July has been a great month for catching fish along the Florida Panhandle, and it looks like the fishing is going to be great for August, too. The seas have been very calm these past few days and the fishing has been, well, let's just say, my clients have been all smiles. With big Redfish in the pass and drag screaming Kings just offshore, it doesn't get much better. The inshore bite for trout has been a little slow, as the water temperature has been very warm. However, you may find the better specks hanging around the deeper holes and if you like to nightfish this is the time of year to do just that. Stop at a few docks that have lights, and pitch a live or artificial shrimp near the dock and hang on, because I'm sure a hungry speck will gobble it up in seconds. You might even get lucky and hang into a nice keeper Redfish.
Nearshore fishing for King Mackerel and Spanish has been very good also; trolling live and artificials has proven to be the technique for this season. I have found that having two trolling rods out with medium sized trolling plugs plus two more rods in the T-top rigged with live baits have proven to produce more fish this year than just trolling live baits. I've gotten a fair amount of strikes on artificials this year than in most recent years.
While catching Kings on these setups, we have also hooked up some big Bonita or what we call Bo Bo's. These fish are great on light tackle and will give any angler a great fight.
Further offshore the Red Snapper bite is good, but should really start to pick up when the weather and the water starts to cool. Dolphin (Mahi-Mahi) catches are the best they have been in years, and should stay strong until the end of September to mid October.
The next few weeks should be great fishing, so grab your favorite rod and reel and go out and catch that fish of a lifetime.
See ya on the water.
Capt. John
