Perdido Key to Cape San Blas
Includes Pensacola, Gulf Breeze, Fort Walton Beach, Destin, Panama City and Port St. Joe.

Nov. 20-22

This is my most favorite time of year for inshore fishing! Cooler temperatures mean schooling redfish. Whether you are fishing Pensacola pass, Destin pass, or Panama City pass, expect to see lots of bull red action. If you are searching for slot fish then you can’t go wrong with hitting any of the upper bay systems. The trout have moved to and into the bayous and creeks for the most part. However they are moving out onto the flats in the afternoon. You will also find them around lighted docks at night, along with good numbers of redfish and the occasional flounder.

Pensacola Pass has historically been one of the top producing bull redfish fisheries in the state and right now is a great time to get in on one of the hottest bites of the year. The upper bays in Pensacola are producing quality fish as well, with most in the 3 to 5 pound range. This will only get better as the water temperature drops. The top artificial right now is a 1/4oz weedless gold spoon. Bull reds are also available around Bob Sykes and the 3-Mile Bridges along with good numbers of sheepshead, and white trout. Pinfish, white tout, croakers, and cut mullet have been working for the reds. Live shrimp for the sheepshead and white trout.

Around Navarre the reds are around the deeper docks in the sound as well as around the power lines in East River. The East River is also starting to produce a few stripers from the mouth on up past the 87 bridge. Sheepshead are also starting to make a show and are hitting live shrimp around the Navarre bridge pilings and pilings for the powerlines in East Bay. Look for white trout around the bridge and deeper docks 1/2oz whit grub tails as well as cut bait should do the trick.

Destin and Ft Walton Beach anglers will find a few flounder and black drum in the Destin harbor as well as along Noriega Point. The flounder are falling for bull minnows and white grub tails slowly drug across the bottom. The black drum are not all that big, but they are schooling pretty thick and inhaling any live and dead shrimp presented to them. Redfish are on the flats north of Crab Island, around the Destin Bridge and along the jetties in the pass. Top water plugs have been extremely productive for the reds on the back side of Crab Island during the incoming tide in the afternoon. Live bait is still king though when fished on the bottom during the outgoing tide along the bridge and jetties. White trout are still schooling around the Cinco, Shalimar, and Mid Bay Bridges with Cinco and Shalimar the top producing locations. Jigs and cut bait slowly dragged across the bottom should produce the most bites.

For Panama City anglers the White Trout bite is still the hottest bite in town and can be found in deep water under the Hathaway & Tyndall Bridges. Live shrimp, pinfish, finger mullet or strips of cut bait on a Carolina rig will all get the bite, but the largest fish are coming on the pinfish and finger mullet. Right now we are seeing schools of hundreds of fish in West Bay. These fish can be extremely shy making light line and small baits essential and stealth is the key since these fish are getting lots of fishing pressure. The mouth of all the canals on the north shore has been especially productive with white jerk shads and 1/8oz gold spoons the top baits. Bull reds are thick along the jetties and in the pass. Pinfish, croakers, and menhaden are all working during both the outgoing and incoming tides. 1oz to 2oz bucktails are also producing good numbers as long as the water is moving. A few flounder can still be found making out the pass, slowly working along sandy patches in the grass and at the drop offs with bull minnows or grubs jig head combinations will locate the fish.

You can catch all the trout you can handle this week around Port St Joe. The reports I have received say that they are plentiful and starving. The trout can be found throughout the bay so it should not be too difficult at all to catch your limit. Live shrimp is the top bait right now. The cooler nights have at long last pushed the redfish into a more predictable pattern. If you are in the bay, fish the falling tides as they gorge themselves on the bait being pushed off the flats and along channels and the mouths of creeks as the current begins to flow out. And lastly do not overlook the intracoastal waterway. Sheepshead, as well as trout and redfish are congregating from the mouth of the ICW beneath the Tapper Bridge all the way up to the T and again live shrimp is the way to go.

Bull reds are showing up in increasing numbers in the surf along area beaches. The best baits are live sand fleas, live or frozen shrimp and live finger mullet. The pompano bite has also remained steady as the water temperature has cooled. Live sand fleas as well as live and frozen shrimp will all work. There are still a lot of bluefish hitting bright spoons, Got-Cha plugs, straw rigs, as well as top water and regular plugs. The only requirement is that you reel them fast. Lastly the whiting bite is still going strong with most being caught by anglers targeting pompano.

The offshore weather for the last week has been outstanding allowing anglers to fish both near shore and off. Flounder are thick around most inshore wrecks and are eating any live bait from shrimp to pinfish. The best producing wrecks will have plenty of cigar minnows hovering over the wreck. These can easily be caught on a sabiki rig and are by far the best bait for the flounder. Redfish are starting to show up on many of the near shore wrecks close to area passes. They are also schooling along area beaches making for some great site fishing opportunities. The grouper bite seems to be improving with the more favorable weather conditions, but you will still have to go deep for the best catches. Live bait is still going to be your best bet followed closely by jigs. Whether they are butterfly jigs or traditional styled bucktail jigs all are doing the job. Although amberjack are closed in Federal waters until the end of the year state waters are still open, just remember the new 30 inch limit. Most of the near shore structures are holding them and at times it’s impossible to get anything pass them. The king mackerel bite is still strong both near shore and off as long as the water temperature stays around 70 degrees or higher. Wahoo and blackfin tuna are still being caught from the edge on out on hi speed lures, like the Yo Zuri Bonita & Marlin Man are a sure bet.

Until next week, tight lines!

By Captain Rob Cochran
rob6956@aol.com | www.lightlinescharters.com

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