Light Tackle Fun - Pensacola, Perdido Key Inshore Fishing Report
Capt. John Rivers
October 18, 2011
Pensacola - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fall fishing has finally arrived, and I for one, am thrilled to say the least! Over the past two weeks, I've been running trips in the afternoon and evening depending on the tides, and the bite has been phenomenal!
As the water cools over the next month, the specks will migrate up towards the upper bays and mouths of the rivers. Some have already made their migration, and over the past few trips, I've hooked up some quality fish up in Escambia Bay and Blackwater.
David with a nice speck
Terry shows off a nice speck
When I'm fishing up along these areas I like to throw just a few types of lures. One of my new go to baits, which proved itself last spring, is MirrOlure's Paul Brown lure in a variety of colors. If the water is very low and not too murky, I'll pitch a lure with some flash, if the water is dirty and kind of high, I'll pitch a darker color lure, like chartreuse, or an orange with red and brown. These lures suspend, and when paused after giving them a few twitches, the trout just can't resist them. One thing I add to them is a scented gel called Pro Cure; I've been using this for the past 3 years. I use it on a lot of my hard plastics and baits that don't have scent already injected into them.
Logan with a nice 29" redfish
I feel it helps make the fish really hold on when they bite down on the lure, and it also it leaves a scented trail in the water when working the lure. So either way, it's a win win for me, though not so much for the trout on the end of the line.
Along with the Speck bite being very productive on the flats of the upper bay areas, the red fish bite has also been outstanding. They are not all over the place, but if you know where to look and what to look for you'll hook up a few. I really enjoy hooking reds on artificials and I really enjoy hooking them up on top-water plugs.
Here is one I hooked with a MirrOlure Top Dog Jr. a few days back just as the sun when down. I could barely see my lure and the next thing I knew, I heard an explosion, and it was fish on!
On my afternoon trips I'll hit the flats for a few hours with the incoming tide and as the sun drops down behind the horizon I'll make my move to one of the bridges where I've been hammering the white trout and redfish.
Dan holds up a nice white trout
Some of the reds are in the slot and some are well over. When fishing the bridges, I also use artificials, and I've found that Berkley Gulp 3" shrimp and 5" Jerk Shads are the best baits. Put them on a 1/4oz jig head and you'll hook up for sure. With the reds, use the same thing, but pitch the baits close to the pilings or use a 4" shrimp on a ¼ -3/4 oz jig head.
As you can see the fishing has been outstanding the past two weeks, but we are getting our first major cold front tomorrow and it's going to be very windy the next 4 days which will keep me at the dock for a few days getting geared up for the weekend. The cold front will help move the bull reds into the bay and that's when the fun really begins. During the whole month of November, large numbers of monster redfish make their way into Pensacola Bay and the upper bay areas to spawn. This is some of the best inshore light tackle fishing I've ever experienced, and it happens every year like clockwork. If you would like to do battle with some of these drag screamers, give me a ring and we'll get you HOOKED UP!
Till the next adventure…
Tight Lines!
Capt. John
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