See where the fish are biting: Check out the recent Big Bend fishing report
Great news from the desk of FWC. Over the Memorial Day extended weekend there were no fatalities the report showed. Doesn’t mean there weren’t close calls.
We continually talk boaters safety. Preach, some say. There’s a reason behind the push for everyone to do their research and diligence before heading out. Turning on the morning news, or listening to your favorite radio station helps, but far from what’s needed to make an educated decision.
North winds can be deceptive. While a 5-10 knot wind out of the N, NE or NW looks calm to slight chop on shore, they will be bigger once you hit deeper water. The first two miles of your southerly boat ride maybe uneventful. Cherish those moments, especially in smaller boats.
When looking up wind and weather forecasts, you need more information than just offshore or inshore. In addition, radar of movement in the Gulf will also help create a pretty good picture of the day ahead.
Weather can change almost instantly. Even the most experienced boaters, Captains and seamen face those challenges. Experts have a gameplan, many times consists of never leaving the dock.
A boaters safety course is recommended. But certainly not enough information alone to head out to sea with a boatful of people in a 24’ cuddy cabin. ALL new boat operators should spend hours with friends or other captains before taking it upon themselves to run even 5 miles offshore.
A few items you cannot be without before venturing offshore. The obvious is life jackets. Throw ring, flares, VHF radio and compass. These are necessities. Satellite phones, epirb and radar are great additions but costly. An on the water insurance policy is also recommended. Sea Tow is available throughout our coastal area and some inland regions.
Channel 16 on the marine radio is designated for distress signals or calls like S O S. It’s a great idea to learn the basic terminology. Be sure to monitor this channel throughout the day. It is for emergency use only. When chatting with others NEVER use channel 16. Also know your position. Most GPS units have your position displayed at all times. If you happen to get caught in a storm with large waves take a photo of your GPS. This will give you a position to share with authorities if your vessel becomes disabled for any reason.
If at all possible, tag team with others. I’m sure the issue is sharing numbers. No worries there. But try to keep in touch with at least one other boat you’re familiar with.
Until next week, be safe have fun and ALWAYS wear a life jacket while boating.
Cliff (JR) Mundinger
APALACHEE BAY
Otto Hough (Facebook @myhometownfishing) says,”Ma Nature sure made it tough over the Father's day weekend on into the middle of week. One thing to always have is respect, respect for the power of Ma Nature. All too quickly, what was intended to be a fun fishing trip can turn into a life threatening event on the Big Pond when severe weather pop-ups. Two capsizing weather incidents occurred this past weekend during intense weather. Fortunately for those on board each vessel, successful rescues were made without any loss of life. I always stress wearing auto-inflatable PFDs regardless of marine conditions, even more so during periods of iffy weather along with boomer packing elevated winds and seas, especially if from the south-southwest. Plus, if going offshore, invest in an emergency position indicating radio beacon, aka EPIRB.
Hopefully, if luck prevails, the weather pattern will improve enough to afford much better fishing conditions over the coming three days. Fortunately, lighter southwest winds are in the current NWS Marine Forecast with a lessened chance of boomers. However, it's now "officially" summer, so be aware that pop-up boomers will remain in the mix, primarily in the late afternoon hours.
Post new moon tidal flows over the weekend will still be good. Tides over the course of the weekend along the coastline will be high shortly after sunrise or so, falling out through the morning hours into the end of lunchtime hour for the most part. Before those predicted southwest winds get too aggravating for topwater plugging, work in close to the hill or on up into a favorite coastal creek. Pound the water with a favorite topwater offering early on. After the turn, ease on out working while those topwater offerings or an AquaDream spoons around any bar or rock pile holding actively feeding mullet.
One thing to note on the heels of all the Big Bend storms, waters outside to mouth of the Aucilla are darkening up quickly as lots dirty, tannin stained swamp waters from the heavy rains are pushing out the river. Also, the onslaught of storms has also broken off lots of turtle grass where the storms were most intense. Those grasses are now drifting with the tides and wind making it tough to work hardbaits in some, not all spots along the coastline.
Shifting gears a bit from finned species to bi-valves. Remember, if thinking about scalloping, the main waters of the Big Bend off Taylor to the west side of Franklin county don't open till the following weekend on July 1st. Presently, only the waters southeast of a line due south out of the mouth of the Fenhollaway on down to the Suwannee river are open for scallopers.
Outside, the red snapper are there! However, Ma Nature's continuing to make it tough to fish in totally enjoyable waters if fishing from any boat less than 30' or so. Given the current NWS Marine Forecast, seas will continue to be somewhat choppy well offshore making small boat snapper fishing a probable no-go. Don't push the envelope. The fish will still be there when safe, enjoyable seas return!
So, as always, practice safe boating at all times when on the Big Pond. Make certain that if those on board aren't wearing auto-inflatable PFDs that everyone knows where the approved PFDs are located on board in the event an incident requiring emergency actions might occur. Invest in an EPIRB too. Boat safely. Just FISH!
INLAND
Between all the afternoon storms that have passed over Lake Iamonia and Miccosukee, anglers fishing before the boomers popped-up found success tantalizing the bass with large paddletail worms and frogs. Early morning fishing should continue to produce good results before southwest winds become an aggravation by late morning. Late afternoon fishing after the winds diminish should be pretty good too.
ST GEORGE ISLAND
Captain Russ Knapp (850-653-5072) reports, “Finally, after two weeks of bizarre weather the light at the end of the tunnel seems to be in sight with the weekend forecast not half bad.
Ryan Truchelot, the "Weather Tiger" at the Democrat says the cause of our strange events has been a low riding jet stream and a series of cut off low-pressure systems. Anyway, as of Wednesday PM you can look for seas running 2 feet with light winds both Saturday and Sunday with the only bad news a 60% chance of rain on Saturday.
Tides at the Cut this weekend feature a 9AM high tide at 1.5 feet, followed by a midafternoon low of .9 feet and ending with an evening 1.2 foot high.
The summer solstice occurred June 21th so we are having the longest daylight periods of the year right now with sunset being at 8:44 PM.
The bay is a bit of a mess given two weeks of high winds, rain and the Apalachicola River being close to flood stage. Like last week your mission is to find some clear water.
Captain Dan Fortunas (850 980 0101) has managed to find some hungry Black Drum and Silver Trout hiding behind the causeway with fresh shrimp or cut bait working well to get them on your hook. Capt. Dan also received reports of Tripletail hanging around the floating objects and a few nice Reds being caught in the Cut.
The Cut can offer very sharp lines between dirty and clean water so remember to fish just inside the clear water as the predators will hide in the edges of the dirty water waiting for prey to swim by.
Offshore, Capt. Clint Taylor (850 370 6631) reports that while there are good numbers of Red Snapper in fairly close waiting for your bait the "hogs" are out in the big water 30 miles plus.
In last weekend's Carrabelle fishing tournament the winning Red Snapper was caught on a Spanish sardine by SGI's Capt. Lee Chapin (850 370 6400) while fishing 62 miles offshore. Both Capt. Clint and Capt. Lee suggest after you limit out on Red Snapper move over to live bottom and fish live baits or whole squids for Red Grouper and remember Gag Grouper season is closed so, please carefully release them.
Tip of the week -- if you plan on renting a boat don't depend on the livery to be your weatherman, be sure to check the weather yourself before and during your rental and remember this is a big bay that can get very rough fast so get a real boat. I can't tell you how many times I have seen rental boats out in the bay in unsafe for them conditions and it's only due to good luck we haven't had a major accident.
KEATON BEACH
Capt. Pat McGriff (onemorecast@gtcom.net) tells us, “Gosh the tides looked great this week, so I booked six straight and now the weather is trying to take them all away from me.
We had great weather Saturday despite a forecast of 80% and 15 kt. winds. I cancelled a trip the day before a client called me Friday night and said he didn’t mind getting wet so we went and it rained from 8 – 10:00 a.m. then we had a great day with a limit of trout to 23” and we had two reds, released one.... of course the 26” one. All our fish ate live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders.
The next day, same forecast 70% chance of rain; yet we had no rain and not enough w-i-n-d early and then when we did get some w-i-n-d we were done.
We brought in 7 trout and a red and all of them ate live pinfish. Bill and I threw artificials and couldn’t catch a keeper trout on them Sunday.
Monday? Well.... the weather kept me from reaching my fish and we ran from it most of the day and only fished 4 hours and had to call it due to Rice Crispies. Managed 3 keepers and a slew of shorts. The keepers just didn’t want anything to do with us.
The trout are preferring the last two hours of the rise and are biting in 4.0 – 4.9 feet of stained water. Our reds have been in 3.0 to 3.X feet but not in 4.X feet, again on the last two hours of the incoming.
MEXICO BEACH
Captain Kevin Lanier of (KC Sportfishing Charters 850-933-8804) says, “Well the weather has hit us pretty hard here in NW Florida. We have been tied to the dock for 5 consecutive days with no relief in sight until Friday. Mother Nature certainly does have a sense of humor or something like that.
Before the weather shut us down Red Snapper fishing was good but by no means red hot. Limits were caught but people had to pay close attention to the rods and be on it quick.
Cigar Minnows have been a good bet for us as have live pin fish
We are using 80 lb Tightlines braid with a 4 foot leader made of Ande 60 pound leader. Hooks are 6/0 to 8/0 Drop your bait to the bottom, reel up 3 turns then wait. If you have multiple people on the boat stagger the bait up every 10 feet to find the biters
Kings are showing and a live bait or dead cigar minnow of the flat line is a killer. Mahi Mahi are showing up in decent numbers. The fish are small but there are a lot of them. The weather looks to improve as the weekend approaches so fishing should improve. If the weather holds we should be in for a few weeks of good fishing before the full moon returns
BIG BEND KAYAK REPORT
Salt strong coach Matt Lanier (Matt@saltstrong.com) tells us, “ The fishing has been on fire lately, however the current weather conditions for this weekend don’t look wonderful. Looking like we could have a weekend full of rain, but we all know the weatherman is only right 50 percent of the time.
The rain showers that we have been getting are often a huge help in that they cool down the water temperature, flush out bait in the marsh and creeks, and can provide cloud cover on a normally very hot day. With all these things considered, fishing before, or after, one of these rain showers can be some great fishing. And for those die-hards, provided there is no lightning, even fishing through the rain.
We often talk about how in the warmer months you want to try to follow the water flow and current. If the tide is coming in, come in towards the shoreline with it. If the tide is going out, go further out with it. Following the current, finding good water flow, and finding the bait will be crucial as the water temperatures start to warm more.
The trout are being found on the outside edges of the flats and potholes in the 3-5 foot range. They like their natural haunts, on the ledges of the flats, or even the opening of the river or creek channels. Be sure to use jig heads heavy enough to get you down in the deeper part of the water column, where those fish are at. Typically, a 3/16th or 1/4th oz will do fine in most areas.
Redfish are still in a shallow water pattern, cruising the flats and shallows for an easy meal, but will also often return to the shorelines with the incoming tide. On those hot days, as the sun gets higher in the sky, they will generally move a bit deeper and sit in the potholes on the flats (in the 2-3 foot range), in search of comfortable waters and conditions.
If the winds allow, you can start the mornings with a topwater plug of choice to entice those massive blowups just after sunrise. Productive lures, as of lately, have been the Skitter Walk, Moonwalker, One-Knocker or any other walk-the-dog style topwater.
Once the sun is up, your lure choice should generally move to something subsurface. As the higher the sun gets, the fish are less likely to feed on a topwater, so switching to a paddletail or a jerk shad, spoon, or even a hard, suspending twitch bait has been productive, but the most important thing will be to find the bait and current.
One important thing is to keep moving if you aren’t finding feeding fish. With the warmer temperatures, the fish will be on the move and we need to be doing the same to find their preferred feeding zones. Try not to spend too much time in one area if you aren’t getting the bites you are looking for.
The Florida Redfish Series has their first Pro Go Live Summer series event this weekend, and it is a format for anyone, anywhere! You can fish any waters you please in search of redfish and trout, but act fast because the tournament ends at noon! For more information on this event or others, be sure to go to flredfishseries.com
The Rocking Reds Fishing Tournament in Panacea is just two weeks away, with an added kayak division this year! It’s nice to see the kayak division in this year’s event, so boats and yaks alike, get ready to fish a local event for a good cause! Be sure you read the rules as this is only a single-day (Saturday) event for kayaks this year, but we look forward to participating in the 2-day event again for years to come! We hope to see you for this June 24th & 25th event at Wooley Park in Panacea.
If you find yourself on the water and fishing in a spot where you haven’t gotten a bite for the last 15 minutes… it’s time to move. Keep looking for the 90/10 zone where those fish are holding. Don’t waste time in unproductive areas. The fish are moving and so should you!
To get the kids on some fish quickly, a live shrimp, or GULP!, under a popping cork around creek mouths, and even grass lines is a solid producer of fish. And the best part is you never know what you’ll catch because everything eats shrimp… EVEN ME!
If you plan on getting out this weekend, be sure to wear sunscreen! The sun can take its toll very quickly, so stay covered up, and always make sure you check (and double check) your gear and the weather. But most importantly… STAY SAFE & HAVE FUN!
LAKE SEMINOLE
The Bass fishing on Lake Seminole has been very good this month as we enter June the topwater bite will be EXPLOSIVE!
The Bream and Shellcracker have been bedding and the May flies have started hatching!
For a Lake Seminole Fishing Adventure this June give me a call at 850-264-7534 or follow us on Instagram @Capt.paultyrefishing and Facebook@capt.paultyrefishing
Captain Lee Chapin and 1st mate Griffen, hold up the winning Red Snapper from last weekend’s Kingfish Shootout out of Carrabelle, FL. (Lee Chapin photo)
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Here is the latest Big Bend fishing report
