A Fishy Thanksgiving

Capt. Larry Pentel
December 1, 2009
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report




The Thanksgiving holidays have come and gone but, boy, was it great week. The Gulf stayed calm up on the beach and while it was cool a couple days there were a few days with t-shirt weather. A few of our visitors were even swimming while I was cleaning fish a couple afternoons. From 45 degrees at daylight to 75 at 2PM it was perfect fall weather. Oh yea, the fish bit great too!

I got to run 5 days there during the holiday break and one right before. The first trip was a couple regulars who wanted some fresh grouper and a shot at the Fall Flounder bite. We targeted the flatfish first and did well, putting 14 in the boat. They were on their game and we had a great start. Hit a jack hole and got a limit of amberines pretty fast, all-right things are good, now for the grouper. I mentioned these boys are regulars, usually pretty good with a 4/0. When I say we missed a few bites I mean it was getting scary- The grouper bite had not been that great prior to now and I amazed at how many bites we were finding. Not catching mind you, just finding! We did land several Kings on the fly pole thru all this so the box was getting fuller. Finally, on the 2nd to the last stop all the stars aligned and they boated a big Red Grouper, quickly followed by another pair of keepers. Whew, i was...

Just About Perfect

Capt. Larry Pentel
November 15, 2009
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report




Well, I've been lucky enough to run the past 3 days and while the weather has been nice and the Gulf calm all 3 today was just about perfect! It may be the middle of November but I was cleaning fish on an (almost) empty beach under a bright sunny sky in shorts, flip flops and a tee shirt this afternoon. the Chamber of Commerce couldn't have ordered up a nicer day (or a more brilliant lingering sunset this evening)

I took 2 couples out on Friday and the bite was pretty darn good. The water was still milky from the storm and the fish seemed to be huggin' the bottom and scattered but we came in with 10 amberines, a limit of kings, a big trigger and fought and released a good Bull shark' bout 200#. My folks said they couldn't have caught any more fish, what with all the Red Snappers we released.



A great board on a calm day.

I was supposed to take the same folks out again Saturday but the gals said they were fished out and had sore arms so it was just me and the guys. They wanted to shoot for "other" critters so we tried to target the big bite most of the trip and were rewarded with a fine Gag Grouper 'bout 28# along with a nice Black Snappers and some...

Made for TV

Capt. Larry Pentel
November 9, 2009
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report




Well, we have another "made for TV" hurricane in the Gulf today. The surf is big and pretty and the wind may actually reach 25 knots. I guess I should be thankful that at least Jim Cantore has a job in these uncertain economic times !

Last week (when the wind blew harder out of the north than today---) I got to run some very successful trips off Grayton. The water temperature had come back up a couple degrees from the cold front the week before and the bait was back up on the beach. Bait generally means predators and this was no exception.

On Tuesday I took 3 anglers out and we limited out on Kings in an hour and a half, then getting to go bottom fishing for the rest of our half day and putting a few more fish in the box as well as releasing a bunch of Red Snappers and some groupers. The wind was a little blowy from the North but we stayed up in close and had a nice smooth ride.



Another Fish Fry in the Making

Thursday I got to run another trip and the Kings were so hot you about had to hide the hook to put the bait on for fear one would jump in the boat and eat the minnow in your hand! We limited out in 45 minutes and actually released a couple...

The Seasons Are Changing

Capt. Larry Pentel
October 27, 2009
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report




Been a lot happening and changing on the fishing scene in the 10 days since my last report. The biggest change is of course the weather. The cold fronts have started making their way this far South and the times; they are a changing. The beach water temp has dropped 10 degrees in this time frame. This has caused the bait to start leaving the shallows and the big schools of pelagics always follow the food. The reef fish that eat the same critters have started moving in-- to intercept the bait that is moving out. It's such a great and simple system, I love being able to be a part of it every year!

The few days after my last report we were confined to fishing right up on the beach to hide from a howling North wind. This condition keeps it slick in close but way to rough to handle just a few miles offshore. Luckily the bait was still thick in close with lots of hungry critters chasin' 'em. On Saturday we boated and released a sailfish, kept a limit of Kings (10) and 2 big Spanish. We even came in an hour early 'cause it was chilly and we couldn't keep anymore fish. Sunday we boxed a limit of Kings and released several more. Both days we were never more than a half mile off the beach. Monday we found the bait much thinner in close but still landed and released another sail...

Fishin' Hard, Runnin' Late

Capt. Larry Pentel
October 15, 2009
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report




Okay- I know it's been almost 2 weeks since I wrote a report. I have been fishing hard, enjoying this wonderful warm (and calm!) October weather. The fish have been enjoying the warmth too. There are huge schools of small cigs and herrings up on the sandbar and lots of pelagics up in the shallow water chasing them. We have jumped Sailfish on 4 days this past week , putting a really big (80#+) fish in the air today. Plenty of kings up on the bar although most are of the "regular" size there are a few bigger ones thrown in just to surprise you every now and then. Another great surprise this week has been the Mahi- there have been a lot of 10 to 20# fish right up on the beach in 20' of water , chasing the small baits around. I have not been able to spend a full 4 hours up in close trolling- I have run out for at least half a trip every day to take my anglers bottom fishing. One of the other Grayton capts. (Jody Wesley) was able to spend his whole day riding the tower and looking up on the bar a couple days ago and found a BIG school of Mahis-- I think they ended up landing 16 fish in the 8 to 15# range as well as their limit of kings.

The best surprise for me and some of my anglers though was a big galvanized fish that hit a slow trolled minnow the other day....