Muddy Water Adventures - Pensacola Fishing Charters

 

Muddy Water Adventures

Muddy water fishing adventures in the panhandle is what we’ve had here the past few trips.
If you haven’t heard or seen the news about our area, I’ll catch you up. Pensacola was hit with a rain event like no other on April 29^th. We had 26.81” of rain and about a week and a half before that we had 8 -11” of rain depending upon the area of town. The day of the big storm I had 22” at my house.  So in about two weeks we had close to 35-38” of rain, and we are still a bit soggy in places.
With an unprecedented amount of rainfall, I was very concerned on what it was going to do to my fishing spots. Some of my trips canceled that week of the storm, which I couldn’t blame them. I took off about 10 days due to cancellations, but now I’m back out on the water and I’m happy to report the bite is pretty good considering the muddy conditions.
The past few trips have been a lot of fun and surprisingly productive even though the water is still very murky from all the

rain and we’ve had some nasty winds to deal with as well. I have fished a lot of spots in 1.5 –6 ft of water and I still can’t see the bottom, but that’s ok, because we’re catching fish. The cool thing about the dirty water is I can step up my leader and another thing is the reds are very dark. In other words, they change their color depending upon their environment, so since the water is crazy dark the reds have really gotten golden dark so they are really sharp looking. Because of the water conditions I had to change up my lure presentation to where I’m using more chartreuse and dark colors. With the weather and water

conditions like they have been, it’s been a challenge to try to figure out what the fish want, but that’s part of the process, and I’m always up for new challenges.

If you think you are up for an awesome, yet maybe slightly muddy, fishing adventure, then pick up the phone, give me a ring, and we will get you out on the water.

Till the next time, 

Here's wishing you tight lines.

John

Lots of rain, but still catching fish - Pensaola Fishing Charters

April brought some fun fishing with lots of big sheepshead and some big redfish in the pass. We had a little more rain than I would have liked this month, most of which happened last week and dirtied up the water pretty badly. It’s going to take a week or so of no rain to clear it totally up. Even though we had more rain than I like in a short period of time the fishing is still half way decent. We caught some sheepies and redfish in the bay over the past few days. I’m happy to say that the big Jacks have shown up along the beaches and they should be around for the next 5 – 6 weeks. Late April and May is the best time to catch Jack Crevalle along our shores; we also sight fish redfish along the beaches in April and May. Pompano are also being caught near the surf along the beaches; we catch them from a boat using the Power-Pole or use the iPilot to hold position in a depth of around 2 - 4ft to fish the deeper channels in near the surf.

As May starts and the water clears I’ll be back on the flats in the upper bays. I would normally have already been on the flats this time of year in Escambia Bay but with the 9” –11” of rain we had last week, it put a damper on me heading up there to trout fish. There are some quality trout in the ICW and if you want to go after a few of those as well as some slot reds, we can still fish for them.

The flats fishing in the upper bays should kick off around Mother’s Day (May 11) and I’m excited to toss some top-water plugs for some big momma trout!

So, if you’re looking for some light tackle trout and redfish or want to fight the big jacks on the beach, then look no further; I think we can get you BOWEd UP!

One last thing, if you’re looking to learn how to saltwater fish or learn our area waters better, you might just benefit from my special style of charter called SALTWATER ACADEMY.  This technically filled charter has been very popular with locals and visitors to the gulf coast. This hands on, instructional charter will help even the most novice of anglers become a pro in no time. Check out the link: www.saltwateracademy.

Of course, if you enjoy a fun day with family and friends on the water, my regular charter is always a great way to make some fantastic new memories!

We do it right at Mega-Bite!
Tight Lines!
John

Mega-Bite Inshore Charters.

www.megabiteinshore.com

Sheepshead, and redfish bending rods - Pensacola Charter Fishing

March flew by, but when you’re up before the sun and washing the boat as it goes down, the days go fast. The Sheepshead bite started out slow this March due to the very cold temps the past few months. This made the spawn start later than usual. But once it kicked off it was on fire and is still going strong and should last till around about two more weeks. We have caught some really nice sheepshead this season, and so far the biggest was around 22”, which my guess is around 6 - 7 lbs. We have had some fun on the water this spring, and April should be just as enjoyable. I made a short 2-minute video of the sheepshead fishing in the pass.  See my  YouTube channel that is on my website, to see more videos. I’ll be making more videos this year.

I’ll be in the pass the first couple of weeks continuing my pursuit of the striped sheepies, and then it’s back to the flats for trout and redfish. I’ll also be out along the beaches when it’s calm looking for Cobia and schools of Jacks. April is a great time to enjoy chasing down some Jack Crevalle. The Jacks in April are big, averaging 12-18 lbs.
The new Triton has performed impeccably and it’s one of the finest fishing boats I’ve ever had the pleasure to ride in and I am proud to own.  See their website and check out the 22 and 24 ft saltwater bay boats. www.tritonboats.com

 Till the next adventure, here’s wishing you tight lines. 

John 

www.megabiteinshore.com

Whacked them on a windy day ! - Pensacola Fishing Charters

Had an excellent trip on Thursday 3-27, Brian, his son Alex, Larry and his daughter Aria from Ohio had a great day fishing. It was a windy day to say the least. The rods were bent all day and we had tons of fun. They kept a nice mess for a fish fry and released the rest for their next visit. It's going to be rainy and rough the next two days, so I'll be back out on Sunday. 

 
Stay tuned for more reports.

John

Mega-Bite Inshore Charters
Pensacola's Finest Inshore Charter
www.megabiteinshore.com
850-341-9816

Spring has arrvied and it's been fun - Pensacola Fishing Charters

It’s that time of year again when everyone is fishing for the striped, spiny, bucked tooth sheepies. The sheepshead bite has been hit and miss the past two weeks, where some days we crushed them and others it was a little tough, but that’s fishing for you. I’ve had some fun with my clients sight fishing reds in the shallows both in the bay and just off the surf, we’ve also caught some nice fish fishing the deep drop-offs in the pass.

Saturday’s afternoon trip we caught a whopper-- the biggest red to date on my new Triton-- a 43” red.

The sheepshead are very late this year, but don’t worry, the bite’s about to kick off, and although I don’t think it will last as long as normal, it should be very good starting this week and last about two -  three weeks then start to taper off. Hopefully I’m right and we will enjoy a more consistent bite.

Here are a few pics,

I’m big on not killing a lot of fish, and I encourage catch and release with my clients and only keeping what they can eat while they are in town for a few days. That’s why you usually don’t see my pics with 30+ sheepshead lined out. Of course, if my clients are planning a big fish fry, then we’ll line them up, and hopefully nothing goes to waste. Here’s a tip for visiting anglers: take you fresh catch to one of our many fine restaurants at the beach, and for a nominal fee, they will prepare your fish and then you can enjoy a relaxing dinner or lunch without all the messy cleanup.

Flounders, Crabs, Peg leg Pete’s 

 

Till the next time, here’s wishing everyone tight lines.

John

 

Spring Break trips have officially begun - Pensacola Charters

Spring Break trips have officially begun and the fishing has been pretty good, not quite great yet, but it’ll warm up a bit more, and then it will be on fire. We had a very cold winter and the fish (Sheepshead) are running a little late this year. Good thing is the redfish, black drum, and red snapper are biting, so we can go after several species on one trip.

I’m catching the big reds by sight fishing them in the shallows in depths of 3-6 ft in crystal clear water. The schools of fish range between 10 –100 fish, so multiple hookups are possible. Next week looks good weather wise and I think the sheepshead will finally b

e there as the water temps are finally right.
When fishing for sheepshead and redfish in the pass, the go-to bait is live shrimp, but you can also use fiddler crabs and oysters. This is the only time of the year I use live bait unless my client requests live bait on board. After the spring sheepshead run, I’ll be back on flats with my new Triton stalking reds and trout.
Here are some of the baits I like while I’m on the flats: ZMan baits and MirrOlure’s hard baits including their top-water plugs.

It’s going to be a great spring, so stay tuned for some fun reports and pics.

Thanks for stopping by! Tight Lines.

John

Quick report for Pensacola, Navarre and Perdido Key

Quick report for Pensacola, Navarre and Perdido Key

The flats are heating up in Escambia Bay for trout and redfish. The water is getting right in the upper bays and should be very good quality all of March and April on the flats. I did some scouting a few days back in Santa Rosa Sound and I’m happy to say the trout and redfish bite was tremendous. If you know what docks are holding reds, you’ll have a good morning. Pensacola Pass is still a little sluggish with sheepshead, but it won’t be long before the annual migration/spawn will start up. I’m thinking March 12 should be the start of the sheepshead run. Small pods of bull reds are milling around near the lighthouse and just off the beaches both to the east and west of the pass. The reds in these pods are ranging from 30 - 40 inches.

I’ll be on water the all weekend and a bunch over the rest of the month, both on flats and in the pass. Usually in March I’m in the pass with my fellow captains hooking up sheepies and reds and whatever else we can hook into. But I will also be on the flats from time to time tossing artificials for big trout and those drag screaming reds.

I’m eager to show my clients the new 240 LTS Triton. I may be a bit biased, but this is one sweet rig. It’s the smoothest, driest riding bay boat I’ve ever been on; it can handle rough open water with ease or slip into the shallows in some seriously skinny water. It’s the perfect bay boat, the layout and fishability is top notch, and there is no wasted space in this boat. Matched up with the 250 Mercury Verado, this fishing machine stands above the rest.

 

I’ve also put some cool toys on her. My Humminbird 999ci HD Si is on board for locating wrecks in the pass and Pensacola Bay. Its got Side Imaging, so the fish don’t have a chance to hide.

I also installed an 8ft Power-Pole Blade for anchoring in shallow water so we don’t drift over fish. And of course, I can’t do it without Minn Kota’s I-Pilot to ease around the flats or hold up on wrecks in deepwater or while bridge fishing for trout and reds.

It’s going to be a great spring this year. Stay tuned for some great action pics and reports.

Till the next adventure

John

Mega-Bite Inshore Charters

www.megabiteinshore.com

850-341-9816