting we called it a day. Any sight fishing is exciting but the thrill of cobia fishing is one I can't get over. Even without the big numbers there are still big fish being caught. Cindy Knight caught a 126.4# cobia on her namesake the "CINDY MARIE" last week. Her husband Mike was captain but she threw and hooked the fish herself and fought it for right at an hour. This is a pending ladies all tackle record. My congradulations to a great fishing team.

INSHORE

The trout bite remains a bit weak. There are fish around and if you happen to be in the right place at the right time you can get bragging rights. They are far from being a sure thing right now though. The sure thing is still pompano. As many as have been caught the past 3 weeks you'ld think they should be all gone. They seem to still be in large schools with limit catches (10 fish) being made in an hour. This doesn't mean you can fish anywhere for an hour and get 'em. You've got to find a school or wait patiently for a school to find you. When you get into them there are plenty to go around'.

Put on that sunscreen and lets go fishin' !!!!!

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