Anybody been doin any bay fishin'

Anybody been back in the bays doin any trout or redfishing (choc, west, st. andrews)...haven't paid much attn lately, goin to the Laguna Madre to yak for a week in July and haven't heard from anybody in sowal in awhile...red

Hi Red...We fish from our boat around the 331 bridge and Alaqua / Mallett Bayou but all we catch is catfish! We've tried all kinds of bait and keep hearing that the redfish are biting on live shrimp...I don't believe it! We've tried live shrimp, frozen, frozen squid, live minnows and small mullet. Please share some bay fishing secrets and we will let you know how the fishing is! Can you recommend fishing spots in this part of the bay?

331 bridge is usually as good as any...but try rocky bayou (north), hogtown bayou (south), redfish will be in much more shallow water (usually creekmouths), the fishing the couple of last years or so seems off...fresh not frozen shrimp should be all the bait you need...good luck, red

I heard they were catching sheepshead a few days ago, standing on the causeway around the little bridge and flipping shrimp around the rocks.

There are a lot of catfish around right now (especially around Mallet Bayou), but the reds & specks are still there. Try going deep into the cooler water.

Hi Red...We fish from our boat around the 331 bridge and Alaqua / Mallett Bayou but all we catch is catfish! We've tried all kinds of bait and keep hearing that the redfish are biting on live shrimp...I don't believe it! We've tried live shrimp, frozen, frozen squid, live minnows and small mullet. Please share some bay fishing secrets and we will let you know how the fishing is! Can you recommend fishing spots in this part of the bay?

too deep - get that bait off the bottom - no weight free line and don't be jerking it around - i use a flounder float and suspend the live bait off the bottom about 15-20% of the depth (20' deep gets suspended at 16-18 feet) and leave it there

redfisher, i haven't been yet, i rescheduled last month until after the 4th to wait for the snotgrass to go away, and it looks like its gone - i'm taking just the jet ski and the tent this trip, so it will be awfully hot but hopefully a lot of fish, since i'm doing the camping thing out on either the island or the point again and there ain't nothing else to eat! 3 days and 2 nights of true bliss - i can't wait! - a guaranteed 99% boredom and 1% sheer, stark terror (probably snake, pig or shark)!

AB, if your goin to PSJ, remember the bay itself wasn't that productive for me...and its my understanding that it still isn't...if you can start at IP and work over thru st. vincent before 10am was when i just slayed it...The best fishin report down there is from the guy sellin shrimp on the side of the road about 1/2 mile after you turn on to st. joe pen...buy a 1/2 pound and he'll give you the lowdown...Red

Thought I would try again...anybody been fishin'

I saw a guy come to shore in his kayak the other morning on the east end of the bay. He had a nice red and speck both caught on topwater. He also caught a catfish that not only hit the topwater but swallowed it.

He was fishing around the canals north of the ICW.

Not sure what bait they were using, but my brother and his friend caught a Redfish and two Trout this morning in PC. They were wading out a couple hundred feet. They say that they saw a couple of small sharks out there, one feeding about 20 ft away, 😱 before they moved further down.

rips working topwater am, then back to the hole

outside, a few runs up the rut at early lunchtime when high


*translated from fishing-speak for the noobs:

in the bay, the fish are hanging out feeding from about 5-3 feet down in areas where the water is moving around, stirring up nutrients and attracting smaller fish, then, when it gets too warm and sunny, the fish head deep into large dips in the bay floor and stay there circling around and around about 3 feet off the bottom until evening when they will come back out to hunt

outside the pass, in the real ocean, there are deep areas between shallows of sand bars that run parallel to the beach, the last and deepest of these "ruts" is often used as a freeway for schools of large fish to move around undetected, but only during specific times of the day when the sun is right and the tide is at its high state or just approaching high tide

you have now been...SCHOOLED! 😀

Gold spoons for the reds during the day. Top water floating plugs in the morning and evening for trout as well as the occasional curios red. Good luck. Shrimpin is Cheatin... to easy!

No Bay fishing lately here.......my fiancee' took the boat w/ him when he moved to Jax:bang:

WISH I were though

The catfish are biting! Whoo hoo! I'm too impatient I think to use lures (don't you have to cast them and constantly reel them back in)? Maybe I'm not doing it right...I normally cast them about 5 times then get tired of it. I've tried to not fish on the bottom, but can't seem to get it. Fishing is fun though, no matter what's biting (or not)! We netted tons of small mullet and my dad was so excited to use them when they went out in the gulf. We hadn't fished out there in so long and didn't realize a box of cigar minnows are $15.00 now! We hope to get out on the gulf with him soon.

Does anyone know about the artificial reefs in the bay? What kind of fish are there? I heard there are cones, but I think they are futher out by the e. pass. Anything closer?

Gold spoons for the reds during the day. Top water floating plugs in the morning and evening for trout as well as the occasional curios red. Good luck. Shrimpin is Cheatin... to easy!

Try a Strike King redfish master, lots of hits from all the critters. My spoon luck has been poor. :(

Does anyone know about the artificial reefs in the bay? What kind of fish are there? I heard there are cones, but I think they are futher out by the e. pass. Anything closer?

The cones are here: 30'24.7 86'30.68 in 25 feet of water. That's in the bay ENE of Crab Island, roughly. They were placed back in 1987, don't know if they are still there.

Closer, there's an old barge off Choctaw beach that holds some fish, and some smaller old wrecks scattered about.

Capt.William Pentel (Fried Fish Charters) caught a triple tail in choctawhatchee bay last week!!!!

Capt.William Pentel (Fried Fish Charters) caught a triple tail in choctawhatchee bay last week!!!!

Is he back from Indian Pass and is he for hire off the beach?

Capt.Larry Pentel (dead fish charters) is still fishing in indian pass. He will be back later in August. However, his protege Capt. William Pentel is fishing all bays (appalachicola, st.joe, and choctawhatchee). Dead Fish will be running off grayton again in approximately 3 weeks.

Thanks Kurt, but has anyone else ACTUALLY been fishing in the bay or the surf? and if so what did you put in the box and where?...Red

nope - gas is too high again to run the big boat with the ac and too hot not to - maybe september when it cools off some