2016 is already shaping up to be a good year for fishing.
Let me break down what the year has in store for us.
February can be a very good month for specks, but you have
to find windows in between the cold fronts and windy conditions, plus we had a
lot of rain at the end of December and the at the start of January that messed
up the conditions a bit so February might be a little more tricky than I like.
But February is a short month, and then we go right into March and that means
Spring Break and sheepshead and red fishing in Pensacola Pass. Starting around
March 12th give or take a few days, our annual sheepshead run starts
and lasts about 6 weeks. This is a really unique type of fishing, and it is a
lot of fun. It’s one of the only times I put live bait on the boat, as I
normally use artificials the rest of the year, but these sheepshead are live
shrimp connoisseurs, and hold out for the real deal. April is some really
awesome fishing too as the first two weeks we’re still catching sheepshead, but
now we’re also going after Jack Crevalle off the beaches along with big
redfish.
A few weeks later the Ling, (cobia), show up and they are a
ton of fun. You just have to find a window between the windy conditions to get
out along the beaches. May is one of my favorite times to fish, because of the
great fishing for speckled trout and it’s a great time to catch one over 5 lbs.
Not only is the speck fishing outstanding, but so is the slot red fishing. June
is all around a great month; we’re still on the flats catching big specks and
reds all month but around the last two weeks of June we’re chasing bluefish,
Spanish mackerel and ladyfish that have showed up.
Let’s talk Red Snapper fishing for a minute, I do run these
trips, but it has to be slick in the gulf or I don’t venture out. I do not like
getting beat up or having my clients get beat up, so if the gulf is bouncy,
we’re staying inshore tossing lures on the flats for trout, redfish and a
variety of other fun inshore species.
July is another fun month as all species are here and the
fishing is good, but just one thing, make sure you got to bed early as my trips
start at daylight (5:30 am) so we’re usually off the water around 9:30 to 10am.
I do run afternoon trips, in both June and July, and on these trips we’re
catching skipjacks, aka (ladyfish), and sharks; it’s too hot to try to catch
trout and redfish on the flats, so I go after fish that will bite and pull some
drag so you have fun and possibly get to see some big sharks. Make sure you
drink your protein shake for these shark trips, as they don’t come to the boat
easy.
I’ll stop here for now but as you can see, the next six
months is going to be some great fishing. If you’re heading to the Panhandle
for vacation and are looking for a fishing trip and want to know what’s biting,
give me a ring and I’ll let you know what’s going on.
See my Facebook page for daily updates; I post on there
almost every day and most of the time it’s real time while I’m on the water.
Thanks for stopping by. Have a Great Day, John
