March 11th, 2008

It was very cold in the morning, a brisk 38 degrees. The tide was not running the way I wanted, so we left the docks at 11am and fished till 4pm. High tide was supposed to be around 5pm, so I figured the bite would be very good from about 1pm to 4ish, and it was. My clients were from Michigan, and although they were used to cooler temps, they had never caught a saltwater fish before today. We boated 3 reds, (with one being over the slot, which we released to be caught another day), 5 Sheepshead, 7 Black Drum, and 2 nice keeper Mangrove Snapper.  The water was a little murky, but the tide was finally running right and the fish were hungry. All fish were caught on live shrimp and/or Berkley Gulps, and on a Carolina rig. So now that the colder weather is hopefully behind us, it looks like this spring might turn out to be a good one.

The sheepshead bite should start to turn on in the next few weeks, and we should be seeing some nice slot reds. Also be on the lookout up and down the beaches for Pompano. If you can make it out along the gulf, don’t pass up looking down the beach for these tasty critters. Another good way to hook these tasty fish is to anchor off a sand bar down along the gulf side of Ft. Pickens or Johnson’s beach, and send out a few sand fleas and have one rod rigged with an orange and white ½ - 1oz Spro pompano jig.

Day2

I went out fun fishing with my buddy Ed, and did the weatherman ever get it wrong.

The winds were supposed to be 5 – 10 out of the east, but when we hit the bay it was a solid 15 knots. We made our way across the bay to a few spots I frequent near the pass.

What a ride we had, with the wind whipping out of the east and a solid chop or actually swell out in the pass. Not too rough for fishing, but it was sloppy.

I have always heard that the fishing is better in rough weather and today proved that theory. Our first fish was a big fat Sheepshead, and after that it was one Redfish after another. They were stacked up off a ledge and the bite was hot for a good 2 hrs or more. We were pitching live and fresh dead shrimp along with gulps, and it seemed though they couldn’t get enough. We managed to boat a few slot reds, only keeping two for dinner, which are going to taste great on the grill.
After our arms were sore from hooking up all those reds, Ed managed to find a few sheepshead to add to the mix bag of fish, and I managed to find a lonely black drum that found his way into the ice chest.
Get your fishing poles dusted off, because the fishing is hot, and is only going to get hotter!

Till next time, here’s wishing you bent rods and screaming drags.

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