Fishing reports

[namdub]

I am hoping to come down this weekend and do some surf fishing with the family in the Blue Mountain/Grayton area. We heard reports of GREAT fishing last week. Can anyone tell me how the fishing is today and maybe provide some reports through Friday? I don't want to make the trip unless the fishing is still good.

Thanks

[Landlocked]

I am hoping to come down this weekend and do some surf fishing with the family in the Blue Mountain/Grayton area. We heard reports of GREAT fishing last week. Can anyone tell me how the fishing is today and maybe provide some reports through Friday? I don't want to make the trip unless the fishing is still good.

Thanks

It will be worth the trip. :biggrin:

[Smiling JOe]

I am hoping to come down this weekend and do some surf fishing with the family in the Blue Mountain/Grayton area. We heard reports of GREAT fishing last week. Can anyone tell me how the fishing is today and maybe provide some reports through Friday? I don't want to make the trip unless the fishing is still good.

Thanks
It can vary from day to day. Pompano can be very picky.

[kathydwells]

Oh go anyway!!! Who cares if the fish are bitting as long as you can have beer, sunsets, sunrises and good food, and the beach, and...well, you know. JUST GO!

[wetwilly]

It can vary from day to day. Pompano can be very picky.

We were just down this past weekend. What a great time but too short (Friday-Monday). My 12, 9, and 5 year old and I fished everyday. With double and single hook rigs in both Eatsern Lake and off the surf just south of Eastern Lake.

We fished with frozen shrimp and squid. Nothing much in the mornings (6am-9am) but we did talk to a few folks who said surf fishing with shrimp from 7-10pm was good. We heard that Pompano were good Sept-Oct but are thinning out now as SJ said.

We caught several small lake pinfish, saw som big Mullet and what looked like a 2 ft Barracuda but not much else.

My 12 yr old did land a 3-4lb Pompano (17") in the surf on frozen shrimp and it made his whole trip :clap_1: . The picture is in my members album. If we knew where SJ lived :idontno: , we would have brought the Pompano to him but instead we released him for another day.

What a great time.

:cool: :cool:

[Smiling JOe]

If we knew where SJ lived :idontno: , we would have brought the Pompano to him but instead we released him for another day.

What a great time.

:cool: :cool:Yummy! but I can catch him now. Fun!

[Little Man]

This is my first ever post on this wonderful site, so I feel a little guilty. I've been reading info about South Walton through all of your words since the beginning of hurricane season. But, I just haven't answered the call to post a message until now. So, I'm sorry for just browsing ... and for not joining in on the discussion sooner.

My wife and I have vacationed in Seagrove Beach for the past nine years, and we're currently on Day 10 of a two-week stay. Each year, we wait later and later to come down (mainly to avoid the crowds ... and the storms), but this is the first November we've experienced. It's just like the October Smiling Joe described in a post a few months back ... nothing but biting flies, freezing cold temperatures and rain ... ;-)

Seriously though, the weather and the fishing have been equally great. Bait is everywhere down the beaches ... monstrous schools of glass minnows, pods of cigar minnows and the traditional schools of mullet have attracted everything that eats them. In the past 10 days, I've caught little tunny (bonito), redfish, bluefish, black drum, ladyfish, jack crevalle, whiting and the persistent and slimy hardhead catfish. The pompano are spotty and have avoided my bait and presentations, but I'm hoping to catch a couple before we leave.

Today was a bad day to be a glass minnow. At 3 p.m., the ocean exploded as huge schools of ladyfish, jack crevalle and bluefish assassinated everything that was an inch-and-a-half long and silver. What they missed the pelicans and shore birds cleaned up. Underneath all of the action, I'm sure that the redfish had their share of the little fish that couldn't.

I caught a bunch of fish on 3/4 oz. silver spoons cast from a medium-weight spinning rod, and had an absolute blast on a flyrod using a small white and chartreuse clouser minnow. A 40-lb flourocarbon leader was a must on both rods, as everything had teeth (except for the ladyfish, who have pretty abrasive skin -- I guess to match their attitude). The ladyfish, in particular, are the biggest I've seen. Just an incredible rush on spinning or fly tackle.

During the past few days, we've also caught redfish, black drum and whiting on dead shrimp. Most of the bites have occurred near rocks and stumps (look for the darker spots near the beach -- you'll know when you see it). If you can find a section of the beach which has an "outflow," meaning a flow that moves in the opposite direction of the waves, and the rocks, you've found a good spot to soak some bait.

The only downside to fishing today was the pervasive smell that seemed to flood the beach late in the day. We've avoided the dreaded "rt" (I shall not use the former name to avoid invoking its presence) so far, and I'm hoping to finish the vacation the way we started it ... outside on the beach. At any rate, whatever the smell was, it didn't interfere with the fishing.

If you're interested in fishing with a guide, please check out Gordie Hinds at Angry Fish charters (http://www.angryfishcharters.com/rates.html). He's the best around and a terrific companion on the water. You'll catch a bunch of fish and get to meet one of the more interesting (and multi-talented) characters in South Walton.

I hope this info is helpful. When I get back home (sadly) in a few days, I'll post some photos of our stay in Seagrove. From the great food, to the incredible fishing, to the monarchs in the trees, to the incredible double-rainbow on day two of our trip ... it's been a tremendous last week and a half.

C'mon down, the water's still warm!

[kurt]

:welcome:


Great post little man. :clap_1:

[Rita]

:welcome: I don't even fish but I enjoyed reading your post!

[Smiling JOe]

:welcome:


Great post little man. :clap_1:
Ditto! Why has the little man with so much to say been so very very quite?

[jdarg]

:welcome: I don't even fish but I enjoyed reading your post!


I'm with Rita. Think I may have to go out and buy a fishing pole tomorrow. You are a fabulous writer- very descriptive. I hope this isn't your last post! :welcome:

[Miss Kitty]

Hey little man...btw, that is a favorite name of mine...you have a real talent for the written word! I have seen that fish massacre, but if I hadn't you nailed it!! It's really okay that you lurked...many of us did before we bit the bait! Don't stay away now!

[Landlocked]

Little man :welcome:

I know you had fun with the Jack Crevalle. Those boys will bend a rod.

[kathydwells]

:welcome: Little Man. Thoroughly enjoyed reading your post. You, like SJ have a way with words! Post often!

[seagrovelover]

Welcome little man!!!!!! start posting and have some funn!!!!!!! :welcome:

[Little Man]

Thanks for the compliments ... I'll try to post more often.

Fishing was good again today, but the obvious feeding frenzy wasn't as pronounced near our beach. About 11 a.m., however, Seaside's beach was downright Hitchockian, as gulls from all over buzzed the shallows in search of whatever the ladyfish and pals were leaving behind. While I'm prone to sprint (well, maybe these days it's more like jogging while moving my arms really fast) to take advantage of this type of incredible fishing opportunity ... it was just a little too far away for me to get there in time. Hey, I'm on vacation.

My wife and I rented a kayak and spent some of the morning/afternoon paddling the lazy green waters just offshore. We fished a little (I have trouble concentrating on just one relaxing activity at a time) and caught a few very big ladyfish and a couple of bluefish. The rest of the day was spent with my nose in a book with the occasional pause to reapply sunscreen. Man, 85 degrees in November ain't bad.

Tomorrow, we're heading offshore with Gordie. Hopefully, we'll have a few fish tales to share.

On an unrelated note, my wife and I finally made it to Cafe 331 tonight. Awesome. Thanks for all of the recommendations. It was worth the wait.

[Miss Kitty]

little man...I know of a certain redfisher that could really benefit from a day with you! I can tell you love and are awed by SoWal!!!

[Smiling JOe]

:welcome: Little Man. Thoroughly enjoyed reading your post. You, like SJ have a way with words! Post often!

Oh, I think littleman is in the big leagues. Suddenly, I feel very small. The words just roll off his tongue, like a French guy seducing a beautiful woman.:clap_1:

[sarahj]

:welcome: to the board Little Man. :clap_1:

[Miss Kitty]

When will little man come back to us?

[kathydwells]

Oh, I think littleman is in the big leagues. Suddenly, I feel very small. The words just roll off his tongue, like a French guy seducing a beautiful woman.:clap_1:

Oh no not small SJ. You have a big warm heart. :wub:

[Smiling JOe]

When will little man come back to us?

After he returns from fishing, I hope.:D

[Little Man]

The early start to yesterday's fishing (up at 5:30, trying to pry the wife out of bed at 6, then rushing to meet Gordie at the docks by 7:15) coupled with the après-fish once we got back home pretty much ended any possibility for me both to log on and to communicate correctly.

At any rate ...

We had the expected great time with Gordie yesterday. We plied -- maybe plowed would be a better verb; it wasn't real smooth out there in the Gulf in the morning -- the nearshore waters close to Destin, hunting for redfish, bonito, king mackerel and blackfin tuna. The funky weather played havoc with us, though, giving us bright sunshine, dark clouds, wind and rain -- all within seconds of one another. Very strange, and apparently confounding the fish and their feeding activities. But, we managed to connect to some extremely feisty bonito (little tunny) which gave me a nice series of abdomen bruises from trying to horse them in (being the gentleman I am, I allowed the wife to wear my fighting belt ... although I did try to sneak it back a few times).

By mid-morning, the dark clouds started to look angrier and the seas began to rock a little too much even for Gordie's liking, so we scuttled to some calmer waters east of our location. Unfortunately, the fish didn't follow us. Gordie uttered the quote of the day, "I almost called you yesterday to see if you wanted to go out in the afternoon when it was calm ... "

By the late morning, we were back in the bay, battling a stiff wind that had shifted almost 180 degrees since we launched. This kicked up the waves, but we still had a great time fishing for jacks and redfish.

All in all, it was a fun day to be out and about, and most of the reason for that was Gordie. Even on a less than stellar fishing day (due to weather and tide conditions; not due to the fault of the captain and his capable and willing customers), he provided constant entertainment, making for a relaxing and enjoyable trip.

Unfortunately, we're now on the tail-end of our two-week stay in Seagrove. I'm absolutely dreading the drive home, as it's seven-and-a-half hours of slowly decompressing back to reality. Plus, I think it's about 20 degrees cooler at home than here (even after the cold front chilled the beaches last night). Work awaits on Monday, but there's not much I can do about it except enjoy the heck out of the next two days. It's another beautiful day in SoWal, so what else can you do but relax and go with the flow ...

[Rita]

......

At any rate ...

We had the expected great time with Gordie yesterday.

Work awaits on Monday, but there's not much I can do about it except enjoy the heck out of the next two days. It's another beautiful day in SoWal, so what else can you do but relax and go with the flow ...


:clap_1: Sounds like you've "enjoyed the heck out of" your whole time at the beach! Thanks for sharing with us.

[Landlocked]

(being the gentleman I am, I allowed the wife to wear my fighting belt ... although I did try to sneak it back a few times).

Thanks for the report! I bought one of those belts and I have lost more fish because of it. Whenever I'd hook into something big, I'd lose the fish while trying to the the rod in the dang thing. I always wind up coming home with a big black bruise under the belt line.

[Miss Kitty]

Thank you little man! When you write, I feel I am there with you!!