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Let the fishing begin:
Fishing is fabulous and will only get better
Mark Clabaugh
Hey Folks, fishing season is in full swing in the Pensacola Area and has been really good so far. The good news this year is that the baitfish and more specifically the hard tails are better this year than last year. Every year fisherman from the Pensacola Beach Fishing Pier to the Charter Boat Captains have been able to rely on this tasty baitfish for King Mackerel, Cobia, Amberjack and other species. In fact, the charter and offshore fisherman have been enjoying the services of the "bait boat" selling live baitfish which is always good to have.
The biggest news since I last wrote was the sinking of the Oriskany. The Oriskany is a Korea / Vietnam era aircraft carrier measuring 888ft in length. By today's carrier standards, she is small. However, by today's artificial reef standards ... she is the largest intentionally sunk artificial reef in the world. Sunk on May 17th the USS Oriskany only took 37 minutes from detonation until the last starboard corner of her bow slipped beneath the waves.
The USS Oriskany is open now for divers and fisherman. Although I thought it might be a little early to fish on her, it's not; Gene Furguson of Scuba Shack Dive Charters tells me that he has seen tons of baitfish, bonito, nice Amberjack as well as some snapper. He reports that last weekend someone even claimed seeing a large grouper darting back into one of the spaces.
Most diving is centered on the conning tower or better known as the "island". The island is in about 68ft of water and extends down to about 137ft. The flight deck is just out of reach for sport diving and averages about 137ft. The island is massive and alone rivals any current wreck in the area. Gene states that the Oriskany is a safe and a technical dive. For example the Island is sport dive territory with topping at 68ft and Furguson states that you will see more than you can see in 10 dives on the island. Whereas the flight deck and below is a technical dive and requires special training.
What makes the dive aboard the Wet Dream safer is that they put a dive master with approximately every 4 divers. They focus on safety and ensuring you have the best dive experience possible. The crew of the Wet Dream ties up to the highest part of the wreck and even invites other to tie up to her. They place a descending and ascending line as well has a hang tank with a backup supply of air in case someone does not have enough to finish their safety stop.
The bite offshore right now is still pretty hot with Red Snapper holding in there since the opening day in April. As you know these are reef fish caught offshore in the local bay and Gulf of Mexico.With that being said, if you had a small reef out there before Ivan, it is moved, buried or gone. All the Charter Boat Captains have some reefs missing. The good news, all the charter boat captains running their bottom machines and GPS are finding spots too. Since the numbers have changed, fewer people are fishing them and they can be managed for maximum output. That is a bonus for anyone fishing a charter for the next year or so.
So, what is being caught other than Red Snapper, well, the Amberjack bite is pretty good and holding strong. They are taking small baitfish and jigs. There is also plenty of grouper being brought in too, which I believe is one of the few benefits of Ivan. Grouper are more plentiful to the South and Southeast of Pensacola and Ivan seemed to drive them into our part of the gulf in greater numbers.
The Cobia has slowed down on the Pensacola Beach Gulf Pier to a trickle and is being replaced with the King Mackerel bite. Each week more and more kings are being landed and this year they have some really nice size to them too. The interesting point to make this year is the early kings were larger than the ones caught last season at the pier.
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