Dead Fish report - Capt. Larry Pentel

[Mr. Limpet]

Capt. Larry Pentel

Fishing Report for:
Destin, Florida (nearshore).
Updated: June 28, 2005.



My last day in South Walton and I didn't get to run my trip. The weather, while calm; was rather wet today and I ddn' want to risk running my party into one of the predicted "scattered to numerous thunderstorms". Oh well, at least there's a few fish that got a break today!

Great last week of fishing here tho-. Yesterday we mackeral fished for a couple hours and they were hot. My anglers went 7 for 14 on the kings and a big barracuda. We had closure issues on boating 'em for a while including one BIG king in the 35-40# range. ( If you listen to the guide and do it the way he suggests it usually works better) We went on to the other thing for the balance of out 4 hours and had LOTS of big bottom bites. My anglers landed 2 and half(shark bite)nice keeper groupers, 4 snappers and a shark (not the same one). I also tied on so many leaders and hooks from them losing fish to the bottom ("if you listen to the guide....") I thought I'd run out. Lots of action.

The day before we'd run the same play but went 10 ( limited out) for 11 on the kings. The bottom catch was great also with 13 snappers and two of the biggest triggers of the year along with some grouper. That was a family trip with mom, dad and a 5 and 9 year old. Mom and dad did most of the pretty work on the kings but the 9 year old was hot on a slip lead. He got the biggest snappers,triggers and the most groupers! I'd hear his rod hit the rail, run over to help steady it ( at first I was worried 'bout keeping it in the boat)and watch him dig in. I think dad's in trouble- this kid's gonna wanta be chasing stick fish and tarpon by the time he's 12!!

While I won't miss the traffic jams or the crowded beaches while I'm gone over to Indian Pass I am kinda thinking I'm missing some stick fish. We saw another sailfish while bottom fishing this past week and got a halfhearted strike out of 'em. I've seen 2 more early at daylight while out catching bait for my charter. Capt Jody Wesley who also fishes out of Grayton said he hooked one a few days ago and got 5 jumps before he threw the hook.

I'll have lots of jumping fish in the next few weeks I'm sure. (used to be capt) Randall Jones called me today to say he saw a Tarpon at the boat ramp this morning and another one free jumping at the mud hole this afternoon while he was showing real estate. Also, he told one of his RE cients how to catch 'em and the fellow jumped one in West Pass last week. The fish are there I've just got to get over there and start launching 'em--"Houston, we have ignition !!!!

If any body is coming down next week I've still got some open days- I'm 'bout booked for the end of July but have 3 days next week- lets go Tarpon fishin'!!!!

Capt. Larry Pentel

http://cyberangler.com/reports/fl/pentel

http://www.deadfishcharters.com

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Re: Dead Fish report - 6/28/05

E-mail Larry and let him know Mr. Limpet wants him to post pictures of my friends here so that I may inform their relatives.

captdeadfish@yahoo.com

 

[Kurt]

Fishing Report for:
Destin, Florida (nearshore).
Updated: July 24, 2005.



Hoo Boy! what a july--the storms seem like they just keep coming!

After cleaning up and rebuilding from Dennis I finally got to start running trips at Indian Pass this past Monday. Ran a 1/2 day shark trip with a father son crew. Caught a bunch of sharks, saw a few Tarpon and even had one eat a bait ( pulled off right away). Woke up Tuesday AM to start getting serious with Tarpon to find a 4 foot swell from Emily that quickly went to 6 ft. It ran till thursday AM and scattered the fish all over.

The triple tails have been thick and have provided a great diversion while waiting for the Tarpon to gang back up. I ran a half day trip today just for 'tails and we had one pushing 20# and another right at 10#. Just one angler and he had shots at 8. ( we killed the 10# for dinner-released the big one). Thursday we went 5 for 14 on 'tails after giving up on Tarpons. Love that sight fishin'.

There was a Tarpon caught late yesterday evening by another boat( first one since the storm) and I spoke with Capt Earl Middleton around noon who said he found a big school of fish busting and feeding about 10 miles from where I was triple tail fishing early in the morning that went on for 2-3 hours, HOPEFULLY this is a sign that things are coming back to normal. I've got trips the next 6 days and most of 'em are for Tarpon. It would be great to be back puttin' 'em in the air. They showed real thick right before Dennis. If it stays hot dry and calm we should be launching 'em daily

Capt Larry Pentel

 

[Miss Kitty]

I am not a fisherwoman, but these reports are fascinating. You can tell he LOVES his job and fishin'! I am reading Peter Jenkins..."Along the Edge of America" and read about the tarpon. Too bad Peter didn't stay in SoWal for very long...he could have met some REAL characters and some REAL people with good character!

 

[Kurt]

August 10, 2005.



As I've said before-the tarpon like it hot, dry and,calm-not exactly the weather we've been having. After getting over Dennis and then the surf from Emily the fish did what they were supposed to and ganged back up on the beach in the pogies. We had several days of "just right " and saw the show and launched some Tarpon just like it's supposed to be. Then the weather pattern changed and it rained for 8 days-. Not your summer afternoon 15 minute shower but thunderheads at all hours and some toad stranglers. I think I burned more fuel running from storms than chasing fish. Once again the Tarpon got scattered and pushed offshore. According to the weatherman this is behind us and we've got one last shot at "normal" weather. The fish are still here. There are Tarpon in West Pass even with all the fresh water pouring out from the river. I'm seeing fish scattered out offshore. Given a few days of "hot, dry and calm" the pogies will fall back to the beach and the Tarpon will follow.

Not that the fishing hasn't been fun and exiting. I ran a trip with one of my regulars and his son and nephew that had us land 3 tripletails with the largest at 20# on a good scale. The biggest he's ever caught in 30+ years of serious fishing. We also had some great shark action and had Tarpon crashing and thrashing all around the boat for 2 hours till the weather ran us in. While cleaning the 'tails my client said they had one of the best days fishin' ever it just didn't include catchin' a Tarpon. Now this fellow got 2 Tarpon to the boat each day he fished with me last year and had a "real" one spool him as well so I figured they probably had a good time---

Ran a half day with a dad and two boys who were moving from the South to Kansas ( I think thats one of those square states near Canada) This was thier last big beach trip and they went back with lots of pictures to show the kids up North what they did on vacation. Had a great shark show behind the shrimp boats first thing and took plenty of "smiling" shark pics. Then went and looked for 'tails for a couple hours and found 8. We succeded in capturing 3 of 'em and even got them in the right size order to match the anglers!

And then there's the big school of jack cravelle that hung around for a week. One of my anglers put one in the boat I called 40#. Definately the biggest jack I ever seen in all my years--

back to Grayton in about 2 weeks- I hope to add a few more tarpon scales to scrapbooks first.

Capt Larry Pentel

 

[Kurt]

Fishing Report for:
Destin, Florida (nearshore).
Updated: August 27, 2005.



Back in Seagrove and back looking at yet another hurricane!! Katrina now looks like she is going to give the folks in La. a headache but yesterday AM the weather gurus had her aimed here so I canceled fishing for the weekend. Oh well, I'd rather miss a day or so than a week or 2----

Came back to South Walton Monday PM and ran my first trip here Wed.. family trip, mom dad and 3 kids who had never been fishing before. I told them thier parents had failed them in educating them to wait till the oldest was 13 to go fishin'! I made converts out of all the kids with a great trip on a beautiful day. The kids 2 hook fished and mom and dad got the crash course in slip lead fishin' and Kings. The kids tallied 18 triggers, 20 vermillion snappers and lots of throwbacks while the parents got 2 red snappers, 3 spanish and three kings. The kings were impressive too- one at 'bout 15# and the pair 'round 30#. The kids (and the folks) had a great time and I'm sure that next vacation they will pester the heck out of the folks to go again- I call that job security- get those kids hooked!!

Thurs. had more job security. 2 Dads and 2 small boys with a similar catch for the little guys and the dads had a pair of groupers and a big snapper. When we hit he beach at the end of our 4 hours the kids had allready started on wanting to go again.

Yesterday (Fri)was all grown up folks that got on the boat talking grouper. Didn't want to fish for kings, just groupers-. The wind was a little blowy to go far offshore but we pulled a rabbit out of the hat and had great catch for our 4 hours. 3 Red Groupers, 3 gag Grouper, 9 Red Snapper, a nice Black Snapper and 1 just legal king ( I convinced 'em that it would be delicious if they cooked it fresh).

Just coming back after being gone for 2 months I've got to fish the tried and true first and then go look around a little till i find whats happening with the fish. Only three trips and all of 'em inshore but this is what I saw. The hurricane (Dennis) moved about half the wrecks I looked for. The fact that a bunch didn't move makes me hope the ones that did didn't go far and can be found easily. The ones I found had very few fish om 'em and almost all shorts. The good fish I found were on natural bottom. I did not find any big shows of Red snapper, at least not legal ones. A couple of big stands of 12-15" fish. We caught a LOT of short grouper on the 3 little 4 hour trips. Yesterday we probably caught 50. With all these small fish up on the beach I think there will probably be a bunch of bigger ones out a little. With Katrina predicted to kick up a huge sea even over here the fish will move again. If she does go in over 'round La. we will probably get a movement of bigger Snappers back in. Hopefully all this will get through quickly and I can go "exploring". For me one of the best things about moving around to chase fish is it keeeps it exciting, always finding something new and different almost every trip.

Capt Larry

 

[Kurt]

Fishing Report for:
Destin, Florida (nearshore).
Updated: September 11, 2005.



Northwest Florida in September. Just another day in paradise. The weather is great, hot but not sweltering. Clear high skies, no lines at the grocery and the beach is back to us locals, even on the weekends. Fishin' aint bad either.

There are still a few visitors around and luckily for me some folks want to fish. Ran 2 couples on a half day today from Kansas (isn't that one o' them "square states" ?)who had never been saltwater fishin' before. We did a lot of training ( no you can't yank, yes that was a bite etc. ) and they had a blast. Not the best catch of the year but they'll do a lot better next time, and as much fun as they had I know there will be one. We caught a lot of "shorts" we recycled but brought in a king, 3 red groupers, one black grouper, 4 snappers and 10 triggers .

Yesterday I ran 5 14 year olds as a birthday party. I know the b-days boys parents so I was sure to put 'em on a stand of triggers from the get go for mom's freezer. I don't think I've ever had to bait hooks that fast (or often) till they got it figured out. The triggers on that reef won't have to eat for a week! They tallied 16 triggers, a king, 3 red groupers, 2 black grouper and 13 red snappers along with dozens of throwbacks. I figuured I had done my job pretty well when I had 3 of the 5 sittin' down and wore out before our 4 hours was up. Course they were back to skim-boarding while I cleaned the fish. Wish I could recover that fast!

Katrina kicked up a big sea but didn't seem to move many fish around offshore. The flounders had just started showin' up on the beach but are now MIA after the storm. I hope they show back up. The triggers are showin' up good and should just get better for the next couple of months. There don't seem to be a lot of snapper around but there are quite a few groupers. Ran a couple of 5 hour trips where we targeted 'em a little more and had 9 nice uns along with 8 snapper on one and 6 ( 3 big blacks)with 14 snappers on another. The pompano should be showin' but haven't really appeared since the storm.

All in all we lucked out and dodged a bomb. My heart goes out to my friends and clients from the storm ravaged areas. The ones I've talked to are upbeat and planning on rebuilding. Hang in there guys- you can't fight mother nature. As long as the families ok everything else is just "stuff". We can make lots more fish pictures!

Capt Larry Pentel

 

[tropicwatch]

Have not been fishing in over a month. Going through withdrawals. If I can get my Honey do's done, I will try to put a line in the water this weekend. Let you know what is biting in Panama City.

Tropicwatch

 

[Kurt]

Fishing Report for:
Destin, Florida (nearshore).
Updated: October 16, 2005.



I apologize for being so remiss in writing a report. The good folks at cyberangler sent me an e-mail telling me I hadn't written in a while ( which I kinda blew off). When my charter fussed at me 'cause he couldn't read a report before we went I thought I'd better write.

Ok- the first few weeks I didn't write we had a hurricane (Rita)- then it blew out of the north 30 knots for a week- then we had a red tide that made it miserable to be on the beach. So much for the bad news. The reason I haven't written lately is that it's been BEAUTIFUL and I've fished the past 10 days in a row.

North winds in the AM diminishing by lunch, slick calm on the beach, crystal clear water and lots of bait on the sandbar. just like it's supposed to be in October!!!!!

The triggerfish have moved in thick and the folks that want em have been able to limit out no problem. Day before yesterday we had 40 trigger, 11 red snapper and 2 nice Red grouper on a 4 hour!

I have been running a lot of "family" trips and the triggs make it easy for me. It may take an hour for me to teach a grown up how to catch 'em but kids get it quick- and they love to show up the parents!

The kings haven't been real thick yet this fall but we have caught a few. They had shown real well prior to Rita but seem to have been blown somewhere other than here. The snapper seem to be moving in. Every day this week it seems I check a spot that was "dead" and it's got a school of Red Snapper on it now. The big "sows" haven't hit the beach yet but I'm hopefull they show before the season closes in Nov. Right now we are throwing back at least 2 for every one we keep-luckily we are throwing back a BUNCH!

Still quite a few grouper around. Lots of throw backs but we seem to average a couple keepers even on the 4 hour trips. The black snapper are just starting to show for fall. We had 2 today along with a dozen reds, a black grouper, 12 triggers and a king on a half day. Made for a nice board of fish

Two weeks of snapper season left. Still don't know whats going to happen with groupers in State waters. The Feds are for sure shutting groupers down beyond 9 miles starting Nov. 1 till Jan.1. The state didn't see the need and the last I heard we are still going to be able to grouper fish all my usual spots. It's amazing that we have had the best show of grouper for the past 2 years that I can remember ( short of "moved" fish after a storm) and now the Feds decide they are in trouble. The advertised rational is that Red Grouper are declineing (?)so thay are shutting down all grouper-

The only logical thing they have down is lower the grouper limit in Federal waters ( when it's open) from 5 to 3 fish per person. I never understood why the grouper limit was higher than the snapper limit! This should help the grouper population from getting hammered so hard right after a big storm and they are easy pickins. Besides- if your on a all day trip with a bigger boat- 6 anglers- capt and deckhand thats still 24 groupers you can keep! 2 Dozen should be enough for anybody! Maybe we can get the state to go along with that part of the rule------

Capt Larry Pentel

 

[Paula]

Are these fishing trips available between Christmas and New Years? We'll be there with 5 adults and 3 kids (ages 13, 11, and 6) and it could be fun. Thanks.