Pensacola 4/1 - 4/8 - Headed to the beach!

Started by Wolfram M, March 14, 2023, 03:19:44 AM

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Wolfram M

Currently under a tornado watch, although I doubt it will be an issue it is pretty blustery.

Going to try ft Pickens again today, have another shot at some sheepshead. If that doesn't come up good, I'll swing around to the beach side and try for some pompano/whiting, depending on how the wind settles today.

Wolfram M

#16
No luck yesterday. Got run off a few beaches by guys fishing 10+ rods, apparently 50ft down the beach is too close when the whole area is full of rods.

Scoped out a few other places I saw on the satellite, I'm sitting at one of them now.

Last night I hit up the Bob Sikes pier and sabiki'd some 3" pinfish, I have about a dozen live ones this morning and have one out on a 3/4 oz Carolina rig with 30lb fluoro and a 4/0 mutu circle hook.

Fishing a big grass flat that is about 2ft deep for as far as I can throw the surf rod. Hoping for a redfish to come through this morning.

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JasonGotaProblem

I've not ever had a lot of luck with pinfish from shore personally.

They're great at creating tangles though. Like, surprisingly adept at it. So check them semi often.

I'd have told them to F off. It's one thing to refuse to move over for a newcomer. It's another entirely to try to make them leave. I can't stand that mentality. I threw a guy over the rail at a pier once when he got super insistent. (He pointed a fillet knife at me, turns out judo works)
Any machine is a smoke machine if you use it wrong enough.

Wolfram M

Turns out it didn't matter. Park rangers made us leave (all of us, not just me, but the whole pier and all the beaches) due to the Blue Angels flyover, which I doubt happened because the fog was so thick you couldn't see 50ft in front of you.

I didn't say anything, just packed my gear and left. I tried to drive east to get out of the fog, but no luck-I ended up at Navarre Pier. I went in with the same little pinfish (those things just don't quit!) and couldn't get a bite, so after him being on the hook through 4 fishing locations, plus a ride in the Engle from Pickens to Navarre, I let him off the hook and he swam off. Moved to about where I thought the sandbar would be on the pier and threw out some fishgum and a half a shrimp to see if I could tempt one of the pompano that were coming up every 10-15 minutes, and promptly had a guy come up and cut my line for "fishing his spot". It took a lot to not take a swing at him, but I just packed my stuff, and let the pier attendant know on my way out who it was and what happened.

I am tempted to make the drive to Destin (it's about an hour) and get on a head boat tomorrow, just to get on any kind of fish. It's crazy to me that there aren't any in Pensacola, everything is 6 or 8 pack charters. (At least none that I have called yet are.)

Needless to say, no fish today. As I am typing this, I can see the sun FINALLY come out of the fog, but I'm back in the house. Hopefully tomorrow is better.

Wolfram M

Got a boat ride in the morning, so hopefully tomorrow isn't another bust.

You guessed it, no fish today.

Started out at the beach today, gulf islands seashore, at 5AM. Found the first and second trough, then walked along until I found a deep cut that cut through both of them and set up there. Cut shrimp and sand flea on the pompano rigs, two rods out and it's "bait and wait" time. At 10AM, I switched one rod to live shrimp and cut pinfish, and I finally gave up at 4pm, because I ran out of cold drinking water.

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I did loose two live shrimp and one sand flea, but that was it. I changed out bait when they looked ragged, the surf was pretty rough so it battered the bait.

At least it was a really nice day to sit on the beach and drink cold water away from all the teenagers. There was one family about a quarter mile down the beach but other than that it was just me, the surf, and that one pinfish in the livewell.

JasonGotaProblem

Floridian insight: If you have live shrimp don't cut them if a small fish tries and fails, it'll be cut shrimp. I dont even wanna fish dead shrimp. Fish down here are picky man.
Any machine is a smoke machine if you use it wrong enough.

Wolfram M

I was just trying everything I could to figure out what presentation was going to work. Nothing did that day.

Went out yesterday on a cheap-fare boat and managed 4 vermillion snapper, the kid next to me did better with 6 snapper, an amberine, and a graysby grouper. It was a tough bite, lots of wait time.

Today is my last fishing day so I have another dozen live shrimp and I am headed over to Perdido key to try my luck there.

Wolfram M

Today was a much better day. Not sure what the difference was, be it location, weather, or phase of the moon, but whatever it was, it was a great day. My cousin came down and we proceeded to go have some fun.

Picked up 2 dozen live shrimp, same as I've been getting, and headed to downtown Pensacola, to Palafox Pier. This is the old municipal harbor I guess, it's set up for large boats but the anchoring and mooring features are so degraded I doubt anything ties up here anymore.

Anyway, started out with a Carolina rigged shrimp, 20" 20lb fluoro leader and a size 4 hook, and a 1/2oz egg weight. Within minutes of flipping it out around the pier, short mangrove snapper started coming up. Cranking the weight up off the bottom a few feet, and keepers started coming up. In the end, the two of us caught 7 fish.

Today was a good day. Tomorrow is the long drive home.

JasonGotaProblem

Any machine is a smoke machine if you use it wrong enough.

Swami805

Do what you can with that you have where you are