Pensacola Fishing Forum / Inshore Fishing / Surf Fishing / Surf Fishing Reports

Tonight is Shark Night.

BreadMan — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 06:25:17 GMT

That's the plan, people.

Of course, unless I get distracted by something else, then tomorrow may be shark night.
After being given expert advice by [url=http://pensacolafishingforum.com/fishingforum/UserInfo1617.aspx]wrighttackle[/url] , I feel confident that we'll be dragging some sort of large beastie out of the water.

We've got whole ladyfish for bait, and we'll be running them out to the edge of the sandbar in a raft.

Results posted here as they come in.

sailfish hooked off the beach!!!!!!

twat waffel — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:19:15 GMT

my brother and i have an inflatable raft we take out off the beach that we catch hardtails and float them on balloons for kings but today we were off johnson's beach and were in a big bait school trying to catch bait when somthin slaaaammmed my gotcha lure!! :hoppingmad:hoppingmad it was 40ft away from the raft and we were in 25ft of water and it jumped so i saw half of the fish bill and sail, but then it took off and my bait pole with 10lb test wasnt really a match......to bad it didnt hit the hardtail on the pole with 360yrds of 30#:banghead:banghead:banghead:banghead:banghead:banghead:banghead....sory no pics but we were on a raft for God sakes!! about an hour later we had a king sky on a spanish we had out for bait and bit through 60# leader looked to be a 40-50# class fish....people on shore thought it was a shark that jumped so it had some size to him so we went home with no fish:reallycrying:reallycrying:reallycrying:reallycrying but a good story!

Mission Accomplished:First Shark from the Surf

GoVols — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:22:25 GMT

This is the first shark I have ever caught. I assume it is a Blacktip, but let me know otherwise. I caught him off the surf July 3rd at 6:15 AM at the Sandestin beach resort. Here is what I used/did to catch it.

850SSM Penn Spinning Reel 50 Lb. P Line braid

10 ft. Cabelas Salt Striker 2pc graphite rod 15-40lb test; 2-8oz lure weight

3 ft Malin 108lb wire leader with Gamakatsu 7/0 circle hook and 3oz pyramid sinker

frozen lady fish head caught from the day before; slightly thawed

waded out 30 yds during early morning high tide and casted out about 30 yards

Set drag loose, then let it take the bait, tighten drag and reeled in; 30 minute fight; grabbed him by the tail, pulled it to shore and had a family take this shot

Perfect hook placement in the side jaw; pulled hook than slung it back to the water

Shark was gone in a second; about the same rush as harvesting a deer

Awesome

I posted as much info as I could, since this is the website where I got alot of my info to catch this shark. I hope my luck will pass on to someone who hasn't done this yet. Can't wait to be back in Florida again.

I caught two large redfish with the same gear using frozen porgies from HalfHitch tackle the next day at the same spot. I will post pics when I get them.

Pensacola area shark fishing!!! with pics!!

twat waffel — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:29:22 GMT

hello every body.....i just got the pics from my Pensacola trip.....enjoy....a couple black tips...a bull shark..and a huge nurse shark all off the beach

....hold on i'm have problems uploading pics

towards pickens

olilly — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:03:14 GMT

any news on fish being caught in srf and are the jellies still hanging around.

thanx

Beach Sharkin' Navarre

Firedawg — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 10:27:58 GMT

Went out to Navarre Beach last night to try for some sharks, and got nothing but catfish on the small rods. So, I put about 1/2 a mullet on my big rod, walked way out there and flung it as far as I could. About 20min later I get a huge run, this thing would not stop no matter how much drag I used. After about 30 sec it spit a 12/0 circle hook. I think I would have got spooled anyway this thing was a frieght train. This has happened to me my last 2 times out, maybe 3rd time will be a charm!

Perdido 8/5

JBK Tennessee — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:03:54 GMT

Wasn't planning on becoming a member of the forum but have been reading it almost every day for the last few weeks to get ready for my trip to florida. Spent the first day out on the beach catching all small cats (probably 5 to 8 inchers). Went out this morning at about 7 and caught more small catfish for about an hour on frozen shrimp, then between 8 and 10, caught 4 ladyfish and lost two (they're good escape artists). Yes- I am just a tourist from nashville used to bass fishing in lakes, but I am having tons of fun on the surf. Hopefully I'll get some more on here later. And are ladyfish any good to eat? if so how are they best prepared.
Have a good one everybody.

What is the best month for surf fishing in Destin from May to September?

GoVols — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:43:41 GMT

From May to September, which is the best of these months for surf fishing. My target is sharks, but I need plenty of ladyfish and others to use as bait.

surf fishing

olilly — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:23:38 GMT

any reports on surf fishing down by pickens gate? thanks

Portifino 7/29

First Catch — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:31:13 GMT

My brother (Fishingaddict) and I went a little bit past Portifino to throw some lures out. When we got there, ladyfish and bluefish were feeding like crazy. There were a ton and every cast was a hookup.

While I was throwing a spoon out on my 8lb test, I hooked into a shark. Took a few minutes to bring in and was released to fight another day. He measured 42". Thankfully I didn't lose it due to the fact that I had a mono leader.

Our friend Wade (true-king) met up with us a little later and caught a few ladyfish.

All in all it was a fun time!

Whiting???

pgibson — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 07:08:52 GMT

I've gone to Johnson's' Beach 4-5 time lately and have caught no "0" Whiting. Can any of you give me an idea where I need to be fishing? Paul

Pensacola beach

ShaneLane — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:07:11 GMT

Hey everyone anyone know what i can catch and what i should use to catch it off p-cola beach

P.S. Im A newbie to pensacola

portofino shark fishin 8/2

IanR — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 11:27:53 GMT

started caching bait around 2 pm. It started off real slow and didn't catch anything from shore. Fished some in the yak after paddling out a bait. Caught some hardtails, ladyfish, and a small flounder. Put the live ladyfish out and it got hit hard.

Spooled 300 yards of powerpro off my 309 in under a minute. It didnt help that one of the pins was lose and caused the gears to start grinding :banghead So once i saw the mono, my buddy and I jumped into the (single person) kayak, which was interesting enough in itself. Finally figured out what was wrong with the reel and fixed it past the second sandbar. The sharky continued to pull us down the beach about a half a mile. Got the shark in a stalemate for about 20 minutes, paddling and going nowhere fast. Finally got her ass tired and pulled her into shore about after about an hour of madness.

Much to my surprise it ended up being a fat, 5+ foot blacktip. The stinger broke off its mouth and had an 11/0 foul hooked in the top of the head. As i tried to revive it, my buddy ran down the beach to get the camera and some pliers while some tourists watched in amazement. Her gills were hardly moving, but were able to let her swim free after about 15mins.

Was an amazing fight! Had a great time but i dont think ill jump in a yak to save a spool of PP again. Missed about 4 or 5 others throughout the night. Also saw dozens of ladyfish sparking up the bioluminescence around 11pm. Was pretty creepy seeing all these flashes of blue around the yak, but none of them would hit any shrimp.

Still dying to hook up to something bigger than me....

Pensacola Beach 8/2

RockyTop — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 09:51:13 GMT

Went just past the RV Turnaround, No Grass, One Jelly. Got one Ladyfish, Crabs were stealing bait like crazy.

Grass Report?

fish hard 79 — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:31:33 GMT

Was curious if someone could tell me if the grass is bad for surf fishing this weekend? Was planning on fishing Johnson's Beach. Anyone been lately? How is the sea grass. Planning on kayaking some baits out for some sharks on Sunday if its worth it.

Destin Fishing Suggestions - Help!!

BamaBoy — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 11:46:59 GMT

Will be vacationing in Destin in a week or so...... staying in a condo near Henderson State Park. Would greatly appreciate fishing suggestions in the area. I won't have access to a boat so probably have to be jetty or surf. Would really prefer to surf fish but not real particular about where I fish or what I catch... just looking for a good time. Planning on bringing 2-3 spinning rods .... 9 ft heavy action to 7 ft med/lt action. Thanks in advance for your help.

place to buy raft?

dpewitt — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:07:46 GMT

headed down to Gulf Shores for a week this weekend. Looking for an inexpensive raft to buy or rent for the week. Just want something to get the baits out deep versus trying to cast...any thoughts?

Perdido 7/28

jacko'fishes — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:14:46 GMT

Hit Perdid around 5 a.m. Was planning on catching some cutbait for blues and spanish. Didn't have much luck catching bait so I switched to lures. Tons of rain minnows and sardines around so fish were eager and aggressive.

Caught a cuda first on a gotcha. That was one mean fish. I'd grab the tail and it would snap back toward my arm. The hook fell out on its own. I took a towel and grabbed it more towards it head and threw it back.

Next I caught a small spanish and thougt great, now I have some cut bait. I took a slice off to float and a slice off for the bottom. I turn my back for one second and crane makes off with the rest of the fish. Oh well.

In the next few hours I caught several hardtails and a few giant ladyfish. Lost three gotchas, two spoons and my floating spanish leader along with countless fish.

Not a terrific day, but it beat working.

Pensacola Bch Conditions?

angryaccntnt — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:02:19 GMT

I'm at work right now. I get off at 5pm. I'm thinking about doing some surf fishing after work. Does anyone know the conditions of the beach today? Are the jelly's heavy? Grass? I dont want to waste my time tonight. I dont live close to the beach.

Surf fishing Destin 7-28-08

Sailor50 — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:30:38 GMT

Thought I would go check out the beach this afternoon.

Nothing but June grass and Jelly fish. Tried to wade out to past the june grass but jelly fish all over the place.

This time of the year I go to Sextons and get 2 lb of shrimp for bait. Then go home and cook the shrimp. Maybe in a few weeks.

Pensacola Sharkin

sharkinaggie — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:43:12 GMT

Whats going on fellas? Very nice site you have here.

I was wondering if anyone could give me a good location around Pensacola to do some land based shark fishing. My self and a couple of my team mates are heading over that way from Texas on a little shark fishing vacation this weekend. We are not new to sharking fishing but we are new to the area. We are looking for a good beach with relatively easy access to get gear on and off. Of course, the less crowded the better. We will have two kayaks for bait running so casting baits are not really a priority. Any information or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

-SA

Navarre Sharkin

Turbow — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:01:08 GMT

Fished Friday night and this morning. Water was dead. No bait or sharks. Had one bait smashed Friday night and that was it. This is the first weekend in a long time where we didn't at least beach some small ones.

Port st. joe report

EG94 — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:39:30 GMT

I stayed in Port st. joe last week and did some surf fishing and caught some whiting ,bluefish and 1 supriseing nice sized speckle trout . I also caught a bunch of small pompano . All fish even the speckle trout were caught on peeled shrimp . And there was a lot of algae in the water . Sorry there is no pics .

Pompano Surf Fishing

JoshMc — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:20:07 GMT

Can anybody give me a rundown on surf fishing for pompano? How far out will I need to cast, what type of bait, setup, ect. Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Shark Fishing at Pcola beach w/ pics

angryaccntnt — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:16:21 GMT

Went shark fishing at pensacola beach, across from portifino thursday night. Used Gulp! 5" natural shrimp to catch 5 hardtails and two ladyfish to use as cut bait.

We caught about a five foot shark and a two-three footer. What kind of shark is this? good to eat?

Still a top the food chain

angryaccntnt — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:44:09 GMT

Had to take a moment out of our weekend to remind sharks that we're still a top the food chain. After seeing the sharks and marine life that we've pulled out from shore, I know one thing: do not go skinny dipping after sunset.

Went fishing right after that nasty storm Saturday (blue angel day). We drove down past portofino all the way to last parking lot on the right side. we went straight out and fished from there. It had a little bldg w/ a shower (for rinsing our reels and equip) and bathrooms. We were on the beach around 6pm and fished for lady's bluefish and hardtail. Got numerous bites but didnt hook a damn thing. We bought three whole mullets for insurance. Used the mullets and had lots of success.

About two mins after the first guy cast out, he got hit with a 4 1/2 foot shark. Reeled it in, let it go.

About 45 minutes second one hit. Bigger shark, probably 6 ft, took approx 1 hour to reel in. It dragged me left about 1/4 mile of where we were sitting down. Took a photo and then let it go.

Our setup

2.5' 60 lb steel leader, (cable)

Size 7 hooks

3 ounce pyramid sinkers

We waded out to the edge of the first sand bar... probably 50 yards from shore. We then casted out as far as we could.

This is me fighting the larger shark. It was quite a fighter. It was actually dragging my feet. I couldnt feel my left arm.

This is the larger shark. It put up a huge fight.

The shark was dying so we did a quick photoshot and then let it go.

Steven Irwin releasing the shark back into the water so it can bite you in the future.

Steven Irwin reeling in the first shark.

This is the first shark. It looks like it's smiling, kind of creepy.

It's fun to catch the larger sharks, but it's also kindof frustrating because you can't really clean them and eat them. We were using very small pieces of cut bait but only landed the big ones.

Sunday Morning Yak Ride Navarre Beach

need2fish — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:16:02 GMT

Got out to Navarre Beach with my yak and launched by the pier at 6 AM. Grabbed three hard tails with my second cast near the pier and trolled them on out deeper looking for some King. Wind was out of the west and kicked up a little as the morning went on. Water clarity was fair but lots of jelly fish.

Started slowly trolling that pair and immediately the cigar minnow got nailed but went immediately slack. Figured I forgot to check the drag but it was feather light. Pulled it in and the rig was kinked up pretty good - must've been a decent king but it missed the hook and the stinger. Set out one more cigar minnow and kept paddling. Tough paddling against that wind which had shifted a little southwest by 9.

Let the wind drift me back East to the east and a little to inside the pier length. While I tried to get organized with my bait rod and put a new rig on my other rod when my Penn with the hard tail started singing. The fish made a solid run while I reached back and cleared the other line with cigar minnow I just put out. Gained a little ground on him and he made another smoking run. Had to tighten the drag a little since I was afraid of getting spooled at this point. Had the drag fairly tight and got up and down on him three or four times. He pulled real hard - so much I was thinking maybe it's a jack, but each time he'd make another run dragging me out further into the gulf. Finally wore him down and could see that it was a king - and decent size. After a couple of more runs had him sufficiently tuckered out, got him boatside stuck the handgaff in him and proceeded to navigate him into the kayak trying to keep my feet out of his mouth. He did manage to snag my left foot as I was maneuvering for space and getting his head situated but at least he wasn't thrashing.

Packed it up and headed to shore. Surf had picked up considerably so as I got close I turned and started backing the yak back on to the beach when one wave caught me and raised my front end - even as I was leaning forward and paddling into it. Tumped me over but I had lashed everything down and was glad I remembered to wrap a line around the king's tail for just such an occurrence. Dragged the king, the yak and my pride back onto the beach and after recovering and icing him down I packed up the yak and headed home. Thought he was the largest I'd caught in the yak so I got the scale out and sure enough- 26# - biggest catch to date fishing from my yak. Some bull reds may have come close but doubt they were much over 20#.

Got a couple of pictures with my son who didn't want to get out of bed this morning (bud he did help me get all cleaned up by noon). Just getting ready to make some fish dip now.

Check out the redfish while shark fishing 7/4/08

GoVols — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:37:45 GMT

I caught these two big Redfish on 50lb. P Line braid with a 3ft Malin 108# wire leader with a 7/0 Gamakatsu circle with porgies from Half Hitch Tackle. Yes I was fishing for shark, but these guys happen to come along. All caught at the Sandestin beach resort. I think I was the only person surf fishing 4th of July week with several thousand people there. I guess us good ole boys from TN like to get some saltwater action when we get a chance. BTW, that is how far out I was casting all week with a shark, two big reds, and enough ladyfish for a couple of days.

Drinkin beer right now

Rent A Kayak?

GoVols — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:16:30 GMT

I m already prepping up for my trip next year to Destin. I plan on surf fishing in Sandestin area and would like to know if there are any places that rent kayaks out for a week. I think if I can get my bait out further with a kayak, I can go ahead and justify to myself buying a Penn Senator 6/0 reel!

Do places rent out kayaks?

7-14/08 DESTIN EAST JETTY

Sailor50 — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:34:48 GMT

Went out to the east jetty in Destin this morning, got there around 5:45 just as sun coming up. Fished for about 3 hours, gotchas, bottom with dead & live bait, etc, only got a bunch of catfish, some ladyfish. No one else catching anything except cats and ladyfish either. Tide was coming in, think it was around 8:00 for high tide. Lot of bait, but hard to get on a sabiki. All the charter boats were lined up in the pass, looks like they had no trouble getting any bait. A few pics:

On the way out, looks like the thunderstorms building to the south

Ladyfish off the spur jetty

Charter boats heading out

Started getting crowded by 8:30

Recent Navarre family vacation

Kygent — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:06:15 GMT

My family and I just got back from Navarre. I usually go down to play with the kids, fish, and drink beer. Fishing this time was bad to say the least.

Arrived Sat. afternoon, just unwinded for the evening and walked the beach to plan my attack.

Sunday- took mom to church and stopped by half hitch to get my license on the way back to the condo. WOW, $30.50 for a 7 day non-res. :banghead. Things must have went up from a couple years ago. Rigged my rods (carolina rig w/ shrimp, and a spoon/jig rod). Played with the kids at the beach and drank some beers. Nice evening.

Monday- awoke early and hit the surf. Weeds were horrifc, couldn't keep a line out for more than 2 minutes before everything was green and slimey. It didn't take long for me to pack up and hit the bridge by that little bar and bakery place. caught a couple ladyfish and many pinfish. went back around 9-ish and cracked a cold one.

Tueday- More of the same, storms offshore pushing up the surf and bringing in the weeds, back to the bridges for more ladyfish action.

Wednesday- Went to see the Blue Angels practice in Pensacola and tour the museum. Very cool thing to do, probably the highlight of the trip. Came back to the condo to find no grass and very little wave action :banghead. beach was too crowded to fish so it was play and consume time.

Thursday- Grass and waves were back with a vengence, this time really thick. You just about turned green if you stayed in too long. Hit the bridges AGAIN for some more line stretching ladys, also caught what appeared to be a small jack.

Friday- Decided to take a drive down the strip to check everything out. Wow, I counted 8 public access points to the beach in what seemed like 4-5 miles to the gate (west end of the road). Saw a truck with Fl. tags in one of the parking lots and decided to stop and chew the fat. Very nice fellow, he told me where to go and what to use but I was running short on time. fished with him for about an hour or so catching ladyfish just about as fast as I could. He was throwing a flyrod with a small green streamer and absolutely killing them. we atlked about how the renourishment really hurt the fishing adn he told me to walk down past the gate and I would find the "old style" beaches with the bars and cuts. I use to fish these years ago and really wore the whiting out. I guess next time I'm down I'll be doing a little more exploration past the gate.

Saturday- packed up and headed home after a long week. Will take me another year to get the sand outta my shorts.

--------------------------------------

Believe it or not, but the sandfleas were very thick on the beaches that had little traffic. I could have raked in hundreds if I had one. Caught numerous ones with my hands and never got the first hit with them.

All in all, it was very nice time in a quiet little town.

Destin Surf Fishing Tuesday July 8

Sailor50 — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:14:00 GMT

Not much of a report. Went to the beach (Crystal beach in Destin) about 4:00pm. Still a lot of tourist. Found a spot with no one for about 100 yards, set up and put a pompano rig in with sand fleas. Family with 3 kids came and started playing under my line on the beach. Oh well. pulled it in, full of June grass. One more time, same thing. Ended up just catching some sand fleas and talking to the family and having a beer with them.

Had a good flyover from this russian helicopter.

Just came home and watched the sunset. You know, we sure are lucky to live here.

navarre thursday evening

tcsurfisher — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:41:53 GMT

went out past the gate to first parking lot found a wash just west of it set up and started drinking beer wishing my lawn had that much grass on it saw a couple schools of reds casted to them watched them swim around the line and keep going was a go excuse to drink some beers on a green lawn

Suggestions for surf fishing spots

SemperFi-sh — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 12:10:16 GMT

thinking about going surf fishing this afternoon. haven't been out too much lately as I have been really busy with flight school. anyone got any suggestions. I'm just looking to catch some fish...would love to hook a pomp (probably going to be hard this time of year) or a red. my location is in Pace, but willing to drive. thanks in advance,

Dave

johnsons beach

tcsurfisher — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 15:03:42 GMT

landed there about 4:30 till 10:30 the water was clear and plenty of sand fleas 2 small blues 3 lady fish one pomp and countless cats and the fire works where great

Need help with fish ID

FishnGator — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 10:05:43 GMT

Howdy folks, I'm still kind of new to this surf fishing stuff although I've been going every weekend for the past month or so. Have mainly caught ladys, cats and blues. Did catch one small redfish and a few whiting. Today I fished past the last lot past Portofino and caught 7-8 ladys, 5 blues and this. Is it a Pomp or a Jack? Thanks all.

Today Navarre Beach

weatherman — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:31:59 GMT

Waves, minimal, although yesterday was flat out there, 1-2 right now. Fished with sand fleas, one pompano. June grass was in, not bad but a severe pain.... A lot of baitfish in close, glass minnows, nice sized cigar minnows if anyone needs bait, cast net distance. 5 yakkers out there, hope they got some kings. No other fish crashing the baitfish, no spanish, no ladyfish or anything, wierd......

Report from Perdido

sleepyluke — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:05:27 GMT

Well thanks to your help, I spent the past week trying to surf fish. First night we got shut out and did not know what we were doing, second day caught 2 small sharks and then caught a flounder with a bass fishing rogue. Caught several lady fish, then a few whiting and then Thursday caught a stingray. It was cool, about 3 feet across, could not get it flipped over to get the hook out, but the line snapped on the beach and he flopped back in so maybe will have rusted out by now. I am completely addicted. I will post pics when I get them off the camera. Thanks for all the help and I will check in for the next year when we return to the coast!!!!

Perdido Key 7/01/08

Halfmoon — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:36:19 GMT

Went to one of the public access spots. Put out a couple of lines to see what's bitting.

Caught a few cats and some baby sharks with a whiting (Spell check) here and there.

But the grand prize was this hungry Pomp!

World record!!!! Smallest Pompano caught on hook and line.Hooked through the lip. As you can see the shrimp is almost bigger than him.

He was release to fight another day.Or year.

Friday evening past Portofino

FishnGator — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:06:32 GMT

Went out today to my favorite spot past Portofino. Got there at about 5:30 p and caught nothing but Ladys and Blues until about 7:30. Then I decided to wade out on the sand bar and throw out into the deeper water. First cast landed a 13" Pomp. He's in the fridge now and will be dinner tomorrow night. Nothing much after that. That's my second Pomp, maybe I'm starting to get the hang of this. Oh yeah, I caught him on a live sandflea. The fleas are everywhere out there now, could have caught a hundred if I wanted but just caught what I used. I can't wait until the Pomps start getting thick in the surf later this year. I'm thinking about buying a Hobie Kayak next, I'm going to rent one a few times first and give i a try. That is all for now.

Chris