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Kids get hooked on fishing at free clinic Let the fishing begin: Red Snapper season is open
Teaching children a lifelong hobby, appreciation for our marine environment, and a fun family outing are the objectives for the Pensacola Kids' Fishing Clinic. This FREE Kids' Fishing Clinic for children between the ages of 4 and 16 will be held Saturday, May 20. Registration will begin at 8:00 am and close at 11:00 am. The clinic will be held at the Commendencia Slip at the foot of South Palafox Street, at the former site of the Bayfront Auditorium. This free event enables
young people to learn the basics of environmental stewardship, fishing ethics, angling skills and safety.
In addition, environmental displays will provide participants with a unique chance to experience Florida's marine life firsthand. Equipment and bait will be supplied for children to use during the clinic, but those who own tackle are encouraged to bring it.
This event is a photo catchand release activity, and all participants must be accompanied by an adult.
April 15th was opening day of "State" Red Snapper Fishing and I cannot begin to express how exciting the fishing was. With just a tad of wind and a little bumpy sea every charter boat and plenty of private boats in Northwest Florida and Southeast Alabama was out looking for the famous red fish that calls our waters home.
The challenge this year however was some of the storms. Only the State waters are open during the first week of Red Snapper season, which is inside 9 miles. Of course, the closer in the more shallow the water is, the shallow water allowed for greater turbulence on the bottom moving and covering reefs. The effect was that a lot of good private fishing spots were now gone, moved or buried. However, what is left is very exciting.
The "REEL" good news is that now Federal Red Snapper season is open and you can fish offshore as well. Captain Buddy on opening day headed out on a 12Hr fishing charter with the managers from Georgia Star Pluming from Acworth, GA with me as a ride along. He started his day as he does with every charter talking about what to expect. One notable part of the discussion is when he is describing the bottom of the Gulf off of Pensacola Beach and why we need artificial reefs.
Fishing for Red Snapper is a
"bottom fishing" experience
t d
e
t which takes knowledge of not only how to fish, but where to find the fish. Where to find them would be on one of the many man-made or natural rock reefs that dot the Gulf of Mexico. For those of you that do not know or have not heard Captain Buddy's explanation
 | | Managers from Georgia Star Plumbing Opening Day of Red Snapper. |
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he describes the Gulf bottom off of Pensacola Beach as a vast desert of sand or imagine the beach underwater. In this environment there are no where for fish to hide, get food, etc.
Therefore, we sink reefs such as cars, reef balls, trucks, planes, tanks, and coming May 17th a Vietnam Era Aircraft Carrier called the "Oriskany" He goes on to explain that there is some limestone bottom areas in our area, however, they are not like the ones you see off of Key West.
With that being said, Captain Buddy tells the customers fishing with him that he will go to a fishing spot where the Captain will position the boat using his GPS and bottom machine sonar heading over to the wreck coordinates. After finding the structure the Captain will hover over the wreck where the fish are. Fishing, the fisherman will then drop their lines to the bottom reeling up a few winds and wait for the bite. This is the typical Snapper fishing process for our friends that have not been. If there are no bites, at this spot the Captain will then move on. Another note is that the Captain will catch fish on a spot, then decide after a while to move leaving some fish for another day.
So, what to Red Snapper like to eat? Well, they are not too picky most of the time and will just about eat anything you send down sometimes. When the bite is hard, you have to be more creative. However, this time of the year they will take squid, cigar minnows, live pinfish, cut bait, etc. Captain Buddy uses all types of baits aboard his boat reporting that he wants to be prepared and it helps to ensure a wider species brought aboard. I personally enjoy fishing with light tackle, 1 1/2 oz slip lead and a number 2 long shank hook with a cigar minnow in shallower waters with less current. However, when fishing deeper waters my rig of choice is a circle hook on a 2ft leader with an 8oz slip lead above the swivel.
Also at this time the Cobia fishing is heating up on the Pier and offshore. Everyone is reporting great catches. Aboard the Pensacola Beach Fishing pier they are averaging a few a day and many of them over 40 pounds. The people fishing on the pier are using Cobia jigs for the most part with a few fishing with cigar minnows and hard tails. Also, they are catching the first King Mackerel of the season and they are running pretty big for early king season. This is exciting news and promises to be a good year for Kings at the pier. The pompano bite was outrageous over the weekend with many people catching them. Most were fishing with Sand Fleas with a few using small pompano jigs.
Inshore activity is picking up with Speckle Trout and Redfish being caught on the grass beds. Generally this is a great time for some Red Fish long the shorelines in the deeper grassy areas. In fact, there is a great fishing spot for Reds this time of the year just east of Portofino. Grilled Red Snapper with Fresh Mango Salsa
1/2 fresh pineapple, cored and peeled 2 mangoes, peeled and pitted 1 Mexican green papaya, peeled and seeded 1 red onion, diced 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped Juice from 1/2 lime 1/4 cup apple juice Sea salt Cracked black pepper 1/4 cup prepared harissa (see note) 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice 4 (6-ounce) filets of red snapper (or swordfish)
Cut the pineapple, mango and papaya into medium dice; mix with the
onion, cilantro, lime juice, apple juice, salt and pepper. Set aside in the refrigerator.
In a small bowl, whisk together harissa, olive oil and orange juice. Pour this mixture over the fish and allow to rest, refrigerated, for 2 hours before cooking.
Build a medium to high fire in a charcoal grill that has been well oiled; cook fish 3 to 4 minutes on each side and remove from the grill. Serve with fruit salsa. Fish may be served with basmati rice that has been tossed with lemon zest.
Note: Harissa is a spicy North African seasoning that contains hot chiles, cumin, garlic, coriander and caraway. It can be found at Whole Foods and at specialty food markets.
Serves 4.
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