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Fishing is in full swing in Northwest Florida
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 continuing to improve. Every year fisherman from the Pensacola Beach Fishing Pier to the Charter Boat Captains has 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.
It is June now and May was the Oriskany's first anniversary as a fishing reef. The aircraft carrier measures 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 2006 the USS Oriskany only took 37 minutes from detonation until the last starboard corner of her bow slipped beneath the waves.
Since then the USS Oriskany has been open for divers and fisherman. Gene Furguson of Scuba Shack Dive Charters has reported that he has seen tons of baitfish, bonito, nice Amberjack as well as some snapper and grouper on her. As for fishing, I hear that the Mighty "O" is doing well for those looking for some larger Amberjacks.
 | | Robyn Crush shows off her King Mackeral caught on the pier. |
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The bite offshore right now is still pretty hot with Red Snapper holding in there since the opening day in April. As you know Red Snapper are reef fish that Pensacola is famous for. They are caught offshore in the Gulf of Mexico as well as in some secret spots in the bays mainly on artificial reefs and a few live bottom spots. With the storms from previous years the artificial reefs took a beating and all the Charter Boat Captains had 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. In addition, the Charter industry is always building new reefs which increase fishing populations.
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 a little, however, they are 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. The question is will this trend continue throughout the summer? Also being caught on the Pensacola Beach Gulf pier are spanish mackerel, pompano, and some flounder in the early mornings.
Inshore, you can count on a healthy speckle trout bite on the grass beds near shore. At night if you are fishing near a dock with a good light there are plenty of Specks and Redfish being caught on live shrimp.
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