Pompano and Cobia are being caught

March is here, and so are the fish ? sort of. West of Destin, pompano are being caught. It seems to happen that way every year, pompano and ling being caught far to our west.


That runs contrary to the popular belief that pompano and ling follow the coast from Key West past Tampa and arrive here fresh and ready to bite. We better rethink the route these fish take if every year they first catch them west of Destin. If anything, they should catch the first pompano in Mexico Beach, but they don?t.


The gulf has cleared some. All the rain and wind last week stirred the bay and gulf to the point it looked like chocolate milk. The bay has cleared tremendously, but it still has a red tint and will as long as we get an inch or two of rain every week.


Saturday a pompano was caught at the city pier and also on Sunday, but one of not much size. These might be the first ones caught this year. To consistently catch pompano the water temperature has to be in the middle to upper 60s. The perfect temperature according to pompano and ling fishermen is about 68 degrees.


The pompano will be spawning as they pass through this area and will continue to spawn all the way to Louisiana.