We're nearing the end of August and headed right into September so we can say good bye to the summer and hello to the fall. The temperatures are dropping but the fishing is still HOT! I want to take a sentence to thank the Lord and my entire list of guests that have booked me so far this season. I've had a record summer and without you, my family and my friends, well I'd still be cooped up in an office somewhere pushing a pencil and dealing with some headaches for sure. I hope to see each and every one of you again next year. This season has been just awesome and I'm really looking forward to one of my favorite times of the year for fishing that will be here before you know it, the running of the Bull Red's.
The near shore fishing is still good right now. Even though Red Snapper season is closed there are still lots of fish out there to catch for supper. Last Friday's trip we went to a spot about eight miles southwest of Pensacola Pass in search of Mangrove Snapper, mm' mm good!!! They're one of my personal favorites for table fare. At times they can be very difficult to catch and then there's times I've had them eating everything that hits the water. Downsizing my gear to the lightest possible and still having a chance at landing the fish is the tricky part. OK listen up, here's the secret to my success at catching these finicky fish; CHUMMING!! There's a lot of practice that goes into this method of fishing, but once you figure it out its all downhill from there and you'll be able to catch these tasty fish just about any given time. I use menhaden for chum; it's very oily and grinds up good in the Chum-Churn. Then the current plays the biggest role, if there is a big current (swift) the chum will be 100 feet behind the boat before you know it, the fish will still come up to the slick but they will be too far away to do anything with, unless you know what to do, and that's another story. If the current is dead (not moving at all) then you should know what happens then, the fish are real hard to get to feed, they have to have a little current to trigger them to feed. But when you do get the right current then its game on, you hit the chum-churn and the water will turn black with fish running through the slick and you've just created your very own feeding frenzy. Now all you have to do is catch the fish, this goes back to an earlier statement I made, you know, about sometimes they eat everything that hits the water, well they can still be just as finicky and not eat anything, that's why you have to be prepared to change up as you go to adjust to the conditions. I use spinning outfits, All Star Coastal rod and a Penn 560 Slammer reel loaded with 20lb test Stren Sonic Braid, this is good stuff. I attach a 5 foot piece of fluorocarbon leader using an improved Albright knot. You can use a small swivel but that's just something else that the fish have to see, if you do chose to use a swivel use SPRO's power swivels, they are the smallest and strongest out there. The size of leader depends on how the fish are acting, I'll start out with 30lb test first, if they're eating it, stay with it. The 30 is strong enough that you have a good chance landing most of the fish without breaking off, I'll have 20 & 15lb test at the ready though. There's more times than not that I'll end up using the 15lb test to get the fish to eat. I use Stren's tinted fluorocarbon leader in the Coral Mist color, this has proven to be the best that I can find, I attach a Gamakatsu 2/0 inline circle hook with a small improved loop knot, tested and proven rig, it works great! Next you chose the bait that they will eat, I try to have several on hand, small live menhaden, LY's or cigar minnows work well, cut bait in 1 inch chunks is all you need sometimes, but the best bait is live shrimp, I can say for sure that when I've had live shrimp that I've caught at least some fish, most of the time you'll get bit on every shrimp, and when the fish get real good you can catch them on artificial baits like SPRO's BBZ-1 swim bait. Bait presentation is everything; you have to hide the hook in the bait as best as possible. Now you're ready, hit the chum-churn and start drifting your baits with the slick, it's very important that you let the bait drift as close to the speed of the chum as possible, if you don't let it drift in an unrestricted manner you won't get near as many takers. When you do get the bite, flip the bail closed and start cranking, you have to get the slack out of the line and get that circle hook pulled around to the corner of the fish's mouth in a hurry before he figures out that something is wrong or he'll just open his mouth and spit the hook out. Now you're on your way to a whole different style of light tackle Snapper fishing that will blow your mind. You'll be able to do this type of fishing just about year round with great success and remember; there will be lots more fish showing up other than Mangrove Snapper so be ready for anything.
In and around Pensacola Pass the early Bull Reds are showing up, I've caught some in the bay and to the east towards Navarre in Santa Rosa Sound, I found some just off the beach to the west of Pensacola Pass a couple of days ago. Try fishing Pensacola Pass by bouncing a SPRO jig down close to the bottom and drifting live pin fish on a Carolina rig and you'll get HOOKED UP too! Inshore fishing is not far away from getting good! The Red Fish on the docks are fairly reliable and big top water plugs are catching a few nice Speckled Trout early in the morning and this stuff will keep getting better and better for the next six weeks or so.
So many fish, so little time!
I know one thing for sure - You ain't going to catch'em sittin' on the couch!!
So get out there, and take a kid fishing. God Bless.
Professional Fishing Guide
Capt. Eddie Woodall
Full Net Fishing Charters
www.fullnetcharters.com
I'd like to take a minute to recognize all my sponsors that keep my expenses down, this helps me keep my overhead down and reflects in my rates to you. My newest sponsor is Falcon Rods nice rods (www.falconrods.com), Lee Fisher Cast Nets (www.justcastnets.com) what a net, it's the best net that I have ever owned, if you're in the market for a new bait net you need not look any further- these nets are some of the best out there. Blazer Bay Boats are tough, my new 2400 is a beast (www.blazerboats.com), Yamaha Outboards - what can is say, (www.yamahaoutboards.com), SPRO Fishing Tackle, check out the new BBZ-1!! (www.spro.com), Gamakatsu Hooks have a wide selection of the sharpest and strongest hooks available (www.gamakatsu.com), Big Bite Baits Inc. If you haven't seen these soft plastic baits yet you need to look at this web site, they have a great selection and they are fish catching baits (www.bigbitebaits.com) Pure Fishing is a great company (www.purefishing.com), they are the parent company for - Berkley, Abu Garcia, Fenwick, Stren, Shakespeare, Penn, Pflueger, All-Star, Mitchell, Johnson, Spider & 7-Strand.
