Destin, FL Offshore report
State waters red snapper season is upon us. Opening day was hectic, with an enormous amount of boats fishing close to the beach in every direction. The snapper have been plentiful and cooperative. My biggest fish brought back to the dock so far has been right at 17 lbs with several more over 15. The trigger fish have been biting as well and I have been taking advantage of the last few days of state water trigger fish season (trigger closes in state waters June 1). We have also been catching some nice mangrove and lane snapper to go along with the reds. The king mackerel bite has remained steady although now that our water temp and air temp has reached its summertime levels they are starting to shut down mid-day with a few bites coming on the down rigger. Early morning and late afternoon the kings have been on fire! The near shore amberjack bite has been great, we have even caught some fish in the 30 lb class within 3 miles of the beach and the undersized jacks have been a blast to play with on light tackle and bucktail jigs. The cobia have started hanging out on the nearshore reefs and wrecks and we brought a nice fish to the docks a couple days ago that we caught while snapper fishing.
I ran my first bluewater trip of the year this past week. We were fortunate enough to find the best looking weed line I have seen in a long time in about 500′ of water South-East of Destin. The was a good color change from dirty green to blended blue-green and the line produced immediately with a nice tuna. Within 2 hours of baits in the water we had several mahi, the tuna, and a nice wahoo. We ended up calling the trip around lunch and heading back in so my anglers could make their dinner plans. It was a fun morning to say the least! Trolling offshore has been spotty but it should really heat up over the next couple weeks.
Sincerely,
Captain Adam Peeples
