There has been a lot of activity both inshore and offshore lately. We have had folks from Oklahoma, Louisiana. Michigan, Arkansas and Alabama aboard The Entertainer. As always, no matter where you are from, I'll bet the women will always out-fish the guys. The women tend to pay a little more attention to the deckhands' suggestions and instructions, and therefore, they catch more fish.

The bottom fishing has been excellent so far this year. There has been a lot of large Trigger fish on the smaller private reefs and this is a very good sign, that maybe they too are on the rebound. The Vermilion Snapper are on fire on any of the larger public reefs and the larger natural bottom areas. We typically use a two drop rig with a number 1 or 2 eagle claw hook, a 12-ounce weight and fresh squid. This combo works well for nearly all reef fish

We took some guys out from Michigan on their annual two day excursion the second week of April and actually ran out of cooler space. They caught their two day bag limit of Greater Amberjacks with some in the 50- to 60-pound range. They also had a very impressive catch of Scamp and Gag Grouper. The Scamp were all above average size, with some in the 12- to 18-pound range.

Now that’s a lot of fish! Late that evening, we took advantage of the tuna bite around the Marlin Rig and the Beer Can Rig. There were Black fin tuna everywhere. Early the next morning we trolled some more and were lucky enough to capture a couple of nice Yellow Fin Tuna. Needless to say, we had all they could stand and we started our 80-mile jog back to the dock.

Capt. Mike Newell, aboard the Miss Marisa, reported this past weekend that he caught his limit of King Mackerel two days in a row. He was trolling out around some of the larger public wrecks in 100 feet of water. The Spanish Mackerel are showing up well along the beaches and around the local passes. It is a very good sign when the Mackerel begin to show up, because they are following the large schools of cigar minnows and herring that are about to hit the beaches

Pompano are running great along the beaches. They can be caught fishing in the surf along the beaches, from the Pensacola Beach Fishing Pier and even around Fort Pickens Pier. The bait of choice is always a live sand flea on the bottom. If you prefer casting, a pompano jig works well too.

In the pass, the Sheepshead are still biting. On a recent Sunday, I fished some guys from Atlanta aboard the Big Zulu, and they caught 23 nice Sheepshead, released 5 Red fish and several small Grouper. Live shrimp was the bait of choice.

Back up in the bay and sound, the Speckle Trout are showing up well on the grass flats. They too can also be found under piers and deeper holes around piers just as the Red fish can be.

Fishing along the Gulf Coast does not get any better than it is right now. The bite should continue this way for the next couple of months. Come by and check out the catches at the Pensacola Beach Marina and on your next fishing adventure, "May the good fishing be yours".