Well, another cold front came in along with some rain, but it looks like near the end of the week it should start to get back to normal temperatures. Let's start inshore near Escambia Bay up near Black Water River, where the redfish bite on the flats has slowed down a bit, but they are still catching a few nice fish on gold spoons and on my favorite, the Exude RT Slug in golden bream on a ' jig head. Not only are they hooking up a few nice slot reds, but the speckled trout bite has been pretty good too. As we get a few more cold fronts during February, the specks will head farther up into the rivers looking for deep holes. Remember that during the month of February, speckled trout is a closed season, so put them back to grow up for spring. Fishing near the 3 mile bridge has been off the charts for white trout, and the great thing about these fish is the size. This year I've been hooking up some 19 ' 22' fish, and on light tackle it's great fun for the whole family. The bait of choice has been the 3' Berkley Shrimp and the 3' Root Beer Curly Tail Grub. Not only has the white trout bite been very good up and down the old 3-mile bridge, but also the redfish have shown back up. Most of the fish have been caught on the Gulf Breeze side of bridge and on the west side, in depths of 20-25 ft of water. The bait of choice has been a Mann's Stretch 25 in the new textured color Cabo Sunset and the mullet color.
Heading over near the pass, there are reports of some nice Flounder being caught in the pass and just off the beach. tossing a bull minnow on a Carolina rig with a ' oz egg weight with a #4 Gamakatsu Flounder hook has proven to produce some good catches.
Venturing out a little further offshore has been a little tough these past weeks as the seas have been over 7ft, but next week they should calm down. When Mother Nature has allowed an outing offshore, the grouper bite near the edge has proven to produce some good fish. If you're looking to hook up some big fish, remember to stop over at the 3 mile bridge and catch a few small live baits and put them in the live well; big hungry groupers can't pass up a lively bait. The Amberjack bite near the Chevron Rig and the Oriskany has been very good using a Diamond Jig and also a 2 ' 4 oz Spro Buck Tail Jig with a chartreuse or green grub attached. A few Black Fin Tuna have also been caught out near the Edge and the Nipple, but not many. Off to the west near the Hump, the Yellow Fin Tuna bite is on fire, and just last week two fish over 200lbs were landed. The Tuna bite over at the Hump will stay good for the next 4 ' 7 weeks depending upon the weather.
Not too many reports of Trigger fish being caught offshore and just a few Mingo being caught, but there are plenty of Red Snapper, but remember that you can't keep them until June 1st.
So when Mother Nature gives us a window of sunshine, get up off the couch and go fishing.
Till next time, here's wishing you bent rods and screaming drags.
Capt. John Rivers
Mega-Bite Inshore Charters
850-341-9816
Mega-Bite Inshore Charters
Thanks to my sponsors:
Mann's Lures, SPRO Fishing Tackle
Gamakatsu Hooks, Pure Fishing - Berkley
ABU Garcia, Shakespeare, Sea Pro Boats
