Summer is almost over, and the kids are heading back to school. Most of the tourists are beginning their trips home after enjoying our white sandy beaches and our warm water. For some of us, our summer is just getting warmed up, because the fishing in Pensacola is still red hot. For the past 8 weeks, I've been on one of the best inshore redfish bites I've ever experienced. I didn't get offshore much this summer, and that's because the inshore bite was just too good to pass up. Don't get me wrong; I enjoy snapper and king fishing as much as the next guy, but inshore fishing is my passion. I ventured out into the gulf a few times this summer, and the bite was good. I caught many big snappers and some quality kings. My biggest snapper this season was only about 11 lbs, and my biggest king went around 30 lbs. King fishing is far from being over, as August and September are known to be very good months for kings. I'm sure I'll be out wetting a line to entice a toothy king to give me a smile on an early weekday morning before too long.
I have also been doing a little shark fishing this summer in the bay and in the gulf. Both places have proven to do well with most of the sharks around 2 – 5 ft. We've hooked into some bull sharks and black tips. The shark bite should be decent until mid November and then it will start to slow as the water cools. I always take care when handling sharks, so not to put my clients or myself in danger and to also make sure I don't hurt the sharks. We don't normally bring a shark into the boat, especially the big ones, which for me, is any shark that's bigger than my foot. It's fun to see them up close, and they put up a good fight.
Like I've stated in a few of my last reports, I've been working a few different schools of redfish and the bite has been very good. I've been throwing a few different lures at them, and here's what's been getting me the bites: Mirrolure's Mirr0dine 17MR (808), Rapala's Twitchin'Rap (TWR 08 HO), and a Mann's spoon. These three lures have been deadly on the flats.
Mixed in with the redfish are a few nice trout, bluefish and skipjacks. I almost always use spinning reels, as not many clients know how to use a bait caster accurately. My typical rig for catching slot reds is a Quantum Catalyst 20 spooled with 10 – 20lb Berkley Big Game braid rigged on Fenwick Techna AV (AVS 70 MF 1/8 – 5/8 - 4 12lb class rod).
As fall approaches which won't be for about 7 weeks, the water will still stay warm, and moving in to the latter part of August and into September, big schools of Spanish Mackerel and Kings will make their way into Pensacola Bay. If the bite this year is anything like it was last year, it will be awesome, and would definitely lure me out for a day on the water. Next on the autumn agenda is our annual fall redfish run which starts around the last week of October and lasts till the middle of March, with November and December predominately being the best months. November is always one of my favorite times to fish, as the reds are big, hungry, and hard fighting.
If you would like to hook up a monster redfish on light tackle or if you're a fly fisherman, bring your fly rod, there is nothing like seeing a 30lb redfish blow up on a fly or on your top water plug.
Well, got to run; the fish are calling.
Tight Lines.
Capt. John Rivers
Mega-Bite Inshore Charters
850-341-9816
Thanks to my sponsors:
Mann's Lures, Power-Pole, SPRO Fishing Tackle
Gamakatsu Hooks, Fenwick Rods, Pure Fishing - Berkley,Stren,Quantum
